There is no doubt that gifts can excite both the giver and receiver. They are known to be an expression of love, appreciation, and remembrance, and can even strengthen bonds. It’s because of this essence that business duo Barbara Burabyo and Sheila Umutoni thought of ways to simplify the gift-giving process.

The business partners are the masterminds of Bash Gifts, an online gift shop that aims at assisting people with creative ideas for items to gift their loved ones often, or for various occasions.

The idea, they say, came to them in December last year after noticing that a number of people were clueless about what gifts to give and for the appropriate occasion. 

The business partners decided to provide a solution, and save people the hassle of moving up and down searching for gifts.

“Our primary love language is gift receiving and giving and we are both very detail-oriented. So as we were thinking of a business idea, it happened to be in December where most people were in the mood of giving but a few had time to move around looking for gifts for their special ones.

“It’s around that time that we decided to help people by moving around looking for things that one would love or treasure, and sell them to those that have a generous heart but limited time,” Burabyo says.

The business associates are able to purchase gifts by first, thinking about a package for an occasion, then looking for places to get such products, for example, some of their packages are ‘Graceful Aura’, which includes an indoor plant, chocolate, a scented candle, and a customised card.

Co-founders Barbara Burabyo (top) and Sheila Umutoni.

The businesswomen search for suppliers of all the products, most of them are from Rwanda, other packages are; “Forever Young” - a men’s set that consists of perfumes and body mists, “Choco Love” - a bouquet with chocolates, “Girl Power” - flowers and scented candles, “The Ultimate Pillar” - a wallet, belt, bowtie for men, and so forth.

“We make gift packages by collecting products that would make someone happy, put them together, and wrap them ornamentally and sell them to our customers,” Burabyo says.

She explains that the two manage to beat competition by taking time to understand the reason clients wish to gift someone, that way, they think thoroughly through what would really be significant based on the motive.

Secondly, they say that being online enables them to reach more people or place their orders based on specific packages of their choice, a thing that saves time. “We get orders, put together the package they prefer and deliver to their loved ones in a short period of time.”

Burabyo explains that receiving a gift is just one way of knowing that someone out there loves and appreciates your existence in their life. Whereas giving is a symbol of the love you have for the person you are giving. Some words of love need a little bit of action, and with that, you can rarely be misinterpreted. 

The businesswomen note that so far, the business is progressing more than expected as people are slowly adapting to the idea of gifting their loved ones even without a special occasion, unlike before when most people assumed that gifting is only done for someone’s birthday, bridal shower, graduation, or wedding.

According to Burabyo, the two attract customers by displaying their packages on their social media platforms. “We also keep phone contacts of our customers in order to follow up for feedback. Most of our customers have so far connected us to their friends and family. And that’s how our clients keep accumulating.”

The business co-founders say that some of their challenges are that few people understand that gifting is just another way of informing the people they love that they care and think about them, and reminding them of how special they are.

Their future plan is to open a gift shop where everyone can simply pass and choose from a variety of products.

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