Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:37 — 32.8MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More
Sarah Mullins – A La Crate Rentals
Want to hear more? Hit it: [themo_button text=”More Business Podcast Episodes” url=”https://drawincustomers.com/category/podcast/” type=”standard”]
[00:00:06]
You have found Authentic Business
Adventures, the business program that brings you
[00:00:09]
the struggle
stories and triumphant successes
[00:00:12]
of business owners across the land.
Coming to you remotely but closely,
[00:00:16]
I’m in Sun Prairie just
outside of Madison.
[00:00:18]
And Sarah, you are in Madison, I think.
[00:00:22]
Yeah, I’m in Monona.
Awesome.
[00:00:24]
And you just a stone’s throw away.
[00:00:28]
My name is James Kademan, entrepreneur,
[00:00:30]
author, speaker, and helpful coach to
small business owners across the country.
[00:00:33]
And I am excited to learn from
Sarah Mullins, the founder of A La Crate Rentals.
[00:00:39]
How are you doing today?
[00:00:40]
I’m doing great, thank you.
Thanks for having me.
[00:00:43]
Well, thanks for being on.
[00:00:44]
So why don’t you tell us let’s just start.
[00:00:46]
What is A La Crate Rentals?
Yes.
[00:00:49]
So we’re a boutique event rental company.
All right.
[00:00:53]
So we service the two hundred
and fifty mile radius.
[00:00:55]
Wow.
Yeah.
[00:00:57]
All right.
[00:00:57]
And we’re about, I’d say 60 percent
weddings and then 40 percent corporate.
[00:01:05]
So think of any get together
[00:01:07]
pre-covid when you need
[00:01:10]
more tables and chairs, backdrops, bars,
furniture, and decor.
[00:01:15]
All right.
Our niche is that the pieces we carry are
[00:01:18]
really either one of a kind pieces
that are found,
[00:01:21]
vintage items we’ve repurposed
or locally handcrafted and made products.
[00:01:27]
So we’re working with local makers to build tables,
[00:01:29]
build benches, find mid century modern
sofas, have them reupholstered.
[00:01:35]
All right.
So a very boutique side of rentals.
[00:01:40]
So how long have you been around?
[00:01:42]
Will be nine years.
[00:01:44]
Nine years in a few weeks.
[00:01:46]
Holy cow.
[00:01:48]
Congrats. That’s awesome.
Thanks.
[00:01:50]
That is.
[00:01:51]
I think that’s right.
[00:01:53]
Yeah.
[00:01:56]
So what made you start this? Because this
[00:02:00]
had to be a huge undertaking,
just something with inventory,
[00:02:03]
storage, awareness, marketing,
insert issues here, right?
[00:02:08]
Yeah, I always say that I’m kind
[00:02:10]
of a serial preneur or I’ve always
known that I wanted to have a business.
[00:02:14]
I never knew quite what.
[00:02:16]
And so
[00:02:17]
this was the first business that we found
[00:02:21]
the need through our own
personal experience.
[00:02:23]
So we got married and we found
[00:02:25]
that my husband and I found rentals
at the time were,
[00:02:28]
you know, produced in other countries,
maybe weren’t the quality or had
[00:02:33]
the character that we would have hoped.
Both being art majors,
[00:02:36]
we look to move for pieces with stories
[00:02:39]
themselves that kind of express
who we are as individuals.
[00:02:43]
All right.
And we got married and found
[00:02:46]
that that just wasn’t something
that existed and one of the best pieces
[00:02:49]
of advice that I ever received
as a curious entrepreneur.
[00:02:54]
A young sponge at times was to move
to an area, find a need and fill it.
[00:03:00]
And so this happened with our wedding
[00:03:02]
and we kind of looked at each other and we
ended up making a lot of our inventory.
[00:03:06]
We ended up selling a lot of it
[00:03:08]
on Craigslist afterwards, meeting
a lot of couples in a similar boat.
[00:03:11]
Nice.
[00:03:12]
It is just like this
shouldn’t be this hard.
[00:03:14]
This should be fun. Right?
Yeah.
[00:03:17]
Celebration.
Right.
[00:03:18]
Best day of your life.
Exactly.
[00:03:20]
Yeah.
We didn’t have family around and you know,
[00:03:23]
you don’t need
I don’t know when you’re looking for like
[00:03:26]
ten, ten of something you can find two. I always
compare it to like shopping at TJ Maxx.
[00:03:31]
Sure.
[00:03:32]
You know, if you go in there looking
for something, you won’t find it.
[00:03:34]
But right.
[00:03:36]
If you go in just shopping,
you’ll find a ton of things.
[00:03:39]
So, OK, so you found this need.
Yeah.
[00:03:43]
You said, all right, let’s do this.
[00:03:45]
So you just quit an existing job or close
[00:03:48]
up a different business or
what were you doing before?
[00:03:50]
Let’s see.
So I was working in the ad world
[00:03:52]
in Minneapolis prior and we
had just moved to Madison.
[00:03:56]
My husband was working for the university,
[00:03:57]
the extension,
and I was doing multiple jobs.
[00:04:01]
I had kind of promised myself I wouldn’t
go back to the corporate world.
[00:04:05]
All right.
And so I, nothing wrong with it.
[00:04:08]
It was just more of a
challenge for myself.
[00:04:10]
Sure.
[00:04:10]
If I had I was doing framing,
I was doing window displays.
[00:04:16]
I was doing freelance work.
[00:04:18]
I was also working for the county
and doing some interesting odds and ends jobs
[00:04:21]
that kind of came together
to make a full time salary.
[00:04:24]
Sure.
[00:04:25]
And so this was kind
of a new thing to try.
[00:04:27]
And we like to throw
spaghetti on the wall.
[00:04:29]
And so we found a little garage
near our house that we rented.
[00:04:34]
All right.
And so we wanted it away from the house.
[00:04:36]
And so we just started we we got the lease
[00:04:40]
for the space, which was a garage
before we had a name for the business we
[00:04:44]
started collecting before we
had a name for the business.
[00:04:46]
All right.
[00:04:47]
We just kind of went about it like
you would any creative project.
[00:04:51]
Like you got to get the wheel spinning
in and see what happens.
[00:04:54]
Right, start somewhere.
[00:04:55]
Yeah, it was a low investment
and we weren’t the types.
[00:04:58]
We did do a business plan.
I worked.
[00:05:00]
Score and took some classes and things,
[00:05:03]
but we really just kind
of started this journey.
[00:05:07]
Yeah. Was this your first
business that you ever started?
[00:05:10]
No, I’ve done freelance before.
[00:05:12]
It was my first storefront.
[00:05:14]
OK, so prior to that,
I had businesses out of our home.
[00:05:18]
I did freelance graphic design and
the window display design.
[00:05:22]
I started like a pants company
with friends like pants company.
[00:05:26]
Yes.
Fun story.
[00:05:28]
Like pants.
[00:05:29]
Yeah.
[00:05:31]
Make your own or you got
to tell me about that quick.
[00:05:33]
Yeah, it’s pretty good.
[00:05:35]
So it was a buddy was in Minneapolis.
Her name is Tara.
[00:05:37]
My name’s Sarah.
[00:05:38]
I had spent some time in Sri Lanka
and when I came back,
[00:05:42]
I have these great pants and they’re
kind of like the wrap pants WRP.
[00:05:48]
OK, so you kind of put them on like a big
[00:05:50]
adult diaper, like wrap the front
to the back up the back to the front.
[00:05:55]
Anyway, they’re a great fit
and they’re very flattering.
[00:05:58]
And so they were going to be Torosaurus.
[00:06:00]
She was going to design one half.
[00:06:02]
I design the other
[00:06:03]
and you can take with the front look
like what the back looked like.
[00:06:06]
We had different snaps, enclosures.
[00:06:09]
They were very fun to wear with PJ pants.
[00:06:11]
Yeah.
[00:06:13]
So does this get off the ground?
[00:06:15]
No, we had prototypes and
[00:06:18]
we got to the point that we started
getting into branding and Tara and I were
[00:06:23]
good buddies and we kind
of realized it wasn’t a good idea.
[00:06:26]
How come?
[00:06:29]
I think she didn’t love the pants.
[00:06:31]
Neither of us really loved them.
[00:06:32]
At the end of the day, I think they were
[00:06:34]
more successful when they were just
one solid fabric or pretty wild.
[00:06:39]
Got you.
OK, but it was just fun.
[00:06:42]
And then you’re like, what are we doing?
[00:06:44]
I want I think a lot of business
owners run into that.
[00:06:46]
You kind of just keep
trying different things.
[00:06:49]
But what was interesting was that idea
[00:06:51]
started from just a fun idea
and not necessarily a need.
[00:06:54]
So maybe what we found out quickly is,
[00:06:56]
you know, it’s fun makeup, you pair pants,
but there was necessarily need for it.
[00:07:00]
Are there still some of those
pants just hanging around?
[00:07:03]
Yeah, customers real customers are
[00:07:06]
friends, family, and a lot of
family was gifted them already.
[00:07:12]
Are that
[00:07:14]
nice.
Yeah.
[00:07:16]
All right.
Anyway, random random stories.
[00:07:19]
That’s pretty cool.
[00:07:20]
Well,
I would think just about every
[00:07:22]
entrepreneur has some idea that they
will call it half launch.
[00:07:27]
Not necessarily a bad.
[00:07:28]
It’s probably a good thing
that you pulled the chute.
[00:07:30]
Oh,
too crazy into it and invested thousands
[00:07:34]
of dollars into getting
prototypes made and all that.
[00:07:36]
Exactly.
Yeah.
[00:07:39]
That’s interesting, so you got the you got
[00:07:42]
the space and then you started collecting,
I guess would be products, right?
[00:07:47]
Or are they all antiques or homemade or
[00:07:50]
used different eclectic stuff
when it started?
[00:07:54]
It was very affordable to start
with what we called the smalls.
[00:07:57]
So at the time was when blue mason jars
[00:07:59]
and like burlap or
if you can kind of envision should
[00:08:02]
that look, we’re really had a lot
of people are putting babies and vintage
[00:08:06]
antique wood dough balls and cute little
more props and I aren’t sure.
[00:08:13]
So the inventory really
started with a lot of smalls.
[00:08:16]
And then as the business started to grow
[00:08:18]
and word of mouth
spread in this community,
[00:08:21]
it’s a very green business
concept and business model.
[00:08:24]
And so I think Madison was
a really great place to start it.
[00:08:27]
And so we saw
[00:08:29]
we saw just
[00:08:31]
it was it was fruitful,
like things were going really well
[00:08:35]
to the point that I could kind
of quit some of those side jobs.
[00:08:37]
And eventually my son quit his job and he
[00:08:39]
became our delivery man and we
just tag debt for a few years.
[00:08:44]
So at what point do we actually make
[00:08:45]
enough money for you guys to quit
your other jobs one year to year?
[00:08:50]
Yeah, yeah.
That’s incredible.
[00:08:53]
Yeah, the timing was really, really great.
[00:08:56]
We just hit the trend right when it was
[00:08:58]
starting to take off
and no one else was really doing it yet.
[00:09:02]
We were the first
in the state of Wisconsin.
[00:09:04]
Well, we saw others doing it
[00:09:05]
on the coasts, but we had really adjusted
the business model for the Midwest because
[00:09:10]
it’s not warm here
for six months out of the year.
[00:09:14]
So,
[00:09:16]
yeah, in our business really took
off when we started carrying tables.
[00:09:19]
So I think it was about four years and we
[00:09:23]
worked with a good buddy of ours and built
would harvest tables and sitting at one.
[00:09:27]
Right now there’s a service table just so.
[00:09:30]
Yeah, it’s a good to see.
[00:09:32]
Can you see this table
and say, oh no, it’s OK.
[00:09:35]
Really lovely wood tables.
[00:09:37]
All right.
[00:09:39]
And they’re folding legs and we design
them so that they’re very user friendly
[00:09:44]
for a rental, they collapse, but they’re
very solid like the tables now.
[00:09:48]
No wiggle at you when
you’re sitting on it.
[00:09:51]
At the time, no one had
anything like that.
[00:09:53]
It was think of like a plastic folding
table that you covered with linens.
[00:09:58]
So this was kind of a big deal,
super big deal that many years ago.
[00:10:02]
Yeah.
[00:10:03]
So that kind of took our
business just to another level.
[00:10:06]
We found quickly we had to go from a truck
in a trailer to getting a big box truck.
[00:10:10]
So we twenty four foot box truck and you
outgrow that garage space.
[00:10:15]
We rent the space next door.
Sure.
[00:10:17]
And before you know it,
you’re kind of bursting at the seams.
[00:10:20]
How much space are we talking here?
[00:10:22]
Are we talking to car garage.
Forker Garage.
[00:10:24]
Oh, that garage space.
[00:10:26]
That was like fifteen
hundred square feet I think.
[00:10:28]
OK, so sigh.
[00:10:30]
Yeah, it wasn’t super functional.
[00:10:32]
I imagine in the winter
[00:10:34]
we really described ourselves as like
[00:10:37]
glorified movers because we were just
moving furniture back and forth.
[00:10:41]
Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:10:42]
Take it here, pick it up there, take it
there, cleaning it up there, wrap it.
[00:10:46]
So I’m trying to think ten years ago or
[00:10:48]
nine years ago,
how did you get your name out there?
[00:10:54]
Our website.
[00:10:55]
OK, so Facebook was
primarily the social media channel
[00:11:02]
and word of mouth,
like Madison is the best community for
[00:11:07]
just spreading ideas
and through word of mouth.
[00:11:09]
So we got into the right circle
in birds of a feather flock together.
[00:11:13]
And quickly we started to find our people
[00:11:17]
and we found a lot of them.
[00:11:20]
Madison just chock full of like a lot
of artists and creatives and people
[00:11:24]
that were looking to express
themselves at an event.
[00:11:27]
All right.
[00:11:28]
And that’s really when Pinterest
is starting to take off, too.
[00:11:30]
So I think there’s a pressure to have your
event look a certain way and photos look
[00:11:34]
a certain way, like, oh, there’s this
new backdrop to get married in front of.
[00:11:38]
Can you guys build that?
[00:11:39]
So we work with local builders
and build pieces and then carry it.
[00:11:43]
So.
All right.
[00:11:44]
Yeah, it really we’ve been the best.
What are we now?
[00:11:47]
We have six years in a row of the best
[00:11:50]
rental and car company in the state,
six years in the state.
[00:11:54]
Yeah, I’m looking at that though, because
we’ve got the awards up over there.
[00:11:57]
They just lose track of all these awards.
[00:12:00]
That’s awesome.
Oh, super cool.
[00:12:03]
We had a good run.
[00:12:04]
So do you keep adding or does do people’s
[00:12:07]
tastes change when it
comes to stuff like this?
[00:12:10]
Trends change.
OK.
[00:12:12]
Again, the kind of guy that used to have
a desk was just an old orange filing
[00:12:16]
cabinet, so it wasn’t
because it was a collective.
[00:12:19]
It was just utilitarian.
[00:12:20]
Oh, sure, it’s both.
[00:12:24]
So over the years, the trends have
changed a lot, that it’s been good.
[00:12:28]
It’s allowed us to stay.
[00:12:29]
But can we have a sale once a year?
[00:12:31]
We just on Saturday had our annual sale.
[00:12:33]
We call it our deck sale.
Oh, nice.
[00:12:36]
And so this year it went virtual
just with everything going on.
[00:12:40]
But we did it through Instagram
[00:12:43]
and our team was able to help sell
pieces that just aren’t moving.
[00:12:46]
We say if they’re not paying their rent,
we get rid of them so that we can bring
[00:12:49]
in fresh inventory
that hopefully moves more.
[00:12:52]
We’re now in a new space for off
[00:12:54]
of industrial drive and on a near like
there’s a Walmart in the Verdian homes.
[00:12:59]
Sure.
In this space as old oil distribution
[00:13:02]
center, it’s about three thousand
square feet, so not huge.
[00:13:05]
We’re busting at the seams here, too,
but it’s kind of nice to be forced to edit
[00:13:10]
what you carry
and be thoughtful about what you bring in,
[00:13:14]
because I think the slippery slope of this
world is we are like organized hoarders.
[00:13:18]
I was just going to say
[00:13:21]
we’re hoarders.
Yeah.
[00:13:22]
You see something cool?
It’s like, oh, let’s carry that.
[00:13:24]
But the reality is, like,
it could just sit there.
[00:13:26]
So to find something that’s functional
[00:13:28]
for an event and obviously with covid,
we’ve been hit really hard.
[00:13:31]
So we’re trying to think about like right
now you can’t even have an indoor event.
[00:13:36]
What does that mean
for the next few months for us?
[00:13:39]
So.
Right.
[00:13:40]
I just yeah, I want to it’s always
tough using the C word around.
[00:13:44]
Right.
[00:13:44]
But when you’re talking about
events, that’s a huge deal.
[00:13:49]
That’s just the world changes we have
[00:13:52]
in the office that I’m in,
next door to us is a woman that builds
[00:13:57]
decorative walls for weddings
and for the theater and space.
[00:14:03]
No, it is
[00:14:06]
to say enchanted.
[00:14:09]
OK, I’ll do this for you.
[00:14:10]
Oh,
[00:14:13]
yeah.
Super cool.
[00:14:13]
Hugely elaborate stuff.
[00:14:15]
But they’re they’re essentially saying
that when they used to be able to go
[00:14:19]
60 miles ish, now they
have to go three states.
[00:14:24]
Right.
So that changed the game.
[00:14:27]
Yeah.
[00:14:29]
For sure, we pretty much just hit pause,
just hit pause, OK?
[00:14:34]
Yeah, so the reality is we can’t force
[00:14:36]
for us to pivot would be
going most likely to retail.
[00:14:38]
And we’ve done that to the extent
of having the duck sale.
[00:14:41]
But right now, I mean, we could
collect interest and sell full time.
[00:14:45]
But that’s not necessarily
[00:14:48]
where we’re putting our
energy right now either.
[00:14:50]
You.
[00:14:51]
Yeah, I took on this
full time job with Lepic
[00:14:55]
as my pivot in a lot of ways.
[00:14:57]
Oh, that makes sense.
Yeah.
[00:14:59]
All right.
Yeah.
[00:15:00]
So we hit a point where the writing was
[00:15:02]
on the wall for our event industry to say
this is our sole income for our family.
[00:15:08]
Mm hmm.
So what does that mean for us?
[00:15:10]
How do we keep our business alive through
[00:15:11]
this and keep our staff employed
and feed our own family?
[00:15:17]
Sure.
So to me.
[00:15:20]
Like, I guess I’m a Neanderthal when it
comes to stuff like this, because
[00:15:24]
I kept thinking this only last month,
a couple of weeks, yeah,
[00:15:28]
just kicking the can down the road saying,
hey, after the election, it’ll blow over.
[00:15:32]
No big thing.
[00:15:33]
But look, man, the thing is,
stay in power.
[00:15:36]
So at what point did you realize that this
is not going to blow over quickly?
[00:15:42]
Well, I got the job in June.
Wow.
[00:15:46]
OK.
All right, so our.
[00:15:51]
Business is seasonal,
[00:15:53]
so we’re only busy for six months
of the year and we carry a line of credit
[00:15:57]
through the winter to get
us through the winter.
[00:15:59]
You came out of our slow
season to get hit by covid.
[00:16:03]
Oh.
[00:16:05]
And it is not good timing,
[00:16:09]
and we moved at the same time personally.
[00:16:12]
Oh, I just moved out to Brooklyn
with something to the country.
[00:16:16]
We were living in the city and
looking for a little more space.
[00:16:19]
Sure.
[00:16:20]
We say we moved up to a tree
house and moved out to the woods.
[00:16:23]
And which is great.
[00:16:24]
It’s been a very great escape.
[00:16:26]
But it took a little while for us
to realize that because we were already
[00:16:29]
isolated now living out in the country,
we realized what was really happening.
[00:16:33]
Big picture.
[00:16:35]
And a friend told me about this job
[00:16:37]
opening that we’re back there were
with a client four years.
[00:16:40]
I think you’d be really good at that.
[00:16:42]
I love talking to business owners.
It’s fun, right?
[00:16:45]
Yeah, you too.
[00:16:46]
I mean, it’s amazing stories, right?
I love it.
[00:16:49]
I love it.
And I love hearing about a business owner
[00:16:54]
doing coaching through
someplace like Winnik.
[00:16:56]
Yeah.
Because I hear a lot of people doing
[00:16:58]
coaching that have never
started their own business.
[00:17:01]
Or maybe they did years ago.
[00:17:02]
Yeah.
[00:17:03]
What are you going to tell somebody to do.
[00:17:05]
Yeah, I read in a book somewhere that this
is what happens when bad things arise.
[00:17:12]
Right.
Right.
[00:17:13]
So yeah, I credit WABAC.
[00:17:15]
I think that part of the reason they hired
[00:17:17]
me is that I am a business owner
right now going through this.
[00:17:20]
So the role is funded by the Carers Act.
[00:17:23]
So carotenoids are literally paying
[00:17:25]
my salary through a book to help other
businesses and I can empathize with them.
[00:17:31]
We did peepee dollars.
[00:17:32]
We have an Idol loan,
we got the Idol grant.
[00:17:35]
Like I can speak that language and I can
also speak the language of being tired
[00:17:39]
and pivoting and, you know,
just relating to them and empathizing.
[00:17:44]
Sure.
Interesting.
[00:17:46]
That’s awesome.
It really is.
[00:17:48]
Let’s talk about employees.
How many employees?
[00:17:51]
Yes,
[00:17:52]
we had four.
[00:17:54]
OK, and we’re down to two.
[00:17:56]
OK, so are you your husband
and two additional.
[00:17:59]
No.
[00:18:01]
So my husband and I are three years
[00:18:02]
into the business, had our first baby
and then we had our second baby.
[00:18:07]
So we have a four and a six year old
[00:18:10]
at home and my husband
is home home schooling them and are not
[00:18:14]
home schooling virtual schooling
with them right now.
[00:18:17]
Sure.
And he designs backpacks on the side.
[00:18:19]
You would enjoy meeting him.
Oh, nice.
[00:18:21]
Yeah.
And then
[00:18:25]
sorry, you asked me about employees.
[00:18:27]
We have an amazing office manager,
[00:18:29]
Courtney, who’s been with us
for over five years.
[00:18:32]
Wow.
[00:18:33]
And I met her as an all
neighbor, good buddy.
[00:18:35]
She’s got a text, a major master’s
in textiles, a very creative spirit.
[00:18:40]
Wow.
[00:18:42]
And then Anna helps us with social media.
[00:18:45]
So actually, I should say more like
[00:18:48]
we have one full time
and kind of two part time.
[00:18:50]
And then right now we’ve
got help with deliveries.
[00:18:52]
And Justin and Jason have both been
kind of toggling helping them.
[00:18:56]
OK, nice.
Yeah.
[00:18:58]
So kind of front of shop, back shop
[00:19:01]
and I still continue to kind of shop,
do the curation inventory purchasing by.
[00:19:08]
Marketing, things like that,
[00:19:10]
are there deals to be had now
with the changing world,
[00:19:14]
or is it more expensive because people
are just sitting at home buying stuff?
[00:19:18]
I mean, we’ve slowed down our purchasing
just because of our revenue stream.
[00:19:21]
Sure.
[00:19:22]
But there’s still really I think a lot
of people are shopping right now.
[00:19:26]
I mean, our virtual deck
sale did great this weekend.
[00:19:29]
I’m going to say we sold everything,
which is unbelievable.
[00:19:32]
Wow.
I know.
[00:19:35]
But we’ve still like I think maybe because
we moved I’ve also been on Craigslist
[00:19:40]
a lot looking for, like, how we could
really use a console table here.
[00:19:45]
And I’m a big Craigslist fan.
[00:19:47]
I keep finding stuff there still.
[00:19:49]
I am with cars and motorcycles,
so I get it.
[00:19:52]
Yeah, yeah,
[00:19:56]
yeah.
The 13 part.
[00:19:56]
I mean, I miss flea markets and rummage
[00:19:58]
sales were definitely a different
experience this year.
[00:20:01]
Yeah.
Did they happen.
[00:20:03]
They did OK, but not nearly as much.
[00:20:06]
And I think everyone just wasn’t
out and about as often either.
[00:20:09]
Right.
Right.
[00:20:11]
Interesting.
So did you have to let anybody go.
[00:20:14]
I did, yeah.
Yep.
[00:20:17]
That’ll be tough.
[00:20:19]
It was it was really hard because
the reality is, is you just can’t pay
[00:20:24]
the bills otherwise
and the work wasn’t there.
[00:20:27]
So there just weren’t
the orders we typically had.
[00:20:29]
And scheduling and planning the logistics
[00:20:31]
for what few orders were,
there were difficult.
[00:20:34]
Right.
We stopped the
[00:20:37]
stuff that was scheduled.
[00:20:39]
Do that, get kicked on the can,
[00:20:42]
kicked down the road to twenty,
twenty 21 or whatever.
[00:20:45]
Yeah.
[00:20:46]
But sixty five percent
of our business was postponed.
[00:20:50]
Wow.
That’s a hit.
[00:20:52]
All right.
All right.
[00:20:54]
Interesting.
Yeah.
[00:20:56]
I think a lot of people think about it
definitely like you see how hard
[00:20:59]
the restaurant industry and the food
and beverage industries have been hit.
[00:21:05]
But our event industry
is kind of a sneaky one.
[00:21:08]
I don’t think you see it because it’s
not in everyone’s day to day life.
[00:21:12]
Always.
[00:21:12]
Yeah,
but most the majority of our event
[00:21:16]
industry is seasonal and just got our
busy season just totally taken away.
[00:21:22]
Totally.
[00:21:23]
Yeah, I felt like that postponed
is a good way to put it.
[00:21:27]
So you feel it can difficult 20, 21 will
just be like gangbusters right now?
[00:21:33]
Who knows, though it might not like
[00:21:36]
what what habits have now changed
the way that catering will be done?
[00:21:41]
What what will be
different in at an event?
[00:21:44]
Will there be temperature
readings when you walk in?
[00:21:49]
Sure.
For patients, I don’t know.
[00:21:52]
Well, I look like I’m terrible
at predicting the future.
[00:21:56]
So don’t even give this a grain of salt.
[00:21:59]
But you ever go into an old school or
crazy old hospital and used to see those
[00:22:04]
stickers on the light switch that says
shut the lid off to conserve energy?
[00:22:09]
Oh, yeah.
And from like the 50s.
[00:22:12]
We don’t do that anymore, right?
[00:22:14]
Yeah, we go home, we leave every single
light on, even when we leave, right?
[00:22:19]
I mean, I try not to,
[00:22:20]
but I can tell my wife just must be trying
to tell the space station where we live.
[00:22:27]
Every light is on.
[00:22:28]
Sometimes when I get home
and she’s not going home.
[00:22:30]
You got a charger.
[00:22:31]
My dad used to charge me a nickel
every time I left a light on.
[00:22:33]
Oh, my gosh.
[00:22:34]
I’m like, do we get to get
motion sensors or what’s that?
[00:22:37]
I think she’s just
in a hurry with the kid.
[00:22:39]
Right.
Whatever.
[00:22:39]
I don’t think it’s like.
[00:22:41]
Yeah, it’s just life is happening
and it’s not a priority.
[00:22:44]
So I’m sure back then even they were
[00:22:47]
recycling way better than
we do now back then.
[00:22:49]
And we just kind of moved back to normal
and left our lights on and recycle ish.
[00:22:56]
And maybe we should go back to the songs.
[00:22:59]
Maybe now maybe that’s a sign that they
[00:23:02]
were working and same thing
with recycling and all that.
[00:23:05]
Yeah, individual buckets for each one.
[00:23:08]
Yeah, I think they’re plastic.
Yeah.
[00:23:11]
At that time I think there was a care
[00:23:12]
because it was more is
patriotic to recycle.
[00:23:15]
Right.
It’s like let’s recycle your tin cans so
[00:23:18]
that we can kick butt in World War Two
and all this kind of stuff.
[00:23:21]
Like it was a oh it was the Greens,
more of a group.
[00:23:26]
We’re going to do this to save our country
rather than save the planet or the world.
[00:23:31]
Right.
[00:23:32]
Like the different perspective back then.
[00:23:35]
But we eventually went back to normal,
which is lazy.
[00:23:40]
Guess what it comes down to.
[00:23:42]
So I don’t know, I feel that this is
not going to be a permanent thing.
[00:23:46]
Maybe it’ll take a few years to get back
to being able to see people in person.
[00:23:52]
Typically or routinely, but, yeah,
I don’t think it’s permanent.
[00:23:56]
I hope you guys well,
at least on our social
[00:24:00]
and a fun level, on a business level when
[00:24:03]
it comes to commercial space,
I don’t know, man.
[00:24:07]
My team is doing super awesome work
[00:24:10]
in remote, I would have never
guessed that they would do this.
[00:24:12]
Well, yeah,
so a lot of people are enjoying it.
[00:24:15]
Yeah.
And if I don’t have to pay rent.
[00:24:18]
That’s cool, yeah, that just means you can
take home a bigger nut and I can give
[00:24:23]
a bigger not to my employees, so yeah,
I don’t feel like that’s a bad thing.
[00:24:29]
I hear you.
[00:24:30]
So, yeah, I’m certain that some things
will change, but I don’t know if it’ll be
[00:24:34]
like everyone’s
in biohazard suits forever.
[00:24:37]
I hope not, yeah.
Oh, no.
[00:24:39]
Yeah.
[00:24:41]
It will linger, it may linger.
[00:24:43]
Yeah, yeah, there’s going to be
yeah, totally.
[00:24:46]
Um,
I want to talk to you about the stuff
[00:24:49]
that you guys have and how you keep track
of it, store it, inventory it,
[00:24:55]
because that’s got to be a headache
beyond all headaches.
[00:25:00]
No, it’s not bad, really. Yeah,
we’re organized hoarders, remember?
[00:25:04]
I should show
[00:25:06]
you some.
[00:25:08]
I’m just thinking like, all right, but you
got tables, you have X number of tables.
[00:25:13]
You have I imagine you have chairs.
Right.
[00:25:16]
OK, and then you have
candle holders or whatever.
[00:25:19]
And because you’re getting some
[00:25:20]
of the stuff either used or antique,
it’s not like it’s, oh,
[00:25:24]
I’m going to order 50 of these
or I’m going to order a hundred.
[00:25:26]
You might have seventeen leaves and twenty
two of those and five hundred or whatever.
[00:25:31]
Yeah.
So you can track that.
[00:25:34]
Oh yeah.
It’s not that bad.
[00:25:37]
We have a great buddy in town
[00:25:39]
who uses we use a system called
FileMaker Pro Adobe Product Epizootics
[00:25:45]
and he thinks of it like a video game
and so he built a database for us.
[00:25:51]
That is wonderful.
Yeah.
[00:25:53]
We named him after my grandpa Leo.
[00:25:55]
That’s the database.
[00:25:57]
Leo and Leo tracks all of our inventory,
[00:26:02]
all of our invoices, all of our
sales receipts, everything.
[00:26:06]
It’s pretty awesome.
Wow.
[00:26:08]
Yeah.
And then from it, I should grab you.
[00:26:10]
We export a catalog so it keeps our
[00:26:13]
quantities, dimensions, rental rates,
photos of everything.
[00:26:17]
And then we export a catalog so that we
can look through it with a client, send it
[00:26:22]
digitally if somebody
wants to flip through it.
[00:26:24]
OK, you don’t want a physical catalog.
Yeah.
[00:26:27]
Wow.
Yeah.
[00:26:29]
We have over five hundred products,
categories of products, so.
[00:26:33]
OK, over five hundred
categories of products.
[00:26:36]
Yeah.
[00:26:36]
So you have to really have
that organized by in a database.
[00:26:40]
You have to have it in a database.
[00:26:41]
Wow.
Yeah.
[00:26:43]
So when somebody says somebody orders
whatever for this weekend,
[00:26:48]
how do you know where it’s stored
in our warehouse.
[00:26:52]
We have it organized.
[00:26:53]
It’s a we’re very organized.
[00:26:55]
OK,
we talking barcodes with the scanner or
[00:26:58]
are we talking like oh
yeah it’s back in there.
[00:27:01]
That corner.
Yeah.
[00:27:02]
No I mean the whole shop it’s
kind of organized by you’ve got
[00:27:06]
so as I mentioned, like Smalls,
[00:27:08]
over the years we’ve carried less and less
models and gotten to gotten into bigs, ok.
[00:27:14]
Makes sense.
Yeah, essentially like two rows of smiles,
[00:27:17]
because they’re tiny,
it’s very consolidated, they’re grouped.
[00:27:21]
Yeah,
when someone packs an order we have
[00:27:24]
a packing sheet
and all the products are listed
[00:27:27]
with quantities and descriptions of
something like which chalk board is this?
[00:27:32]
You know, it’s like gold.
[00:27:34]
Here’s the measurement.
[00:27:35]
You know what?
[00:27:37]
They can look and find it in the catalog.
All right.
[00:27:40]
And then customers can pick
up or we offer delivery to.
[00:27:43]
OK, so the majority of the shop
are all of our bags.
[00:27:47]
So all the different tables, chairs,
couches, coffee tables, couches.
[00:27:52]
Yeah, we’ve even got a hotel.
[00:27:54]
We it
[00:27:56]
really is it is it.
[00:27:59]
Iron is undertones.
[00:28:01]
So happy we include it on a weekly cart
[00:28:05]
but then we really worry when someone
picks it up and drops it off.
[00:28:09]
I don’t know, I’m just thinking
like that’s kind of cool.
[00:28:12]
What would I use that for.
[00:28:13]
I don’t know why someone’s
renting a closet.
[00:28:16]
I don’t know.
I think they use it for like beverages
[00:28:20]
and Whole Foods had rented it a few times
for like a soap bar display display.
[00:28:26]
So but often it’s filled up with
[00:28:29]
cold drinks and ice and then they
unplug it and dump it out.
[00:28:34]
We don’t rent it often.
It’s not a big round here.
[00:28:36]
But I think it’s funny.
It’s crazy.
[00:28:38]
Funny.
I know, but we have a lot of different
[00:28:40]
like just backdrops to so like these
crates right behind us that you can see.
[00:28:44]
But customizations over the years has
[00:28:47]
become more and more popular that somebody
wants their guest list handwritten.
[00:28:51]
And so we work with amazing local
illustrator who comes in a free hand,
[00:28:56]
writes Meir’s chalkboards,
whatever they need.
[00:29:00]
Wow.
Yeah.
[00:29:02]
So I would totally get that.
[00:29:03]
I totally get it because
we’re sending out postcards
[00:29:07]
as a marketing thing for couples on call.
[00:29:10]
And I write like an angry six year old
and I think everybody else on my team or
[00:29:15]
the majority of them,
their penmanship is marginally better.
[00:29:20]
So I actually hired an old
employee just for that.
[00:29:25]
Just for addressing them.
[00:29:26]
Yeah, there you go.
[00:29:28]
It’s in putting a little note on there
[00:29:29]
and stuff like that because, yeah,
you’re going through all the time.
[00:29:32]
Design the postage, getting
the list, blah, blah, blah.
[00:29:35]
Yeah.
[00:29:36]
Well that for it’s a look
like a six year old wrote it.
[00:29:40]
You can also print out labels.
[00:29:43]
Yeah, I want more personal.
[00:29:45]
I guess there’s something
to be said for that, right?
[00:29:46]
Yeah, there is.
You’re very right.
[00:29:48]
Yeah, I have poor handwriting as well.
[00:29:50]
So that is why we hire
a local illustrator.
[00:29:53]
And they’re the kind of girlie I mean,
[00:29:55]
I don’t know if she’s going to the point
of putting circles or hearts for her eyes,
[00:29:58]
but it looks way better than anything that
anybody else on our team could do.
[00:30:06]
Yeah, let’s do.
[00:30:08]
I guess, because there’s
also the the monotony.
[00:30:11]
Yes, I get that, too.
[00:30:13]
So interesting.
[00:30:15]
That’s fantastic.
Yeah.
[00:30:17]
Thank you.
So to tell you the postcards.
[00:30:22]
So how do you decide,
[00:30:24]
like when you say,
let’s just take the crates behind you,
[00:30:27]
how did you look at those and be like
somebody is going to order those?
[00:30:31]
How did you know they’re
super cool looking?
[00:30:33]
Yeah, but I wouldn’t have known that that
was a cool thing until I saw it now.
[00:30:37]
Oh, that is cool.
Yeah.
[00:30:39]
I mean, I think that Pinterest really
helped us with that, like,
[00:30:42]
a lot of displays return crates on their
side and put photos in them or.
[00:30:46]
All right, do
[00:30:49]
build them at the back bar with liquor.
[00:30:52]
So interesting.
[00:30:53]
I like thinking of them
as Legos, essentially.
[00:30:55]
Anything I can find in bulk that could
be a building material or how I see it.
[00:31:00]
So I looked at these crates as
they helped name us in the beginning.
[00:31:04]
It’s a long story, but we’ve got a really
good friend who is parents
[00:31:07]
and an old milk barn dairy farm that had
all of these milk crates in them.
[00:31:13]
And so when we were coming up with our
[00:31:14]
name, I told you about our space
before we even have a name.
[00:31:17]
We just we really struggled with what
to call our what to call this business.
[00:31:22]
One thing led to another, and I said, hey,
[00:31:24]
Joe, Joe’s parents still have
all those milk crates said.
[00:31:27]
Yeah, yeah, like
what if we delivered in crates?
[00:31:31]
So we used to pack and these are small.
[00:31:35]
And that was what you
got for your mason jars.
[00:31:38]
So you rented 10 mason jars,
but then you got these cool crates to go
[00:31:41]
along with it that you could use,
that you’re at your event.
[00:31:44]
So you shipped coolness inside coolness.
[00:31:48]
And eventually that got really heavy
and they were safe for transportation.
[00:31:52]
All right.
So we just started renting them separate.
[00:31:55]
But for the most part, I mean,
I just look at pieces that
[00:31:58]
are going to withstand being
a rental so rentals get beat up.
[00:32:02]
They oh, that’s my next question.
Yeah.
[00:32:04]
Yeah.
Like what and what I enjoy about pieces
[00:32:07]
that are older is that they’ve
already been through hell and back.
[00:32:10]
Right.
All right.
[00:32:11]
So this is a thing, another winning.
Well kind of.
[00:32:14]
And the Big Dig only grow with character
[00:32:16]
in my mind because they have more
and more stories now that they tell.
[00:32:20]
So then we give them love and TLC,
[00:32:22]
we often find pieces that we have
to stand down refinish and that’s great.
[00:32:26]
We want to do that.
All right.
[00:32:28]
But that’s part of what goes into our
equation when we figure out a rental rate
[00:32:31]
to so great, you can get a good
deal on this at a flea market.
[00:32:35]
But now we need to put in five hours
[00:32:37]
of labor and, you know,
thirty dollars in materials.
[00:32:42]
Now, what do we have invested in this
[00:32:43]
project and what do we
need to rent it for sure.
[00:32:46]
Get that back within
three to five rentals.
[00:32:49]
All right.
How I think about
[00:32:52]
the process.
[00:32:54]
So tell me, as far as packaging
for this stuff, you just have endless
[00:32:58]
amounts of packing foam or peanuts or
something, or how do you have
[00:33:03]
to individually Rampal these mason jars,
mason jars rarely go out anymore.
[00:33:08]
So that’s kind of the beauty of as
[00:33:09]
the trends have changed and we’ve carried
more and more bigs,
[00:33:12]
most of the pieces we have furniture,
slipcovers we put on so that
[00:33:17]
if it’s a velvet sofa, it’s not going
to get stained and transportation,
[00:33:21]
moving blankets and such.
[00:33:23]
But no, you know, we’re we’re thoughtful
[00:33:26]
and careful with our pieces, but we really
don’t have that many smalls anymore.
[00:33:30]
OK, we’ve got plastic bins now that have
[00:33:32]
our label on from you line and we
ask that they return them with it.
[00:33:36]
It’s just more functional with like
plastic dividers and says, OK,
[00:33:40]
we try to be because
a rentals are such a green concept.
[00:33:44]
Yeah.
And be what we carry in particular,
[00:33:48]
repurposing pieces locally,
making pieces with local wood like these
[00:33:52]
tables are made from Wisconsin,
barn wood even.
[00:33:55]
Wow.
Yeah.
[00:33:57]
So that’s a very another green layer
to our business and what makes us batik.
[00:34:03]
So you know,
for us then to wrap everything in bubble
[00:34:06]
wrap seems kind
of counterintuitive, right.
[00:34:09]
So we try to get this done.
[00:34:10]
Biodegradable foam.
Yeah.
[00:34:13]
Or Courtney has been known to sew a little
[00:34:17]
custom case for something
that the customer can bring back.
[00:34:20]
Wow.
[00:34:21]
So we can reuse and repurpose
even the wrapping.
[00:34:24]
All right, customers.
[00:34:27]
I’m just imagining
the weddings that I’ve been to that like
[00:34:30]
everybody spends hours sitting up and then
the show’s over, the party’s over.
[00:34:35]
People, like, tear it down as fast as
[00:34:37]
possible while they’re half drunk,
maybe three quarters.
[00:34:41]
I like to not be there during that part.
[00:34:43]
OK,
[00:34:46]
do you guys help with the repackaging or
[00:34:50]
do you just trust them to bring it
back to you or how does that work?
[00:34:53]
Yeah.
So if luckily where we live,
[00:34:57]
it seems like a lot of venues are a little
more flexible and pieces don’t have
[00:35:00]
to necessarily come back until the
following day or even after that.
[00:35:04]
So that gives the family and friends time
to kind of package everything back up.
[00:35:08]
And if we’re retrieving it, we just
ask that it’s kind of all gathered.
[00:35:11]
We pick it up, put it
in the truck, all right.
[00:35:14]
Or they’re bringing it back.
[00:35:16]
So, yeah, they’re going
through that process.
[00:35:17]
They’ve got their packing slip,
make sure they got everything.
[00:35:20]
But occasionally there is venues where we
have to pick up at midnight or
[00:35:24]
the venue closes at 1:00
a.m. and we need to be out.
[00:35:27]
We need to be there by ten thirty or
[00:35:28]
there’s all these different
time restrictions.
[00:35:31]
And so those are the ones
that become a little hairy.
[00:35:33]
And we do our best to kind of warn
everyone we’re coming at this time.
[00:35:37]
We have to be out by this time
[00:35:39]
we ask for help,
but we do charge an additional two hundred
[00:35:42]
and fifty dollars to come
out and do it that night.
[00:35:44]
Totally, for all of the reasons.
Yeah.
[00:35:46]
You just said because stuff
is not found, it’s dark.
[00:35:49]
You can’t find that one last Mason jar or.
Right.
[00:35:54]
Henthorn Vaisse.
Right.
[00:35:56]
Betty’s purse.
[00:35:57]
Well somebody like put it
in the bathroom for decor.
[00:36:00]
Like you’re kind of you spend so much
more time finding and cleaning pieces to.
[00:36:04]
Yeah.
After the buyers will still have.
[00:36:08]
Liquor on them or.
Right.
[00:36:11]
So there’s a lot more time involved in 50,
if you like, seems small.
[00:36:16]
Oh, thanks.
Yeah, well that’s a really hard one
[00:36:19]
for people because it’s just, you know,
events are can be really expensive.
[00:36:24]
And so we feel bad throwing that on.
[00:36:25]
But we give our our team a bonus if they
go out late at night because they leave
[00:36:30]
their family and go out for just
this one order, most likely.
[00:36:34]
Yeah.
[00:36:35]
So we do our best to make
it fair for everybody.
[00:36:38]
Sure.
I get that.
[00:36:39]
I get that.
[00:36:40]
I mean,
I want to talk about how you figured out
[00:36:44]
how to price stuff, you know,
specific prices or anything like that.
[00:36:48]
But
[00:36:49]
what you have is so unique and different
that I guess people,
[00:36:55]
if they are trying to price shop apples
to apples, it’s just not going to happen.
[00:36:59]
Right.
If they compare your fancy wood
[00:37:02]
fire from wood table to the plastic
real conference table.
[00:37:09]
It’s not exactly the same.
[00:37:10]
So how do you figure out or how did you
figure out how to price stuff, sir?
[00:37:16]
Well, I kind of look at it when it comes
to Smalls versus Biggie Smalls tend to be
[00:37:20]
something like, let’s say we have an event
one weekend and three things go missing.
[00:37:26]
OK, I need those three
things for next week.
[00:37:29]
Sure.
[00:37:30]
So it doesn’t matter what I actually
paid for those original three.
[00:37:34]
The reality is, is that replacement cost
is what can I get them for quickly?
[00:37:38]
And that’s often eBay, right?
[00:37:40]
Oh, interesting.
[00:37:41]
OK, so when it’s something that I know
could go missing and that’s usually
[00:37:45]
the small stuff, I’ll look to eBay
for a general average price.
[00:37:50]
Worst case scenario,
[00:37:51]
I think I could replace this item
for twenty five dollars plus shipping.
[00:37:54]
Thirty dollars.
[00:37:56]
OK, I’m going to go work backwards
[00:37:58]
and the replacement cost is five times
the rental rate,
[00:38:02]
so I’m going to rent it for six dollars
knowing that worst case scenario goes
[00:38:06]
missing and my business
is going to be paid back.
[00:38:09]
That replacement cost.
Sure.
[00:38:11]
Interesting.
OK.
[00:38:12]
Yeah.
[00:38:13]
If it’s a larger items, you know,
there’s a lot of things you take
[00:38:16]
into consideration your
original purchase price.
[00:38:19]
There’s some things that we
get for a good deal.
[00:38:20]
But then there’s also some items that I
[00:38:22]
pay an arm and a leg for because
they’re still hard to find.
[00:38:25]
But the reality is, is let’s say I
found it for seven hundred dollars.
[00:38:29]
I do my math.
Let’s use your number.
[00:38:31]
Let’s say I found it
for a thousand dollars.
[00:38:34]
Do the math and say, OK, that would
be a two hundred dollar rental.
[00:38:37]
And I know if somebody is not going
to pay two hundred dollars for it.
[00:38:40]
OK, you know, you kind of have to figure
out that value or know your gut check.
[00:38:46]
All right, then I’m going to we’re going
[00:38:47]
to have to do one 15 rented
out a few more times.
[00:38:50]
All right.
[00:38:51]
So how I guess, how are people renting
from, you know, are they going on your
[00:38:56]
website and picking
through all this stuff?
[00:38:59]
Yeah, we we’ve always welcomed people
to come to the warehouse,
[00:39:02]
but with everything going on and we want
this to be a safe place for our team.
[00:39:07]
Mm hmm.
So, yeah, everything’s online and you can
[00:39:10]
submit a wish list just like
you would put things in a cart.
[00:39:13]
You sign in and then we check
[00:39:15]
availability, draft your quote
and you reserve it.
[00:39:19]
OK, it’s 50 percent down for reservations.
[00:39:23]
We always say that’s because we
turn down business on your behalf.
[00:39:26]
So, yes, you reserved all of our round
[00:39:29]
harvest tables, for example,
and somebody else came in, one of them,
[00:39:32]
because we are boutique,
we only have 15 of those.
[00:39:36]
That’s just you.
Mm hmm.
[00:39:39]
But you could change your mind and and
switch out your entire order after that,
[00:39:43]
but you’re still locked
into that original 50 percent.
[00:39:46]
Gotcha.
OK, that makes sense.
[00:39:48]
Seems fair.
Heynckes, we just try to be fair
[00:39:53]
to you.
[00:39:54]
Have any horror stories about stuff
that get just terribly destroyed.
[00:39:58]
That’s a great question.
[00:39:59]
And I have one really good horror story.
All right.
[00:40:02]
All right.
So imagine a white Victorian couch like
[00:40:06]
rounded back and all is going to be
a coach, white Victorian coach.
[00:40:11]
And we provided a plastic cover,
they had an event planner and we heard
[00:40:16]
that night they put the plastic
cover on it when the party ended.
[00:40:21]
Great.
[00:40:23]
Only to have our team go retrieve it and I
get a call that says they said,
[00:40:28]
Sarah, the late Victorian coach,
is covered in orange pawprints.
[00:40:35]
It’s like.
[00:40:37]
Tell me more
[00:40:41]
only to put all the pieces of the puzzle
together together, that the groomsmen took
[00:40:46]
the cover off at some point and restarted
the party, never put the cover back
[00:40:51]
on an apparently cheesy popcorn was left
outside and raccoons got the cheesy
[00:40:55]
popcorn party on our white couch
after everyone went to bed.
[00:41:00]
Oh, no.
[00:41:02]
We had a poster that won completely if
it was that bad.
[00:41:07]
Yeah,
[00:41:08]
but I mean, I would like
lose sleep when we open.
[00:41:11]
We’re going about white couches
and white sofas.
[00:41:14]
And honestly, that’s the only time
it’s ever happened in seven years, so.
[00:41:17]
Wow.
Well, that’s not bad at all.
[00:41:20]
Yeah.
[00:41:22]
I’m Wisconsin for
[00:41:25]
Scotchgard.
[00:41:26]
More like it.
[00:41:28]
I’m just trying to think, man,
[00:41:30]
that is what people eat
when they’re eating cheesy
[00:41:35]
in you.
[00:41:37]
Oh, the orange.
Yeah.
[00:41:39]
Just we can’t get it out of fabric.
[00:41:40]
But you’re putting it in your body too.
Good point.
[00:41:43]
Have better interest.
[00:41:46]
So what people eat when they’re
drinking really late at night as
[00:41:52]
you expand your choices,
I guess when it’s that time of night.
[00:41:55]
What has been your favorite part
about owning this business?
[00:41:59]
Oh, I think.
[00:42:04]
That’s a hard question.
[00:42:06]
I just think of all the people we’ve met.
[00:42:09]
We have a while, we take your Polaroid
picture when we would get to meet you
[00:42:13]
and it’s like, yeah,
we keep it with everyone’s file because
[00:42:16]
there’s a lot of people
we work with for years.
[00:42:19]
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
[00:42:20]
Think of many weddings.
[00:42:23]
Look
[00:42:24]
more like someone gets engaged and it
might be a year and a half out.
[00:42:27]
Two years out.
So.
[00:42:28]
All right.
[00:42:29]
We meet them right off the bat and we like
to keep their face off their paperwork.
[00:42:33]
Sure.
[00:42:33]
And so now it’s just really
cool after all these years.
[00:42:36]
I just can’t believe how how immersed I
feel in the community because I’ve gotten
[00:42:40]
to meet all these couples
and just business owners as well.
[00:42:45]
So I think the best part
would be the people.
[00:42:47]
That’s fair.
Yeah, that’s totally fair.
[00:42:50]
I like people, so we’re pretty cool.
[00:42:54]
What what do you see your business doing
in the next let’s call it nine years?
[00:42:59]
I would evolve I guess.
Yeah.
[00:43:02]
I see us
[00:43:05]
honing in on the boutique end of it,
[00:43:07]
focusing more and more
on working with local makers.
[00:43:11]
Oh OK.
[00:43:12]
Yeah, we started and I’m
really excited to get back to this.
[00:43:15]
We kind of announced a sister company
called A La Made Goods two years ago, OK?
[00:43:22]
And I never we did a few small.
[00:43:28]
Sales from it, but essentially we had
[00:43:30]
a lot of people coming to us saying, oh,
my gosh, I love your wood tables,
[00:43:33]
you’re working with all these local
makers and building all of these things.
[00:43:37]
Can we buy them?
Do you do retail?
[00:43:40]
And so that really opened our eyes to
[00:43:42]
the reality that, yeah,
we are working with local makers.
[00:43:45]
We are building 20, 30 tables at a time.
[00:43:48]
How can we add on to that?
[00:43:50]
How can the public benefit from this?
[00:43:52]
Some of our previous clients, so many
of our clients are only with us once.
[00:43:56]
And how can we have them reoccurring, too?
[00:44:00]
So that’s something I would love to
lean into.
[00:44:03]
More is made.
[00:44:05]
Carrie enthrone pottery,
hand throwing plates, ceramic plates,
[00:44:11]
but then then have enough
for one hundred guests.
[00:44:15]
But what if you wanted to get a set
of 12 for your home that you could buy?
[00:44:19]
Mm hmm.
Or your head table set was one that you
[00:44:21]
could bring home
and actually have with you.
[00:44:23]
And that’s the set of kind of heirloom
[00:44:26]
plates that you’ll have
for the rest of your life.
[00:44:28]
Oh, very cool.
[00:44:29]
So I look forward to having the time and
energy to kind of dive into some of those.
[00:44:36]
Sure.
[00:44:37]
And I suppose that’s something
that could happen even now in this.
[00:44:42]
Changing landscape
of the event space, right?
[00:44:44]
It could yeah, I mean,
[00:44:46]
it kind of started before,
but what I found was the marketing side
[00:44:48]
of it almost felt like you
had to market to companies.
[00:44:52]
So now we sold a six foot harvest
table was our first Olumide launch.
[00:44:58]
Mm hmm.
And it was a small batch release,
[00:45:00]
but you had to sign up to buy
a thousand dollar table.
[00:45:04]
You know, that’s a big ask
to market as well, right?
[00:45:09]
So then who’s asking? Right.
[00:45:11]
I know I was being asked, I guess some
people that’s just the thing. Right?
[00:45:15]
Totally.
Well, and finding the right audience
[00:45:18]
for that, it felt like
a slightly different audience.
[00:45:20]
So just needs more of my attention.
[00:45:22]
OK, yeah.
[00:45:23]
Do you have a little kids?
[00:45:25]
I have a six year old,
almost seven year old son.
[00:45:28]
Awesome.
[00:45:29]
So I would not buy a thousand
dollar table because
[00:45:33]
there’s there’s kids all the time in our
[00:45:36]
house that his him and his
buddies and stuff like that.
[00:45:39]
And so the first grade or
kindergarten he’s in first grade.
[00:45:43]
Oh great.
[00:45:45]
So just they have I don’t know where they
[00:45:47]
find metal and their zippers
and stuff like that.
[00:45:50]
They just love hearing the noise
of it screeching on the table.
[00:45:53]
Oh yeah.
[00:45:55]
What are you doing.
[00:45:56]
My kindergartner loves trucks and so
[00:45:59]
they’re driving everywhere
and construction equipment.
[00:46:03]
Oh sure.
[00:46:04]
But we have so of tables at home
and it does just add petina.
[00:46:07]
So actually I would say the opposite is
the perfect table for your seven year old.
[00:46:12]
I
[00:46:14]
know
[00:46:18]
that’s motorcycle money.
[00:46:21]
Yeah but that’s, that’s super cool.
[00:46:23]
I think that would be beneficial.
[00:46:25]
Is that website up.
[00:46:27]
We just have it right now
as a sub page of our page.
[00:46:30]
So the great website it just is good.
[00:46:34]
Oh let me see right there.
Yeah.
[00:46:35]
OK, super cool.
[00:46:39]
So how can people find you? On our website
[00:46:42]
the best place right now.
[00:46:43]
OK. ALaCrateRentals.com.
ALaCrateRentals.com.
[00:46:47]
Awesome.
Thank you.
[00:46:48]
And on Instagram too.
All right.
[00:46:51]
Same thing?
A La Crate Rentals?
[00:46:53]
Instagram is A La Crate Rentals.
Yeah.
[00:46:55]
OK, nice.
[00:46:56]
Very cool.
Is there a phone number at all?
[00:47:00]
Emails probably better.
[00:47:02]
Emails better?
What’s a good.
[00:47:05]
What’s a good email? Info@ALaCrateRentals.com.
[00:47:09]
Awesome.
Easy enough.
[00:47:11]
Sarah, thank you so much
for being on the show.
[00:47:12]
This is cool.
Yeah.
[00:47:14]
Really nice to meet you.
Thank you.
[00:47:15]
This has been
[00:47:16]
Authentic Business Adventures,
the business program that brings you
[00:47:19]
the struggle
stories and triumphs and successes
[00:47:21]
of business owners across the land. Coming
to you just, you know,
[00:47:26]
a stone’s throw away from each
other in Sun Prairie and Monona.
[00:47:31]
My name is James Kademan
[00:47:32]
and Authentic Business Adventures is
brought to you by Calls On Call offering call
[00:47:36]
answering services for businesses across
the country, on the web at callsoncall.com.
[00:47:41]
As well as Draw In Customers
Business Coaching,
[00:47:43]
offering business coaching services for
entrepreneurs in all stages of your
[00:47:47]
business, on the Web,
at drawincustomers.com. As well as
[00:47:51]
the Bold Business Book,
a book for the entrepreneur in all of us
[00:47:55]
available on Amazon and wherever
fine books are sold.
[00:47:58]
We’d like to thank you our wonderful
[00:48:00]
listeners, as well as our guest,
Sarah Mullins, founder of A La Crate Rentals.
[00:48:05]
Sarah, thank you so much
for being on the show.
[00:48:09]
Find this airing locally on 103.5
[00:48:12]
Wednesdays at 1:00
p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m.,
[00:48:15]
as well as at drawincustomers.com
just hit the little podcast link.
[00:48:19]
Thank you so much for being on the show.
[00:48:21]
I want you to thank you for listening.
[00:48:23]
And if you do nothing else,
enjoy your business.
[00:48:27]
Thanks, Sarah.
Thank you.
