Every so often in life, a wonderful confluence of events occurs to give an individual the brief moment of inspiration that it takes to formulate an original idea, and build from that idea a unique and sustainable business plan.
Unfortunately, that’s not the way it happened for Michael Lewis, founder and CEO of local startup Suite Arrival.
Suite Arrival is essentially a concierge service that allows airline travelers to create customized lists of the products they would like to have when arriving at their destination — products such as bath and body lotions and liquids that are prohibited in airline carry-on luggage by TSA regulations. Lewis first came up with the idea for Suite Arrival in 2008 while working for a voice-over-Internet technology company in New Jersey. He had been traveling quite a bit for work, and says he found himself continually frustrated by the airline restrictions on permissible carry-on items.
But it was one flight in particular that finally made Lewis really examine the — “scope” — of the problem.
“The genesis for the company was when I was sent to this eBay developer conference, and when I had gotten to the airport, I had put my toiletries into my luggage that I was checking,” said Lewis. “Anyway, when I got to the hotel in Chicago and unzipped my suitcase, I found that the cap on my Scope bottle was loose, and all my belongings were minty fresh!
“So I showed up to this conference the freshest-smelling guy there! But it was then that I just said, ‘Man, there has got to be an easier way, and if I’m the only one that uses it, I really don’t care — at least it will work for me.’”
Lewis began experimenting with shipping his own products to arrive ahead of him, but soon discovered that was cost-prohibitive. Then he tried taking no toiletries at all and just buying everything he needed at his destination, but found that supermarkets and late-night pharmacies are not always in convenient proximity to one’s hotel — and even when they are, that’s not always a very cost-effective approach either.
Fed up, Lewis finally decided to start doing his due diligence and researching the problem to put together a prototype of his business plan. He was still working full-time for the company back East, but when that company was bought by Citrix in Goleta, he was sent here to provide some training on the new system. It was here on the South Coast that Lewis says he really found his bailiwick.
“I had been to San Francisco, I had been to San Diego, I had been to L.A., but it wasn’t until I came here that I found the California that I had imagined,” said the New Jersey native. “I just went ‘Wow, this place is magic!’ I realized that this is where I needed to be to laser-focus in on building Suite Arrival.”
In May 2009, Lewis left his job with Citrix, and on June 5, he moved to Santa Barbara to start Suite Arrival along with a friend and business partner in New York, where the development team is located. He spent months forming partnerships with UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service to make the system cost-effective. Lewis says these partnerships have been the key to bringing his idea to life.
“The partners that we have really believe in the idea, so they are very willing to give us huge breaks in terms of the volume that we’re currently shipping,” said Lewis. “It’s great because they see that potential there, so in essence they are investing in us by giving us the breaks that we need in order to operate. They love the brand that we are building, and they love how accessible we are.”
Part of that accessibility is personal attention to each customer. Lewis puts his personal cell phone number at the bottom of every e-mail he sends, whether it’s going to a partner or to a customer. To date, Suite Arrival has yet to miss a single delivery, and Lewis says that if the company ever did, it would do everything in its power to make it right, including a full refund, or even “buying that person breakfast or a drink at the hotel bar.”
So how does Suite Arrival work logistically? When a customer sends in an order to the Suite Arrival database, the system processes that information — shipping information, destination, date and time of arrival, and requested items — and alerts the company’s shipping partner with all the details. Suite Arrival has an enormous inventory of products, so each kit can be personalized for the customer. The kit is then shipped out to arrive 24 to 48 hours before the traveler arrives, giving Lewis and his team enough time to track the package and make sure it gets there on time. Lewis has formed partnerships with several hotel chains, and these hotels are automatically alerted to inbound kits; if the hotel is not a partner company, Suite Arrival calls ahead to let it know the kit is coming. Lewis says that when customers arrive in their hotel rooms, there are elegantly presented Suite Arrival kits waiting for them, and he likens it to finding a present waiting. The kits have been known to contain some extra, unexpected goodies as well.
Thus far, Suite Arrival has been completely self-funded, and Lewis has already turned down three potential investors due to terms. With a very low overhead, and money being injected back into the company with each kit that is sold, Lewis is perfectly happy to be autonomous at the moment, although he concedes that in moving forward, big partnerships may be needed for scaling.
“We may get to the point where outside investment is necessary if we begin forming huge partnerships, and the amount of orders that we get coming in is more than we can fill,” said Lewis. “It’s a great problem to have, but it’s not a problem that I would want to deal with on my own.”
Currently, Lewis is exploring different branding opportunities for his burgeoning company, including a partnership with a very popular sports drink. Being a part of what he refers to as the “entrepreneurial ecosystem” is affording Suite Arrival infinite opportunities for brand marketing and affiliate partnerships. As Suite Arrival continues to expand and becomes a part of the global market, Lewis sees no limit to the possibilities — and for the ambitious young CEO, life is suite. His entrepreneurial spirit even was recognized by Entrepreneur magazine last month.
“We’re in an age where everyone is on Foursquare, everyone is on Twitter,” Lewis said. “And I think that is the direction we are headed with our customers, where they will be able to log in to their Suite Arrival community when they arrive in a new city, and get recommendations from other users who may have visited there about places to eat, places to go out, and things like that.
“It’s shampoo and mouthwash on the surface, but it’s becoming so much more really, really quickly.”
— Kevin McFadden is a Noozhawk contributor. He can be reached at kmcfadden@noozhawk.com.