# What business did you "fall" into



## BrianFSM (Oct 28, 2013)

Hello,
New member here. Wanted to get a start on meeting with you in this online community.

I never planned on having a business it just kinda happened. Well, the first year kinda happened. The following 2 years were no accident as many startup businesses know. Here are a couple highlights from my story. 

What's yours?

My name is Brian. I started an online business with a friend just over 3 years ago. We mostly do metal fabrication. It's been a bumpy and fun experience. Switching my life from that paycheck every other week seemed scary at first but the freedom I gained goes great with my personality.

We started out with no intention of making our own business but we are "go where the wind blows us" types. We have skills in designing, well my partner has more of the design skills. I'm the people person who does sales, shipping, and marketing.

Winter a few years ago we got a tassimo single serve brewing machine as a gift since we are known to be avid coffee drinkers. From there we found keurig and made holders for tassimo and keurig coffee pods. We soon found out that Keurig was the leader between the 2 so we put a lot more into them. It paid off surprisingly. 
We have been going steady, with a slight sales growth, searching and adding products when it fits. This includes holders for the starbucks new verismo machine. Also, our tangent interest in jeeps led us to make a couple of accessory products for it.

In this time we have been able to build our own metal shop, sold our products all over the world (I need to look into some international shipping threads, it can be a pain), & we have stocked over half a dozen hotels with our holders, most recently Arrabelle in Vail, CO. That was exciting.

We don't have many goals besides keep growing and move to a beach one day. Our work is mostly online and using design programs. Might as well snag a towel and work with an inspirational ocean view. It also serves as plan B, if it all goes belly up we can be beach bums.

We are now gearing up for all of the coffee drinkers to come out of hibernation and hope for a busy winter. I just always cross my fingers that gas prices and "the fear of" whatever political or social issue is or will be going on will be low. My sales seem to ride parallel to these things.

Anyway follow the link to check out our site, which is new.
www.fsmdllc.com
For something a little more set in you can find us on
ebay, amazon, & etsy 
fsmdesign

Our most popular keurig k cup holder:









Thanks for reading,
Brian Tackett
FSM Design & Fabrication LLC










So there's my cliff. What business did you fall into?


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## hmsteader71 (Mar 16, 2006)

That's awesome Brian.  My sister and I are just starting out. We are having a hard time of it and haven't fallen into anything yet. I do rag quilting and she makes wreaths & little girl hair accessories. Unfortunately many out there do both. Now my husband works for a support plant for Toyota doing anywhere from 50-70 hour weeks. But if he had the spare time I believe he could have a business going in no time. He custom builds guitars. He can also strip a guitar down to nothing and rebuild it. Unfortunately he doesn't have the time right now but it has been our dream since we married, almost 15 years ago, to be independent and own our own business.


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## LoonyK (Dec 12, 2009)

If you move to an ocean beach someday, how'd you be homesteading in salt laden beach sand?


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## BrianFSM (Oct 28, 2013)

hmsteader71 said:


> That's awesome Brian.  My sister and I are just starting out. We are having a hard time of it and haven't fallen into anything yet. I do rag quilting and she makes wreaths & little girl hair accessories. Unfortunately many out there do both. Now my husband works for a support plant for Toyota doing anywhere from 50-70 hour weeks. But if he had the spare time I believe he could have a business going in no time. He custom builds guitars. He can also strip a guitar down to nothing and rebuild it. Unfortunately he doesn't have the time right now but it has been our dream since we married, almost 15 years ago, to be independent and own our own business.


hmsteader71

When in an industry that is flooded with competition it's hard to find a way to stand out. We got lucky in this area. We started with something that barely existed and tweaked it in a small unique way to spark the interest of our target audience. Coffee Drinkers = selling holders with a coffee theme designed into it. It's eye appealing, doesn't stray away from the purpose of the product, and gives us that little extra unique experience that people can't generally find anywhere else.

It sounds like you, your sister, & husband have all found your niche and target services/products which is the hardest part when looking into working for yourself. Make sure you know your target audience. Thanksgiving and Christmas time is an excellent selling season for quilts a wreaths. These 2 products can be easily turned into cross-promotion items. ex. Buy a quilt as a present and include a discount price for a Christmas decor wreath and vice versa. 

Something else to keep in mind are the benefits of local sales. It's a great icebreaker for your new business and it is very easy to get good rapport from your local town. Festivals and booths are easy to get into if you plan ahead. I grew up in a small town in Arkansas and it seemed like twice a month there would be festivals going on in the park. These people are your bread and butter. They will love supporting local businesses creating word of mouth advertising (the best kind of advertising). Just don't forget your business cards.

If she's not already, your sister might want to look into sports teams to implement in her hair accessory products. This is a common, easy thing to get her name out there. There is usually a set fee for use of trademarks and a percentage of sales. They are very particular about colors and designs but fans will buy anything with their favorite team on it.

Lastly, Leaving the 9-5 is a scary and hard thing to do. I have found a new understanding of "jumping through hoops" and "cash poor". As difficult as it is sometimes I am happier than ever to be self reliant and make my own schedule. However, there is no avoiding having someone to answer to. I consider my customers the leaders because their experience before, during, and after the buying process determines whether I keep moving forward or not. The perks are worth it though. We have a workshop on a few acres that I use to for everything from engineering a bracket I might need for building projects to cool metal art I might want in my house.








This year I was also able to keep a garden and we created a pond that we're prepping to keep fish in next year. A lot of my work is done online so I enjoy the thought of sitting at my pond fishing while working on my laptop.

I wish you all the luck it's a great experience to break away and be completely independent
Brian


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## BrianFSM (Oct 28, 2013)

LoonyK said:


> If you move to an ocean beach someday, how'd you be homesteading in salt laden beach sand?


Same way I do now. Get a few acres Put a workshop and a house on it. Make raised garden beds. A few things would change though. I would be able to keep a garden all year long instead of half the year, my view of oak trees would change to palm and pine trees, and instead of fishing in a pond I would be fishing in the ocean. and I guess I would have to find a new use for my wood stove.
Also, I know where i'm going if I need some willow trees out there. Willows are my favorite. and the way you sell them seems like the best way for landscaping.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

I fell into the printing business, which I've been doing since '93.

Most of our income now comes from ebay and flea marketing, which we fell into about 10 years ago. An indoor flea market opened up in our town, and we rented a $35 a month shelf to see if we could cover the rent...and the rest is history, LOL.


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## hmsteader71 (Mar 16, 2006)

Thanks Brian. There were a lot of good tips in that post. I shared it with my sister as well.


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