We were lucky to catch up with William Adams recently and have shared our conversation below.
William, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
I am definitely happier as a business owner, however I live with a foot in both worlds! While I own and operate Music City Axe, I also work a 9-5 job in technology. This requires a lot of time spent on my business after hours, but I love what I do, in both of those worlds. I think too many hopeful entrepreneurs believe that they have to jump all in, quit the job, accrue debt and make it work! While this is definitely one way to go, I have had great success starting small, and scaling slowly. This allows me to learn from small-scale problems that have big learning potential. If you want to be the next Starbucks, maybe start a coffee cart, work out your flavor notes, your processes, sourcing, brand goals, etc. Then grow with your brand.
William, 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 name is William, I’ve had the pleasure of owning and operating Music City Axe Throwing! Our sole purpose is to bring axe throwing to the adventurer! While many people would love to try axe throwing, most aren’t going to take a Saturday to go try out this activity, so we bring the fun to them. We are most proud of the experience we provide – this is not a carnival game with rigged axes, but an interactive, coached experience – with the goal being all of our customers hitting bullseyes before they exit the trailer!
Have you ever had to pivot?
My initial plan for our business was to capitalize on the numerous live events in Nashville, and provide axe throwing to the thousands that attend. Well, just as the pandemic had different plans for all of us in 2020, Music City Axe was not spared either! With live events essentially wiped clean from the calendar, we had to become creative in seeking new business. We created a campaign on Facebook and Google geared not at driving customers to us, but us, to them! Private events such as employee appreciations, graduation parties, birthdays, engagements, weddings, even divorce parties (yes, we do those too!) have now become a staple of our business. We are able to do what we do best – engage intimately with our customer, ensuring they have the best experience possible while in the axe range!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Unfortunately, I have had to cultivate resilience in the area of understanding that, not everyone wants you to succeed. We are blessed to work with wonderful partners across middle Tennessee, but have also experienced poached business, phony deals, and disparagement. My advice on dealing with any of these situations is to be firm but calm, and not to share too much without proper paperwork in order (NDA’s, contracts, signed right to work). And thank your customers/partners who do treat you respectfully!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.musiccityaxe.com/contact-us
- Instagram: @musiccityaxe
- Facebook: Music City Axe Throwing