ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND
In the first five months, cousins Cameron and Pey Manesh have done over $150,000 in business at Cameron’s Seafood Online, shipping about 1,000 orders to 46 states. They had the idea when a customer came from out-of-state to save $60 on a bushel of fresh Maryland blue crabs at the family business, Cameron’s Seafood. The cousins reverse-engineered Blue Apron, a leader in the growing market of home-delivered meals, and Cameron invested $65 million of his own in the startup. They bought up foam coolers and bubble wrap, had their uncle’s company print labels and instructions, and warehoused all the packaging in an old family home. Overhead was low, as the company, can use the family stores and employees and build on the existing customer base. A major glitch was having gel packs melt over the summer, so they had to hire out to store the packs at -10oF. To date, the company has spent $42,000 on online advertising; Cameron’s wife, Mimi, handles the website. While business is good, Cameron doesn’t see the venture turning a profit next year without shipping wholesale to major retailers.
