Editing The Pen Addict 235/transcript (section)

== Sazerac Ink ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, this kind of leads into the next question. So this is from Blair. He is my Sazerac dealer.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That ink is amazing. And he caused me all kinds of problems with that. So he says, I'd love to hear from you and Myke about how you think about distributing responsibility in your businesses relative to scale and revenue. Does added scale provide sufficient benefits relative to the loss of hands on control over each and every final project product? How did each of you come to the respective decisions for your businesses? Once you want you take that one, because it's probably a little different from you because you're a one man show.

'''Myke Dudek:''' Yeah, this this doesn't quite. Well, it doesn't this. There's like any time you're you're kind of as a as a small business, particularly when you're in the manufacturing realm. There is a sense of sort of control that you want over all your pieces because like that experience on the tail end of it. You know, every time I send out a piece, you know, with a handwritten note, just quick note saying thank you. You know, it's like that's you know, there's like a very personal connection to that piece because I made it, you know, for for that person. And I have a certain ideas or certain thoughts of how it should be. And, you know, every piece that goes through through me is quality controlled of would I be comfortable having this piece on my own desk? You know, is there something about it that either I didn't I didn't do or, you know, and there's pieces that that all like I'll start over, you know, because something just isn't right on it. Mm hmm. So as far as like I've I've had these thoughts about, well, in order for me to grow and scale, do that modern goods in the lieu of all the things that I've just listed. Right. And talked about before, like that would require me to branch out and probably to scale or to include like we we were talking about, you know, that automated, you know, priority mail mailer thing. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Is there is there a way that I could invest into some tools that would help with my scaling? You know, to where I'd still be hands on, but then also maintain the level of quality and integrity of the heritage kind of of the brand that I'm trying to do. You know, so it's it is it is tough, you know.

'''Myke Dudek:''' Anyway, for me, it's been a really, really hard decision for scaling. And I haven't quite perfected it yet, you know, just because I I'm it's like there's some sense of debilitation be behind the scaling aspect of it because there's so much that goes into it. You know, it's like it's almost like emotional. I mean, it's going to sound weird, but it's like there's an emotional aspect of passing responsibility onto somebody else.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Yeah, absolutely. And Jeff and I are going through this now. Like we were kind of like at a point where it was like scale or go home kind of situation. It wasn't quite that stark, but it was getting there. But we just kind of had to and we've been working on it for a couple of years and were never satisfied with various things. It could be the the quality could be the price. It could be a million different things.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We finally found a good partner to work with and it's super stressful to have lost that hands on control. Like Blair's saying, it's. Lots more phone calls, lots more agitation. It's not more. It's not me and Jeff going. We can't sell enough. It's me going, oh, my God, you need to fix this yesterday. So it's different. The benefits have been worth it so far. We're very happy with the product. We're very happy with being able to go to retail.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, so, yeah, the the benefits have been worth the loss of control. But Jeff and I wouldn't have it where we didn't have any control over the product. So no products. Kind of like you, Myke, like I couldn't send out a product unless I put my eyeballs on it first to know what the customer is getting. So even though some of our cases are being outsourced here in the U.S. to another manufacturer, they all get shipped right back to the shop. So Jeff and I can inspect them because we would flip out if something weird got out there that we didn't expect to to happen. So that would that would freak me out completely. Yeah. So that's that's totally a thing is I don't know that I'll ever be able to give up full hands on. That'll be a very, very difficult thing for me to ever give up. The I mean, there'll be if there's a point in time where I have to, then that's probably we're in pretty good shape. You know, yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you mentioned this a minute ago about gear and Theo had a question about gear. So it says, what are the dudes recommendations for entry level equipment for someone getting started in woodworking? You know, what do you use? What do you use around the shop? What kind of stuff do you have?

'''Myke Dudek:''' Yeah, this is a this is kind of a tricky question because for one, it depends on what you're wanting to do. Like the just like how, you know, fountain pens and, you know, cool writing instruments or notebooks or whatever it is. Right. Like you can go down the rabbit hole of tools very, very quickly. And so it's always like, you know, you could always buy a new power tool. You can always figure out a way to justify one to either make the process more efficient or more clean or better. You know, I think from like a from like a pretty basic woodworking shop, you know, I don't know. Like if you're if you're doing woodworking, there's a good chance that you're going to need like maybe a decent little chop saw, you know, is sometimes they're called a miter saw, you know, to where you're able to cut angles and cut cut boards at length. You know, a good drill press, you know, is always kind of good. It just it really depends on on kind of what you're ultimately looking to make. Are you looking to make, you know, cutting boards or are you looking to make, you know, kitchen tables or carpentry or cabinetry or something like that? Like so it really just kind of kind of depends on on what you're what you're looking for. So, yeah, I don't know, like a good a good little saw or a drill press is always good to get your hands dirty, I guess. Yeah. Do you have a favorite piece of gear?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like you're like you're in the shop. You're like, yeah, yeah. Me and you, we've we've we've had some time together and, you know, we like to hang out and, you know, always love coming to talk to you. Like, you know, do you have a piece of gear like like that that you might talk to or might have a name for?

'''Myke Dudek:''' Oh, I cozy up to that drill press a lot, man. I tell you, like late into the night, me and the drill press. Yeah. So. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that that was one that I made a pretty decent investment into. And I could always like upgrade that to be something even bigger, you know, but when you're making pen hole holders, you got to drill lots of holes. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So that's a big fan of the drill press. Yep. Yep. So what what are you doing your market marking with out there? Like just standard pencils, carpenter pencils, what kind of stuff?

'''Myke Dudek:''' You know, from a practicality standpoint, like I use the I use mechanical pencil and I use a Pentel sharp.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' OK. Yeah.

'''Myke Dudek:''' And it's the yep. It's the turquoise point oh seven. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That would be the P207.

'''Myke Dudek:''' That would be the one. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And all time, all time. I talk about Hall of Fame stationery. That's probably one that should be in it. It's the best. Yeah. It's the best durable. And they're like six bucks and they're amazing.

'''Myke Dudek:''' Oh, yeah. Well, I've tried to like from time to time, I've like pulled a pulled a Rotring 600 out there. And I'm just like, you know, it works in the wood shop. But like there's all the little nooks and crannies of the knurling. And, you know, and I'm just like this thing's going to get gummed up with sawdust and stuff. So it's like the sharps have just been my go to for years. And and they're just awesome. Yeah. Low like low costs. They're super durable. They look they look pretty vintage looking, too. So they kind of have this cool retro vibe.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But yeah, those are the pencils. That was one of my first steal it from my dad's office supplies was was definitely the the Pentel sharps. And like they used to stock those back when stationary cabinets carried real stuff instead of this generic crap they carry these days. All right. So how have you been pulling any all nighters during this holiday season? What's the holiday season looking like for Dudek Modern Goods? Been busy?

'''Myke Dudek:''' Oh, man, it's been crazy. Yeah. So it's awesome. Yeah. Thanks to everybody. You know, if you're if you're listening and you place the holiday order or you've you've I guess ever placed an order. I really, really appreciate it. The the holidays tend to be really my craziest time. Probably close to like I'd say like 20 percent of all the pieces I make out of a year. Wow. Are ordered in the month of November. Usually like the last two to three weeks, you know, and so it's it's it's been crazy. Yeah. So it's like 15, 16 hour days, you know, trying to, you know, do my job job and then go home. And like tonight after I'm done with the podcast, buddy, I'm going to be out in the workshop getting stuff done.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And so you need to get those little Dudek spun up.

'''Myke Dudek:''' And I'll give them a few more years and they will totally be my my little grunt labors. No, that's right. But no, it's it's been really, really good. And it's it's been just it's humbling. You know, anytime it's it's it's that busy, you know, because I just think like every time I'm doing a batch of pieces like this, these are people that are supporting my business. And it's just great. It's really, really great.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It is awesome. What's what's been your hot sellers? What's what are you making the most of?