Built From Grit: How Roggen Frick Scaled Bear Ironworks

WEBVTT

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We are live and I am excited about this. So hi

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everyone meet Ragin Frick Love the name. What

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the Frick? No No, you're not I get that all the

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time I got quite the name So as you know, the

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only thing I know about you is honestly is that

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you're brave because most You know, most guests

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aren't that brave. Most people are like, I don't

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want to go live. What if I make a mistake? And

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what if you do? What will Adrian do? And there's

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nothing I can do. It's live. But honestly, I've

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had over about 300 lives, and I've never had

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any issues. Only a couple of times I had to say

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the views of my guests are not my views. But

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in the meantime, introduce yourself and let our

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audience know who you are. Yeah, my name is Roggen

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Frick. I have a company called Bear Ironworks

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where we manufacture rock screens and trenching

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construction equipment and we sell that e -commerce

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and we ship that all across the country and have

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had a very good run doing it and I've come on

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here to talk about business, talk about myself

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and whatever else anybody else is interested

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in. Okay, how cool, totally over my head. So

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we have to, so first of all, I did read one thing

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just like a minute ago. You were working since

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the age of five? Yes, I've been working since

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a very young age because my dad's had his own

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companies his whole life. So in the construction

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industry? Yes, I learned how to operate equipment

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very young. My dad, he had a whole fleet of equipment

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when I was very young aged and he would like

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send me out on the property with it and go like

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dig a hole for trash or whatever it might be

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and then as I grew up you know he taught me how

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to operate equipment and got more technical because

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the type of work that he did was abandoned mine

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closures and mining reclamation in Colorado so

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we were all always up in the mountains and it

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was always kind of like very technical equipment

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operating work and I would Be by his side during

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the summertime when I wasn't in school and he

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taught me how to run equipment and eventually

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taught me how to weld. And that's what I used

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to build my career off of. OK, that is so cool.

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So where are you located? Like state is fine.

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So the company is located in Colorado, but I'm

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located in South Carolina. Whoa, wait, that's

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really cool. OK, yeah, so. Explain because I

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am, you know, not 100 % sure. So your dad teaches

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you all of this as you're growing older. So you're

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digging the trash and then every year you're

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getting up one year you're like, oh my god, I

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get to go on the cat or the, oh wait, one of

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the names of the, what is it called? What do

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they call it? Like what was the first equipment

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that you drove? I think the first one that I

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did was an excavator. So a track was another

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term for it. And that's what I spent most of

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my time running when I was growing up was either

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a track hoe or a back hoe. And then I learned

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how to run dozers, learned how to run road graders,

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learned how to drive dump trucks, and just kind

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of expanded on that as my career went, because

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I actually went and got a degree in the construction

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industry and worked in the construction industry

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for a bit before I started this business and

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made it what it is today. OK, so. First of all,

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I'm thinking of the little kids that are playing

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with their Tonka toys. They're playing with the

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Tonka toys and they're like playing outside and

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then you come by and you're like riding the actual

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equipment. That's crazy. Where your friends was

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completely jelly. I don't know if they really

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knew that I was doing that all the time. I grew

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up in a farming community, so I think a lot of

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other kids, they grew up working on tractors

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and stuff like that. So they probably, some of

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my friends had similar experiences. But one of

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my pet peeves when I was growing up was everybody

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always called every construction equipment a

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tractor, no matter what it was, whether it was

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a dozer, a tractor, excavator. And all my classmates

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would call it a tractor. I knew all the equipment

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off the top of my head of what everything was

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just because I'd been around it so much. Um and

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yeah it was funny I guess apparently this is

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the story my dad tells he had to like take the

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keys out of the equipment because I'd go in there

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and start it up and start running it myself once

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he taught me how to do it. It's like a dream

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come true. I remember when I was in the American

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Cancer Society, we were doing like an event,

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like touch a tractor, touch, you know, where

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the kids would come out and they get to dig.

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It's very cool. Okay, so now you're older. So

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are you graduating from high school early? Like

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what's taking place with your school life? So

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I graduated high school on time, but at that

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point, you know, I already knew how to run equipment

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well, I already knew how to weld. and decided

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to go get a degree in construction management

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just because I had the background of it. I felt

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like that was going to be an easy enough degree

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for me to go into. I went to college, went to

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Colorado State University, and I actually started

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the company then. It was a side business when

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I was in school because I wanted to have a shop

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where I raced dirt bikes. I wanted to have a

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place where I could put my dirt bike, work on

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my dirt bike. My dad had suggested to me, why

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don't you make these rock screens and you can

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sell them at an auction and that might be enough

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to pay for the rent on the shop so you can have

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a place for your bike. So that's what I did.

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I started making these screens and at first I

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would take into an auction, but then I built

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a website and started marketing them a little

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bit. And pretty soon I started getting a bunch

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of calls for these rock screens. Then I hired

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a... an employee and then I had another employee

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and then I was in a bigger shop and all of a

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sudden, I'm running a fully legitimate business

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while I'm going to school and it was becoming

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a little overwhelming. I didn't really quite

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realize how much demand there was for these rock

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screens. I decided to shut it down because I

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was starting to not perform well in school. I

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finished my degree. I was just going to go work

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in commercial construction, build buildings and

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do that for my career. Then my dad, it was like

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in the middle of COVID, he was working for a

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large contractor at the time. He had gotten out

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of business for himself and he was working in

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Louisiana on like a $6 billion project for a

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company called Kiwit. And he was kind of getting

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tired of, you know, the demands of that type

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of project. You know, those types of projects,

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they work like seven days a week, 12 hours a

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day. It's just like, it's relentless. He never

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stopped. And he called me and he's like, well,

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what if we started the Grizzly business, went

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on it? in on it together because you proved that

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like there's a demand for it. You know how to

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market it. He said, I'll get the shop and get

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some people welding and you can go do the marketing

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aspect of the business and try to bring in the

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sales. And so that's what we did. And I was still

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working in construction as my day job and then

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doing the marketing and building the business

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on the side. And then eventually I went full

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time into the business and and took kind of the

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leadership role in it and drove the business

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and grew it further. And I turned it from, you

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know, people pick up the phone, want a Grizzly,

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we give them a quote, we make it custom order

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to an actual manufacturing business where, you

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know, we're scheduling out things, we're planning

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our demand, where I implemented stock keeping

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measures and everything like that. So that way

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we could actually manufacture these things and

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have them ready to go out the door and meet the

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demand that was in the market. And I've since

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grown that to the point that the operations are

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running themselves pretty well. I've put in all

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these tools and systems of management to be able

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to remotely manage it. Because now I live in

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South Carolina on the East Coast and I'm kind

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of the representative of the company on the East

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Coast, but do a lot of online marketing. And

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that's where pretty much all of our business

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comes from is online. Okay, amazing. We have

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to go to your website. We have to go and see

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what exactly, because you got me on the screens.

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I'm like, wait, is that like, what is a rock

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screen? Okay, so let me see. So beer, okay. Okay,

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here, let's do this. Let's share my screen so

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whoever is watching can actually check this out.

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Okay, right, I'm on your site. You can see it?

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Yep, yep. Okay. So first of all, nice looking

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site. Thank you. So this is your business, not

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your father's. This is you. So originally I started

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it, but now it's my father's and I's. We do it

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together. So he realized, wait, oh my gosh, he

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must be so happy to have. Just dads, they love

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it. Okay, so I love this. This is your inventory

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page. Am I renting this? Is this something I'm

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going to rent? Or am I gonna buy? So this is

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stuff that contractors buy. And so usually what

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happens is these types of products, they're for

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excavation and managing soil. We have a couple

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different products beyond the rock screens now.

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But what happens is a lot of time something happens

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on a construction site and somebody needs this

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thing like the next day. and they start calling

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around trying to find them. So we've identified

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the most popular models and try to keep them

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in stock, ready to ship. That way people can

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just get on there and buy them. Wait, so why,

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okay, that makes sense. First of all, very heavy

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though. So like you would literally, where are

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these located? Are they in Colorado? Yeah, they're

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all manufactured in Colorado, but we ship them

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nationwide. Okay. And we got our freight figured

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out. so that we can get them right to wherever

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they need to go. Amazing. And then what am I

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screening on the rock? What am I looking to?

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Like to get out any of the smaller rocks? Yes.

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I mean, everyone's got a different use for it.

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And some people even use it for screening other

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things, like glass recyclers have used it to

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size their glass down. But essentially, right,

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you got a big pile of dirt. Maybe it's got some

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two -foot rocks in it. It's got some sands in

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it. It's got some gravel in it. And it's usable

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if you can get rid of like the big stuff. And

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so these are called grizzlies is the main thing.

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And that's the like the box shaped part that

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you're looking at. And the grizzly is really

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like what it's meant for is to get the big rocks

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off. It's got these big solid steel bars on it.

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The rocks hit that they roll off all the soil

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falls through. And then the thing that we've

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added onto this is a screen. And we've got this

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removable screen system that hooks onto the top

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of it. And it's like a wire mesh that sits on

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the top. And so then you can screen it out to

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get to like a specific size. Like say you're

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doing landscaping and you want to have rocks

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that are like, you know, half an inch or three

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quarters of an inch or something like that. You

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could, you can screen through that and separate

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your rocks in that way. You can change out your

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screen sizing. Maybe you have a gravel pit. Maybe,

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you know, you're going to use this on different

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construction projects that are going to have

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different requirements. And so our system allows

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you to adapt throughout the different projects

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while still being a cheap, affordable price.

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Okay, very cool. Okay, so I could really understand

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this now that we're, oh, I'm learning something

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new. I love it. I love it. And I love that you

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have this very clear and clean. And then, okay,

00:11:51.850 --> 00:11:54.190
so we're going from the rocks to, whoa, whoa,

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whoa, snow pusher? Yep. So like a plow? Yeah,

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so we've gotten into a couple different things.

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We've got like five. different product lines

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now. And one of them is a snow pusher. So it's

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an attachment for a skid steer to help just push

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snow in a parking lot and clear parking lots.

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That's our newest product that we've launched.

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Just getting into learning how to do attachments

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and everything like that. And we're fairly confident

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that our design is good and that it's going to

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help people manage their lots. So wait, so this

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means, so if you had like, what machines would

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this fit in? Would it fit into like an excavator?

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Like what are, that you would put it in? So the

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main, this is for a skid steer. So skid steers

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are the ones that look like WALL -E, you know?

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They're like a little... they got like two little

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wheels on the side or maybe tracks on the side

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and they got a bucket in the front right and

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so those are like the most common pieces of that's

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like the most common piece of equipment out there

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is a skid steer because you can put all kinds

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of different attachments on the front of it you

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can have a bucket you can have a snowplow you

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can put a lawnmower on the front of it you can

00:12:59.659 --> 00:13:01.720
put a road brush to clean your road i mean the

00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:04.360
possibilities are kind of endless with the attachments

00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:08.129
that go on the front of them Oh my God, I definitely

00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:09.610
want to ask you a couple of business questions,

00:13:09.750 --> 00:13:13.330
but this is nice looking bedding boxes. We saw

00:13:13.330 --> 00:13:16.389
those washout tubs. I wanted to see what that

00:13:16.389 --> 00:13:20.269
looks like. Oh, so these are, these are a simple

00:13:20.269 --> 00:13:23.789
bin used to clean out a concrete truck when it's

00:13:23.789 --> 00:13:25.950
done pouring. So it doesn't, because you can't

00:13:25.950 --> 00:13:30.049
just dump that down the drain. Oh my gosh. I

00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:31.590
want to hear about your marketing, but hold on.

00:13:31.610 --> 00:13:35.850
I still want to go through this track. Oh, okay.

00:13:37.429 --> 00:13:39.289
Okay. Yep. So these ones, they sit on this. How

00:13:39.289 --> 00:13:41.929
would I use this? So this sits at the exit of

00:13:41.929 --> 00:13:46.009
a construction site. And, you know, construction

00:13:46.009 --> 00:13:48.149
sites are muddy, right? And all the tires, the

00:13:48.149 --> 00:13:49.690
trucks and everything, they pick up all this

00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:51.809
mud, right? But you don't want that on the roadway

00:13:51.809 --> 00:13:54.529
because that's, it's going to, you know, pollute

00:13:54.529 --> 00:13:56.490
the water. It's going to make the highway dirty.

00:13:56.590 --> 00:13:59.049
It's going to be flinging rocks at people's windshields

00:13:59.049 --> 00:14:01.090
and stuff like that. And so you put what's called

00:14:01.090 --> 00:14:04.139
a tracking pad. at the exit of your site and

00:14:04.139 --> 00:14:06.279
you drive over this. And usually you'd put like

00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:09.059
multiple of these panels in a row. And so if

00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:10.620
you have really muddy tires, by the time you

00:14:10.620 --> 00:14:14.480
get driving over the pads, your tires are fairly

00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.200
clean and then your road's gonna be cleaner.

00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:22.340
Oh, that is so cool. Okay, I am loving all the

00:14:22.340 --> 00:14:24.759
work. Your story is amazing, which I'm like looking

00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:33.059
here. Where is your story? That's crazy, this

00:14:33.059 --> 00:14:35.200
picture, by the way. Tell me, did you actually,

00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.120
is this real? Yeah, so the airport in Grand Junction,

00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:42.759
Colorado has these planes out in front of it.

00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.500
And that's the town that we manufacture in is

00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:49.279
Grand Junction. All right, am I going to find

00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:52.960
it on more about us? OK. All right, here's the.

00:14:53.049 --> 00:14:57.289
Our team. Okay, our president Mike Frick, that's

00:14:57.289 --> 00:15:00.429
your dad. Well known for his career, our vice

00:15:00.429 --> 00:15:03.889
president. Okay. Yeah, we probably got a little

00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:06.570
more to add with our story. We're going to be

00:15:06.570 --> 00:15:09.129
redoing the site again here in a couple of months

00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:12.429
and getting some new content on there. But very

00:15:12.429 --> 00:15:15.269
cool. Okay, let's go back. I'm going to because

00:15:15.269 --> 00:15:20.460
I want to hear. So what actually is. What are

00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:24.480
some of the challenges that you have as a business

00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.899
owner? First of all, does your age get in the

00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:33.039
way at all? Sometimes it does. When I was working

00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:34.779
in the construction industry, it really got in

00:15:34.779 --> 00:15:39.559
the way. Because I was part of the management

00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:41.559
of construction projects and in charge of like

00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:44.519
actually like bringing all the subcontractors

00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.679
in and managing a project and being young with

00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:51.100
a clean shaved face is sometimes people don't

00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:53.519
want to listen to you when they've been around

00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:56.580
for 40 years in the industry. So I did run into

00:15:56.580 --> 00:15:59.519
challenges there with it. But today in the business

00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:01.500
world, I do all my business on the internet,

00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:05.240
do it all over the phone. So I get away with

00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:08.720
it a little bit easier now. To share with us

00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.720
how you handled it back when you were actually

00:16:11.929 --> 00:16:14.970
They saw you, they were working with you. Yeah,

00:16:14.970 --> 00:16:18.529
so when I was working with them, you know, the

00:16:18.529 --> 00:16:21.429
approach I took is that, you know, these guys

00:16:21.429 --> 00:16:23.049
have a reason why they don't want to trust me,

00:16:23.090 --> 00:16:24.649
right? They've been doing it for 40 years. They've

00:16:24.649 --> 00:16:26.490
had the experience in it. You know, they've been

00:16:26.490 --> 00:16:29.149
doing it longer than I've been alive. And so

00:16:29.149 --> 00:16:31.169
who am I to walk in and tell them how to do their

00:16:31.169 --> 00:16:34.210
job? And so I took that approach of I'm not the

00:16:34.210 --> 00:16:36.470
expert in the situation. I'm just the director

00:16:36.470 --> 00:16:38.490
of the chaos trying to make something happen.

00:16:39.149 --> 00:16:42.870
And I would Sit down with them go over the plan

00:16:42.870 --> 00:16:44.950
listen to their concerns. I think listening is

00:16:44.950 --> 00:16:48.309
a big important skill to make sure that people

00:16:48.309 --> 00:16:52.690
feel heard and feel respected and by doing that

00:16:52.690 --> 00:16:54.929
and then being able to ask them questions to

00:16:54.929 --> 00:16:59.350
understand what they're doing and Tell them,

00:16:59.570 --> 00:17:01.830
you know what how I feel about like the situation

00:17:01.830 --> 00:17:04.769
at hand or their trade or whatever they're trying

00:17:04.769 --> 00:17:07.029
to accomplish and ask them if I feel like if

00:17:07.029 --> 00:17:09.579
my thoughts are genuine on that and like considering

00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:11.960
their opinions that helped me develop good working

00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:13.920
relationships with those people to where then

00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:15.660
I didn't really have any issues it was usually

00:17:15.660 --> 00:17:18.700
like a first week kind of thing and then after

00:17:18.700 --> 00:17:22.900
that you know that stigma really went away yeah

00:17:22.900 --> 00:17:24.900
they get tough but they they forget that they

00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:26.559
were in this well maybe they weren't in the same

00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.460
place and that is why so I just wanted to change

00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:32.019
the title on um on the room so that it says beer

00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:38.039
iron okay so As far as bare iron goes and the

00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:40.779
work you're doing. So now how do people find

00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:42.700
you? Like I know the website, like tell me a

00:17:42.700 --> 00:17:44.380
little bit about your marketing. Do you, who

00:17:44.380 --> 00:17:48.839
do you market directly to? Yeah. So a lot, a

00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:50.400
lot of our products, right? There's something

00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.400
that people are looking for. They need that product.

00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:57.960
And so we do rely a lot on Google and Google

00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:01.019
pay per click ads. We do a lot of SEO, which

00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:02.960
is very important, right? Because if you're not

00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:05.700
showing up in the first two results, then you're

00:18:05.700 --> 00:18:08.720
probably not going to get clicked on. Then the

00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:10.640
e -commerce part, we've expanded out that to

00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.980
where we're showing up in the Google marketplace,

00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:15.440
we're showing up on Facebook marketplace, where

00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:18.220
our ads are showing up in more areas. Then we've

00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:21.000
tried just marketing generally to the construction

00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:23.859
industry, and then people that hit our demographic.

00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:26.380
But like I said, these products are products

00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:28.019
that you're only going to buy if you need, you

00:18:28.019 --> 00:18:30.980
don't really buy it if you see it and feel like

00:18:30.980 --> 00:18:35.019
it's a good idea. We scaled back on that and

00:18:35.019 --> 00:18:37.660
we only do like retargeting towards people that

00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:39.900
we know have a genuine interest and a genuine

00:18:39.900 --> 00:18:42.440
need for the products, people that have checked

00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:46.019
us out. We do some trade shows, like construction

00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:48.220
shows where we can go actually show off the product

00:18:48.220 --> 00:18:51.079
to people and let them know who we are and about

00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:56.630
our brand. OK, so you're marketing. You have

00:18:56.630 --> 00:18:59.670
to kind of be specific. But the Google is better

00:18:59.670 --> 00:19:02.130
for you in order to get it. All right, now talk

00:19:02.130 --> 00:19:05.410
to me about, first of all, how many people do

00:19:05.410 --> 00:19:09.309
you have working for you? So including the ownership,

00:19:09.509 --> 00:19:13.230
we have 10 employees. The majority of those employees

00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:15.269
are production employees. Six of them are actually

00:19:15.269 --> 00:19:17.690
on the shop floor. Two of them are managers.

00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:23.000
Yeah, and then we have contractor partners. I

00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:25.880
partner with an ad agency that does marketing

00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:28.200
consulting and then does a lot of the legwork

00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:32.259
on the marketing stuff. So what do they do? So

00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:35.140
you're making something? What is the production

00:19:35.140 --> 00:19:39.299
doing? What items are made? So all of our products

00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:43.619
that we sell on the website are 100 % made in

00:19:43.619 --> 00:19:47.529
America in our factory. And so we are building

00:19:47.529 --> 00:19:50.549
that to inventory for things that are popular.

00:19:50.829 --> 00:19:52.630
And then any orders that come in that somebody

00:19:52.630 --> 00:19:55.589
wants something custom or somebody wants something

00:19:55.589 --> 00:19:57.529
that we don't have in stock, you know, we take

00:19:57.529 --> 00:20:00.269
in those orders, make it, and then ship it out.

00:20:01.549 --> 00:20:04.130
Okay. So, and then I'm curious, are you busy

00:20:04.130 --> 00:20:08.250
all year round? It slows down in the winter because

00:20:08.250 --> 00:20:12.730
construction's a seasonal industry, especially

00:20:12.730 --> 00:20:16.069
in the northern part of the United States. That's

00:20:16.069 --> 00:20:18.069
why we started, that's why we launched the snow

00:20:18.069 --> 00:20:20.569
pushers to try to help, you know, keep a little

00:20:20.569 --> 00:20:23.650
bit busy in the winter time. And it does really

00:20:23.650 --> 00:20:25.970
ramp up like July is usually our busiest month

00:20:25.970 --> 00:20:29.630
and stuff's going out the door like crazy. But

00:20:29.630 --> 00:20:32.509
we do, we do maintain customers throughout the

00:20:32.509 --> 00:20:34.089
winter that are buying, you know, we do offer

00:20:34.089 --> 00:20:36.029
some promotions through the winter time on occasion

00:20:36.029 --> 00:20:38.650
to, you know, give people who are looking a deal.

00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:41.589
And then, you know, the South keeps us running

00:20:41.589 --> 00:20:43.730
because the South is always doing construction

00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:46.960
all year round. That's me. I'm in Daytona Beach,

00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:51.920
Florida. That's awesome. Well, you're beautiful,

00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:55.519
too, in the area that you are. So I just had

00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.799
the question in my head. I'm trying to understand.

00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:02.539
So you are able to keep these guys clean. You

00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:05.039
can offer customization if someone sees what

00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:07.900
they want. You're manufacturing and distributing

00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:10.259
here in the United States. So you are both the

00:21:10.259 --> 00:21:15.339
manufacturer and your own distributor. Do you

00:21:15.339 --> 00:21:19.380
also have someone else that distributes for you,

00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:24.380
like another company? We manage all the contracting

00:21:24.380 --> 00:21:28.900
of the goods in our own in -house, like logistics

00:21:28.900 --> 00:21:32.240
parts of it. We have an operations manager. He

00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.680
manages the shop floor, he manages inbound sales,

00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:39.579
and then he manages all the outgoing shipments

00:21:39.579 --> 00:21:42.200
and is the point of contact for all the customers.

00:21:43.229 --> 00:21:45.690
And we have a handful of shipping partners. We

00:21:45.690 --> 00:21:48.549
have about 10 different shipping companies that

00:21:48.549 --> 00:21:51.930
we work with to get us the best rates to be able

00:21:51.930 --> 00:21:54.230
to ship these things. Because them being big

00:21:54.230 --> 00:21:56.509
and heavy, it definitely is expensive. And that

00:21:56.509 --> 00:21:58.549
was something that I learned early on that almost

00:21:58.549 --> 00:22:00.789
killed the business was trying to ship them.

00:22:01.750 --> 00:22:03.490
And so we actually brought in the operational

00:22:03.490 --> 00:22:06.089
manager, not for his expertise in manufacturing,

00:22:06.150 --> 00:22:07.950
because I understood that part of it, but for

00:22:07.950 --> 00:22:10.009
his expertise in logistics and how to move goods.

00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:12.220
And that's really where he brought in a lot of

00:22:12.220 --> 00:22:15.299
value to the business, to the point that the

00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:16.900
furthest that we've ever shipped something is

00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:20.200
Guam. And I comfortably can ship things that

00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:24.500
far now. Lisa, are you selling also to municipalities?

00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:27.980
Yep. We sell to municipalities, federal government,

00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:30.519
state governments, Department of Transportation.

00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:33.859
The military is a big customer. And then private

00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:36.220
contractors, like construction contractors and

00:22:36.220 --> 00:22:39.700
everything like that. I love family businesses.

00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.119
I think that is amazing. So what is your goal

00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:47.259
being on podcasts? The biggest goal on podcasts

00:22:47.259 --> 00:22:49.680
is I got a couple of reasons. I mean, I want

00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:52.599
to improve my SEO by putting it on my website.

00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:56.119
I want to get my brand recognition out there

00:22:56.119 --> 00:22:58.480
for anybody that's listening to the podcast that

00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.500
might not know about us, but needs our products.

00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:04.099
And then just trying to get my name out there

00:23:04.099 --> 00:23:06.740
a little bit more because I might have some other

00:23:06.740 --> 00:23:11.740
ventures in the future that I start up and I

00:23:11.740 --> 00:23:14.019
want people to know who I am and what I offer.

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:18.059
I love that. And I don't have that many more

00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:20.940
questions, but I do want to ask you the challenges

00:23:20.940 --> 00:23:25.700
that you currently are facing. This is something

00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:29.660
to me that would be inflation proof. If you need

00:23:29.660 --> 00:23:32.319
something done, you need it done. I'd like to

00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:34.500
hear a couple of challenges or the struggles

00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:39.960
you're having. Yeah, so trying to just maintain

00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:44.079
a high sales volume and stuff. Surprisingly enough,

00:23:44.220 --> 00:23:46.819
the cost of steel since we started the company,

00:23:46.859 --> 00:23:48.000
because we started the company in the middle

00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:51.460
of COVID in 2020 is actually when we started

00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:56.220
at the beginning of COVID. Surprisingly enough,

00:23:56.339 --> 00:23:58.200
the price of steel since that point has actually

00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:02.579
went down. Not like an insane amount, but it

00:24:02.579 --> 00:24:05.180
hasn't went up, which is good. The actual cost

00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:08.359
of manufacturing the the products has been level.

00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:10.180
So we've been able to manage the pricing pretty

00:24:10.180 --> 00:24:12.660
well there. But what does hurt is all the inflation

00:24:12.660 --> 00:24:14.880
and all the other areas, right, like electricity

00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:19.599
and rent and all the consumable items and trying

00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:23.500
to keep up with keeping good wages. And now we're

00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:27.599
providing benefits to our employees. And so those

00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:29.759
those have been like challenges to try to navigate.

00:24:29.819 --> 00:24:33.059
And so the biggest thing that I do is with all

00:24:33.059 --> 00:24:35.099
the systems I put in place and all the software

00:24:35.099 --> 00:24:37.609
tools is I have a lot of data. And so I try to

00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:40.269
analyze all the data and understand how to make

00:24:40.269 --> 00:24:43.150
the business run more efficiently. I'm a big

00:24:43.150 --> 00:24:46.650
believer in lean management practices and trying

00:24:46.650 --> 00:24:49.250
to cut away any waste. And so I go through every

00:24:49.250 --> 00:24:50.990
year, and I'm actually in the middle of it right

00:24:50.990 --> 00:24:53.269
now, of going through and analyzing all that

00:24:53.269 --> 00:24:55.829
data to find out where can I cut any waste and

00:24:55.829 --> 00:24:57.329
things like that. And what I've been able to

00:24:57.329 --> 00:25:00.230
do is I cut out waste to make the business run

00:25:00.230 --> 00:25:02.430
more efficient, but then that is able to pay

00:25:02.430 --> 00:25:05.529
for something like employee health care. or employment

00:25:05.529 --> 00:25:09.369
retirement program. And so that the bottom line

00:25:09.369 --> 00:25:12.029
still stays the same, even if the revenues stay

00:25:12.029 --> 00:25:15.289
in the same, if we have an increase in costs

00:25:15.289 --> 00:25:19.069
in that area. I want to look at something before

00:25:19.069 --> 00:25:22.210
we go. So I'm curious. I'm going back to your

00:25:22.210 --> 00:25:27.450
website. Hold on. So I think it's amazing that

00:25:27.450 --> 00:25:29.750
you're made in the USA. Everything that we're

00:25:29.750 --> 00:25:33.430
hearing, we know how important it is to bring

00:25:33.549 --> 00:25:38.210
manufacturing back to the USA. Okay, so I'm on

00:25:38.210 --> 00:25:40.970
your site. Love, love, love. You have everything

00:25:40.970 --> 00:25:46.690
very clear. What I don't see is that USA made

00:25:46.690 --> 00:25:50.849
the flag, but we make our products. That's so

00:25:50.849 --> 00:25:53.829
interesting. Is it somewhere that maybe I'm missing

00:25:53.829 --> 00:25:58.309
it? Or is it not that important? We got it down

00:25:58.309 --> 00:26:02.460
there at the bottom. It used to be a bigger bigger

00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:04.220
feature on the front page when I had the website.

00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:09.400
So I hire out a gentleman, his name is Josh Ramsey.

00:26:09.420 --> 00:26:11.579
He's my marketing officer that I pay for his

00:26:11.579 --> 00:26:15.640
expertise. And his rule with his clients is that

00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:18.119
he gets the first page of the website. He gets

00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:19.940
the homepage. I can say whatever I want about

00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:23.400
all the other pages. And he's got a lot of expertise

00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:26.039
about how to convert sales and how to make sure

00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:28.259
that people stay on the site. Because being made

00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:31.369
in America, even though it's a good value, it's

00:26:31.369 --> 00:26:34.210
not the first thing that somebody cares about.

00:26:35.210 --> 00:26:38.490
So it is in other parts of the site. So that's

00:26:38.490 --> 00:26:41.450
an organization. We're part of the Association

00:26:41.450 --> 00:26:44.029
of Equipment Manufacturers. And that's kind of

00:26:44.029 --> 00:26:47.670
like their grassroots organization for American

00:26:47.670 --> 00:26:51.470
-made manufacturers. Oh, did you go to the conference?

00:26:52.549 --> 00:26:55.329
Yeah. So we do a big show. It's every three years.

00:26:55.329 --> 00:27:01.430
It's called ConExpo. Yeah, go Tucson and beautiful.

00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:04.549
I love that. Yeah. Oh, it's so interesting kind

00:27:04.549 --> 00:27:06.690
of like stepping into the other shoes. Okay,

00:27:06.710 --> 00:27:09.670
very nice So that is the association so you could

00:27:09.670 --> 00:27:12.230
tell them that they got a little coverage, too

00:27:12.230 --> 00:27:14.950
I am I have to look at the refund policy. What

00:27:14.950 --> 00:27:17.269
could that be like? All right orders cancel within

00:27:17.269 --> 00:27:21.710
24 hours And you can email and then after okay,

00:27:21.930 --> 00:27:23.809
but I mean it's not like once it's shipped like

00:27:23.809 --> 00:27:27.089
Oh call the UPS truck to come back and no, right?

00:27:27.309 --> 00:27:31.549
Yeah My principles are policies or policies that,

00:27:31.769 --> 00:27:33.910
you know, I have to have things in writing for

00:27:33.910 --> 00:27:36.130
in the event, worst case scenario, right? But

00:27:36.130 --> 00:27:38.349
I believe in customer service and I believe in

00:27:38.349 --> 00:27:40.549
providing good customer service to customers.

00:27:40.869 --> 00:27:42.549
And, you know, for some reason, I get you a product

00:27:42.549 --> 00:27:43.890
shipped all the way out there or something and

00:27:43.890 --> 00:27:45.630
it doesn't work. I'm willing to work with you

00:27:45.630 --> 00:27:50.299
and to figure something out. So that's like the

00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:52.319
absolute worst case scenario. All sales are final,

00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:54.740
but you can look at our Google reviews and you'll

00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:57.119
find that we've done a lot of work to make sure

00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:59.539
that customers have the right solution and that

00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:03.160
we're going to take care of them. I love this.

00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:05.680
Is there any question that I think you'd like

00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:08.259
me to ask you that I didn't ask you? Maybe I'm

00:28:08.259 --> 00:28:13.839
missing. Let's see about the business and everything.

00:28:15.420 --> 00:28:17.240
I feel like we covered it pretty good. You're

00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:19.190
the first one that's ever like brought the website

00:28:19.190 --> 00:28:21.289
on the podcast live and kind of went through

00:28:21.289 --> 00:28:23.329
things. So that was an interesting take on it

00:28:23.329 --> 00:28:28.750
all. I don't add a few people come into chatter,

00:28:29.049 --> 00:28:32.420
but it's so like. you know, the niches is so

00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:34.140
much for chatter is probably not that many people

00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:36.460
that are kind of interested in the beer iron.

00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:38.940
Yeah, I believe in doing things differently as

00:28:38.940 --> 00:28:42.259
you do too. Like I love everything I've seen.

00:28:42.359 --> 00:28:45.640
It's very clear. So yeah, I need to see it too.

00:28:45.700 --> 00:28:48.380
So that helps helps the no prep to see I could

00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:50.259
cheat a little bit. I just cheated and nobody

00:28:50.259 --> 00:28:54.819
knows. But I love meeting you. I love your dedication.

00:28:55.079 --> 00:28:57.799
I love that it's a family business. Like that

00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:01.750
to me is so special. You are wonderful and you

00:29:01.750 --> 00:29:04.869
have a fun story and that story I'm going to

00:29:04.869 --> 00:29:07.750
end it because it is really great. I love the

00:29:07.750 --> 00:29:09.890
way you have you said it like I think that's

00:29:09.890 --> 00:29:11.710
it's just the whole thing that you've been working

00:29:11.710 --> 00:29:15.589
since five. I think you should go and over the

00:29:15.589 --> 00:29:17.849
holiday get all your pictures of you and have

00:29:17.849 --> 00:29:19.710
like some pictures of you when you were little

00:29:19.710 --> 00:29:22.369
like I just think that people will love that

00:29:22.369 --> 00:29:26.289
evolution yes yes do that but I'm really glad

00:29:26.289 --> 00:29:28.309
that you were with us today I really appreciate

00:29:28.309 --> 00:29:31.210
it and this will be podcast. My daughter will

00:29:31.210 --> 00:29:35.049
go in and produce it for me. She's 19, so she's

00:29:35.049 --> 00:29:37.769
awesome. And I don't have any more questions,

00:29:37.829 --> 00:29:40.230
and I love this. So, Roggen, you and I are going

00:29:40.230 --> 00:29:42.789
to stay in touch. I will, are you, oh, how many

00:29:42.789 --> 00:29:45.109
people? I know the website. So you are on, are

00:29:45.109 --> 00:29:47.930
you on LinkedIn? Yes, I'm on LinkedIn, Roggen

00:29:47.930 --> 00:29:49.349
Frick. I'm going to be the only one with that

00:29:49.349 --> 00:29:51.369
name, so it should be easy to find me. Yeah,

00:29:51.390 --> 00:29:53.690
tell me about your name before we go. Tell me

00:29:53.690 --> 00:29:56.740
about the history of your name. So my family,

00:29:57.559 --> 00:29:59.619
they, you know, like every family in America,

00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:02.220
for the most part, they migrated from Europe.

00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:04.400
And then when they settled, they settled in Brush,

00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:09.079
Colorado. And next to Brush is a tiny little

00:30:09.079 --> 00:30:12.680
town called Roggen. And Roggen is a German word

00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:17.220
and it means rye, which is like the grain. And

00:30:17.220 --> 00:30:20.480
when my dad was naming me, my mom and dad were

00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:22.720
going back and forth about what they should name

00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:24.059
me. My name was originally going to be Clay.

00:30:24.599 --> 00:30:27.900
And they wanted something a little unique. And

00:30:27.900 --> 00:30:29.640
my dad knew of the town, and he thought that

00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:31.900
that would be a good name. So I'm named after

00:30:31.900 --> 00:30:33.799
this tiny little town. I don't even know the

00:30:33.799 --> 00:30:36.019
population. It might be like 100 people. I've

00:30:36.019 --> 00:30:41.819
been there. It's small in Colorado. And then

00:30:41.819 --> 00:30:47.480
tell me about the name Bear Iron. My dad came

00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:53.650
up with that one, too. I think part of it is

00:30:53.650 --> 00:30:56.049
because the screens are called a grizzly. Like

00:30:56.049 --> 00:30:58.589
that's the industry term for a rock screen is

00:30:58.589 --> 00:31:01.009
a grizzly. But he says he's always had these

00:31:01.009 --> 00:31:03.450
like dreams about bears and these connections

00:31:03.450 --> 00:31:07.309
to bears because he grew up on a ranch in Colorado.

00:31:07.410 --> 00:31:08.910
And so he was always in the mountains and stuff

00:31:08.910 --> 00:31:10.549
like that. And he would always have all these

00:31:10.549 --> 00:31:13.710
rid run ins with bears. And so he's always had

00:31:13.710 --> 00:31:16.549
this deal with bears and he kind of came up with

00:31:16.549 --> 00:31:19.599
the name for it. He's definitely the idea guy

00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:21.319
and the thinker of the business, and I'm the

00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:27.440
executor and make stuff happen kind of guy. That's

00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:29.420
perfect. Mike, good job. I just want to say to

00:31:29.420 --> 00:31:32.000
you, your son is amazing. Your VP is amazing,

00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:34.619
I should say. Good for you because that's the

00:31:34.619 --> 00:31:39.200
creativity, the way you represent yourself. If

00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:41.759
I could, I'd call all my contractor friends,

00:31:41.900 --> 00:31:43.920
hey, but I don't know anyone that's construction.

00:31:45.380 --> 00:31:48.750
Cindy Stumpel. uh is uh comes on the chatter

00:31:48.750 --> 00:31:51.789
app often so we get a master class when she comes

00:31:51.789 --> 00:31:54.970
on she's a well -known developer out of boston

00:31:54.970 --> 00:31:57.470
i don't know if you know her but um yeah she's

00:31:57.470 --> 00:32:00.579
great but that's that's like what i know But,

00:32:00.740 --> 00:32:02.720
Rogan, thank you for being here today. I really

00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:06.000
enjoyed it. And I'm going to connect with you.

00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:07.799
I will be your new stalker. You'll be like, why

00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:10.960
is this woman who does podcasts? She doesn't

00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:14.180
even know anything. But I really found it fascinating.

00:32:14.339 --> 00:32:16.420
So thank you so much and have a great day. Have

00:32:16.420 --> 00:32:18.920
a great holiday, too. Yeah. Thank you, you too.

00:32:18.940 --> 00:32:20.480
And thank you for having me on the show. I appreciate

00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:24.400
it. My pleasure. Thank you all for watching.

00:32:25.059 --> 00:32:30.250
Rogan, frick. What the frick? Sorry. But yeah,

00:32:30.329 --> 00:32:32.430
you hear that 100 times a day, right? Oh, I do.

00:32:32.910 --> 00:32:36.990
Yep. Yeah, it's just too good not to. And like,

00:32:37.150 --> 00:32:39.130
there's plenty of names that you should be very

00:32:39.130 --> 00:32:41.369
grateful that your parents didn't call you, right?

00:32:41.710 --> 00:32:43.829
Like, Dick Frick, like, oh my god. Oh, yeah,

00:32:43.829 --> 00:32:48.289
I know. Some parents can be mean. All right.

00:32:48.390 --> 00:32:49.750
Have a great rest of the day. I'm going to end

00:32:49.750 --> 00:32:51.890
this stream. And I really appreciate your being

00:32:51.890 --> 00:32:54.410
here. Thank you so much. That was fun.