In 2014, John Accardi started CRAVEBOX. He was 24 years old at the time and dropped out of a Ph.D. program at Georgetown University to start the company. He says he was very excited but also nervous to make this transition. He had no prior experience in business or e-commerce.

He also didn’t take a loan or raise money from investors. The business was bootstrapped with very little capital.

When we asked why he took the leap to start his own company, John said he wanted the control and flexibility of running his own business. “It wasn’t really about money, it was about freedom,” he said.

John explains that it started slowly from his apartment.

He listed images of his care package products on cravebox.com and did his best to market them and bring traffic to the site.

At first, it was difficult to build traffic and attract buyers. But over the years, the popularity of these CRAVEBOX products grew.

John moved from his apartment into larger warehouse spaces over the years and is now in a 60,000sqft warehouse space in North Wales, PA.

John says that he’s so happy with the decision he made to leave Georgetown to start a business.

He emphasizes that it’s not right for everyone – he says, “It takes a ton of work and persistence, but if it’s the right fit, it can produce amazing results.”

John’s excited to continue improving his products and growing his brand.

He is especially excited to grow his holiday offerings – which currently consist of Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter care packages and gift baskets.

He’s also excited about a new gourmet snacks package. John sees himself continuing to grow and run CRAVEBOX for many years into the future.

He also recently started a venture capital firm called STARCOURSE CAPITAL, LLC to invest in other young e-commerce businesses.

Follow John on Instagram here and order from CRAVEBOX here.