IW: Give us an elevator pitch for your business

R and V: Hey friends we’re Rosh and Viran, an entrepreneur couple, and together we run Original Box (OB)! OB is a website design, photography, and videography studio. We help you entrepreneurs and businesses create minimal and slick content, with a strong focus on achieving the client’s website goals. We’ve successfully worked with over 50 unique clients! Including designing ecommerce websites for The Great British Porridge Co and The Protein Ball Co, and as a result the director and founder has reported an increase in sales by 200% and growing. Our website and content design is inspired greatly by minimalism, and by the gorgeous colour palettes in nature. We do things differently and design websites which are self-sufficient and functional, leaving you with no headaches once the site is launched and making the process a breeze for you! So, are you ready to work with us and see your business thrive?

IW: What is your favourite thing about Worthing?

R and V: Our absolute favourite thing about Worthing, is the promotion and support of small and independent businesses! So far, we haven’t experienced this wonderful culture anywhere else in the UK. Viran grew up in Worthing, and he’s seen a wonderful growth of independents showing up in his hometown over the years. One of Rosh’s first experiences of Worthing was attending the Sunny Worthing Business Awards in 2018. This was such an eye opener for her, and it was wonderful to see the celebration of independents! Worthing also inspired us to start our ‘Rosh & Viran Food Reviews’ YouTube channel, and so far, we’ve collaborated with several amazing independent restaurants and cafes! Our business was founded on the need to help small businesses thrive with an online presence, so this town is very close to our heart!

IW: Describe your favourite type of day?

R and V: Love this question! We would head out to a small cafe for brunch (this makes us sound kind of posh, but let us be clear … we’re not!), and then drive to nearby woodlands or to the beach for a nice long walk. After that it would be a drive to some small village so that we can check out quirky independent shops and grab a cup of tea (for Viran), and coffee (for Rosh). Farm shops with local produce are our absolute favourite! The rest of the day would be spent having some kind of cheesy dinner at home, and then finishing off the day watching our favourite YouTubers!

IW: What skill or talent would you most like to learn and why?

R and V: Viran wants to become fluent in Hindi, Punjabi, and Spanish. Hindi and Punjabi were the languages of his grandparents, and when he was a child, he was barely able to communicate with them, because of the language barrier. So, during the pandemic, he began self-teaching using a great App on his phone, and now wants to become fluent. Spanish is a nice add on as it's such a beautiful language too. Rosh wants to learn to ride horses. She loves animals, and riding gives her so much joy especially as she gets to be out in nature and get loads of fresh air!

IW: What topic could you give a 20-minute presentation on without any preparation?

R and V: We both completed a 3.5-day personal development course back in March 2021. It’s called The Landmark Forum. We got so much from this course, and we both had so many breakthroughs and went through several transformations during it. In 2021 we also discovered some books on Stoicism philosophy, which we also fell in love with as these greatly helped with life's challenges. Quite honestly, we can go on and on about our personal development work for a solid 20 minutes and probably more!

IW: What is the best thing about what you do?

R and V: Knowing that we are helping businesses with great content. We know this sounds a tad cheesy, but this is genuinely the best thing about being an entrepreneur. We get to work with amazing clients like The Great British Porridge Co, who appeared on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den and received offers from all FIVE dragons (a full house!). It was such an honour to work with them! The ‘why’ behind us taking the leap, leaving our corporate jobs, and starting our own businesses was to have an impact in the world, yup, world. That’s the beauty of being online, you can reach anyone! Proven through our Etsy business (Minimal Notions), where 80% of our sales come from the US!

IW:  What pearl of wisdom would you impart to anyone wanting to set up their own business?

R and V: If you really want it, don’t put it off, do it. There is no ‘someday’, there is only ‘today’. To quote Marcus Aurelius (a Roman Emperor from 161 to 180, and Stoic philosopher) - “To live each day as if it were your last”. We know it sounds easier in theory than to actually do it, but it was hard for us too. It took a lot of dedication and determination, but once again, our ‘why’ outshined all of the doubts.

IW:  What’s your favourite way to start the day?

R and V: Rosh meditates for 10 minutes first thing in the morning. The next thing is to have a hot drink, usually some kind of herbal tea, and to write in her Freedom Mastery life planner! The most important thing to do is start the day off with anything positive. Never the news, or emails! Viran goes straight to the fridge for his turmeric shot, then after breakfast he goes out for a 30–60-minute walk. Sometimes the morning includes reading sections of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, our Stoicism hero. Stoicism is a wonderful ancient philosophy which has been a huge benefit in our lives!

IW: What inspired you to start your own business?

R and V: Whilst working for someone else, we were both lucky and grateful enough to be earning a good salary, but our careers weren’t really fulfilling. We weren’t happy. Viran started the business first, beginning to design websites for local places in Worthing. He also found fulfilment in and discovered his love for photography. The passion and inspiration for creating impact on independents then grew more and more, for both of us. We also listened to a lot of entrepreneurial podcasts and plenty of audiobooks, including those by Tony Robbins! We highly recommend Tony!