MONTREAL GAZETTE | Looking for a vibrant commercial stretch in Montreal? Try Instagram
For small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to maximize visibility on a budget, a regularly updated Instagram account with vibrant visuals and constant communicability is seen as a cost-effective way to reach eyeballs without the responsibility of managing a physical space. For certain businesses, especially new, tech-savvy ones, having a platform where one can handle most queries and transactions with minimal overhead begs the question as to whether it’s worth the trouble of ever having a brick and mortar shop.
After quick perusal of their Instagram page or website, you’d be forgiven for thinking BreadBox is a much larger operation than it really is. After a little more than a year in existence, the frozen baked goods maker remains a two-person operation. May Goldhacker and Arthur Schiller started the business with the intention of getting the carb-averse back on bread by offering sourdough loaves and dinner rolls made with only three ingredients: flour, water and salt.
The clout that comes with having an active Instagram page nearing 3,000 followers not only helps them curry favour with retailers, but also with customers seeking a personal connection with the brands they choose. Goldhacker said they originally posted short videos as Instagram stories with the idea of showing what it’s like to be young entrepreneurs, but the clips made them the faces of their brand.
“We run a toast bar at the McGill Farmers’ Market on Thursdays and people come up to us all the time saying they saw us on Instagram,” said Schiller.
