The Challenge: Gaining Exposure as a Small Moving Company
What do you do when you’re a small moving company that provides 5-star service but doesn’t have a large budget for marketing campaigns?
That’s the exact challenge Husky Moving faced. After 23 years in the moving industry, Ryan O’Connor decided to start his own moving business. About a year in, Husky Moving has since provided approximately 225 jobs ranging from household to commercial moves, packing services, and assembly and disposal jobs.
From experience, Ryan knew that moving companies often find success from word of mouth leads and spending money on marketing. But as a small moving company, there just wasn’t room in the budget or the schedule to spend on moving ads, paid search or other marketing channels.
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Husky Moving was among several other moving companies and needed to rise above the competition. The solution? Self-branding at a price that doesn’t break the bank.
“The vast majority of small companies I’ve seen don’t have their own branded equipment and products. Only larger companies have their logo on their boxes.”
Part of Ryan’s challenge was talking himself out of thinking that small companies can’t afford their logo on a moving or storage box.
Some of his thoughts included, “I can’t afford it, I’d have to buy a tremendous amount and I’d be stuck with large quantities that I’d end up having to store for who knows how long.”
The Solution: Self-Branding
After some time struggling with his thoughts about his small business, Ryan hopped onto Google to see what his options were. A quick search of “logo on boxes” pulled up Brandable Box.
The first thing he noticed about Brandable Box answered his biggest setback about branding a moving box: “Why buy a plain box when you can brand it for the same price?”
“I had to get over the mindset that my company wasn’t big enough to have its own branded equipment and boxes. I can and should brand my equipment now and Brandable Box’s prices helped me realize that I could make the switch to custom moving and storage boxes.”
Viewing it as an investment for his business, Ryan chose white shipping boxes with a large, color logo from Brandable Box.
“I chose to use color because the monetary investment was worth the additional cost due to the perceived value. At the end of the day, even if I pay a little more for branding my boxes than I would for plain brown boxes, I’ll be making a dollar through customers using my boxes for storage and eventually coming back to me for their next move.”
The Result: A Small Moving Company That Looks Just as Good as The Service it Provides.
Ryan had already made sure to put his logo on his moving truck, moving dollies and other moving equipment. Now, he had the moving and storage boxes to match.
“I bought several different sizes from Brandable to offer as storage boxes for my customers. Many customers may have valuables they don’t necessarily want to keep in the moving truck. I try to cater to all my customers and their different needs.”
Today, Ryan keeps his large Husky Moving white boxes on his moving truck. As he opens up his truck to load up for a move, customers see his logo on the inside of the truck and his branded white moving boxes.
His customers love seeing the Husky Moving logo everywhere, from moving equipment to the storage boxes they’ll end up taking with them for the long haul. They give a professional look that Ryan says helps set his moving business apart from the average moving company in Boston.
“I’m a small business, but having branded moving boxes gives my team the clean, professional look of a large moving business. You don’t have to have completed some kind of milestone to own custom boxes. You can’t afford not to invest in your own business.”