018: From Boat to Kayak… What Motivated Bill Bragman to Success?

BILL BRAGMAN – PRE & POST INTERVIEW (BEHIND THE SCENES)

Background:

Bill Bragman began YakGear with a little innovation and open water. He was an avid fisherman and curious inventor, often tinkered with ways to improve the kayak experience. When he happened across two seemingly simple designs — leashes for paddles and fishing poles — friends took notice, and he knew he was on to something. Bill refined his idea and, in 2006, made the products available to the public under the name Reel Deels. Word got out and, as the company grew, so did its offerings. In November 2007, with 20 items to its name, YakGear made its official debut as the original ‘yak accessory company.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[1:04] Bill is the owner of YakGear, a Kayak accessory company.
[1:36] The business started in December 2006 and started just a hobby.
[3:12] Bill started off by selling on Ebay.
[4:38] Today, the company is going to hit $4 million and they’ve been growing for about 20% a year.
[6:02] Started a business called – Nite Images. The company projected slides on to a wall at the corner of Clearview & I-10 in Metairie, Louisiana (see map below). Could do 86 slides in a carousel with their projector.
- [6:21] Built a system that every night that they would hoist up a projector around 7pm and it would stop at 5am every morning. They were so nervous someone would steal the projector that hey would sleep outside.
- [6:40] A storm came through one night and destroyed all of their equipment.
[7:05] Refers to New Orleans Saints Linebacker – Renaldo Turnbull. Started a T-Shirt company called, “Bull Rush”.
[8:00] What did you learn from these experiences?
- [8:05] With Nite Images – it’s look at everything that could go possibly wrong before you start spending $$$.
- [8:18] With the T-Shirt Company – it’s rely on yourself.
[9:57] “What we truly sell is customer service.”
[13:03] For a new entrepreneur, when you are selling your product, think about the price you want to charge 10 years from now.
[16:01] A lot of retailers now have EDI, Electronics Distribution Information.
[18:47] YakGear has about 250 products and over a hundred of those are made in-house.
[21:31] What motivated him to success??? So Bill Bragman thought, “Anything I had to do to pull this off, I was gonna do.”
[26:19] In their 1st year, they had only a $4,000 profit. In their 2nd year, about $12,000 profit. In their 3rd year, -$28,000 “profit”.
[27:03] Bill's Analogy on – 7 Sticks & 7 Plates at the Circus.
[29:45] “Stuff happens, you fix the stuff, and then tomorrow stuff happens.”
[30:05] Bill is proud with YakGear’s 24/7 customer service.
[33:11] His son and his son’s best friend encouraged Bill to stop traveling as much and start going to Conventions instead.
[38:12] “Measure 5 times and install once. You don’t want a hole in your Kayak.”

The Corner where Nite Images was Formed & Destroyed:

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖 📚 Favorite Book(s)? The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Repetitious items, that I use monthly. Still like trying on clothing and touching all of my fishing products.
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Hiring the right employees that share the same vision.
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Since we are in rapid growth, we sometimes overlook small details.