Daniel Dabbs
Life Lessons from the BattlBox Team
The story of BattlBox is a little unconventional. We all got involved for different reasons, but we’re all passionate about the same things. And while we’re excited for the future of BattlBox, sometimes we like looking back on our time together and seeing what we can learn and do to become better.
We’ve learned some things over the years about making a dream a reality and making passion a living.
Here are some of those lessons:
Pay attention to your own wants and needs. Our founder Daniel designed, created, and built BattlBox from the ground up. But it wasn’t based on something he was told to create, or something that was guaranteed to work; he built it based on his own wants and needs, around what he thought the perfect subscription box would look like. Remember, folks: your ideas are never too big. If you feel like you’re missing out on something, you’re probably not alone. Dream it and go do it.
Remind yourself it’s possible. Daniel had a vision, and he quickly made it happen. After only 10 days, the site was live and orders were rolling in. It might take a little extra time for some ideas to develop into reality, but don’t get discouraged. There wasn’t much sleep in those 10 days because Daniel knew he was on a mission. Just make a goal to stop at nothing before your idea becomes reality.
Pay attention to what doesn’t work. Daniel and the rest of our team had seen plenty of ideas come and go in this space and we knew exactly what we didn’t want BattlBox to become. Sometimes that’s how your dream becomes a reality. Daniel, John, and Patrick (AKA the Three Amigos) quickly learned how to scale, what they were doing right, and what not to do -- and 2 years later, we’re still learning!
Just jump in. Patrick said he jumped head first into the project with Daniel. While he admits he didn’t sleep a lot the first few months, he’ll tell you it was worth it. There were lots of late meetings that ran even later dealing with marketing, product procurement, and website development, but we’re proud of everything we’ve accomplished now. Trust us, all that stuff is worth it.
Let your vision become your passion. John didn’t plan on playing a major role in the company when he first got involved. Fast forward some time, and he loved his role so much that it became his passion. Now, BattlBox wouldn’t be the same without John, and it’s safe to say every single one of us is passionate about the company.
Relationships are everything. You guys know our friend Currin1776. He originally started out doing YouTube reviews of our boxes as a subscriber back in March 2015. After we watched about 20 of his reviews and created a great (somewhat dysfunctional) friendship with the guy, we decided to officially make him part of our team. Get to know the influential people in your community, and take the time to cultivate the right relationships with them -- you never know what kind of magic this could create down the road.
So, what’s your big “impossible” dream? We’re here to tell you it’s possible to make your dreams a reality, you just have to make it happen. Get up and do it, folks!
And remember: we wouldn’t be who we are today without you. Thank y’all for being loyal subscribers and for always giving us the encouragement and laughs we need to keep going.
Share on:
