By Thomas A. Parmalee

Mohamed Bouraoui, a serial entrepreneur who is the founder of multiple brands operating in a variety of fields – including death care – has defied the odds almost by sheer determination to become a successful serial entrepreneur.

One of his brands is FreezePix, which offers a niche product that can be offered to families by funeral homes, veterinarians or pet crematories.

“The offer consists of our 3D engraved crystal keepsakes,” Bouraoui said. “Our FreezePix lab can take any picture, turn it onto a 3D model and then laser engrave it inside a block of crystal.”

He continued, “The process is very simple. Funeral homes and other partners onboard by receiving a free sample to display at their location, along with marketing material to add the product to their plans and website.”

A native of Tunisia, Bouraoui’s first language is Arabic with a Tunisian dialect – one that many other Arabs simply cannot understand.

His second language is an open debate – he says it’s French, but his wife insists that was eight years ago and it was replaced by English.

When he immigrated to Canada more than 15 years ago, he found the odds stacked against him, even though he graduated from college with a very respectable grade point average.

“I landed my first internship after applying to 100 companies in Quebec,” he said. “I worked in Quebec for four years after earning my bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.”

In 2014, he started a manufacturing company in Montreal with two partners. “That was tough – we rented an office and hired a sales representative, which was a rookie mistake,” he said. “Then, thanks to my partners’ wisdom, we downsized quickly. We had one machine and some raw crystals in a storage unit. Anyway, it took us seven years while I also worked other jobs and built the business for us to get to a point where two out of the three partners decided to jump. I was one of them – and now I’m a full-time serial entrepreneur.”

In the meantime, he met his future wife, Elizabeth, in 2016. “I told her after three weeks, ‘You are the one!’” he said.

It was a big step for someone in their 20s who had previously never believed in commitment, he said. The two moved together to a small apartment house in early 2017 in Bloor West Village and married a couple years later. “It was the cheapest wedding on earth,” he joked. A few years later, after a lot of trying, they had a son, Atlas (pictured with Bouraoui at the top of this article), and now live just outside of Toronto.

FuneralVision.com recently caught up with Bouraoui to learn more about FreezePix, what the brand offers funeral homes and what he’s learned on his journey of being an entrepreneur. Edited excerpts follow.

First, tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a serial entrepreneur and the managing partner of The Bouraoui Group Ltd.

I have an industrial engineering background. I started a manufacturing company with two partners in 2014 in Montreal and I went on to launch two other companies in 2021 in Ontario, Canada and Sousse, Tunisia.

In Ontario, The Bouraoui Group Ltd is a group of brands operating in multiple fields.

When did you start FreezePix and how exactly did you come up with the idea?

FreezePix is our photography and photo lab brand. I started it in 2021 with a vision to be the most trusted photography brand worldwide.

Our FreezePix Photo Lab division aims to be the most efficient and large network of photo labs providing photo printing and photo gifts solutions for everyone.

Tell us more about how it works.

For the death-care and veterinarian industries, FreezePix offers as of 2024 a niche product that can be listed in the family support section of any plan offered by funeral homes, veterinarians or pet crematoriums.

FreezePix provides a drop shipping service. All partners can access our website and take advantage of a wholesale discount. Orders can be shipped to the home or directly to the family. The complete process takes between four and seven days from ordering to delivery.

(You can view a video of the FreezePix products from the National Funeral Directors Association’s recent convention on LinkedIn.)

What is the cost?

The wholesale price is $70 per crystal, including a customized crystal, LED light base and shipping. We recommend a retail Price of $140. Customers can choose between a heart or a rectangular shape.

When you began offering it, were you specifically thinking about lost loved ones … or were you thinking more about births, weddings, anniversaries and other special occasions?

The thinking at the beginning revolved around awards and large productions, and then we realized that there is demand for our solution in the gifting industry, which helped us develop a one-piece flow process to be able to customize individual orders in a fast and a scalable way.

We now believe that helping honor lost loved ones is the largest market for us. We can see it from the demand from our online customers.

Have you sought to sell the product directly to the public, through funeral homes or both?

We believe the product can be sold on both channels – B2C and B2B. Our customers are in both places, and each segment has different needs.

Customers who find us online are often looking for a gift for someone else. Our funeral home customers are looking to provide families with a last memory along with great customer service – and that’s what 3D engraving offers. The picture families receive will last forever inside the crystal and will never fade.

Has one channel been more successful than the other and/or have you changed your strategy over time?

We just started the B2B development, and we believe that it will be way more successful. Technically, the quality of the picture provided by a funeral home is way higher than someone online submitting a picture taken by their phone most of the time.

We also believe that this product will be a “promotional product” for the funeral home itself as many other family members will ask when they see it on display: Where did you get that from?

If you have affiliate programs with funeral homes and/or cemeteries, can they earn any type of commission on sales or is there any type of bulk pricing?

 As noted earlier, we offer a drop-shipping program for a 50% wholesale discount.

We also offer an affiliation program, but we see it working more with animal hospitals for pet parents with pets that are still alive. We display the product at the vet along with coupons specific to the hospital, and pet parents can save 10% by redeeming it online. The hospital earns a 20% commission or donates it to their preferred charitable organization.

How much does the memorial market contribute to your business and is that growing?

We just started in the memorial market, but all growth for 2025 should come from that segment.

What about pets … how important is that segment?

Pets represent 60%. That market can be segmented into animal hospitals and pet crematoriums.

We are a member of the International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories, and we want to push that market.

Beyond FreezePix, are you looking to serve funeral homes and/or cemeteries in other ways with different products?

Yes, we have a confidential project in development …I can’t disclose it as of now, but it will be big. Stay tuned.

You recently exhibited at the NFDA convention. Are you regularly exhibiting at other death-care shows, and what has been the response so far?

We garnered a lot of interest from many funeral homes at the NFDA convention. So far, we have signed up 18 funeral homes. We are looking forward to attending additional shows in the future.

What has been your biggest challenge in introducing this product to the marketplace?

Awareness. Onboarding for any home is free, and we offer a drop-shipping program, so cost is not an issue. At this point, we just want to be seen and heard. Our team is ready and hungry to perform.

Do you serve customers throughout the world?

We ship to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Do you sell only through your website or are you on other sites such as Etsy, Amazon, etc.?

With FreezePix, we decided to sell only through our website and focus on B2B. We believe that lasting relationships are the real deal, products come and go.

What do families love most about your product/solution and why should more funeral homes/cemeteries consider working with you or recommending your product to families?

Business is about doing what you said you would do. That’s my philosophy. We deliver, and if we don’t, we hold ourselves accountable and do whatever it takes to fix it.

What do you enjoy most about working in the funeral service space?

It’s a tough, stressful industry, and I have a lot of respect for the people who serve in it. The one thing I enjoy is talking to the people in this industry. They are respectful, straightforward and good people.

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