Many Happy Returns

KieAnn Brownell considers herself a serial entrepreneur, which means she’s always on the lookout for new business ideas. After running her family's wholesale floor-covering business, Columbine Carpet in Greenwood Village, Colo., she decided the time was right to transition from carpets to cakes. After learning that more than 700,000 people celebrate a birthday every single day, Brownell set up her latest venture, GoCakeGo.com, which allows customers to order distinctive birthday-cakes-in-a-box.

"My roots as an entrepreneur go way back to when I was nine. I used to check movies out of the library and charge my friends admission to watch them.

"I first started thinking about some kind of cake business back when I was in college at the University of Colorado. I knew that there was a market sending cakes to kids away at school, but this was way before the Internet, so I kind of just filed the idea away.

"Then, in 2004, it came back to me. I started doing some research and found out that something like 5,000 people search the Internet for birthday cakes every single day. I figured that was enough to qualify as a business opportunity. And while it’s not 100 percent recession-proof, you know everybody has a birthday every year and everyone from kids on up loves cake. And unlike cookies or flowers, a cake really does inspire a celebration.

"Once I realized how big the market was, I started looking for wholesale bakers. I was an accounting major and had no interest in doing the baking myself. So we lined up a few wholesalers who supply us with frozen cakes and then we ship them via FedEx within 24 hours to kids away at school, elderly aunts, and siblings that live in other cities. Our real market is with remote relatives. It really is a business that connects people, and not only the sender with the recipient. When someone receives one of our cakes, they can’t help but invite around them to share.

"Part of our goal is to build a brand with our distinctive lime-green boxes. Along with the cake, we include plates, napkins, forks, a cake server, candles, and confetti. It’s really a party in the box -- everything you need for a spontaneous celebration. We also have our 'Party Online' component, where you can invite people to email their best wishes for the birthday boy or girl for a virtual celebration. When the person opens their e-card, they get to enjoy all the messages their friends have written to them. It's just so much better than just getting a phone call.

"Our real turning point came in January when DailyCandy featured us. After that plug, our page views jumped from 600 to 62,000. Now we’re ramping up and delivering about 1,000 cakes a month, at a selling price of about $70.

"One day I hope someone will see a lime-green box in an office or a dorm room and say, 'Hey, whose birthday is it?' And, to try to build that brand, I wear lime-green clothing every day. It gives people in the Denver area something to chuckle about."