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Tech Check
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Sure, big tech companies like Apple, Google, and Intel grab the headlines at a business network like ours, but sometimes, even the smallest companies can become big success stories. And let's not forget, American industry is dominated by small business.
So enter Randy Moen, at one point, one of Silicon Valley's biggest home builders. A few years ago, his company Tanglewood Construction employed 400 framers, building homes by the hundreds. Then the downturn hit and his business fell off a cliff. Down to a handful of workers today, Randy's company was on the brink.
What to do?
If necessity is the mother of invention, then the mother of all recessions turned into the ultimate motivator for Randy. He got the idea to create high-end, kitchen cutting boards. Might sound weird, but when you've got sawdust in your blood, cutting boards start to make more sense, especially when you've got a whole bunch of wood laying around.
But these are hardly your normal, everyday cutting boards. These are more like works of art. He starts out with blocks of high-grade maple wood, and then customizes each board with intricate designs of hummingbirds, antlers, corporate logos, ranch brands (these are gonna be huge with live-stock ranchers!), personal messages, just about anything a customer wants. And these designs aren't sprayed on; they're inlaid into the boards themselves with exotic woods like purple heart, lacewood, yellow heart, blood wood, black walnut and others. That means no stains and no dyes.
The thick, oversized, high-end, high-quality boards are even high tech. Randy's got this massive, $300,000 robotic router in his shop that he had been using to help build other people's dreams, but the machine is now helping to keep Randy's dream, and his company, alive.
"So far, it's been word of mouth, but we were so busy last Christmas that we almost quit answering the phone, we were getting so many calls," Randy tells me. "We've been getting a tremendous amount of orders over the website. It's really morphing into something we never thought would happen."
Now that the word is getting out, his new subsidiary Branded Boards can't build the cutting boards fast enough.
"This board was designed by real barbecuers for people who barbecue and people who enjoy cooking," he says. And he's right. The boards, aside from being beautifully put together, feature a deep reservoir for all those juices. And because the designs are inlaid into the boards, and go down fairly deep, you can cut and chop to your heart's content, and a quick run through a sander and the board — and the design — look like new again. (A free service Randy offers. Just send the board back when you need to.)
On the business side of things, Randy's looking to score deals with NFL and NHL franchises to use the boards as corporate giveaways and attaboys, colleges and other big distributors. The boards go from from $75 to $149 depending on size and design options.
"We never got into this necessarily to make money. We did it as a glorified hobby. Now we're seeing the realization that this can be a profitable business," he says.
And that's the key. Randy and his company could've become just another statistic. Instead, his cutting edge cutting boards are carving out a kind of downturn dividend instead. And just in time for Father's Day. Talk about a perfect gift for Dad, and Randy's company.
Watch the video of Randy's cutting boards coming up today on "Closing Bell" at 4pm EDT.
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