We were lucky to catch up with Ben & Sydney Spurrier recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ben & Sydney, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

There are people who get it and there are people who don’t. Why buy an expensive handmade knife when you can go to a big box store and buy a knife for less than $10? The short answer is, you will probably be back to that big box store often to replace your dull blade. We’ve definitely encountered people who do not understand the intricacies of knife making. Which is understandable because like other forms of art, it is a complex process. We like to say our knives are usable works of art. They add something to your kitchen and enhance your cooking experience. Holding something that was crafted by a single set of hands instead of stamped out in an assembly line at a huge factory, gives you a sense of satisfaction. We love the fact that we are preserving a craft that was first seen thousands of years ago. We have some updated technology but at its core, it hasn’t changed much. The process of making something by hand is one of the most fulfilling feelings, and it adds great value to each piece. There will always be people who don’t get it and will still go to the big box stores, but our mission is to educate people on why handmade is better and will last a lifetime.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi! We’re Ben and Sydney, husband and wife team who come together to create Burls and Steel in Charleston, SC. We weren’t always knife makers, but after Ben struggled to find a sharp knife, he naturally decided to make one himself. Turns out, he was pretty good at it. We started quite the collection of knives and Sydney said we needed to start selling them! We started going to the local farmers markets and offering both knife sharpening and our knives for sale. Now, we are in five stores across the country, as well as selling direct through our website and the occasional special event. We hand make knives for kitchen and outdoor purposes as well as other select kitchen items. We’d love to become your one-stop-handmade-kitchen-shop one day and want to expand our handmade product lines.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We met in high school and have been together ever since! It was an exciting but scary decision to start a business together, but we haven’t regretted it for a second. With Sydney’s background in communications, marketing and photography, and Ben’s knife making and artistic abilities, it has been fun to come together as a team to create our products. We collaborate on products, new designs and work special events together. We try to keep business time separate from our family time, which is obviously difficult when you live with your business partner! It’s all about balance.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

We started Burls and Steel as a side hustle going to farmers markets around Charleston on the weekends. Once we started growing our client base and selling in retail stores, we decided to pivot to full time to be able to fulfill our orders. It was a big decision to switch but it was so worth it! To be able to grow, we needed to be able to focus on the company 100% and not treat it as a side hustle.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We met in high school and have been together ever since! It was an exciting but scary decision to start a business together, but we haven’t regretted it for a second. With Sydney’s background in communications, marketing and photography, and Ben’s knife making and artistic abilities, it has been fun to come together as a team to create our products. We collaborate on products, new designs and work special events together. We try to keep business time separate from our family time, which is obviously difficult when you live with your business partner! It’s all about balance.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

We started Burls and Steel as a side hustle going to farmers markets around Charleston on the weekends. Once we started growing our client base and selling in retail stores, we decided to pivot to full time to be able to fulfill our orders. It was a big decision to switch but it was so worth it! To be able to grow, we needed to be able to focus on the company 100% and not treat it as a side hustle.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.burlsandsteel.com
• Instagram: @burlsandsteel
• Facebook: @burlsandsteel