We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Murchison a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

So many lessons learned.

1. Start small. Use supplies/equipment/skills you either have already, or can obtain without too large of an investment. As you grow, have your business pay for additional equipment/skills allowing you to offer more.

2. Streamline your materials/offerings. – If you offer 50 different products in 50 different color options, you need to have the infrastructure and materials for all of those offerings. Choose a handful of popular items and finishes and start there. Keep the material investment low.

3. In the beginning, sub out your manufacturing – Initially we manufactured everything ourselves. We carried the investment of all the equipment and shop space. Not to mention, we personally designed, manufactured and shipped all of our products, on top of having full time jobs and children. Last year we decided to sell all of our equipment and sub out our manufacturing. It saves us tens of thousands of dollars a year and allows us to focus on growing our business.

Megan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My husband, Tanner, and I met at a trade school in Minnesota where we were both studying Wood Finishing Technology. At the time, I was refinishing furniture and he was working towards being a luthier. After we graduated, we rented a small space where he made guitars and I took commissions to refinish furniture. I gradually got pulled into his side of things and we ended up both building guitars. We did that for a few years but as specialized guitar wood became more scarce, and competition increased, we looked for something else.

Because we both loved to create, and because Tanner can engineer anything, we turned our sights to modern outdoor furniture. However, both of us having awareness of the weaknesses of wood and the hassles of refinishing, we decided to design furniture that never had to be refinished. We chose materials (HDPE and Phenolic) that hold up to the elements, are beautiful and most importantly, are hassle free. The blend of solid color HDPE and our wood grain Phenolic gives our furniture a high end aesthetic and elevates whatever setting it’s placed in. Hence our slogan, “Outdoor Living, Elevated”.

With our mission and materials determined, we turned our focus to design/engineering and together we created every product we offer. Countless hours spent on the computer ideating, drawing and sketching. Then countless hours spent prototyping, tweaking and re-engineering, until every product was perfect.

We created our own website, we run all of our social media and email outreach and handle all customer interactions. To this day, our company consists of just me, Tanner and our manufacturer Shawn. We just do everything ourselves. I’d say that is what I’m most proud of. Just us two, no background in design, creating products that rival our competitors and their vast design teams. When someone calls, I answer the phone. If someone needs something custom, Tanner designs it.

It’s our business, and it’s personal. And we think that is important.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience isn’t a ‘moment in time’ for a small business, it’s just a constant state of being.

It’s the resilience to work every night, answer the calls, send the emails, think, create, look forward, look inward, assess, reassess and then to move forward, every single day.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

There is no one way to go to market.

In the beginning, I searched for some “How To” guide on how to take our products to market, thinking surely there must be a simple step by step plan! Not the case.

Every company must decide for themselves who to market to, how to effectively get in front of those people, where/how to sell their products and how much to charge for their products.

Initially, we looked to other furniture companies for guidance but it just wasn’t apples to apples. We had to find our own way that worked for us.

Contact Info:

• Website: 360fivedesigns.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/360fivedesigns/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/360five-designs

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