Meet Ben Rhodes of BlackRock Engraving, Barrel Raised, and GeekyGoodz in Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Rhodes.

Ben, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
From a young age, I’ve always had quirky entrepreneurial tendencies in one way or another. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, my pre-kindergarten start was selling painted rocks door to door to neighbors, shoveling snow, raking leaves, and that eventually morphed into starting a neighborhood ‘lawn care’ business when I was 12. Later, in a high school art class, I learned the most basic form of engraving glassware – we had a project to hand cut a stencil and use acid paste to engrave an image on to a mirror. At the time, I had no idea of the significance behind that project, but it paved the way for a lot of things to come.

Fast forward to college – I was going to classes, training, competing in track and field as a thrower, and was living off of student loans and a 20 hour a week work study job at the school. As one might imagine, that doesn’t leave much time for another scheduled job, and 20 hours a week doesn’t provide a whole lot to survive on. I needed to find something that allowed for schedule freedom, could bring in some extra funds on the side, and it is something creative that I enjoyed. I did a lot of research on things I knew a bit about and would fit those requirements – it seemed engraving was something that ticked all of my boxes. In the months following, I set aside money here and there until I was able to purchase some very basic sand-carving equipment and found boxes of glassware at a bar that was closing down. I watched videos, read, and practiced the skills needed – each piece got a little bit better.

Once I felt comfortable, I made some things for friends and family. That led to trying to sell on Craigslist and eventually on the website ‘Etsy’. Halfway through my junior year of college, a number of events had come to a head, the business was bustling, and I decided it was time to leave college to see where the business would go. In the six years since buying my first equipment in college, I’ve engraved tens of thousands of pieces, added more equipment and options to my arsenal, expanded product lines, and have tried to help clients in as many ways as I can. I had no idea what I was doing with business or eCommerce, but it was and continues to be, a great learning process.

Has it been a smooth road?
As with all journeys, there have been the expected ups and downs. There are little things here and there that get in the way, but the big ones for me have been starting from nothing with practically no capital and lacking any real experience prior to jumping in.

There are a lot of situations I’ve come up against where I feel I’m in a David vs. Goliath situation. Working with small orders has time challenges inherent with one-off designs, but the real struggle is competing on price for larger orders. Many businesses look for the lowest cost option with quality coming up as the secondary or even tertiary concern. I don’t know how many times I’ve had clients come to me that love the work I’ve done but are looking to have it at a price that one can only expect from huge factories with production lines and immense buying power. I’m still a small operation, so that’s sometimes a crushing blow to my morale. It really is tough to lose jobs to situations like that, but I know that trying to compete solely on price would quickly be a race to the bottom, and I’ll never make it if that’s the goal.

The other big struggle was the lack of real business/sales experience and connections. I have no formal business training or work experience in that field, so everything I do has been picked up in the trenches, from reading countless books, listening to podcasts, and asking questions when I can. I’m also not a natural salesperson by any stretch of the imagination – trying to actively sell a product leaves me with the ‘used car salesman’ feeling, and that is something I’m trying to break through. These things make it difficult to know what the correct decisions are, what actions I should be taking, or to even recognize if I’m in a situation where I don’t know what it is that I don’t know. As the saying goes, I’m learning things the hard way – I do love a challenge though!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
My business has a number of different facets and faces that revolve around engraved products produced by either sand-carving (putting a stencil on an item and shooting it with a pressurized abrasive) or laser cutting and engraving. It’s a pretty straightforward business, but as with anything being personalized, there is a lot of direction that can be pursued! I’m most proud of my ability to contain to remain flexible with client needs – if they need something I don’t have or haven’t done before, I try to find it and learn whether it is within my realm of abilities, or if I can point them in the direction of someone that can help them. As far as I’m concerned, when being in business, the only thing that really matters is providing value to customers – it is impossible to be everything to everyone, but having the flexibility to try to reasonably meet customers at their level is a very fulfilling feeling.

As for specifics, from the start, BlackRock Engraving has been the core of what I work within. I help customers one-on-one to bring their personalized ideas to life. It started with glassware for weddings – toasting flutes, groomsman gifts, favors, and the like, but it quickly expanded into gifts and products for all sorts of occasions and interests. Even though it did originate with personalized gifts, it has grown to include product lines for local boutiques, promotional items and closing gifts for real estate agents, jewelry and drinkware components for specialty manufacturers, e-commerce lines, and even custom designed and fabricated displays and storefront signs for local shops.

In these first six years, it has branched off in a few directions though, which is what I mentioned about the different facets. GeekyGoodz came about first – barware, wooden jewelry, wall art, Christmas ornaments, and other custom products specifically focused toward fandoms and niche interests (comic books, video games, tabletop gaming, etc.). It didn’t sit in the same direction as BRE but it does share a lot of the same processes – it very much has a life of its own!

Finally, within the last year, Barrel Raised, the third branch of the business, came about entirely unexpectedly. Being that I was always selling drinkware and wasn’t much of a drinker myself, I was curious regarding what all the fuss was about. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to learn more about craft beer and spirits so I would be better able to speak the language of my customers. I ended up becoming borderline obsessive, particularly about whiskies and created an Instagram account to document the learning experience. In doing so, I found there was an interest in personalized glassware and bar products within that community as well. I spent months figuring out how to source the most recognizable whiskey glass in the world, the ‘Glencairn Glass’ which is produced by a company in Scotland. Since doing so, I have received a wonderful reception which has allowed me to work with countless “Instagram Influencers”, attend exclusive whiskey events, and has given me the privilege of interacting with many incredible people and brands within that subculture. This is definitely my project of passion at this point.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think this particular business can be successful anywhere with the right amount of work. Personalized products can be made to fit in nearly any market or industry, so if the approach is right, success can be found (I am still working on the ‘approach’ myself though). I also think that, due to the wide reach of the internet, most businesses that sell physical products can be successful anywhere.

The difficult part is trying to have a physical location in the city. For someone starting out without a lot of funding, it is extremely challenging to find an affordable workspace or storefront. I have spent some time looking in different parts of the country for a commercial real estate, universally within cities it is generally expected that lease prices are going to be high, but it just makes it a challenge for up and comers to get their foot in the door. I’m no expert on this field, but I think that is the nature of the real estate economy though.

Pricing:

• Personalized Glencairn Glass: 1 – $13.99 / 2 – $24.99 / 4 – $47.99
• Personalized Cutting Board: 7″x 13.5″ – $24 / 11.5″ x 13.5″ – $34 / 12″ x 18″ – $$$
• Personalize Vegan Leather Wrapped Flask: $19.99
• Personalized Beer Mug: $18.99

Contact Info:

• Website: www.barrelraised.com / www.blackrockengraving.com
• Email: ben@barrelraised.com / ben@blackrockengraving.com
• Instagram: @barrelraised

Image Credit:
Wally Dyer Photography – (Group Photo)

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