Today we’d like to introduce you to Bud Hird.
Bud, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The state flag + cool state-related images = our business launch idea
Bud was at a large outdoor retailer and saw a huge rockfish mounted on the wall. He knew that Marylanders love their state fish and their state flag. He came home, drew a rockfish outline and then put a Maryland flag cutout behind it. Our first product was born along with the inspiration for our company name – Fish Outa Water. His wife, Maggie, and son, Matthew, soon joined the business.
We thought it would be cool to combine the iconic Maryland flag with additional images important to the state including the crab, a dog, the state cat (calico) and so on. People in Maryland love their flag and want to display things that they like and places they’ve been on their vehicles….so we started a line of car magnets and decals from our home (a barn on a farm). Pretty soon, we started seeing our magnets and decals on vehicles and we got excited about the potential of the business.
Soon we were putting our images on hats, shirts and accessories. Then we thought – why not expand to our surrounding states? Delaware, the Carolinas and Florida came next.
Bud has a sales background and initially cold-called into local businesses. We quickly set up a website and an Esty store to expand our online sales. A call from a product distributor in Chicago changed our business quickly. He wanted to license our images for products selling into a large grocery chain in the mid-Atlantic. We agreed and asked him to introduce us to the grocery management team. They allowed us to set up a “store within a store” in 50+ locations in the mid-Atlantic and our business took off. We also deliberately decided to remain an online retailer and not to set up a brick and mortar store. We did give up some margin but wanted the flexibility to work from home and not have the additional overhead of a storefront. Our business has grown to several states and we attend two large trade shows a year to increase our reach.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We built the business from scratch – just an idea and our artwork. We convinced customers to try our product through their love of our artwork, and our ‘no minimum’ order quantity. These two features continue to distinguish us from competitors as we want our customers to be successful and they can feel comfortable trying out new products easily.
One big challenge is that we’ve had many copycats along the way. We started the business out by obtaining copyrights on each piece of artwork and registered trademarks on our brands. This added to the initial cost but turned out to be a key factor in protecting our intellectual property rights.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Bud’s designs have allowed us to grow easily into the t-shirt business. We all pitch in with refining the artwork, searching for new ideas, and frequently get advice from our customers on new images. Bud started his artistic career carving wood ducks as a kid. He likes to create things and use his knowledge of history on our map shirts and in our state designs.
It didn’t take long for us to realize that people in Maryland and other states love their flag and it’s been fun and rewarding to incorporate the state flags in our designs. We get our ideas from nature, from history, and from our love of coastal areas.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Our customers and our quality artwork have provided our luck and business opportunities. After our first fish design, a customer asked if we could find them a crab. We decided to design our own and have sold millions of our crab magnets and decals. Another person saw our artwork and wanted to put it on grocery bags. That call led us to a 10+ year relationship with a national grocery chain.
Throughout our business, listening to and serving our customers, our attention to designing beautiful classic artwork, and our high-quality products have been the keys to our success. We are not always the least expensive product, but our products last longer and have rave reviews from our customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fishoutawater.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crabsoutaflags/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Crabs-Outa-Flags/100036881516998/
