Finding the right gift for an entrepreneur can be challenging—especially if the person is discerning about their gifts or have already found success. If you want to make an impression, the key is to find a gift that aids their business goals or eases their busy lifestyle. For example:
- How might their business responsibilities be hindering their personal life?
- What kinds of tools might make them more productive or effective?
- What types of educational resources might assist in their entrepreneurial goals?
We’ve compiled a few popular gift ideas that address all of the above challenges. Entrepreneurs are passionate about their work, so if you can find a present that helps them on their journey to success, they will be genuinely impressed and grateful.
1. A Frank and Oak Style Subscription
@frankandoak | source
Frank and Oak Style Plan is a monthly subscription box that allows any entrepreneur to build a stylish professional wardrobe. The service caters to both casual and formal fashion preferences and offers pieces that include suits, blazers, button-down shirts, dresses, jeans, blouses, and more. Their initial selection questionnaire does a great job of pinpointing the best fitting style choices.
Price: Each month, members pay a $25 styling fee. Members can then keep and pay for the clothing they like, and send back any clothing they don’t like. The monthly styling fee is credited toward any purchases, and all returns are free for 7 days. Frank and Oak offers online gift cards in denominations ranging from $25 to $500.
What It Does: The subscriber fills out a questionnaire outlining his or her style preferences, and Frank and Oak ships 1 to 3 garments per month based on that information. The subscriber then has 7 days to return any unwanted garments. After that time, they’re charged for the garments they keep.
The Type of Professional It’s Best For: Frank and Oak is ideal for the young professional. They have a broad selection, but the styles are largely geared toward millennials. Originally catering to men only, Frank and Oak’s subscription service is now available to both men and women. Still, men tend to have the greatest uncertainty when it comes to choosing fashions, so the service remains especially useful for the male demographic. And because the company uses recycled materials, biodegradable fibers, and naturally derived dyes, the service is also perfect for the eco-conscious entrepreneur.
How It Helps Business Owners: Steve Jobs wore the same turtleneck and jeans every day because it spared him from wasting decision-making energy on trivial matters. Likewise, a style subscription box can help any entrepreneur look their best without falling victim to decision fatigue. Any professional can now leave the styling to the experts and focus on running their business—at a fraction of the cost of a personal stylist.
Why People Love It: Frank & Oak has been featured on CNN, Forbes, Glamour, Men’s Journal, and more. Trendsetters love it because of how it simplifies the process of choosing a wardrobe. According to Sarah Han at Buzzfeed, “I tried this clothing subscription service and will never pick out my own clothes again.” AskMen further noted that “Frank And Oak has a great system that makes ordering customizable, stylish affordable clothing easy.” The fashions are amazing, and the process is easy. What’s not to love?
2. A Freshly Food Subscription
@getfreshly | source
While we’re on the subject of subscription boxes, Freshly makes it easy to prepare delicious homemade meals in just 3 minutes without having to navigate complicated recipes or even spend time at the supermarket.
Price: Freshly offers four gift options:
- 4 meals for $49.99
- 5 meals for $59.99
- 9 meals for $89.99
- 12 meals for $107.99
These pricing tiers represent the four weekly plans that Freshly offers, and the gift covers the first delivery. Once the recipient receives it, they can continue the subscription at that rate, change to a different plan, or cancel at any time.
What It Does: Freshly offers chef-designed recipes that are fully cooked and delivered to the recipient’s home. You (or your recipient) can choose from dozens of artisanal options like grilled chicken pesto risotto, sausage baked penne, and veggie tikka masala. The meals come fully cooked and can be heated up in three minutes or less. New meals are delivered every week.
The Type of Professional It’s Best For: Health-conscious and family-oriented professionals are excellent candidates for a Freshly subscription. All recipes are gluten-free, protein-rich, free of refined sugars, and made with natural ingredients. For the busy corporate mom or dad who wants to put delicious meals on the table but doesn’t have a lot of time, Freshly makes it easy.
How It Helps Business Owners: Freshly is ideal for busy professionals who work long hours and don’t have time to slave away in the kitchen. The service allows even the busiest entrepreneurs to skip the drive-thru and enjoy regular home-cooked meals on a regular basis.
Why People Love It: Entrepreneur, HuffPost, and Glamour have praised Freshly for its healthy, natural ingredients. In addition, subscribers love Freshly because it’s the only major food subscription service that enables subscribers to enjoy gourmet meals with zero effort.
3. A Todoist Business Annual Membership
@todoistofficial | source
Running a business requires many moving parts, and the right software makes business management much easier, more efficient, and more profitable. That’s where Todoist comes in.
Price: The standard version of Todoist is free, but the functionality is limited. For just $60, you can gift an annual Todoist Business membership, which includes the software’s full array of advanced features.
What It Does: Todoist is designed to be the ultimate task management and productivity solution. Users can create and track projects, set priority levels, create reminders and deadlines, and delegate projects to team members as needed. Priority levels are neatly color-coded, and the clutter-free design promotes maximum productivity even when juggling numerous simultaneous projects. What sets Todoist apart from similar programs are its streamlined interface, customizable project templates, and detailed productivity analytics.
The Type of Professional It’s Best For: This is an excellent tool for small business owners who need a cost-effective way to manage their tasks, projects, and team members. Sole proprietors can use it to stay on task, and growing businesses can use it to manage all of their projects without the need for a bulkier, costlier project management platform. It’s also powerful enough to support the needs of large businesses.
How It Helps Business Owners: Todoist offers many of the same features as higher-end project management tools like Basecamp and Microsoft Project, but at a much lower price. The key benefit to business owners is that the software streamlines those often overwhelming daily workflows. The platform also offers automatic daily updates and bank-level security.
Why People Love It: Companies like Coca-Cola, Intel, eBay, and Nike use Todoist Business because it offers the features and security needed to ensure seamless workflows without interruption.
4. A Stamina InMotion Compact Strider
@staminaproducts | source
Everyone wants to stay in shape, but it’s not always easy for busy entrepreneurs who sit at a desk for 8 to 10 hours a day. The Stamina InMotion Compact Strider is designed to provide a solution.
Price: This product retails for just $139 at the Stamina website.
What It Does: The Stamina InMotion Compact Strider is an elliptical machine that fits neatly beneath an office desk. It features adjustable resistance levels, a monitor with detailed workout stats, and even a set of resistance tubes that allow the user to work out the upper body.
The Type of Professional It’s Best For: This compact, lightweight machine is ideal for home-based and office-based entrepreneurs who don’t have time to hit the gym as often as they’d like. It’s suitable for older professionals seeking a low-resistance workout at the office but still offers enough of a burn for younger, physically fit users.
How It Helps Business Owners: Prolonged sitting has been shown in studies to contribute to metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. Long periods of sitting are sometimes unavoidable for professionals, but anyone can combat the negative effects by staying in motion while at the office. The InMotion Compact Strider makes it easy.
Why People Love It: The two biggest advantages for buyers are the size and the price. While massive treadmill desks and standing desks can be size- and cost-prohibitive, the InMotion Compact Strider measures just 24 by 18 by 12 inches and is available for under $150. Fitness Tech Pro noted that the machine “has one of the smallest footprints in its class,” and Elliptical Hub noted that it “offers unbeatable value and is one of the most perfectly designed elliptical units.”
5. A Complete Udemy Course
@udemy | source
Udemy is the ultimate source for affordable, full-length instructional courses covering just about every subject under the sun, including those relevant to entrepreneurs. Many courses contain hundreds of hours’ worth of video lectures from expert instructors, along with quizzes, articles, and other supplementary materials. Entrepreneurs are always looking for apps that optimize business operations, so investing in an app that improves their own skill set is only natural.
Price: While most Udemy courses retail for around $200, the site is constantly running promotions that allow users to purchase courses for between $10 and $20. To purchase a course as a present, just click on the course homepage and select “Gift This Course” in the upper-right corner of the screen.
What It Does: Udemy is simple to use. When a course is purchased, the course materials never expire. A user can watch the lectures and use the interactive materials at their own pace and leisure. All materials are accessible on the desktop site and also via the Udemy mobile app. Many courses even offer certifications upon completion.
The Type of Professional It’s Best For: Udemy courses are ideal for the ambitious self-starter. Millennial-aged professionals are ideal recipients because they’re accustomed to absorbing large volumes of information online. However, savvy older professionals enjoy these courses as well.
How It Helps Business Owners: Udemy has courses to advance just about any professional skill set. There are project management courses, coding courses, accounting courses; there’s even a complete 49-hour MBA course. Altogether, there are more than 100,000 courses to choose from.
Why People Love it: Companies like Adidas, Lyft, Pinterest, and Eventbrite use Udemy courses to instill valuable skills in their employees. Businesses invest in these courses because they’re engaging, flexible, and highly effective.
Finding the Right Gift for That Entrepreneur
If you’re trying to find the perfect gift for a business professional, the above suggestions are a great place to start. Just consider the benefits that would add the most value to the person’s professional efforts. If you’re still unsure, other great gift ideas include meditation apps, business magazine subscriptions, and virtual assistant tools (like the Amazon Echo or Google Home).
Just be creative, and try to determine where there’s an unfulfilled need. If your gift meets that need, it may just help your recipient to take their business to the next level.
