How much is a personalised thank you card worth?
For US entrepreneur Sonny Caberwal, the answer to that question is around $US500,000 ($723,484) a month.
Caberwal is the founder of Bond, a fast-growing New York based business that produces thousands of personalised notes for customers on a daily basis.
Like other startups in the sharing economy, Bond uses a technology platform that allows customers to type out their message, select stationery and the desired handwriting style, submit a name and address of who they would like to receive the note and then choose the date for the note to arrive in the mailbox.
Even the ‘handwriting’ is technology-driven, with Entrepreneur reporting that Bond uses machines and static electricity to write the notes. A couple of hundred other machines at the Bond headquarters produce stationery.
One note will set you back $US3.50, while businesses with larger orders pay between $US2 and $US2.50.
At the more expensive end of the scale, Bond also offers some customers a concierge service, Bond Black, which includes a personal mobile app, the ability to send notes in their own writing and custom stationery.
The business model appears to be having some early success, with Bond recording monthly revenue of around $US500,000 by the end of 2015.
To watch a video of the Bond handwriting machines in action, visit FastCompany.
News Editor
Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on Twitter at @ellykeating.
