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Having
moved into Construction in the late 90¡¯s after spending many years in
recreational products, the learning curve was steep but very enjoyable.
It turned out that my lack of experience was an asset; I was always
open to new products or processes as everything was knew to me in this new
industry.
I
was at a builders trade show in Atlanta back in 2000, huge building (there
had been a 2-story house built inside) and was looking over the display
floor from a mezzanine. I saw
a company with a display booth that the floor was made up of a picture
that they were walking and standing on.
Short story; don¡¯t really remember what they were selling (I
think something to do with pools), just wanted to know about their floor
(glass tile), followed up with the company over the following months and
was able to research the equipment.
The
company that I worked for at the time was building about 100 homes a year
and I knew that there wasn¡¯t anyone that was offering custom
photographic tile backsplashes. At
the time we were selling homes faster then we could get them built and I
thought, this would be easy, until something was brought to my attention
that I hadn¡¯t really thought about.
Were we going to give people a chance to pick a picture, or were we
just going to install what we wanted?
A tile installer thought it was a win/win for his company; he knew
that he was going to end up with an extra job or two on every house we did
a mural in. Could we pick the
picture a buyer wanted permanently in their home?
(No) Would we leave a
backsplash undone until sold? (No) So,
with the amount of business that we had it didn¡¯t make any since (cents)
to slow down the process or add the expense.
I
had spent my money on equipment, had taken the time (5am-10am for 3
months) to figure out the process and now was putting everything on hold.
Well we all know what has happened over the past few years, as new
construction started to slow down I began to look at other specifics
within the industry. What I
realized was, I was too specific in regards to the usage of my tile.
What else could I produce that could be sold for $6 (a single tile
at the time) or $6,000 (a couple of larger murals).
Not in construction.
In
2009 I turned my focus on producing tile.
Construction is still a good portion of my business, but it comes
from referrals or previous clients. Most
people don¡¯t realize it but the process for producing the tiles has been
around since the 70¡¯s, what I was faced with was; it having been around
for so long and people not being familiar with what could be done, how to
bring the product to market? Started
with a Christmas craft show at a local church in Salem, at that small show
I had someone ask me if I could put his Corvette on a tile, that really
was the start, someone asking me, ¡¡ãCan you?¡¡À.
Over the next couple of years there wasn¡¯t a week that went by
that I didn¡¯t have the same question come-up; ¡¡ãCan you?¡¡À.
Our
Web-Site update started in January of 2011 and didn¡¯t get very far,
never was changed do to the first part of the year wasn¡¯t slow enough (a
tough thing too busy). Other
process¡¯ (tile for exterior use) and product (mug¡¯s, and I had told my
Wife we would never do mug¡¯s) were added and not marketed on our site. I had orders that came our way where the email would say ¡¡ãI
don¡¯t see it on your site, but I was told (or had seen) you do it¡¡À.
Again, someone telling someone else, which is invaluable and I
can¡¯t Thank everyone who has mentioned our business to a friend or
colleague. In 2012 the update
had to take place, it became too complex (as happened previously) as it
was being rebuilt and then was scaled back for simplicity.
The site will be updated on a monthly basis, but the important
items have been added.
With
the addition of production equipment in 2010, 2011 & 2012 the major
items we have added are; Mug¡¯s - 2010, thousands produced since;
Aluminum - 2011, very little in the Salem area, but commercial accounts
out of state have been great; 12¡¡À Tile ¡§C 2012, learning curve was
expensive; Aluminum Oversize ¡§C 2012, bigger then 8¡¡Àx10¡¡À &
Floating Hangers. A number of
small items that have been added because of ¡¡ãCan you do?¡¡À are
available and don¡¯t fall into one of our major product lines and will be
part of a general product line page in the near future.
Our
little company is still that, little in physical size, but with the
ability to produce our products into the thousands.
If it weren¡¯t for the advent of technology, we wouldn¡¯t be
doing what we do, to the level we are able.
When I received an order a couple of years ago from Norway, my
first response back was wanting to know how did they hear about us in
Salem Oregon. They hadn¡¯t
found us on the Internet; they had seen a tile we had made for a graduate
of UofO who was a co-worker, the first of many referrals out of the
States.
I
welcome a ¡¡ãCan You Do?¡¡À even when it isn¡¯t something that we might
produce. The question has led
me to new and challenging products, as well as allowing me to point people
in the right (different) direction. In
the end, I am glad to help.
Jeff
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