Just Business

And The Page Turns….

J. Lewis RichardsLeave a comment

After 13 years with world class tableware manufacturer, Steelite International, I’ve decided to turn the page in the book of life and start a new chapter.

My unlikely career began in 1977 as an accountant with New Castle based Carbis Walker. I became a CPA and spent 10 years in accounting and consulting. I joined a client, Bryan China Co and spent 20 year as GM in decorating business. It was at Bryan that I was introduced to Asian manufacturing and in 1991 I made the first of what would be 90+ trips to China. In the midst, I traveled to India, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan, and of course, many countries in Europe.  Add up the work years and it blows me away that I’ve been on someone else’s treadmill for 42 years!

I’ve long stated that when my kids were out of the roost, I was going to do something different…. and now here I am. Time to get off the bus.

My next venture is to scale a laser engraving business that I created a couple of years ago for shits and giggles. I taught myself how to illustrate during those many, many endless, sleepless nights in China. I perfected ways optimize the art for my process. I blend science and art together… (which is my realm… my center….) to create an emotional link to a product. This is the definition of adding value.  To me, it’s the second greatest thrill in life. (get it?)

We’ve listened to the market and it has pointed us to military… and more specifically to Military Aviation.  We engrave whiskey decanters and glassware as gifts for military retirement, change of command gifts, graduation gifts…

We thrive on the execution and precision required to deliver a product that exceeds the expectations of the giver and recipient. If you are illustrating a Super Hornet for a Navy Captain’s wife, you’d better be spot on because she knows exactly what an F/A-18E looks like.

We’ve secured USAF and USN licensing and will pursue all branches of the military. We purchased our commercial “shop” in New Wilmington, PA… a small college town… we’ve inked a deal with Sparq Designs, a Pittsburgh based marketing firm, to spiff us up, package our message and help us create a marketing machine so that we can get the word out.

We have two brands… Bourbon and Bull, which is a general brand that we’ll devote to a variety of interests, and Military Etch, which we’ll focus on military products.

So, stay tuned as we roll the dice.  We’ll work hard and we’ll work smart and we’ll bring you along in our journey for excellence….

Ah… Just What I’ve Been Looking For…

J. Lewis RichardsLeave a comment

It’s a cool, rainy February in Frankfurt, Germany. While I’ve been to Germany many times, all of my visits have been in cool, rainy Februarys like this one.

In show terms, Ambiente is the show of shows. It’s a place where 4,376 exhibitors will try to convince over 134,000 potential buyers, that their product is the next big thing. Buyers from 168 countries converge here to find new products. Most of housewares, kitchen wares, furniture and decorative accessories that you will see in stores next year, will be directly related to Ambiente in Frankfurt.

If you are a buyer here, you’d better know your numbers. How much is freight from their country to yours… how much is the duty? What are the minimum order quantities, quality standards, lead times, exclusivity agreements? Now is your time to ask. You only have so much time here and you can’t afford to spend it kissing frogs.

Ambiente is a microcosm of global business… it’s how millions of people feed their families, educate their children. It’s how they hope to attain a better life. Everything happens because someone adds value to a product and sells it to someone who will pay for it. Here, the buyers are also sellers. To be successful, you must be right more times than you are wrong.

Every year for the past 12 years, I’ve come to Franklfurt and walked past every one of the 4,376 booths in search of hidden gems. I want to find the gems before my arch enemies do. If I find two items or factories of interest… I’ve won. If I find none, then I’ve won as well because I know that they don’t exist on this planet at this time.

Over the years, I’ve seen the rise and fall of trends, colors, textures… and companies. I like to walk the fringes first since most newcomers occupy the less expensive space. I can quickly assess whether you (the exhibitor) “are” the factory or you are a sales agent. I want to work with factories. I can usually tell what your genius is and how it fits into my business… before I even talk to you. You typically have one great product that has led you to the big show. All the other products are just an offshoot of the big idea. If Williams Sonoma or Pottery Barn find you here… they can make you rich. Sometimes their demands can bankrupt you as well.

You can’t bullshit me. I’m interested in unique products, processes, techniques for improve product performance… I want to know why your product is better. I don’t want a sales pitch, I want technical information that I will co oberate through testing. I want to know that it’s your idea, and that you’ve created it. I will travel the the ends of the earth to visit your factory and during that visit I will learn everything I need to know to determine whether we can do business. You must be who you say you are and I feel no compulsion to deal with you if you are not. You might be a very nice person, but my job description doesn’t include finding nice people. We can be friends but I will not buy from you. Again, you can’t bullshit me.

I’ve been in and out of hundreds of factories all over the world over the last 30 years. I know old dirt from new dirt, engineering from copying… you cannot fake it til you make it… at least not with me.

The fun side of Ambiente is seeing the breadth of products within product categories and how companies attempt to maintain their relevance.  How do you innovate to keep your edge? If you can’t improve the technical aspect of your product, maybe you can just make it prettier….. At right is a Dolce Gabbana mixer that costs a few thousand dollars.I’m sure the cake that it makes tastes just as good and determined cook with a wisk. But.. it’s fun to look at.

Another approach is to get a celebrity to pitch your product. Still another is to come up with 50 variation of the same products… size, color, texture. It’s all here… all of it. There are 4,376 booths full of eye candy.

Some companies that exhibit here will be here for the next 100 years. Others will not be here 100 days from now, most likely because they’ve blown the budget on this show and no one found them.

So tomorrow, I’ll use another 10 miles of shoe leather in search the elusive gem…