Allen Kraiem is the founder of Throne Kingdom, your one-stop destination for custom made royal throne chairs and wooden works of all forms. Based out of Brooklyn, NY, Throne Kingdom creates phenomenal royal designs delivered right to your home in the most convenient and efficient way. The company carefully selects all their resources and caters to upscale clients with a knack and unrelenting desire for contemporary design. Throne Kingdom designs all products with an ultra-focus on high back throne chairs and sofas to give any home a touch of royalty and contemporary design.
What is Throne Kingdom all about?
Throne Kingdom creates phenomenal royal furniture delivered right to your home in the most convenient and efficient way. My goal is to offer a trustworthy, top-quality selection of timeless furniture pieces for home and entertainment industries. My vision is to establish a furniture brand to benefit businesses and homes seeking a more unique design — one that would stand out from your typical furniture.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company.
My father was a migrant from Egypt who came to New York City in 1952. He had much success in retail for over 60 years importing from Asia and Africa. From when I was a young adult, I worked in his store on 5th avenue that imported many different things ranging from electronics and rugs to exotic home furniture and antiques. He instilled in me his old-time values, which were to sell high-quality products and show honesty to all our customers. Today, we have a family business with my son and other family members who work for the company.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
The top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur are:
- Emotional intelligence & passion
- Critical & creative thinking
- Customer service
An entrepreneur must have these skills in order to maximize their potential for business success.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
We’re continuously implementing new strategies into our business life every single day. Our focus has been mainly on networking with other great entrepreneurs throughout the years. We have met sharp-minded people who are celebrating great success thanks to their top skills and undying passion.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
Our #1 pride is honesty and quality. Most of our competitors are not reliable and therefore caused damage to the entertainment furniture industry during the past decade. We’ve heard of the many difficulties our clients faced from supplying their furniture from other sources.
What were the top three mistakes you made when starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
Finding the right factories was a massive challenge for us. We have sourced from several countries and many different contacts trying to narrow down the best and most efficient way to produce the best quality items. We’ve lost thousands of dollars on factories we bought merchandise from that never ended up shipping out the goods. We also worked with factories that sent us terrible quality products that would fall apart in only a few weeks after purchase. Many customers have stopped working with us and for a while, we struggled to pay our rent and invest in the proper marketing strategies. We learned that this industry is risky, and we knew that eventually, we would find honest factories to work with.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process, what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
There have been different marketing strategies that greatly improved our visibility with potential customers. We highly believe in understanding our customers and the market and creating only customer-driven marketing strategies that will create value and long-term relationships.
In a world of fast-paced market changes, we recommend focusing on product innovation and differentiation. Customers demand high-quality products, so companies should create products that satisfy customers’ wants and needs better than competitors rather than solely focusing on production or selling.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Our biggest challenges were:
– Creating efficient shipping nationwide
– Overcoming doubt due to dishonest competitors
– Quality material sourcing
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
Our first idea was to bring throne chairs to the mass market and make it quick and simple to order them online.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
We are learning that customers need trust and integrity. It’s especially important for us to stock the most exotic styles for the most eccentric customer, as it gives legitimacy to the brand and trust that even the most absurd request can be met.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
We wouldn’t do anything different because we have realized that pacing out the growth of our company while improving our infrastructure would be the most beneficial investment for the business’s future. Dealing with such massive products and an increase in orders would result in a setback in order logistics by a certain deadline, which could potentially upset customers that mostly have to meet specific dates.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
The tools we are using to grow our company are:
- Omnisend email marketing platform – It’s easy to use and very time efficient to design attractive emails, set up automations, and engage with our new and existing buyers.
- Google Ads. – Google ads are well known for their value within the marketing world. Our Google Ad marketing campaigns help us gain more visibility.
- Instagram & Facebook – We run several campaigns on our social media platforms to grow brand awareness.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
Having a highly educated sales team is a tremendous advantage, as these products are expensive and most people are hesitant to purchase without sufficient info and if they sense knowledge deficiency.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
David Goggins’s podcasts are definitely a great way to motivate me in all aspects of life. His perseverance and clarity are a goal I continue to strive for every day.
What is your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is:
‘Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.’
Things can get difficult in business and life, but being uncomfortable is key for amplifying growth and success.
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
Make a concerted effort to exercise, eat a balanced meal, have a good night’s sleep, and wake up early to meditate, as everything else will fall into place.
