Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Rogers.
Mark, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been interested in photography since childhood and became a serious amateur photographer in my thirties. I was thrilled when Epson released the first decent archival inkjet printer in 2002 because it allowed me to easily print my photography at home without the need for a darkroom. I also loved the fact that it used 13×19 inch paper, which meant I didn’t have to worry about cropping my images to fit standard-sized photo paper. This, however, created a whole new problem. I had all these beautiful prints, but no picture frames to display them in because googling 13×19 picture frames turned up nothing except links to other photographers selling 13×19 prints.
Now, I had read books like “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and “E-myth” so I was already familiar with concepts like building assets and solving problems. The next morning, while driving to work on 75, it occurred to me that perhaps I could build an asset to solve this problem – I could make and sell 13×19 picture frames.
This simple thought started an internal chain reaction that would eventually reshape my entire world. I was a computer engineer. I’d dreamed about having this job since high school and most of my identity was wrapped up in being an engineer. It was also a safe and secure job with good pay and benefits. I had maxed out growth-wise at the company where I was employed though. I could go to another company and design larger computers or systems, but I realized that would only require me to get better with some different digital tools as opposed to growing as a person. This was going to be a life-changing decision because when you stop working in high tech for a couple of years, you quickly fall behind the technology curve, which makes it nearly impossible to get hired again. Was I crazy to actually consider throwing my entire career away? Some people thought so.
I didn’t know how to get funding or have the confidence just to quit my job, so I ended up bootstrapping it part-time. I took an evening course on opening and running a business at a local community college. I don’t believe an MBA is necessary to run a business, but I am grateful that I at least educated myself on the basics.
One of the other critical things I did was writing a business plan. There are already plenty of surprises when opening a business. Writing it allowed me to plan ahead so I was not completely overwhelmed by the surprises. I also did a lot of reading on why most businesses fail, which kept me from making the most common mistakes and greatly increased my chances for success.
My idea was simple – create custom-sized picture frames for photographers and sell them online. So, I created a website and set up a frame shop in my garage. I started hanging out in online photography forums. When someone would ask, “Where do I get 13×19 picture frames?” I would say “Me” and post a link to my website.
Because I was first in my niche at that time, I was quickly able to become #1 in Google for the search term 13×19 picture frames. This reduced the need for expensive marketing. I was building the frames in my garage and packing them myself, so I didn’t have office rent or employee salaries to pay either. After about one year, I started having decent sales and was cash-flow positive. I had a growth curve and knew if I could maintain it, I could move out of my garage and become a legitimate, self-sustaining business. It was time for me to make the gut-wrenching decision of abandoning my engineering career. I bought extra inventory, applied for business credit cards; I opened a line of credit. In 2005, I quit my job.
Obviously, since you are reading about me here, it all worked out. I am now the proud owner of a picture frame manufacturing business that generates a few million yearly in revenue. Frame Destination has twenty employees working in an 11,000 sq.ft production facility. Sales have been excellent this past year and we are now in negotiations for a much larger building – another leap of faith.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh yes, there have been challenges! You could say an entrepreneur is a master of overcoming challenges. Before I quit my job, I had the problem of not being home to receive large shipments that were coming via freight. It turns out the freight company warehouses typically run 24-7. I was able to request dock pickup, which meant they would drop it off at the nearest warehouse. After work, I would drive over and have them load the pallet into my truck. One of the biggest challenges was the employees.
As a former engineer, not only was I lacking management skills, but I was also lacking basic human interaction skills. Mastering this took several years. I got books and took workshops, but the most valuable thing for me was a good business coach with plenty of management experience. My business coach helped me with many other issues; however, the people management was the most critical. Now I am grateful to have a team that knows how to do their jobs better than I ever knew how to them.
Please tell us about Frame Destination. What should we know?
Frame Destination was founded by artists for artists and our goal is to offer a superior level of advocacy for them. Of course, our core product is hundreds of custom picture frame, mat, and glazing options for professional and advanced DIYers through our Build-A-Frame™ series, as well as, a full range of decorative frames perfect for modern to traditional homes that can be found with our Find-A-Frame™ ordering option. All frames are hand-crafted right here in Dallas.
But we do more than just offer a vast product line. We aim to support creatives in several meaningful ways. We have a spotlight series, Artie’s Eight, featuring professional artists and photographers from all over the nation to help promote their work, share techniques, grow their business, and inspire others. For artists that need to transport their artwork between galleries and art shows, we invented the GalleryPouch™ which provides easy, affordable, and reusable protection. Though our superior shipping methods mean we seldom have to reship damaged frames, we offer a money-back guarantee if for any reason, our customers are not completely satisfied. We also offer volume discounts, club and education discounts, and a wealth of information in our framing resource center and blog articles to help educate people at all levels of framing experience.
I’m most proud of the value-landed exchange between our team of artisans and our creative community that is both making a difference in individuals’ lives and career trajectories as well as advancing the arts and our economy. Witnessing the tangible encouragement, we provide to other artists in the Dallas community and around the nation inspires up to keep doing what we do. My wife, a professional painter and illustrator, and I are inspired in both our own personal artistic endeavors and through our customers that over and over send us notes like this…
“I came so close to giving up on my photography. Now that I’ve found you, I’m inspired to breathe new life into my business. I feel like I have a true partner now in my creative walk.”
“I had just about given up on doing my own framing because of the poor quality products I had received from several sources. I simply could not put a piece of artwork in a frame that had big globs of paint on it and expect people to buy it. But that is no longer a problem since I found Frame Destination! Not only is the product superb, but the package is unbelievably good… I am so glad I found this company. It has turned a very frustrating endeavor into a very enjoyable experience.”
“What an amazing job these people do…We are traveling artists and I found this place by chance and in need of materials while on the road. They filled my order of 200 mats and backboards cut to specs, plus a load of stretcher bars, all in a single day! Hands down the best quality I’ve run across in about 20 years! Magnificent!”
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Many different people at different times over the past 15 years, but the core one during the entire time was my wife, best friend, and business partner Joely Rogers.
Contact Info:
- Address: 13539 Method Street
Dallas, TX 75243 - Website: https://www.framedestination.com/
- Phone: 972-4790-1188
- Email: sales@framedestination.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/framedestination/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrameDestination
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrameDstnation
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frames/
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