Finding the Perfect Fit

Over the last couple weeks, I've noticed an increasing amount of stories about US companies finding great new employees from our military veteran community.  As one such company I can attest that hiring a veteran was the best decision we have made in business thus far.

Neither Ryan or I had experience hiring an employee.  And with a string of bad hires on construction projects over the years, we were scared that we would make the wrong decision when it can time to bring someone on board.  In turn it took us 3 years to take a leap of faith. 

The tricky part was that the business is not cash positive yet.  It pays for  rent, utilities, raw goods and marketing every month, but that is all it pays for.  Still we felt that bringing on an extra hand made sense to allow Ryan to do what he does best by selling.  So we decided to place an advertisement on Craigslist in the gigs section because that section is free.  Unfortunately you get what you pay for and we had a series of relatively unmotivated unemployed workers who seemed to feel entitled to having their cake and eating it to.  After a few face to face interviews we started to doubt that there was anyone out there who would be able to work for what we could afford and who would have a passion for what we do.

Determined to find someone I convinced Ryan that we should place a formal job posting on Craigslist at a price of $20 for the month.  The investment was well worth it.  Within a matter of minutes applications were pinging my inbox and continued to for 3 straight days! Of the applicants I'd say that 75% stated some form of military background.  Most had been discharged without deployment.  Of those 90% were from the Marine Corps.  Coming from a strong military family background, I was immediately excited by the possibility of hiring one of these candidates. 
However when some of these applicants arrived for the interview it was painfully clear why they were relieved of their duties.  Most had served their terms and now lived their life without a future goal and no idea what they wanted out of their lives.  Some had family issues which would have proven difficult in our fluctuating schedule and others really needed a structured work environment we knew were couldn't provide. 

The economic downturn also left many technologically qualified workers without employment especially with Oregon's high amount of technology fields.  Even though we knew that someone with a degree in engineering and or computer aided drafting would likely tire of making rocks quickly we invited a couple into the shop for a sit down.  One gentlemen in particular seemed as though he might actually be a good fit.  He was determined, focused and sounded like he had his feet on the ground.  But once it came time to have him in for the second interview he never responded to our requests and completely fell off the face of the planet.

From the beginning of the process, I felt that a person younger than us, possibly in school would make a good addition to our team.  The thought was that younger people can be more open to learning and with little financial burdens they can be a bit more flexible on pay and hours.  Going on this theory we talked with 3 candidates who might fit the bill.  All three were in their early 20's, high school graduates or GED holders and had experience in a wide range of labor jobs.  The first candidate had a young family to support as well as a prior arrest yet we thought he might have the drive we were looking for and we invited him to the 2nd interview.  The second candidate had graduated for Ryan and my alma mater and was attending college part time while also raising a small daughter and living with his parents.  Again we thought he might be a good fit and we invited him to the 2nd interview.  Finally there was a young man who had taken a 1:30 hour bus ride from the other side of town to meet with us.  He insisted that the mother of his child with whom he was estranged would allow him to crash at her apartment on the days we needed his help. He was also a recovering alcoholic with only 60 days sobriety under his belt - needless to say a little too much to handle for us.

Two hours before we were going to stop interviewing completely we received an application from a young man with a background in the Marines, who lived very close by, attended part-time classes and held a second job.  At that point we'd narrowed our search down to 5 candidates and where pretty decided on one of them but thought we'd give the guy a chance.  That decision was the best one we could have ever made.

Bert walked in as our last interview.  He had been relieved of duty because of a kidney problem military medics discovered.  Having undergone the riggers of basic training his discharge earned him full military benefits including grants to help him continue his education in his chosen field of Geology.  He had no priors, no history of addiction and no family drama back home.  Really he almost seemed too good to be true.  So we asked him to join the other 5 candidates for a walk through of the shop and briefing of the job requirements.  He was the first to arrive, the last to leave and the only one who took us up on our offering of Krispy Creme donuts and coffee. As soon as everyone took their leave it was obvious to both Ryan and I that he was the person for the job.

Excited to share the news we offered him the job that afternoon and I made the mistake of announcing it on our Facebook fan page soon after.  The reason I say that it was a mistake is because I hadn't thanked all the other 2nd interview candidates yet and one of them was following the page.  When he saw that he had not made the cut, he was angry and blasted us publicly for being unprofessional.  Really it made him look like a sore looser and once Ryan called to explain he deleted his rant but that incident showed us how close we were to making a very bad decision, we were thankful we dodged that bullet!

One thing this process taught us was that you should never settle for less than we need.  Both Ryan and I had decided that our little position was only going to attract someone with little motivation or who had no other means of getting work.  We were open to hiring someone who needed to be given a second chance at the expense of our own ethics.  I'm glad that someone out there was watching over us and didn't let us settle for less than we needed or deserved. 

Giving Profit to Charity Instead of Google

Yesterday we started try #2 on the rubber mold for the Dolomite RocLok.  The goal is to have that rubber done tomorrow so we can have a completed piece before we leave for Southern California early Friday morning.  Then if the stars align we'll be able to meet up with Shorty Rossi in Venice Beach so that he can take a photo with the new product, after all we're making the Dolomite to support his Pit Bull Rescue.

We received the custom stamps we had made especially for this project on Saturday. They turned out great! I'm always happy when a new online vendor works out well.  Within 24 hours of approving and paying for the stamps the company based out of Massachusetts had them cut and in the mail to us back here in Oregon. It's always a little nerve wrecking trying a new online place especially if you're ordering a custom piece, but if you are ever in the market for stamps I would highly suggest SimonStamp.com as they did a great job and are a US based company to boot! Once the stamp was glued onto the rock we choose for the Dolomite, Ryan was able to get started on the rubber.

We're both excited to see how much money this new RocLok will raise for this charity.  Both Ryan and I feel strongly about trying to give back to the community any way we can but it's really hard to donate money when you can't pay yourself a salary.  So we're thankful that Shorty agreed to work with us on this and fingers crossed it will prove beneficial for us both.  In the past we've tried to raise money for the Cat Adoption Team here in Portland through various sales events. But unfortunately we haven't had a huge amount of success with that... yet.  I am stubbornly clinging to the thought that our fundraising efforts will not be in vain and will help the causes we are trying so desperately to make some money for.

I've been designing printed material for CAT for about 3 years now and in that time have come to really appreciate the work they do for all of the feral cats in need. Also familiar with their financial blight in this recession, I've been keen on the idea of getting them some much needed funds and thought that their supporters would be happy to support the cause and make sure Fluffy was well cared for in their absence.  However, the concept must not have fully sunken in yet. 

Our first attempt to fund raise for CAT was at a Pet Expo a couple years back.  At that time we were selling only one style, the St. Helens, at only $49.95 or $40 since it was a show.  Our profit margin wasn't very good as it was so we really could only afford to donate $5 back on each sale.  Even though it was more than 10% the reception was chilly and one CAT supporter told me he'd rather give the $5 to CAT himself, which I understand completely still it was a bummer.  Attempt #2 was by attending CAT's annual CATnip 5K and Mouse Miler, a bust.  Next we were given a space for an advertisement on the backside of their 2011 annual calendar, yet again a failure. Finally at this years 5K we found success! Sure it was only one sale bringing CAT a mere $15 but it was a sale! My only hope is that with all our attempts we build some synergy and with a couple more attempts CAT supporters will realize that we are seriously trying to fund raise not use the charity as a marketing ploy. 

Unfortunately I think that a lot of businesses exploit charity as a way to get marketing out there.  And while admittedly we are hoping our philanthropic gestures will raise our product awareness and in turn sales, we truly want to help the charities we are dedicating our time and profit share to. In reality it would probably be easier to team up with Home Depot and give them all the profit share, but we want that money to help others not line big businesses pockets. Yeah, you could say that our selling through Walmart or Lowes could create jobs at those retail stores, but does it really?  I personally like knowing where that money is going and what it is helping.

We still depend on Google Adwords and teaming up with larger companies to be able to compete in the marketplace, but I continue to hope that creating a product that stands for something from the beginning will bring us more than monetary riches in the future. A little good Karma has to count for something right?

Surviving the Learning Curve

Welcome to my first entry on my new laptop! When my Sony Viao's monitor hinges broke off I was so upset that we had to invest in a new machine.  It's kind of like having to buy a washing machine because it broke rather than because you have the money to get a better model.  Luckily we found this new machine for $399 this afternoon which made both of us very happy. 

Today was a really good day all the way around.  Having boxed up all the RocLok's for Ireland's order yesterday, we were able to spend today getting the pallet together and driving it out to the shipping terminal.  Being our first time shipping a large quantity overseas both Ryan and I were concerned that we would mistakenly miss a step in the process. 

Yesterday I worked on getting the paperwork together for customs.  A total novice, I felt like a fish out of water and started to panic that I was missing something.  Ryan had arraigned all the shipping quotes and since I was tasked with getting the packing slip, commercial invoice and bill of lading together, had to get back up to speed.  I'm sure that was frustrating for the shipping as I kept asking questions that I'm sure they thought were redundant.  Thankfully if they thought that I was annoying they didn't show it at all and were very accommodating and patient.  That made me feel better today even though I'm still a little fearful that I missed something!

While I floundered on the shipping paperwork, Ryan and Bert had to build a crate on top of the pallet to hold all 100 RocLok's.  In a miscalculation of size this pallet load ended up 3 boxes (2 RocLok's and a box of extra lids) too large so the perfect pallet that the guys built had a slight bowed top to it.  Not a problem according to the shipping crew who promised to wrap some plastic around the open areas to keep everything dry.  I think we decided that we'll just use plastic wrap as the "crating" next time around.  Now we know that a pallet will hold 98 RocLok's snugly. 

Loading all the rocks onto the pallet in the back of our old Dodge pick up took a couple hours then Ryan and I headed to the shipper.  Of course by the time we hit the freeway traffic hour(s) was underway and the travel time that should have only been 20 to 30 minutes turned into more like 45 to an hour.  But we made it in time and rewarded our efforts with a couple of soft serve cones at Ikea.

Earlier this evening the shipping company let us know that delivery to Ireland would be sometime in early November.  A lot longer than any of us had expected or hoped for.  But on the bright side it will give me a little more breathing room to get RocLok.ie up and running so we can promote and hopefully pre-sale before the order arrives.  Thankfully we'll be hitting Europe in time for the holiday season which hopefully will drive some gifting sales! 

It feels great to officially be able to say we sell a product internationally! I never imagined that would ever happen and frankly until now it was kind of a scary thought because it seemed like a huge learning curve.  Knock on wood we did everything we needed to correctly and this is the start of great things to come.

Hurry Up and Wait

I had so much I wanted to blog about earlier today and now that the day is over and my body has had time to decompress it's all gone out of my head.  It seems like that has been the way things are going this week for me. That old feeling of being overwhelmed and relaxed at the same time.

After yesterday's manic Monday, I decided to make a list of to do's this morning to guide me through the day.  It was working great until my ADD kicked in and my brain decided to get side tracked again.  All and all the list was very helpful and made me feel more accomplished at the end of the day but still I wish I had been able to cross more off that list today.

I think the really frustrating thing for me today was patience.  Nothing gets to me more than when I have to wait on a response from someone in order to accomplish my goal for the day.  Today seemed to have a lot of waiting.  As hard as I tried it seemed like everytime I tried to start something today the end result was a wait for a reply.  This gets me to another pet peeve of mine, delayed response to emails.

I pride myself on being extremely punctual on emails.  Sure, sometimes I get busy and forget or don't have an answer at the time, but all and all I try to get back to people as quickly as possible even if it's just to say I'm working on it.  So for me it is extremely annoying when someone fails to type out a quick acknowledgment that they received my message.  I guess that gets back to the whole waiting thing which really is the same problem.

While waiting was able to help the guys get the Ireland order boxed up and we were able to get all 100 pieces ready to be put onto the pallet tomorrow morning so that Ryan and I can drive it out to the port.  It will be so nice to have that order done but it's also scary because sales have really sucked this month! I can't explain what the problem is but we only had 10 visits to our website on Friday which is as bad as it gets.  I don't even remember the last time we had so few.  So after we get the order out my goal is going to be to get that traffic back up which is going to be harder now that my laptop has bit the dust.  On top of that I still have to build the new website for RocLok Ireland, man I'm going to be busy!

Hopefully I'll have time earlier tomorrow to write my post here so that all my great ideas don't fall out of my head.  Until then, sleep well everyone!

What A Day

Ok, well the day was interesting to say the least.

It started well by catching the delivery guy with the last of the chemicals we needed for out Foam In Place Machine for packaging.  We thought we would have everything last Friday, but it did not arrive.  I called to check on the status of the delivery but did not hear back, happened to be driving through the complex, the driver saw our truck and whistled. 

A few hours later the technicians came over to revise the settings on our machine so it could run the new material that is better for the environment.  Because this is a new product and it turns out we were the first order in the region the techs did not know how to set it up.  An hour of messing with it, then an hour to wait for the guy who knew more to arrive, then a little more time and we were all set to go. 

I ended up having to tear down one of the pumps, clean it up before switching to the new stuff.  That took a few hours because the stuff had crystalized and was very hard.  So now that most of the day was burned we called it a day around 4:30Pm.  Hopefully we will be able to package all 100 units tomorrow.

The other thing that we found this morning was that the 50 RocLoks we stained yesterday looked a little purple or blue.  We had just purchased more stain and apparently it was not mixed perfect...  so we had to fix the mix, then touch up 50 then stain the remaining 50. 

Overall we made some good progress at work today but it seemed like two steps forward and a step back all day.

The real kicker was when we got home, I noticed that someone had stolen the fenders and exhaust from my donor truck (for the 39 build).  Melanie went inside while I was looking around to see what else was stolen.  Our dog had puked on the floor and she cleaned it up (what a way to end the day).  She grabbed her laptop to finish her blog post and the hinges snapped off, the screen fell back on her lap.  It was not a cheap laptop, it was a Sony Viao and was over $2,000 when we got it.  Well my opinion was that Sony had great marketing and ok products...  I guess I was right their products are not as good as many others on the market they just make everyone think they are better.

There were loads of other fun moments throughout the day, including a terrible experience with the Fed/Ex Kinkos near our office...  Melanie will tell you all about that when she has access to a computer again.  I will just say that at least with that office of Kinkos customer care is dead, buried and has maggots running through it.

Well thanks for following another day in the life of us, trying to Make It In America

-Ryan

Ramblings From A Tired Brain

Today was supposed to be our halfway mark on the production for our Ireland order. Fortunately we have had some good sales which dwindled our inventory just enough that we will have to do 7 straight days of production, then another 3-4 days of finishing and boxing. I am already tired, I worked out for several hours after working yesterday, it felt great at the time but I guess that was not a good idea.

Fortunately we do have a wonderful employee Burt, he agreed to a 10 day work week. The real impressive thing is that this was supposed to be a part time gig for him so he has another job. I gave him the option of taking a day off this weekend, it would not be great for our timing so I was happy he was willing to stick in there. I guess he was a US Marine, so hard work and perseverance are in his blood. It is one thing for Melanie to work day in and day out for our business, but when you have an employee who shows the same level of commitment you know you have a good worker.

The other thing that set us back is that I had made another round of molds for this weeks production, but the material did not set right and we had to throw it all away. 2 days of work and $200 in materials sitting in the garbage, that was Monday. Fortunately most of the material came off our originals but one did not, and of course it was the one we really needed more molds for.

We ordered more shipping materials this week, and hope they arrive before the end of the week so there is no delays in packaging. There are so many elements to an order like this, we not only have to produce the product but have to plan materials, freight, and everything a week in advance. At the end of production I am tired, dusty, covered in concrete and sweat, by the time I get home and get cleaned up the east coast is already closed for the day.

I was hoping to finalize the molds for the star of Pit Boss, Shorty Rossi next week but it looks like it may be delayed a week due to the mold issues we had and the order we are working on. We are finalizing the imprinted logo for Shorty's Charities for his exclusive model. I am glad that we are able to support several different charities, and support local vendors, suppliers and employees. Business may not be booming but we are still committed to give back.

So there is the day in a nut shell from a tired brain.

Thanks for your interest in our blog!

Murphy's Law

On Wednesday this week I had the perfect blog update figured out in my head. How we are trying to do our part for the environment, choosing vendors who supply good products that are environmentally friendly, and riding the motorcycle to work to save gas.

Well Murphy’s law went into effect on Thursday. Riding the motorcycle into the office because we did not have a lot of orders to ship out, we felt good that we were saving fuel and being earth conscience. Later in the day we ordered new chemicals for our packaging machine, and found out that our supplier now offers a foam with a higher percentage of soy and additional environmentally friendly materials. Although we are still struggling we decided that spending an extra 10% to do our part for the environment and to support companies who are investing in reducing our reliance on petroleum was worth it. Talking with our supplier further, we also found that they make the products we use for the USA in the USA. Additionally they have plants that create zero waste manufacturing; any scraps created are re-ground and used again.

After that I was feeling great about what we are doing to help everyone and the environment. We finished packing up the order put it into a back pack and headed off to Fed/Ex. We were only at the entrance to the business park when we were stopped at a stop sign and a red light came on, on the motorcycle. We have had little issues with it before so I figured it was nothing. When there was finally a break in traffic I started to drive off and the rear end spun out, as I looked down I noticed oil was everywhere. The motorcycle then died and I got to walk back to the shop. On our way back I started to realize what had happened, the Oil Filter bolt snapped off and the plate that holds all of the engine and transmission oil fell out. The oil gushed out of the engine over the next 400 feet before I came to a stop. I am just glad I was stopped when the motorcycle shut it’s self off, and that I did not crash from the oil slick I created. In the end no one was hurt, just another case of bad luck I guess.

After all the good things we had tried to do for the environment that day, a bolt breaks and I spill oil all over the road. I hate Murphy’s law. I have another brand new bolt on order and will keep trying to ride to work on production only days so we can reduce our carbon footprint. Our Employee rides the transit system into work. So we are all trying to do our part and provide the best product possible in the world.

Slow Growing Pains

Yesterday was a good day for sales. Definitely made us feel better after a painfully slow sales stint this last long holiday weekend. Our year long relationship with Amazon.com is continuing to grow and they ordered 8 RocLok's of varying styles which we shipped out to 4 of their many hubs throughout the United States.  Our new relationship with a mcuh smaller .com shop is also proving itself producing a new sale every Monday for the last month. To top it all off our partnership with Brookstone.com has finally come to fruition and we are officially available on their site as well.

All of the excitement from yesterday made for a busy day at the shop today.  We were able to have our part time helper come in early and we knocked out the orders in a record 3.5 hours including making another 8 RocLok's which we'll demold tomorrow.  When we hired our very first employee in May we had high hopes of having him work 3 days each and every week.  Unfortunately things aren't growing quite as quickly as we had hoped and for now he is happy to help out whenever we need an extra hand.

We could not have been more fortunate than to find our team member Bert.  When we placed an ad for minimum wage ($8.50/hr) we feared we would never find a responsible, detail oriented person who would be willing to work for such a low wage.  Obviously we'd love to have hired someone for a lot more but it's difficult to pay anyone anything when you can't even pay yourself!  In today's poor economic climate I was shocked that a couple people actually wrote in on the ad angry that we were only willing to pay $8.50/ hour.  We even interviewed a few people who openly admitted that they would rather milk their unemployment benefits over taking a job for such low pay.  Ultimately we received well over 30 applicants for the job, interviewed 16, chose 6 more to participate in a 2nd interview and fortunately decided on our new friend Bert, a former Marine who is studying towards a degree in Geology with the help of his GI Bill.

One of the things that impressed us with Bert is his willingness to stay busy and build his career goals.  I've often wondered what kind of person works twirling a sign on the street corner for business promotion.  Honestly, I always assumed that the people standing on the corner were either high-school drop outs, homeless or people with some criminal record that impeded them from getting any other job.  I was beyond wrong! You see Bert also works as what he calls the "Advertising Specialist" at a local firearms dealer in the area.  He initially took that job to get a foot into the door with the hopes of becoming a salesman at the shop.  So far he has been disappointed by the lack of upward mobility still he diligently shows up for his duties each and every time he is needed. The poor guy often comes back to our place beat red from standing in the blaring heat of the summer all day long.

If all goes well in the next few months, we pray that we can bring Bert in on a more permanent full time basis. To loose such an amazing asset to our company would be a travesty to say the least.  For now we'll continue to play it day by day and shoot for a brighter tomorrow. Good night everyone.