Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bud Hird. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bud , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a customer success story with us?

We almost missed the best sales opportunity our business has ever had! We were only a couple years into our business (working part-time and holding down corporate full-time jobs) and had just had a very bad experience with an artist who signed an agreement to use our artwork for custom wall hangings. When it came time to pay, the artist squelched on the deal.

We were discouraged from this experience and protective of our copywritten artwork. So we said “no” to a rep pitching us a potential licensing opportunity for a large grocery chain – three different times! We finally thought outside the box and said to our licensing contact, “If we agree to licensing our artwork so you can make products for the grocery chain, would you also introduce us to the regional buyers to pitch a ‘store within a store’ concept to sell our products, returning a commission to you?” They said yes, we met with the buyer, and the rest is history. The grocery chain allowed us to sell into 65 stores in our region, we allowed our contact to license our artwork and sell additional products into the stores, and the grocery chain became our biggest customer ever. The relationship is still successful 9 years later.

We almost missed this far-reaching opportunity because we were fearful of another licensing failure, we didn’t understand a licensing sales model, and we didn’t think we were ready for such a big customer. What we did have was willingness to listen (after several tries) to a unique business proposal, and the ability to sell our products to a regional buyer with conviction and pride in our products. We also had the initiative to work the ‘store within a store’ concept in a way to benefit the grocery store. We provide the display, we service the display, and they make a profit. It’s a win-win relationship. We have a flexible SKU system that allows us to easily try new products in the grocery stores without a heavy inventory investment. Bud is our designer and he can try out new designs in the grocery stores, see what sells, get direct customer feedback when he’s in the stores, and tailor his artwork to the customer. By being in the stores every day we also have a chance to hear directly from customers. They’ve suggested new products and ideas that we’ve incorporated into the broader business. This model has allowed us to grow our business in new ways without all the risk. We consider the commission to the licensing company a small price to pay for the privilege of doing business with this large chain. It would have taken us years to gain 65 new customers and all the grocery stores stayed open during Covid, enabling us to continue to earn money when other customers were either shut down or closing shop.

We now take the time to listen carefully to potential opportunities. We’ve also turned foes (people who have used our artwork without our permission) into friends (customers we buy products from) several times. Keeping an open mind to every new idea that comes our way has allowed us to successfully build our business, keeping the focus on high-end service to our wholesale customers and providing our retail customers with designs and products they are proud to purchase.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We started a business from our home (which is a barn) and designed artwork that combined the state flag with images iconic and important to people in each state. We started out with a small idea in Maryland and built it out over several states and multiple product lines. Bud is our designer and original sales person. Maggie is his wife and the person behind the scenes. Matthew is their son and in charge of operations.

We’ve grown the business through our beautiful artwork, quality products, and attention to our customers. Matthew started helping out in middle school and is now a college graduate and full partner in the business.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

We design custom images that we then put on magnets, decals, t-shirts, and other accessories. We knew from the start that we wanted to partner with as many US-based manufacturers as possible and did not want to go overseas for our products.

For our magnets and decals, we scoured the internet for vendors, received product samples, and spoke with many vendors. In the end, we selected a manufacturer who would team with us, provide flexibility in providing us products, and had the highest quality magnets and decals we could find. Our retailers told us many times that customers would come in and pick up our products alongside competitor products. Ours were more expensive but 99 times out of 100 the customer would choose our product because they loved the artwork and see the quality of the product. We never wavered from being able to securely stand behind our quality products.

For our t-shirts, again the internet was our go-to place to search. We stumbled upon a company that allows us to design shirts on their platform, and then create images from the platform for a heat transfer process. We’ve partnered with the vendor to make sure the quality stays high, and the design feature allows an all-in-one solution that has been easy to work with from a technology standpoint.

We have never caved to the pressure to lower price by providing lesser quality products. We want to make sure each order going out represents our beautiful designs and quality manufacturing.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

We sell on multiple platforms. We started out with our own website for direct retail customers and knocking on retailer doors to build up a client base for our wholesale business. Next we opened an Etsy store, Amazon store, and Ebay store. Etsy has quickly become our best online vehicle for selling and far surpasses Amazon and Ebay in terms of sales, ease of use, and overall cost.

Etsy has a flexible system to upload products, create product categories, and feature the product. The system is easy for the customer in terms of direct access to our team, both sales and service. Etsy customers can post reviews and pictures of our products in use (magnets on the back of a customer vehicle or a person wearing our shirt). Etsy allows us to have a real relationship with the customer and allows customers to provide helpful feedback on our products. Amazon and Ebay only allow arms-length dealings with the customer, whereas Etsy is truly a community of people buying from small businesses.

We love Etsy so much we’re considering making Etsy the sole online platform for sales of our products!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fishoutawater.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crabsoutaflags/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Crabs-Outa-Flags/100036881516998/