Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
NWA Founders is a voice for Founders, Owners, and Builders driving growth in Northwest Arkansas, and is hosted by Cameron Clark and Nick Beyer.
'NWA Founders' is a voice for Founders, Owners, and Builders driving growth in Northwest Arkansas, hosted by Cameron Clark and Nick Beyer.
To recommend a guest or ask questions, reach out at nwafounders@gmail.com and follow us on YouTube and LinkedIn for video content.
[00:00:00] Chris Chandler: We were at a trade show
[00:00:02] Chris Chandler: and I'm looking for the next thing. They would carry a toolbox in with them to the meeting and set it on the ground, and it was, and they're heavy. They're very heavy.
[00:00:10] Cameron Clark: Want people to understand the innovation that y'all have going here, the robots that are building some of these, these pieces.
[00:00:14] Chris Chandler: We built the first one when we built it around what fails in the market today.
[00:00:19] Cameron Clark: When you say market
[00:00:20] Nick Beyer: share, are you talking about national market share?
[00:00:21] Chris Chandler: National market share, yeah. Does it
[00:00:23] Cameron Clark: scare you? Ever
[00:00:24] Nick Beyer: talk to someone who's young, who's early on, they are yearning for the day when they're gonna get in your spot and they're gonna be focused on developing.
[00:00:31] Nick Beyer: They're not gonna be focused on doing.
[00:00:32] Chris Chandler: Reno has industrial growth. It's the biggest footprint of any of those towns. I think it's just getting started.
[00:00:49] Cameron Clark: Chris, good morning. Thanks for jumping on here on the podcast. Um, y'all, we just walked around your facility here. Yes. Chandler Capital, kind of new [00:01:00] brand mm-hmm. Um, as the last 12 months, correct?
[00:01:02] Chris Chandler: Right, that's right.
[00:01:03] Cameron Clark: Um, I've been blown away about just the different business facets, different lanes that y'all have that kind of all encompass but compliment each other be, you know, before we dive into some story, could you give us like a little bit of overhead, what are all the different lanes within Chandler Capital now?
[00:01:20] Chris Chandler: Sure. Yeah. So the company started as Chandler Equipment Inc. Uh, we were a ag I and waste equipment manufacturer and distributor. Um, and then that has evolved into multiple lanes of business. All auto in the automotive space. So different, um, you know, vehicle types, different, different pieces and parts. We started off as manufacturing parts and pieces of 18 wheelers and trailers for other companies.
[00:01:47] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. So that's really where we, we grew over time and the, you know, kind of our core business started and that's our Chandler Vac brand. Yeah. So that's, uh, vacuum trucks, um, 18 wheeler pieces and parts. [00:02:00]
[00:02:00] Cameron Clark: The stuff that's going down the road, you don't really know what you Exactly. You see it, but you don't see it.
[00:02:04] Chris Chandler: Exactly. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Most people see it every day. They have no clue where that, that product comes from. So we're dealing directly with the company's manufacturing, the truck or the trailer. So they will basically send us drawings, we'll build the products and then ship it to them to assemble.
[00:02:19] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:02:20] Chris Chandler: Further assemble. And so, and then over time, um, having the ups and downs of business, the Chandler Vac, uh, era got into oil and gas really big as well. Um, also what comes with oil and gas is the, the valleys and the peaks. Yeah. So riding a couple of those, we got very large. We had 110 employees at one point just making oil and gas products.
[00:02:44] Chris Chandler: And that market crashed and we laid off 40 people. And Morgan and I, my wife vowed to never do that again. We never wanted to, to lay off another person. So, uh, that's where Chandler Truck accessories was born. So [00:03:00] building toolboxes, we could sell these to the same market we were in and also touch other, you know, other customer base as well.
[00:03:07] Chris Chandler: And then, uh, we got into the backwoods market through acquisition and then so on. All these have been small acquisitions, but they're all in the automotive space.
[00:03:16] Cameron Clark: Yeah. Um, so you're from, from Springdale?
[00:03:19] Chris Chandler: Yes.
[00:03:20] Cameron Clark: Grew up here, multi-generational business. Give us some background. So your, your grandfather was kind of piece number one here?
[00:03:26] Chris Chandler: Yes. Yeah. Grandparents, both of 'em worked here. They were 50 50 owners, which is funny, you know, to know that. But, and also my dad was here, so my dad was the engineer and the, the shop guy, uh, my grandfather was the sales guy. My grandmother did the books. So it was kind of that team of three that started this company off.
[00:03:44] Cameron Clark: It started in Batesville, right?
[00:03:45] Chris Chandler: Started, yeah. Batesville, Arkansas. Uh, they moved up here in 1981 and bought this property that we're on now. And it was an old chicken farm. And, and
[00:03:54] Cameron Clark: so people know we're on, uh, we're on sunset right now in Springdale. Yeah. It's like, it's not, [00:04:00] it's you, you driven by here a million times and it's like, I think it was a chicken farm not that long ago.
[00:04:05] Cameron Clark: It's pretty laughable.
[00:04:06] Chris Chandler: That's right. Yeah. Gr growing up here, you know, this was, this was all farmland still. Mm-hmm. So. Like seeing Springdale and Northwest Arkansas just kind of bust open and develop around us was really cool. Um, you know, it's, it's nice to see like where, where we came from and what we are today that we all appreciate it on a different level.
[00:04:25] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:26] Chris Chandler: So seeing all that change, but yeah, so my grandparents, uh, started the company, built it to where, uh, in 2007 they wanted to retire. Um, I was, I graduated college in 2004, so I was fresh, you know?
[00:04:39] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:04:39] Chris Chandler: Um, fresh into this business and Morgan and my dad and I got the opportunity to buy them out. And, uh, a little bit of backtracking, I'd never wanted to work in this company.
[00:04:51] Chris Chandler: Uh, seeing the family dynamic is really hard in a business setting. So like trying to say, Hey, you know, we're gonna have dinner tonight, [00:05:00] but remember that argument we got into earlier? Yeah. That has to be forgotten about. So those are hard, hard waters to navigate. And so I just, I vowed to never do it and.
[00:05:09] Chris Chandler: I changed my mind over time. Uh, I wanted to be an attorney, so I went to the University of Arkansas, met Morgan, um, I was gonna move away to go to law school and met her, decided I better stay here 'cause she's special. Yeah. Um, so figured out that, uh, did, did an internship, figured out being an attorney wasn't for me, which was a great learning experience.
[00:05:33] Chris Chandler: I, I encourage everyone to, you know, get your feet wet somewhere and make sure that's what you want to do. Mm-hmm. But, and then, uh, kind of learning who I was and what I wanted to do. Um, a job opened up here in the company, so a purchasing position, which I grew up working in the shop here as a kid, uh, pushing a broom, working on machines.
[00:05:52] Chris Chandler: And then in college I would go to school in the morning, drive straight here, package every order, and [00:06:00] then assemble all the orders and ship 'em out every day. Like that was my job. Yeah. So understanding all of these jobs help me kind of grow in this company, but so. Graduate college purchasing job's open.
[00:06:11] Chris Chandler: I apply for it like everyone else. So my grandparents are very hard-nosed people, like, you're gonna earn it. They're like, well, you can apply. There's no guarantee you're gonna get this job. And so, you know, going, going through that process, they're like, well, you were the best. You were the best interviewer.
[00:06:26] Chris Chandler: So you have 90 days. So I had 90 days to prove myself and just got to work. Yeah,
[00:06:32] Cameron Clark: just,
[00:06:33] Chris Chandler: yeah, just. Saving money, working on different projects and, you know, finding a way to, to improve the company. And,
[00:06:40] Cameron Clark: and did your wife Morgan jump into the business then too? Or is that, that was later, later on.
[00:06:43] Chris Chandler: She jumped in a little bit later.
[00:06:45] Chris Chandler: Yeah, so like I, I got in here, um, she has a finance degree, so she went to work for Arvest for a little while. And then we, once we bought the company, then she came in.
[00:06:54] Cameron Clark: Okay.
[00:06:54] Chris Chandler: And then here recently, she's really come in, so she also sells real estate on the, on the [00:07:00] residential side for Sotheby's with Kristen.
[00:07:03] Chris Chandler: Kristen Bozeman. Yeah. And so she's not doing that as much and she's here full time now, so it's really cool.
[00:07:11] Cameron Clark: Wow. Sounds, and so like you're talking about the family dy dynamic piece, um. Anything else you'd say to someone who's navigating that right now? Hey, I'm thinking about going into the family business.
[00:07:23] Cameron Clark: Not sure it's for if it's for me. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I know you said, Hey, try to get your feet wet. Yeah. You know? Anything else you'd add on there?
[00:07:31] Chris Chandler: I would say, um, you know, learning about the relationship between my, myself and my grandparents and my dad and my grandparents, and trying to navigate that.
[00:07:42] Chris Chandler: It made it to where when my dad wanted to retire, because we, we bought them through old school means like we went and got a bank loan, uh, we didn't have any money. We just went and, you know, had a bank give us a huge amount of money as a loan. And we were like, I guess we gotta figure this out
[00:07:57] Cameron Clark: and talk and talk about that so people understand.
[00:07:58] Cameron Clark: So I'm assuming you're like, the [00:08:00] collateral is the business. It's kinda like feature revenue there. That's right. I mean, anything you would've done differently in structuring that deal or, Hey, this is like, I mean, this is all we could do is this is what we, this is what we did.
[00:08:11] Chris Chandler: Yeah. In that situation, that was the only option we had.
[00:08:13] Chris Chandler: Yeah. So like they, they had put it on the market also, so they had alternative buyers. We had, they're
[00:08:19] Cameron Clark: throwing, they're throwing some heat.
[00:08:21] Chris Chandler: Its like, Hey, no, they, that, that's the, everyone's like, oh yeah, it's a family business. You just got it handed to you. I was like, oh, no. I went and got a $10 million loan from day one, and I had 5,000 bucks in my bank account.
[00:08:32] Chris Chandler: So talk about risking it all. We pushed all the chips in and just said. We know this company so well, we can operate it. It was, you know, it had 25 good years of history behind it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That we had learned from. And, um, you know, growing up here too, and having my dad as our partner helped a lot. 'cause that old knowledge of, hey, we've tried this, this worked, this didn't work.
[00:08:54] Chris Chandler: Or that's that customer having all that was a great, like springboard.
[00:08:58] Cameron Clark: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
[00:08:59] Chris Chandler: So, [00:09:00] you know, it wasn't like it was, we came in blind and then didn't, you know, didn't understand the market or, or what we were trying to accomplish,
[00:09:06] Cameron Clark: but, and how monumental was that for you and I guess your dad at the time, but now you bought him out?
[00:09:11] Cameron Clark: Just not being thrown the keys.
[00:09:13] Chris Chandler: Oh, that's the only way to go. I mean, I feel like you, you have to earn everything in this world. Um, hard work. You have to lean into it, lean into the uncomfortable. We, we talk about that now. Like our goal is to be uncomfortable. Mm-hmm. Like, that's where our true growth comes from is, is the learning side.
[00:09:30] Chris Chandler: And if we're try not trying new things that are hard, we're, we're never gonna accomplish new stuff. So really leaning, leaning into that, but you know, trying to navigate that in that moment. Like, we didn't know what we were doing at the time. Yeah. We were kids, you know, Morgan and I were kids. We were, we're trying to figure all this out.
[00:09:49] Chris Chandler: I'm like, like look back. Like, wow, we, we had no clue what we were doing and we're still trying to figure it out today. I mean, 20 years, you know, later we're trying to figure out, hey, how does [00:10:00] this work today? Mm-hmm. It changes so much all the time. Like it's a constant change.
[00:10:04] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:10:05] Chris Chandler: So very, very unique situation.
[00:10:08] Chris Chandler: Um, not traditional family business. When we bought my dad out, we did it over a long period of time where more of a retirement style for him. Mm-hmm. There's zero pressure. We're trying to, to build the, you know, long-term business model where Yeah. We're all here to, to win. Mm-hmm. And it's not overnight.
[00:10:26] Cameron Clark: And so talk about, so af when you bought your grandfather, grandfather out, it really was still the, um, Mach machine Manufacturing P pieces. That's right. In the business. That's the core business. That is the business. Right. Um, right. And then how does it evolve from, from there? And when, when do you kind of get more of the ideas like, hey, let's, let's create some other lanes.
[00:10:48] Cameron Clark: Yeah. And you talked about the, the oil piece, but
[00:10:50] Chris Chandler: really 2015 is when we started doing it. So trying to figure out how to diversify staying in the automotive space, but diversifying into different product sets. Uh, we had the [00:11:00] machinery. Mm-hmm. So machinery was the same to build product one to product 10.
[00:11:04] Chris Chandler: They're all the same. Uh, it's just how you use 'em and, uh, how creative we could be with our time.
[00:11:10] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:11:10] Chris Chandler: So trying to figure out the customer, the space, the the need in the market, and then what problems we could solve. And that's how we developed the Toolbox brand, which is Chandler Truck accessories.
[00:11:19] Chris Chandler: So that was 2015. Um, that toolbox brand led us into acquiring Backwoods. Yeah. So Backwoods is building bumpers in Fayetteville, a guy named Evan House, who is still our lead engineer for the backwoods team now. Wow. Like, oh, wow. Like he, he, he stayed on, uh, we structured his deal in a way where he's here permanently.
[00:11:40] Chris Chandler: Like as long as he wants to be here, he's here. Mm-hmm. And, um, he's awesome. Great guy. So cool. Great ideas. Just, he, you know, we can sit and talk for hours in, in the corner and just come up with cool ideas and things like that. Yeah. So it's really fun.
[00:11:55] Cameron Clark: Well, and so I think one thing that's been extremely impressive is like, when we were talking and walking around this morning, seeing [00:12:00] everything, and then just in y'all's website, it feels like the core DNA is, Hey, we're, we have one organization.
[00:12:06] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm. We do different, we do different things.
[00:12:08] Chris Chandler: Right.
[00:12:08] Cameron Clark: And we're, I mean, I think what you say on the website is like, Hey, we're fighting corporate, we're anti-corporate, corporate, anti corporate, corporate. Mm-hmm. And, uh,
[00:12:15] Chris Chandler: yeah.
[00:12:17] Cameron Clark: How do you, I, for someone who's like, Hey, you know, our core business is, is like, has been growing like we do, how do we kind of know what we step into?
[00:12:25] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm. Maybe what, what would you tell them? Like, because it feels like you've done a really good job. Like, hey, we're, we're, we're using what we do best as an advantage, right? But we're not like stepping too many circles out.
[00:12:36] Chris Chandler: That's right. Um, well first I love small business. So growing up in a small business, I love the, the atmosphere, the teamwork side of it.
[00:12:45] Chris Chandler: So the, we don't have the mentality of, it's not my job here. It's a one problem, one team, one solution style. So
[00:12:54] Cameron Clark: tell each other that
[00:12:55] Chris Chandler: we talk about it all the time. Um, we want everyone to be cross-trained. So [00:13:00] like mm-hmm. When you come to work here, you start in the warehouse, even though you're a salesperson or you're in marketing or you're in production, you go get a taste of all these jobs.
[00:13:08] Chris Chandler: We put 'em through training. Um. And, and that's so beneficial because they actually understand the other roles. Mm-hmm. So like a lot of people are like, oh, I'll just do accounting. And you're like, no, we want you to understand shipping, we want you to understand sales production. Like, 'cause they know how their job affects everyone else.
[00:13:25] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So like, if you think of, you know, and how I explain business is one big wheel. Just because your job was great doesn't mean the rest of the company's job was great. And so you need to go help sometimes to get that piece rolling. So staying s small business is very important to us. Um, hearing the stories, being in corporate America world up here with three monsters, you know, I hear conversations with friends and, you know, I've had our CFOs from Tyson and just hearing the stories of like, I don't feel like I matter.
[00:13:59] Chris Chandler: I feel like [00:14:00] I'm just a number. I never wanted that feeling for our people. And, and we're a, it's a big team, team event here. We're, we're not, there's no. Winners and losers in the, in the team. It's, we all win together. We lose together. We learn together. And so trying to keep that core DNA of you can't be too big.
[00:14:19] Chris Chandler: Uh, Morgan and I are fully involved every day here. Like, this is our hobby, this is our life. So we, we, it's very serious to us. Our reputation matters so much. We want to support the community, we wanna support the families. That's what we're really, you know, that's who benefits from having a great business.
[00:14:36] Chris Chandler: It's the community. Yeah. The, the families. They have, you know, if they, they, when they come to work every day, if they're not smiling and having fun, there's a problem. And we talk about that here a lot. It's just how do we develop the next generation of leaders and what it takes to, you know, kind of, it's not for everybody.
[00:14:55] Chris Chandler: It's really, it's a grind, but it's, you know, the fun is in the work. It's not the [00:15:00] outcomes. And so like trying to keep the small business, you get a better, you get better feel. So taking our company as it grows and then putting 'em into smaller divisions, that's what we've started to do. Where this is your team of 15.
[00:15:13] Chris Chandler: You guys stay small business and you fix your own problems. You don't need the other teams to help as much. They're there if you need 'em though, like we can be flexible. We can say, Hey, um, production line two is, is slower for the next two weeks. Can you go? Hop over to backwoods and run their production area.
[00:15:29] Chris Chandler: Yeah. Or go, go hop over to here and go work in the warehouse for two weeks. And they're all like, absolutely, we'd love to do that.
[00:15:35] Cameron Clark: When and how did you like that? Was the perspective shift for that, or is that always, did you always have that or? I
[00:15:42] Chris Chandler: would say
[00:15:42] Cameron Clark: when that click,
[00:15:43] Chris Chandler: we started in 2015 with that to some level, just being a little more flexible than we've always had, always had been.
[00:15:50] Chris Chandler: But I would tell you the, the new spark has been the last two years. Like we've really, and that's been me personally too. Like I have this new fire underneath [00:16:00] me that, like,
[00:16:00] Cameron Clark: why,
[00:16:01] Chris Chandler: um, I think just reevaluating where I was and, um, what I wanted to be doing, and you know, how to, for me personally, it's like the most important things to me are being a good husband, being a good dad, and being a good leader.
[00:16:16] Chris Chandler: And the rest of it doesn't matter. And I let the other things kind of get in the way and I've stopped listening to everyone else and started listening to my wife and my kids and really like, this is what matters guys. And so ever, ever, like, it's like self-realization. We can call it a midlife crisis if you want to, but there's no Porsche or Lamborghini sitting there.
[00:16:37] Chris Chandler: Um, but it's, it's really like reevaluating where I was and then actually look, stepping up, taking a step back and saying like, what can we provide? Like, yeah, I mean, I, I feel like I can provide so much as a person just by helping other people and leaning into that leaning, being a better leader. So we changed our executive team style too, [00:17:00] so really changing our name.
[00:17:02] Chris Chandler: Here's what we do differently. Uh, trying to explain what Chandler Equipment is was very complicated. So saying Chandler Capital Group was more of a, Hey, we're investing in multiple businesses, different styles, um, all keeping as small as possible, but having fun, enjoying it was a better, kind of a better picture of who we wanted to be.
[00:17:21] Chris Chandler: Long term. Yeah. And to more of like helping companies grow and uh, being a part of our bigger, bigger success plan.
[00:17:28] Cameron Clark: And did you have someone kind of advise you, walk you through that? Or was this, Hey, just like, let's create a vision plan and let's, let's do the how on the way?
[00:17:35] Chris Chandler: It was really, really, my wife, she's, she's awesome.
[00:17:38] Chris Chandler: She is like, props to her. She's amazing person. Um, really put me on the path I'm on now. And then my kids, the three kids, they're amazing, amazing people. Like we're. I'm so lucky to have them as a family. Um, really like making me see who I could be and also like challenging me to be better. [00:18:00] And that's really what kind of spurred it.
[00:18:01] Chris Chandler: So like a lot of it's self-realization and going back to like, how do we become better? Um, we do, we also have a good network of friends and, you know, kind of mentors and people that we talk to from time to time and try to, try to get feedback and just really, um, just grow, grow with it.
[00:18:19] Cameron Clark: What would you tell someone, you know, whether your wife or your partner is in the business or out of the business?
[00:18:25] Cameron Clark: How important is the, is it having them bought in to like what the business is?
[00:18:31] Chris Chandler: Yes. It's so important. So for the longest time, Morgan wasn't involved or she felt like an outsider and, and changing that really helped us kind of come into a new, a new position. And so since we've done that, the, the game has really changed.
[00:18:48] Chris Chandler: Something we've talked about with our employees is when you, when you come to your job or your career and you're, you have some unsettled business at home, or no one believes in you, or all you know, [00:19:00] like you feel like you don't matter, you're not gonna show up here. So we talk about showing up, showing ups the most important thing.
[00:19:05] Chris Chandler: We, we give tours to high school kids and work with the, the schools and the education system on like, developing the next generation. And that's something we talk about all the time is like, show up when you're there every day. Like, give it a hundred percent. You're all, your focus here is here, but if it's being pulled elsewhere, you need to go handle those situations first.
[00:19:25] Chris Chandler: So like we talk about if you're not happy at home, you're not happy here. And it's really hard, it's hard for people to kind of get over that hump. It's like, you know, and we, we want the families to be involved too. So like, if you work for one of our teams, um, it's a family buy-in thing. Like everybody's gotta be on board.
[00:19:44] Chris Chandler: And if they're not, you could tell, you could tell that they're, they're distracted or something, you know, they're not giving it a hundred percent and it's like there's something missing. So it's very important.
[00:19:54] Nick Beyer: Let's talk through some of the business, uh, businesses. So starting with Chandler Equipment, kind of, [00:20:00] we talked about it being a steady business kind of as we were walking through, but has there been growth there and, and where has that growth been?
[00:20:08] Nick Beyer: Or just kind of talk about that business? Yeah. So people can understand
[00:20:11] Chris Chandler: Yes.
[00:20:12] Nick Beyer: You know, you drive by it every day. Right. But some of the specific things that people would be familiar with.
[00:20:15] Chris Chandler: Right. So in, in 2007, when Morgan and I bought in, we had 40 employees. Uh, by 2011 we had 110, man. And then in 20, 20 12, 20 13 is when the rollercoaster ride started in the oil and gas business.
[00:20:34] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. And then all that change started. So we dropped back down to, to 70 at that moment. Tried to reevaluate where we were, uh, growth of personnel teams, et cetera. And then to get to where we are now is 120 people. So it's a huge shift in the, the DNA of the company and the style and how everything's happened.
[00:20:55] Chris Chandler: But, uh, the Chandler Vac business has been the core. It's still the core today. [00:21:00] It's a little over 50% of what we do. Um, it's a very steady business model. Um, and it's a lot of long-term relationships, so things that have been there for 30 years. Mm-hmm. Like some of our customers, we've, we've had relationships for a long, long time.
[00:21:15] Chris Chandler: And even when they change over, it's, we're there to, you know, welcome the new, the new team member and have that relationship starter starting there with our sales team. So a lot of, a lot of B2B market style. And then as time's, time's gone on, we've. Try to vertically integrate and be able to sell to the consumer directly.
[00:21:34] Chris Chandler: So that's like with these, these other brands mm-hmm. The, the CTA, the backwoods, et cetera, FSR, those are all direct to consumer, which is what we love. We love Yeah. Solving a problem for someone directly and there's no middleman, there's no lost in translation on the service or what they get.
[00:21:53] Cameron Clark: And talk about the end user there.
[00:21:54] Cameron Clark: I mean, this is, we need to like throw up some pictures and stuff on, on this podcast. Yeah. 'cause it's 'cause the, [00:22:00] it's super cool. I mean, so fun. The, the vehicles are like, I mean Yeah, they're just, yeah. They're exciting. It's like, hey, this is a different way to experience like driving through, you know, trails in Colorado or the Ozarks where wherever you are Exactly.
[00:22:15] Cameron Clark: You know, or you have your farm truck and it's like, Hey, here's this stuff. Like does this really work for what I'm doing? And
[00:22:20] Chris Chandler: Right.
[00:22:21] Cameron Clark: Sounds like y'all are really in touch with the end, end user on, hey, we are like, let's, let's try this out. Let's try this out.
[00:22:27] Chris Chandler: Yes. I'm the ultimate consumer. I'm a car car junkie, so I love trucks and SUVs.
[00:22:34] Chris Chandler: That's my sweet spot. Um, not, not a sports car fan as much, but like, um, I love to build a truck and take it to the gas station and I'll, I'll sell it potentially. So like the last two trucks I built, I mean, the first one was the first week I had to go fill it up and Guy was like, how much you want? I'll buy it right now.
[00:22:56] Chris Chandler: And I was like, he goes, I've never seen anything like that before. And I was like, [00:23:00] man, I was like, it's actually a show truck. I gotta take it to sema. And I was like, I was like, can't do it. And then a couple months go by, I'm at Starwood working for the day. He shows up to Starwood, no way. And said, Hey, I bought the truck.
[00:23:14] Chris Chandler: I want it built just like yours. And so that's like a flattering moment of like, we got something, we did something. Right. Yeah. When people are like hot after your product, but being like, you know. The truck guy myself. I really try to think about it, how I would use the product or how I, what would be.
[00:23:32] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. You know, a, a vehicle, people don't think about this, but a vehicle is your extension of your personality, and it always is. So whatever you drive, it's like there's a stereotype behind it, and it's always a funny conversation to like, get into like what kind of car you drive and you just like hear, you hear the, you know, some people are just super proud about it, and then some people are just like, eh, this gets me from A to B.
[00:23:53] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:23:54] Chris Chandler: And like I can tell a lot about the personality too. So like, if you see me, I'm driving the latest and greatest [00:24:00] truck, like, I will trick it out completely because that's, that's what I want it to be.
[00:24:05] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:24:06] Chris Chandler: But I'm also, I want the next biggest thing always. I want it to be on cutting edge and the next level, so I'm always in something new.
[00:24:14] Nick Beyer: How much of that. For people who are into that world, like, okay, we, we spend 60 grand on a truck. You spend 30 grand tricking it out. Yeah. Will I actually get that money back
[00:24:25] Chris Chandler: or you, you don't. Okay. No. Okay. No. It trucks depreciate. Sure. Trucks, uh, our vehicles depreciate the accessories appreciate also. Yeah.
[00:24:33] Chris Chandler: It's the same, it's the same math. So like, looking at it, it's more of a function of use. Is it something I can use? And that's where our products come from as well. Mm-hmm. They're not just flashy and Oh, that's cool. It's like putting on a set of wheels. They really don't do anything for you. That's why we've stayed away from products like that, where like all of our, you know, our bed products are toolboxes and racks and they all have functional use.
[00:24:57] Chris Chandler: And even a bumper. A bumper has a functional use. [00:25:00] Um, all of ours have our winch capable. So like putting a winch, getting stuck, you know.
[00:25:04] Cameron Clark: Yep.
[00:25:04] Chris Chandler: Drive it. Drive it in bad weather. Mm-hmm. It's you, you can always find a way out. Mm-hmm. So never being stuck somewhere. Or like protection, like you, accidents happen every day.
[00:25:15] Chris Chandler: Well, when we build bumpers, those bumpers help protect you as a person also. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It doesn't, you know, it helps with the, the crumble zone in the truck or the vehicle. And so like, there's different uses, but all functional use is where we kind of stick around.
[00:25:29] Nick Beyer: Uh, so Chandler Equipment, Chandler Vac mm-hmm.
[00:25:32] Nick Beyer: That's been steady for a while.
[00:25:33] Chris Chandler: Right.
[00:25:33] Nick Beyer: Um, and then you, you guys kind of have a short, uh, season in the oil and gas. Are you building, are you building parts that go on the machines that drill, or when you say oil and gas, what do you actually mean
[00:25:47] Chris Chandler: by that? It's, it's all in the service industry around oil and gas.
[00:25:50] Chris Chandler: So, um, every well has frack tanks and water trailers and all of these products around it. Mm-hmm. That help it function. And so [00:26:00] most of the equipment that we're building, parts and pieces of go on those trucks or trailers or tanks.
[00:26:05] Nick Beyer: Okay.
[00:26:06] Chris Chandler: So when that, I mean. When they turn the light switch on, it's on full blast.
[00:26:11] Chris Chandler: So like we would have companies that send a truck truck here every week to pull up and they, we fill up the entire truck full of products and they, and it's gone. And that goes from, we're running two shifts to keep up and, and then when the light switch turns off, it's done.
[00:26:27] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:26:27] Chris Chandler: It's completely over. And you know, you'll see all companies go out of business mm-hmm.
[00:26:32] Chris Chandler: And all this crazy stuff. 'cause they've leveraged mm-hmm. Themselves to be mm-hmm. Growing as fast as possible. And they get themselves in trouble.
[00:26:39] Nick Beyer: And so did y'all exit that business? Are you still doing any
[00:26:42] Chris Chandler: of that? We still do it. We still do it. We just got more conservative with it. Yeah. So, so the growth, the growth pattern was not as fast anymore.
[00:26:50] Chris Chandler: So when it did jump back on, we, we didn't attack it very hard. Yeah. It was like, no, we, we want the core people who actually stayed in business mm-hmm. During those times and everyone else, we, [00:27:00] you know, it's kind of a, you know, you're a startup and it's, yeah. I don't feel, feel right about it. Just, you know, right now I'd rather supply the companies that I know are gonna be here.
[00:27:09] Chris Chandler: You know, the next five years
[00:27:10] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:27:11] Chris Chandler: As well.
[00:27:12] Nick Beyer: Well, cool. Let's talk about 2015. Mm-hmm. So Chandler truck accessories starts
[00:27:17] Cameron Clark: and b and before we get there, I, one more thing on that.
[00:27:19] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:27:19] Cameron Clark: And you, I want be able to understand the innovation that you'll have going here, you, the robots that are building some of these, these pieces.
[00:27:26] Cameron Clark: Did that start whenever you were doing the,
[00:27:29] Chris Chandler: started post-college? Okay. Before, before Morgan and I bought in, um, I convinced my grandparents to buy the first robot, uh, from it's welding robot. And it's a component style. So you're, you're loading parts and pieces and it's welding the same product over and over.
[00:27:47] Chris Chandler: Well, you know, turns out a robot's six times more efficient than a human doing the same product over and over on speed and accuracy. Mm-hmm. So we bought, the first one, proved that it worked, took about a year [00:28:00] to really prove it. And then we bought two more immediately. So we had three running, and then we've, we're up, we're up to 20 today.
[00:28:06] Chris Chandler: So 20 robots, welding, and, uh, now a lot of it's dual head. So like we can weld a toolbox in three minutes, start to finish. Really cool. Um, but I, we lean into innovation. So like our next round of, you know, investment is all a automation. It's automatic cutting, automatic vending, automatic welding, uh, conveyors in between.
[00:28:29] Cameron Clark: Yep.
[00:28:29] Chris Chandler: Moving product, single piece flow style where it's just efficient and everyone's kind of, you know, instead of there being 20 products being made in a given day, now there's three.
[00:28:39] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:28:39] Chris Chandler: And everyone's getting those three done. So everyone's on the same team
[00:28:42] Cameron Clark: there. And are y'all talking about AI in there too?
[00:28:45] Cameron Clark: Or is it predominantly like, hey, actual hardware, like robotics?
[00:28:49] Chris Chandler: It's, it's, it's a combination. So AI is the next step. So you'll have, uh, vision systems that are tapped into our product designs. Okay. And when they see it [00:29:00] come down the conveyor, it knows it can switch programming or it doesn't meet the spec.
[00:29:05] Chris Chandler: So like we can call out certain specs we want it to check. So like, Hey, did that weld correct without a person having to look at it?
[00:29:12] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:29:12] Chris Chandler: And that camera, that camera system can actually kick it out to the side. Mm-hmm. So we can actually, what we call red tag it, where that product gets looked at by a manager that, hey, something something's wrong or material was messed up, or the machine, you know, went sideways a little bit or something happened.
[00:29:29] Chris Chandler: So that's kind of the next step as we continue to invest and change how we manufacture and. Just, it's really neat. Like you can go to these trade shows now and you see all the latest and greatest and it is just mind blowing what they're coming up with and yeah, it's all efficiency based, so it's
mm-hmm.
[00:29:45] Chris Chandler: They're not replacing jobs. Like, everyone's like, oh, AI's gonna take all the jobs. Not in manufacturing. They're not, they're gonna, it's gonna get cleaner, more organized, more efficient, um, more consistent.
[00:29:56] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:29:56] Chris Chandler: Like, that's, that's the goal with it.
[00:29:58] Nick Beyer: That's good. Okay, so [00:30:00] going back to, um, going back to Chandler Truck accessory, so 2015 mm-hmm.
[00:30:05] Nick Beyer: Y'all come up with the name, come up with the brand. Yes. Maybe the logo.
[00:30:09] Chris Chandler: Yes.
[00:30:10] Nick Beyer: Had y'all just been in the, had you guys been in the manufacturing space and like, Hey, let's make a toolbox. Like how did that, how did it start?
[00:30:16] Chris Chandler: Sure.
[00:30:17] Nick Beyer: Yeah. How did it start?
[00:30:17] Chris Chandler: We were at a trade show and a tanker truck trade show, and I'm looking for the next thing, like, how do we get this thing off the ground again?
[00:30:25] Chris Chandler: How do we get back to where we were? Mm-hmm. Because we'd lost so much. And I'm looking at every truck out there, every 18 wheeler has a toolbox on it. And I'm talking with our team and we're like, you know, we have this equipment. We could build these toolboxes today if we wanted to. So we, we built the first one.
[00:30:44] Chris Chandler: Um, and we built it around what fails in the market today. So seeing 18 wheelers drive up and down the road, or flatbed trucks with, you know, like work trucks with toolboxes all over 'em, all the doors were hanging off, or there's bungee cords [00:31:00] hooked, hooked to 'em to hold the door on. I'm just like, there it is.
[00:31:02] Chris Chandler: There, there is your problem. You know, that's your problem. How do we solve the door problem? And we set out to do that. So building a product that was bigger and better than what was on the market. That's where we went.
[00:31:13] Cameron Clark: Hmm.
[00:31:13] Chris Chandler: So, solve all the problems. A lot of it was just cheap, flimsy metal junkie latching.
[00:31:19] Chris Chandler: Um, yeah, the, the lanyards fall off and after 10 days.
[00:31:24] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:31:24] Chris Chandler: So we went with chain, you know, hard, hard, heavy duty latch. Um. All carbon steel, thick, uh, beefy. And that stuck.
[00:31:35] Cameron Clark: Yeah,
[00:31:35] Chris Chandler: that just stuck. We started taking market share with, Hey, ours are, and we put a huge warranty on 'em. That was the other thing, like if it breaks, it's our problem.
[00:31:45] Chris Chandler: And so we were, at first we were replacing toolboxes 'cause we were learning about hinges and all kinds of things that we had zero information about. So trial and error, trying to figure it out. And we did. And it took, uh, [00:32:00] 10 years to figure that out. We've, we've taken it from, it's almost like a startup to where it is today, which it's, I mean, we're building a hundred boxes a day.
[00:32:09] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. We can't keep 'em in stock.
[00:32:11] Cameron Clark: And when you say market share, are you talking about national market share?
[00:32:14] Chris Chandler: National market share, yeah. So going after, you know. We're competing with companies that are 50 times our size, publicly traded, uh, weather guard buyer's, products, you know, Deasy, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:32:29] Chris Chandler: Like there's all these monsters in the automotive space and we're, does it
[00:32:32] Cameron Clark: scare you ever?
[00:32:33] Chris Chandler: Never. I love it, man. I love going up against the big guys and just outmaneuvering them. 'cause we're, we're nimble. We're agile, we can change 'em on the fly and they cannot, they're so big and structured and like, and their thought processors are usually older.
[00:32:50] Chris Chandler: So like our average age here at this company's 26.
[00:32:53] Cameron Clark: Wow.
[00:32:54] Chris Chandler: And their average age is in the forties or fifties.
[00:32:57] Cameron Clark: Are they building in China or is this, is this
[00:32:59] Chris Chandler: Some of them build in [00:33:00] China? Most of them build in the states though. I would say it's a 90 10 split there. Oh wow. Mostly 90% in the us. That's why, to me it's like.
[00:33:08] Chris Chandler: Being a USA made product is really cool. And to go do it in a space where we can scale it. And it's something that's on my truck right now. Mm-hmm. Like I drive this four.here right now and I'm extremely proud of it. And we have this thing in the car where the kids are like, Chandler Box, you see a Chandler Box or Chandler bumper, you see it, you just point it out and it's, it's the funnest thing.
[00:33:27] Chris Chandler: Like, and to see 'em around town, that's like the pride moment. Mm-hmm. And to have like our name on it, that's cool. But it's more more about our team. Like they, they see these things out there and they're like, man, we got to see a really cool truck. And it had all of our stuff on it and I took pictures by it and it's like, 'cause they're like, I made that.
[00:33:44] Chris Chandler: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Like, that's what it's about.
[00:33:45] Cameron Clark: Well, outside looking in and growing up here, it feels like y'all are kind of living the heartbeat of Springdale. Really? Yeah. Just like the charisma.
[00:33:51] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[00:33:52] Cameron Clark: The, the, the rah rah blue collar side that's just like. Yeah. I mean, it gets, gets me excited.
[00:33:59] Nick Beyer: So y'all [00:34:00] started manufacturing, um, toolboxes for 18 wheelers.
[00:34:04] Chris Chandler: Yes. 18 wheelers and flatbed work trucks. Okay. That's kind of where the bread and butter started.
[00:34:09] Nick Beyer: And is that still a majority of the toolboxes you're selling for
18
[00:34:13] Chris Chandler: wheelers? That's a tiny piece of it now. So we expanded into, uh, the pickup everyday pickup trucks. Mm-hmm. Single lid goaling, top side toolbox.
[00:34:23] Chris Chandler: And it's an amazing shift, like going to really consumer heavy product where the, the work truck stuff you're selling to other companies still. So we were, that's what we were used to because that's where we started. And then now moving to, you know, B2C style where we sell on our website and we're creating cool marketing videos.
[00:34:43] Chris Chandler: Uh, a lot of buzz behind the product, but also like trying to fix the problems that were in that market. So going back to these are all big companies that have been doing it the same way for 20 years. And why should we change our product? It works. That leaves the space open for guys like us where we can come in and create something [00:35:00] better and offer a better value to the consumer, and that's what we sell on.
[00:35:04] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:35:04] Chris Chandler: It's just the value.
[00:35:06] Nick Beyer: Yeah. So, but that business model is so different Yeah. Than everything y'all had done from 78 to 2015.
[00:35:14] Chris Chandler: That's right.
[00:35:14] Nick Beyer: Like everything you done was B2B.
[00:35:16] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm.
[00:35:17] Nick Beyer: You're at trade shows, you have these old relationships. That's
[00:35:20] Chris Chandler: right.
[00:35:20] Nick Beyer: Now you're setting up a website trying to figure out how to market.
[00:35:25] Nick Beyer: Yes. You're building a brand. So like, talk about that's a big business transition.
[00:35:29] Chris Chandler: It is.
[00:35:29] Nick Beyer: Talk about on top of, you're now manufacturing even though you have all the capabilities, a different products. So talk about that.
[00:35:36] Chris Chandler: Yeah, a lot of learning curves there. So understanding how to build websites, how to talk to consumers.
[00:35:44] Chris Chandler: We were not good at it. Uh, our sales team is great at troubleshooting, but usually it's with relationships that they've already created. So it's not a, you know, end user calling them, going through this, the cycle of, Hey, this is my issue. Here's how do we fix it. So learning [00:36:00] how to talk differently to, to customers.
[00:36:01] Chris Chandler: Learning how to tell our story in a different way.
[00:36:04] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:04] Chris Chandler: Um. Product availability, that's another one. Mm-hmm. So talking about B2B, I know what those companies are doing 12 weeks in advance. They give me a PO with, I need a delivery on this day. Here's how many products. Those were. Easy. Now it's, I take an order, I need it to ship in 24 hours.
[00:36:24] Chris Chandler: That's the expectation. So the expectations have changed completely on the style of business, and that's what we had to learn the hard way. Trial, trial and error. So we are a huge trial and error company. Um, we don't, we don't have all the answers. We just know that we're willing to learn and we're willing to try and we're not afraid to fail.
[00:36:43] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:43] Chris Chandler: So, like, in, in talking about not, not being afraid to fail, that's one of the things we lean into with our team as well. Like, if we're not making mistakes, we're not trying hard enough, so we better go make some mistakes and we better, we better learn from those as we do them. Yeah. But you know, that's the only way we get [00:37:00] better
[00:37:00] Nick Beyer: mm-hmm.
[00:37:00] Chris Chandler: Is to, is to keep trying new things. So a lot, a lot of this was like teaching ourselves marketing. Um, having a vision for what the product, the brand is the product, the how do we tell, you know, tell the consumer why they should buy it. Yeah. And what's in it for them, because that's, that's the ultimate goal is like, are we creating value for them?
[00:37:18] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:18] Chris Chandler: And that's what makes them keep coming back or telling their friends.
[00:37:21] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:37:22] Chris Chandler: And that's, and then having the reputation, so like fixing their problems immediately. So important. So I think in, in business world, a lot of people like push off the problems to the end of the day. Um, we handle them immediately.
[00:37:36] Chris Chandler: So if there's a customer problem, it, it, everyone has enough say so to handle that immediately. They don't need approvals from us. Yeah. They just go handle the issue and then we got their back. 'cause that's, they, they know the value there.
[00:37:49] Nick Beyer: Mm. That's good. Um, so you start to stand this business up. Mm-hmm.
[00:37:55] Nick Beyer: It's completely different.
[00:37:56] Chris Chandler: Yes. We're on the road for two [00:38:00] years.
[00:38:00] Nick Beyer: Okay.
[00:38:00] Chris Chandler: Trade shows.
[00:38:01] Nick Beyer: Trade shows. Just getting the brand kind of built.
[00:38:04] Chris Chandler: Telling the story. Yeah. Uh, sales team on the road, meeting with customers, hearing no. 5,000 times. Mm-hmm. Uh, no. We use weather guard. No, we use buyers. You don't have enough inventory.
[00:38:15] Chris Chandler: You don't, your pricing's too high. You're, whatever the excuse was. It is just a lot of nos. And then you get a couple yeses, and then you build on the yeses. And, you know, we, we didn't see, I think the first five years we just scratched the surface. We were just trying to make it work and most people quit.
[00:38:35] Chris Chandler: And I, it, it, that's, we just stuck behind it. Just said, no, we're gonna see it through, we know the market's there. Mm-hmm. We know we have to be better.
[00:38:42] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:38:42] Chris Chandler: So like, getting the right inventory, getting the right SKUs, getting the, the problems fixed that we've, you know, we've learned about our product versus everyone else's.
[00:38:51] Chris Chandler: And really adapting to what needed to be done. Then it finally started clicking, but it took years [00:39:00] and years and years.
[00:39:01] Nick Beyer: And who is that clicking with? Is that clicking with these car shops around town that now they're mm-hmm. Outfitting your brand? Or is this clicking with people ordering online or
[00:39:12] Chris Chandler: Online?
[00:39:12] Chris Chandler: Man. Okay. It is, it is been very heavy online on the growth side, um, being able to ship this product to someone's door and they can install it. So every product has an installation video that our engineering team has created, or of them installing the product on the truck.
[00:39:29] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:39:30] Chris Chandler: Or SUV. And that's been a, a huge piece of that.
[00:39:33] Chris Chandler: Like, it's, it's an easy fix. It's an easy put put together. You just gotta show 'em the way.
[00:39:39] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:39:39] Chris Chandler: And so putting that out there has helped.
[00:39:41] Cameron Clark: And are you selling like the lifestyle or someone already has that lifestyle and you're selling them the product?
[00:39:47] Chris Chandler: I would say a little bit of both. So, uh, with the backwoods brand for example, it's the lifestyle.
[00:39:52] Chris Chandler: You're, I, I went and lived the lifestyle and we did one of our films and I was a part of that. Such a cool experience. [00:40:00] But I think it's like trying to be that person that's out there in the market and trying to tell that story is if, if we can put ourselves in the customer's shoes, where, where we're the customer, we can tell a better story, we can help them understand on a different level.
[00:40:15] Chris Chandler: So like, selling the lifestyle is a piece of it. Also, solving problems is the other piece of it. So like having a good product design, having. Something that we stand behind that and we're easy to do business with. So like, you call us, you get a person. Mm-hmm. Every time we have a person that answers the phone, that was one of the, the complaints with the tent company we just acquired was people, we turn on the phones the first day and we're answering with our backwards team immediately, and they're like, oh, wow.
[00:40:43] Chris Chandler: I get a person. I'm like, yes, that's, that's us. That's why we, that's why we did this. It's like we, we saw that brand as being a really cool product that we used and we loved it. And I just seeing like the operational, like issues that they had and I'm just [00:41:00] like, oh, no, no, no. This is, you gotta go back to old school.
[00:41:04] Chris Chandler: You gotta be small business. Helping everybody on the phone solving their problems, you know, shipping it immediately.
[00:41:11] Cameron Clark: What would you tell someone who's like, Hey, it's, that's, it's not worth it. We don't, I mean there's a lot of companies out there right now who don't even have a phone number. Like, Hey, you can chat in, offer online shopping.
[00:41:21] Cameron Clark: Um, and that's it.
[00:41:24] Chris Chandler: I think there's a generational shift you're seeing happening in the market, and I see it in e in employees too, so like. Uh, the 30 and younger crowd, they grew up in a different technology era than like, where I did in the next generation up, where we had a little bit of all of it. We saw, you know, had the old school style where it's still mom and pop walk in old school business versus now there's all this technology and it's so much more efficient.
[00:41:50] Chris Chandler: Well, we've also stopped teaching in that way as well. So like, our generation is like, oh, it's just easier to push a button and it works. And, but like, [00:42:00] what you lose is that personal touch. Mm-hmm. So like, if I'm a consumer, I want to, if I have a problem, I wanna talk to a person, a person can make the moves happen.
[00:42:08] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:42:09] Chris Chandler: Or if, you know, and I would, I would say for any, any person getting in the business in today's world, get a phone number, talk to people. People want a connection. They, they don't want to just talk to a computer or, or even it's all AI based today. Like I know it's more efficient, but you're also kind of giving up on.
[00:42:27] Chris Chandler: On the human interaction as well. So like, you know, teaching kids to talk on the phone, like they don't talk on the phone anymore. It's FaceTime and that's about it. Or fully text or, I mean now it's, you just speak into your phone. Yeah. And it, it's just, it's such a game changer. It is just so different.
[00:42:44] Chris Chandler: Like,
[00:42:45] Nick Beyer: yeah.
[00:42:45] Chris Chandler: Like, um, what, what I also will say about this is like, it's easier to be non-confrontational in the new way. So like, when customers are upset, I want someone there to help them get their problem [00:43:00] solved. They remember that forever. They get really pissed off when you don't write 'em back for three days.
[00:43:05] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. And they're even more fired up. And then they're, they're launching this attack on you online because they're upset you didn't take care of their issue. So like, leaning into those hard conversations and solving problems. There's your success plans.
[00:43:19] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:43:19] Chris Chandler: Like, and I, and it's not for every market, but I would say most markets still need that.
[00:43:24] Chris Chandler: Like to solve problems.
[00:43:26] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:43:26] Chris Chandler: Gotta be able to communicate. It's another thing we talked to high school. The high school side is, uh, how many of you can talk on the phone? How many of you can sit here and have a conversation with us and, you know, not be distracted or, you know, really be in that conversation.
[00:43:39] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. It's very few anymore. So like helping the teachers say, let's work on our communication skills, not our texting skills. Not all that. That's, that's easy. Like, that comes natural for them. Yeah. Let's, let's go do the hard things and learn the hard, you know, communication piece.
[00:43:55] Nick Beyer: So good. Tell me about the first toolbox you shipped [00:44:00] out to a consumer.
[00:44:01] Nick Beyer: You got the order mm-hmm. On your email?
[00:44:03] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[00:44:03] Nick Beyer: Do y'all already know how to, to do this? Are you like, I haven't, I mean, even just trying to guess the price to ship something like that. Did you lose money on it? Just kind of talk about
[00:44:12] Chris Chandler: that. Oh, we, we lost money for forever. I mean, it's not, you don't, you can't make money immediately.
[00:44:18] Chris Chandler: It doesn't work that way. Uh, we built some prototypes is how we started, and our sales team would go around door to door and try to sell these things to, to other upfit companies. That's who our target was at first. So truck up fitter who does work trucks or 18 wheelers. We were. Setting meetings and here's a, they would carry a toolbox in with them to the meeting and set it on the ground.
[00:44:40] Chris Chandler: And it was, and they're heavy. They're very heavy. So the old school were, were steel and they're just, you know, sitting on their desk and they're like, oh gosh, what is this? You know? Yeah. Like, this is what we built, like it's heavy duty, sturdy fixes all the problems, blah, blah, blah. So getting our first order was like ec static.
[00:44:58] Chris Chandler: And then there were a few and far [00:45:00] between and it was like, we would, we would go out and build the order, ship it to 'em. Maybe they wanted 10 of them for a truck they were gonna build.
[00:45:08] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:45:08] Chris Chandler: And we were just like, thought we hung the moon on that one. And then all of a sudden they don't go back to back. And we're we're, we were used to high volume delivery.
[00:45:18] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. And, you know, building lots and lots of products and palletizing everything and shipping out. We built a bunch of inventory for these toolboxes so we could, you know, the thought was I need to ship it immediately so they have it.
[00:45:29] Cameron Clark: Yeah, yeah.
[00:45:29] Chris Chandler: And we sat on inventory for forever that we couldn't move.
[00:45:33] Chris Chandler: And so we started lowering our prices to where we could just say, Hey, we need to get these gone. Try them. So we changed our mentality from, Hey, we gotta make X amount of profit because that's where it should be. That's where our, you know, the old school business was always very, very profitable. Like we, we knew margins, we understood steel.
[00:45:50] Chris Chandler: And so like, we're like, oh, it should be the same. It's not the same. You're coming into a new market, you're trying to establish yourself. You have to have introductory pricing [00:46:00] or a better value offer to that consumer. And we learned that the hard way over time. Lowered our pricing down, got the product rolling, and then started working on designing it differently, making it, making the improvement.
[00:46:12] Chris Chandler: So hearing the feedback from the, from the customer, like, Hey, you know, I wish it did this, or I wish it had that. And so we started evolving it over time and. I think we tinkered with that first design for three or four years, like off and on till we got it to where, hey, that's a good product. And then we started working on the next, the next round and the next round till we are where we are today, where we have, I think 90 plus products in the CTA product line that we're offering.
[00:46:40] Chris Chandler: And they're all in inventory. That's our goal. Like you, you order it today whether you're a B2B or B2C and we ship it today. Like that's what we're trying to get to.
[00:46:49] Nick Beyer: That's crazy. Um, yeah. So walk, walk us through now.
[00:46:56] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm.
[00:46:57] Nick Beyer: I, I get on y'all's website, I hear [00:47:00] about you from a friend, or maybe I see something on Instagram or what, whatever.
[00:47:04] Chris Chandler: Right. I
[00:47:04] Nick Beyer: order a toolbox. Mm-hmm. When do I get it? What's the expectation? And, and how does that compare to the market? Like are other people, are there other, I know we talked about weather.
[00:47:15] Chris Chandler: Weather guard.
[00:47:16] Nick Beyer: Weather guard.
[00:47:16] Chris Chandler: Yeah. Weather guard's. Another good brand.
[00:47:18] Nick Beyer: Now are they, I go to a dealership and I buy an F-150.
[00:47:21] Nick Beyer: Is that where a weather guard's gonna get installed or are they're more towards your model, which is direct to consumer.
[00:47:27] Chris Chandler: They're more towards the upfitter side of things. Okay. So like they would go, you would go to a Starwood Customs. Okay. Which is what also us. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, and say, Hey, I'm looking for this product.
[00:47:37] Chris Chandler: And then a lot of times that product is warehoused in a, uh, in a distribution center with a distribution company. So weather Guard would sell it to the distribution company and then they'd turn around and mark it up to Starwood and Starwood turns around and marks it up to you. Yeah. So we are taking all those layers out of it and saying, you buy it directly from us, you get that money [00:48:00] savings, we ship it directly to your door.
[00:48:02] Chris Chandler: You can put it on yourself. If you want Starwood to put it on, Starwood will put it on, but it's gonna come through us or a version of us. And that's kind of the, the big shift. Now,
[00:48:13] Nick Beyer: have you had success, I mean, when you started doing that, now you have a service department, are they getting blown up with phone calls all the time?
[00:48:20] Nick Beyer: Hey, this, this is loose, this is wiggling on this side. Yep. And how do you, how do you It
[00:48:24] Chris Chandler: happens. Our, we have a customer service team that's the same, you're talking to the same people who, when you place your order, they confirm it with you online. So you're, it's, it's a person. Mm-hmm. It's not a, there's no, there's some automation there, but it's really, we're still involved on the personal side.
[00:48:40] Chris Chandler: Like, we follow up with you and make sure you got your order. Did everything will arrive. Okay. So also that person is the point of contact if there's something broken or the, or the, the product just kind of has an issue and they, they're fully versed in how that product's made, um, what the fixes are. And then they're the ones that can [00:49:00] authorize sending you a new one if something's bad.
[00:49:02] Chris Chandler: So that's just one person, one that one team takes care of all
[00:49:05] Nick Beyer: that. Mm-hmm. So talk about that. 'cause I, we have, we have friends in, in the shipping metal stuff, and that's been a headwind is something gets delivered. Something gets delivered and it's damaged. Right. It's not their fault.
[00:49:18] Chris Chandler: Right.
[00:49:18] Nick Beyer: So, but they're taking, you know, you take a bath on that because
[00:49:22] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[00:49:23] Nick Beyer: You know, so, talk about that. Has that been unexpected? Has that met your expectations? Has it been better or worse? Is that maybe the big headwind for people entering that space? Obviously there's, yeah. Capital requirements and stuff.
[00:49:36] Chris Chandler: Sure. I, I would say initially it was a huge eye-opening experience for us because we were used to.
[00:49:43] Chris Chandler: Building these products that were two spec, um, sent to another manufacturer and they installed it. Mm-hmm. So they kind of handled all the issues. They didn't need us to further fix their problems, they fixed them themselves to now the consumer where the expectation is it should be ready to go. And I get it.
[00:49:59] Chris Chandler: And it's [00:50:00] not, uh, we went through some learning phases of Yeah, we gotta, we gotta warranty all this stuff. Yeah. And I'm huge on, you know, it's not the customer's fault. It's, it's our burden to bear and we should take on and take care of that consumer no matter what. So we wanna make them happy. Like, that's our goal is to, you know, be someone that they wanna talk about, be a good partner for them.
[00:50:24] Chris Chandler: If they need another product that we have, we would love to deliver it to 'em. Um, but we want them long term.
[00:50:30] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:50:30] Chris Chandler: So we want them to be on our team. So having. Having the mentality shift of like, it's not my problem to it is my problem, and just taking ownership of it. And that's just part of a business hurdle that you have to overcome.
[00:50:44] Chris Chandler: But you learn from those. So like when those things do break, you go fix 'em In engineering.
[00:50:49] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:50:49] Chris Chandler: Our engineering team has an entire book of workload where it's, I gotta fix this, I gotta change that design. Uh, we, we learned this today. We, [00:51:00] uh, sales and the, and our sales team talks directly with them all the time.
[00:51:03] Chris Chandler: So it's a full conversation of, Hey, we had a batch go out and three of the 20 of this group where had this issue. And they'll go back and reevaluate and say, okay, well maybe, maybe this weld style's not good enough. Mm-hmm. Maybe we should change the welding. Maybe it should be a different latch. Maybe it should be, um, you know, oh, we didn't think about freezing temperatures.
[00:51:26] Chris Chandler: That happens.
[00:51:26] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:51:27] Chris Chandler: So like we have covers on our locks. Well, when you put 'em in the north and it rains and it freezes, the locks will freeze. Well, if you put a cover on top of it, they can open the cover up and the lock's functional. So it's like little things like that you learn. You didn't, you didn't know that day one.
[00:51:41] Chris Chandler: Yeah. You just have to, you know, you learn that as you go.
[00:51:45] Nick Beyer: That's, that's crazy. So that was 2015 Chandler Truck accessories. Obviously, it sounds like that part of your business has had a tremendous amount of growth. Absolutely. Out of all of the businesses. Is that probably the, it's
[00:51:56] Chris Chandler: number one.
[00:51:56] Nick Beyer: Okay.
[00:51:57] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[00:51:57] Chris Chandler: That's, and that will be more [00:52:00] than 50% of our revenue in the next year. It's, it's growing that fast, which that's what our entire expansion is about, is growing toolboxes. Yeah. So it's, it's really exciting to see everyone's exci. I mean,
[00:52:11] Nick Beyer: yeah.
[00:52:11] Chris Chandler: Just pumped up. I mean, I smile every day about it. Like, I get to go do that.
[00:52:14] Chris Chandler: Like, that's fun. Yeah.
[00:52:16] Nick Beyer: It's cool because it's national too. It is like y'all are shipping toolbox
[00:52:21] Chris Chandler: everywhere.
[00:52:21] Nick Beyer: All over.
[00:52:22] Chris Chandler: Yeah. Really neat.
[00:52:24] Nick Beyer: That's awesome. And then Backwoods Adventures mod.
[00:52:27] Chris Chandler: Yeah, Backwood Adventure Mod. So that started off as backwards bumpers.
[00:52:31] Nick Beyer: Okay.
[00:52:32] Chris Chandler: Uh, it was a Fayetteville company. We were trying to sell toolboxes to the work truck market At the time.
[00:52:39] Chris Chandler: Evan House that owned backwoods was building bumpers.
[00:52:43] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:52:43] Chris Chandler: And we kind of crossed paths when we're trying to look for each other's product. People were asking us to build bumpers as well, uh, for those work trucks. And we were like, we know nothing about bumpers. Like, I was like, we need an expert. We need to go find an expert.
[00:52:57] Chris Chandler: Yeah. And then one of our [00:53:00] sales guys at the time was, knew, knew Evan had done business with him in the past and said, Hey, we need to go talk to Evan. Like he knows how to build bumpers and he has a company and. He was building 'em in, in a shop behind his house. And so he had four employees and building 'em one by one.
[00:53:16] Chris Chandler: And we met up, uh, kind of started talking to each other about what we could do. I was like trying to hire him as a consultant to design some bumpers for us. And he's like, well, I need some toolboxes for my truck. And so we just kind of like, he took a tour here and he was like blown away. He was like, this place is awesome.
[00:53:35] Chris Chandler: And then so he had been, I guess, toying around with maybe doing something else.
[00:53:41] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:53:41] Chris Chandler: And I just said, I said, Hey, if you ever wanna come work for us, we'll buy your business and you just come work for us full time.
[00:53:48] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:53:48] Chris Chandler: And we'll just build this thing. He was like, I'll think about it. And then we crossed paths at SEMA in Vegas.
[00:53:56] Chris Chandler: Uh, meet up with his team and a couple [00:54:00] months later we were, we were in business.
[00:54:02] Cameron Clark: Wow.
[00:54:02] Chris Chandler: We bought his company, brought his team here. Uh, he's still the lead engineer for Backwood. Uh, we took, we took backwards bumpers and its focus was kind of work truck bumpers and heavy duty bumpers. And we converted it to kind of an outdoor venture product set.
[00:54:18] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:54:18] Chris Chandler: Over time. And it, it was a really, it's a, a changing process. Like we started off being like, oh no, we're gonna build these work truck bumpers and that's what it's gonna be about. And it was really hard and we had a, going back to that, it's kind of a startup again where
[00:54:31] Nick Beyer: Yep.
[00:54:32] Chris Chandler: You're trying to launch into this new market and getting told no everywhere.
[00:54:35] Chris Chandler: And so we were like, we need to build something different. So we came up with an aluminum bumper with the steel frame, which is no one on the market does it, still don't do it today. Like it's very unique to what we do. And just kind of launching into this new world,
[00:54:52] Cameron Clark: how do you balance, so like the BU bumper for example.
[00:54:55] Cameron Clark: How do you balance persistence and innovation to where like, hey, [00:55:00] we, we know this is a problem on the persistence side, we're gonna push, push, push, push, push, and we're stick with it. Yeah. Versus Hey, alright, what we're trying to build is actually wrong. We need to change the bumper. Like it, it feels like you have a pretty good, healthy relationship there.
[00:55:14] Chris Chandler: You, you have to swallow your pride. And sometimes understanding that like the product that your thought was the best thing in the market is not what the market wants.
[00:55:24] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:55:25] Chris Chandler: And it's some of it's timing. So like if, you know, if you know it's the next wave, you need to sell it as the next thing.
[00:55:32] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:55:32] Chris Chandler: You know, and not like I'm trying to solve your problem today.
[00:55:35] Chris Chandler: It's. Can we solve your problem down the road?
[00:55:38] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:55:38] Chris Chandler: And so having that kind of forward vision and, and that, that's what we do also well here is I'm always thinking five or 10 years down the road. Yeah. Like what could this be? What could we turn this thing into? And understanding that right now it may not work and we have to continually change and evolve.
[00:55:55] Chris Chandler: And product designs are one of those things, like we know there's a [00:56:00] need for it, it's just not the right time.
[00:56:01] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:56:02] Chris Chandler: And understanding like, well, what do we do today that, you know, if we keep leaning into it, how does it change the future?
[00:56:09] Cameron Clark: Is there anything you'd tell someone who's making their first acquisition like that you learned during that experience?
[00:56:15] Chris Chandler: It takes time, patience. Um, don't quit. You have to really like lean into learning and immerse in yourself. And I think most people think like, oh, I just own a business. I don't treat it that way. I think you have to be fully invested, fully involved. You have to want for it to work. Like, that's the thing, like really and understanding it's not not easy.
[00:56:41] Chris Chandler: And that there are, there are times where you feel it's so risky, but then I look back and say like, that was nothing.
[00:56:49] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:56:50] Chris Chandler: You know, that was, that was all in my head. And trying to kind, you kinda have to get out of your own way sometimes. Mm-hmm. And then focus on the work, like focus on like getting it where it needs to be.[00:57:00]
[00:57:01] Nick Beyer: That's good. So the Backwood adventure mods, talk about that brand. Obviously it's evolved, but it
[00:57:08] Chris Chandler: has.
[00:57:09] Nick Beyer: Is, is there growth there? Is there growth moving forward? Where do you feel like that growth is?
[00:57:14] Chris Chandler: Yes, there is. There's lots of growth there. Um, so the other recent acquisition, FSR has helped backwards and become even stronger.
[00:57:22] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. So, like, uh, for a while our backwards growth was coming through Sprinter van products. So we were building bumpers for your, your camping vans and all these off-road vans, which was during COVID a huge thing. So like, you know, we quadr backwards, quadrupled in size during COVID because everyone was doing out outdoor activities.
[00:57:43] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. And I wanted to camp and I did. I couldn't fly there, so I'm gonna drive there. People still had money to spend mm-hmm. On the vacation. So how do I get there? Well take a sprint van. Yeah. Well, you know, I need a roof rack, I need a ladder, I need steps. I need to make it look cool and be off roadie, which [00:58:00] is.
[00:58:01] Chris Chandler: What we tailored to.
[00:58:02] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:58:02] Chris Chandler: And we crushed it for a long time. About four years worth, just hammered it. Then the market corrected, so we had also during that time bought Rome built, which was one of our acquisitions. And since this last, this last October, we sold it to one of our employees. So one of our business development guys who was running the backwards team and developing all that.
[00:58:25] Chris Chandler: He's now the new owner, so I'm really happy for him. And we're still building the products for them.
[00:58:30] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:58:30] Chris Chandler: But it's just, uh, we, we moved away from the van market because we were truck and SUV people, and it's just that we we're talking two different languages.
Mm-hmm.
[00:58:39] Chris Chandler: And that's why we bought Rome Built in the first place is backwoods, trying to talk to van people and RV people, and then truck people.
[00:58:47] Chris Chandler: They're not the same. Mm-hmm. It's, it's a different message. So like, we were like, ah, what do we do with this? And that's where the Rome built acquisition came around. We redeveloped all of their products and then. Once it got down to it, I [00:59:00] just told Ty Pierce, I was like, our, our guy. And I just said, Hey, you buy this from us, you run it completely, we'll help you get launched.
[00:59:07] Chris Chandler: And, um, he's doing that now. So it's been, it's been awesome to see that.
[00:59:11] Nick Beyer: So has Backwood shifted more towards truck? SUV
[00:59:13] Chris Chandler: back towards truck? SUV? Yeah. And right now, mainly Toyota has been our, like, kind of forte. That's what we're known for. Um, however, we are expanding outside of that reach, so trying to offer products that are, you know, Jeep and other pickup trucks, things like that.
[00:59:29] Chris Chandler: It's, it's really stuck in the market of. I want something to camp in. I want something I can take off road or I want something I, I can go on an adventure with. Yeah. And those vehicles are like who we cater to. Yeah. With that brand where if you get into like the, the big trucks or pickup trucks, that's more of our CTA brand.
[00:59:45] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. So we're kind of keeping those lanes separated and once again, those are two messages that are not the same.
[00:59:51] Nick Beyer: Yeah. And is backwoods fairly D two C or that's more like you take your truck somewhere and get it?
[00:59:57] Chris Chandler: That's, that's a lot of B2C.
[00:59:59] Nick Beyer: Okay.
[00:59:59] Chris Chandler: I would [01:00:00] say it's 90 10 B2C.
[01:00:01] Nick Beyer: Okay.
[01:00:02] Chris Chandler: So still, still very heavy there.
[01:00:04] Nick Beyer: Okay.
[01:00:04] Chris Chandler: And even with FSR, I would say it's even more now because FSR is almost a hundred percent B2C.
[01:00:09] Nick Beyer: And talk about FSR for people
[01:00:10] Chris Chandler: who don't. Yeah. So FSR is free spirit recreation, so it is a rooftop tent company. Um, they were. They've been around 10 years or so. Uh, great product line, really. Um, they, they're good at innovating, changing designs, working, um, they just were hurting operationally.
[01:00:30] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[01:00:30] Chris Chandler: And they were marketing partners of ours. So when we would build trucks, we would reach out to 'em and say, Hey, we want to put one of your tents on our trucks, and, you know, had this turnkey package and then one thing led to the next and they were like, Hey, we're we wanna get out? Yeah, we wanna do something else.
[01:00:47] Chris Chandler: And it was a family. So they, we had, I kind of reached out to 'em and was like, Hey, let's, let's look at it. Let's see what we can do. And. We went round, round a couple times, then I kind of backed off and we had other things going on and [01:01:00] trying to build Starwood and other stuff. Yeah. And then they came back to us and said, Hey, we want to get real serious.
[01:01:05] Chris Chandler: And so we did, and it was real quick and easy. And, um, we're fully integrated here now. So moved that team to Springdale. Um, they, and our, our backwards team has a new building that they're in, and now it's FSR as well. So there's one big team there and really excited about that product set and that that customer base and it's gonna build.
[01:01:25] Chris Chandler: So FSR and Backwood will build together as one unit. Um, they'll piggyback off of each other as far as product offering and customer base and just trying to build long-term success there. But it's, it's, that's the fun stuff. Like, you know, if you think about like our company, it's Acquis and FSR, that's what, oh, you guys, that's what you do.
[01:01:46] Chris Chandler: I'm like, well, that's only a part of what we do. That's, that's, that's the cool, like, oh my, you build awesome stuff. And then the CTA even too. Dude, those trucks are amazing and all that. I'm like, yeah, but that's, that's just part of it, man. That's just, [01:02:00] it's, and that we're so diverse purposely. Mm-hmm. So that way it's always a growing market we go push towards.
[01:02:05] Chris Chandler: And, but, so it's now, it's, you know, now we're trying to, that's why changing the name worked to Chandler Capital Group also, it's like saying, Hey, no, these are all automotive companies and we're all in one family, and we have different, different topics and ideas.
[01:02:20] Cameron Clark: And talk about the, so the name change, when, when exactly did that happen
[01:02:24] Chris Chandler: at the end of this last year.
[01:02:25] Cameron Clark: Okay.
[01:02:25] Chris Chandler: So
[01:02:26] Cameron Clark: end of 25.
[01:02:27] Chris Chandler: End of 25.
[01:02:28] Cameron Clark: Um, and for, so like, I mean, you know, when people's perceptions of X capital or whatever it may be, you're things you are trying to do versus not trying to do, you're, you're not trying just to. Juice a business with some cash.
[01:02:41] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[01:02:42] Cameron Clark: And, you know, hey, let's, let's see if it grows.
[01:02:44] Cameron Clark: Right. See you later. You're, you're trying to be very involved.
[01:02:47] Chris Chandler: Yes.
[01:02:48] Cameron Clark: You're not trying to just juice up and then sell.
[01:02:51] Chris Chandler: Nope. Right.
[01:02:52] Cameron Clark: You mean you from, you really care about hiring and building in the area here.
[01:02:56] Chris Chandler: Yes. Yeah. So the goal is to build northwest Arkansas, like build a community. [01:03:00] Um, bringing those companies here and functioning into long-term growth plans.
[01:03:06] Chris Chandler: And if the own I want the owners to stay Yeah. Mm-hmm. Is, is if they will, like that's my goal. That's like the Evan, the Evan House with Backwood scenario. Like, I would love for every one of these deals to have an owner that's involved and they just needed help. Like, there's so many people that just need help and we've got almost 50 years of experience that we can lean on operationally.
[01:03:24] Chris Chandler: Um, accounting software, all these things, you know, hr, that's fantastic. We have all these benefits that we can offer. So like a lot of these smaller companies are coming to us now and saying, Hey, what would be a part of your bigger picture? Um, and we, we've started like we have. Multiple conversations going right now with people, people
[01:03:44] Cameron Clark: that approach you?
[01:03:44] Chris Chandler: Yes. People that approach me. So it's, and it is awesome, but, um, I love to help people. So it's, it's kind of a natural, like, you know, we just start talking and like, what, you know, what could our business help to do? You help for your company or how do we, how do we make you better? And that's just [01:04:00] a general sales conversation.
[01:04:01] Chris Chandler: Yeah. And then that turns into, well, you know, I really wish I could do this, but I don't have the financial means, or we don't have the operational team or the engineering. And, and that's where like, that's our firepower is we have these shared systems and we can throw investment at it or people, machinery, whatever it is.
[01:04:22] Chris Chandler: And then I just love to build stuff in general. So like, building's fun. Um. Love the challenge. Going back to like, I love to compete with the big companies. Like that's where my, my heart is all the time. I'm like, no, let's, let's take it as big as we can take it. Let's, let's go all the way up.
[01:04:39] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[01:04:39] Chris Chandler: And then try to keep it small though.
[01:04:41] Chris Chandler: Try to keep it where everybody wins. Our team wins and, you know, I'm still involved. So like, and we also, so when we changed our name, we changed our management style. Hmm. So instead of us being operators, all of our executive team, we're no longer operators, we're leaders only, we're developers. So like we [01:05:00] have, um, my wife Morgan, she's our Chief Visionary officer.
[01:05:04] Chris Chandler: We have Ryan Black, or Chief Revenue Officer, John Reynolds is our Chief operating officer. They, and everyone's been here a long, long time. And then we just hired a new CFO, uh, Stuart Howard, he's from Tyson. So we're putting together this firepower team that's been there, done that a bunch of times. We're all about the same age, and we just go develop people Yeah.
[01:05:26] Chris Chandler: And develop systems. And like, we're going through space expansion right now. We're going through a new ERP system. Um, we're going through all of these new machinery, you know, ideas and like scheming and trying to get FSR off the ground. But we're not running those companies like what we used to. I mean, I used to go out and run every part of it and now it's like, oh no, no, no.
[01:05:48] Chris Chandler: My value is how can I teach you guys to be better? What, what can I give you to help you, your job be more e you know, efficient or just easier everyday life? And [01:06:00] it's, it's really changed
[01:06:01] Nick Beyer: talk to someone who's young, who's early on and they are in that grind.
[01:06:06] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[01:06:06] Nick Beyer: And they are yearning for the day when they're gonna get in your spot and they're gonna be focused on developing.
[01:06:12] Nick Beyer: Exactly. They're, they're not gonna be focused on doing
[01:06:13] Chris Chandler: Exactly.
[01:06:14] Nick Beyer: Talk, talk about how valuable that season in is, if it's long, if it's short. Like now. Mm-hmm. 20 years later, whatever you're here to the development stage. Yeah. But that is, I think everybody now has this idea of I'm gonna start a business, put an operator in, and I'm not, you know, talk about that.
[01:06:31] Chris Chandler: Yeah. So the value in operating that these companies for me personally was, that's where I learned the most. The actual problem solving, the connecting the dots, the understanding how a business works. I mean, I don't have a business degree, my degree's in legal studies and criminal justice, like, how does that relate to here?
[01:06:52] Chris Chandler: Um, I'm a problem solver though, so like actually being out in the shop, dealing with customers, working on [01:07:00] designs, uh, finding, you know, how to solve problems the right way, where you're making people happy. Um, those are all such valuable tools. Mm-hmm. Where if you just. You know, invest in a company and then hire operator, you know, nothing about it.
[01:07:14] Chris Chandler: And going back to that, like, you're not all in, you're not, you're not there. You know, you're, you're so disconnected and you don't make decisions the same way. So like Wednesday I toured two big, two of our biggest customers facilities. I mean, one facility was 240,000 square feet and that, and they had 20 of these facilities next to each other.
[01:07:34] Chris Chandler: I mean, for, it's a Fortune 500 company. But it very cool to see. But like, I don't, I don't understand those businesses unless I go see 'em. Yeah. And I see their problems and I see like, and we talk to their buyers and like we say, Hey, they're like, like, yeah, we need you to hold this inventory because we have nowhere to put it.
[01:07:50] Chris Chandler: And you're like, yeah, whatever. And then you go there to see it and you're like, yeah, you don't. That is a, that's a need. So like being like firsthand knowledge is how you solve [01:08:00] problems faster and you learn more from like seeing as much as possible and talking to 'em as, as many people as possible. So like, you know, surrounding yourself with these companies or experience talking to other business owners.
[01:08:14] Chris Chandler: You know, we talk about turning over every rock. Yeah. We wanna turn over every rock and we wanna see everything we can see and learn all this information so that we can help run our company more efficiently. And it's for the betterment of everybody. But yeah, definitely like you have to get in the business first and work in it before you can step out of it.
[01:08:33] Chris Chandler: And you really have to put your time in and. The minute you have it figured out, that's the minute you're humbled. So like I've been through multiple times where I'm like, man, we, this is, we're crushing this. Like there's, this is an easy thing and then I get humbled really fast and that's, those are I, and now, now I am, I'm embracing those things.
[01:08:53] Chris Chandler: It's like I need to be humbled. I need to, I need to be shown that you're not good enough, that there's other people out there bigger and [01:09:00] better than you. So it's like you're chasing all the time. But we're not chasing the other companies. We're chasing a better part of us, like making ourselves better and not, oh, we want to be weather guard size.
[01:09:13] Chris Chandler: I don't care how big they are. I don't care what they do. I care about how, how we're making an impact for ourselves and our and our people. And so that's your kind of benchmark to go off of.
[01:09:23] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[01:09:25] Cameron Clark: So you were talking about, uh, like future, you're very like, Hey, I, I want to plan 10, 5, 10 years down the road.
[01:09:32] Chris Chandler: Yes.
[01:09:32] Cameron Clark: What, what's your hope, expectation for Chandler Capital Group moving forward?
[01:09:38] Chris Chandler: So, um, a couple big things coming up. We have Starwood Customs, so they're moving from Lowell to Springdale to this building we're in right now. We're gonna renovate this entire space, um, have a shop right on four 12, which is, doesn't exist right now.
[01:09:54] Chris Chandler: Um, focus on building three types of trucks here and helping three [01:10:00] types of customers either. You're a executive truck or like what this Ford is out here now. So like your higher end contractor, uh, business owner, they want great stuff or even farmer. So that's one, one style of product. And then we also have the adventure trucks, which is the Backwood product line.
[01:10:18] Chris Chandler: The FSR. We will sell our own products with these trucks in this facility too. And then we're gonna have a commercial division. So we we're gonna go after commercial work, so like fleets and other companies that, that need a local presence. And there's not one, there's not a great one. So like being here right in the, in the heart of northwest Arkansas, it makes total sense to do all those, all those things.
[01:10:38] Chris Chandler: So. We'll do that outta that this building and have twice the space that Starwood has now. And we have moving their team over here. They're all pumped about it. They're, oh my gosh, new space and, you know, cool ideas and
[01:10:52] Nick Beyer: yeah,
[01:10:52] Chris Chandler: get to go to a pretty building every day. So it's not really pretty right now.
[01:10:56] Chris Chandler: It's gonna be, it's gonna be amazing. It, so
[01:10:58] Nick Beyer: talk about the Starwood business, 'cause [01:11:00] we haven't really talked about it yet. Yes. So that acquisition was in the past couple of years.
[01:11:03] Chris Chandler: It was last year. Last year? Yeah, last April. Okay. So, um, we acquired Starwood. Um, Starwood was a customer of ours for years. Um, the owner and I were friends through through school and, uh, he just approached me one day and said he's ready to get out and wanted to know if I'd be interested in getting in.
[01:11:22] Chris Chandler: And I was like, right place, right time. We had had people asking us to do installs all the time and we just didn't have a good outlet for it.
[01:11:30] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[01:11:30] Chris Chandler: So I was like, now we have a spot. So we jumped into that. Uh, it was a really quick acquisition. Kept all of their team, uh, have since added a couple, couple more to them to help 'em, help them grow and, uh, really just give them a, a more solid infrastructure, a plan growth model.
[01:11:47] Chris Chandler: And then it's also a vertical integration for us. Mm-hmm. So a lot of our acquisitions are vertical integration or, or related businesses. We're always in the automotive industry and try to stay there. But yeah, moving, moving [01:12:00] Starwood here and that acquisition is, it's a fun one. There's so much potential there.
[01:12:05] Chris Chandler: Um, the dream for me is for us to build a backwoods truck or a Chandler truck, and it's got its own badge and it's built our way. So like our spec has all of our products on it, and, you know, you can eventually maybe get it from a dealership. We'll see where that goes. So that's, that's one thing. Um, and then other ac other things we're working on.
[01:12:27] Chris Chandler: Are similar in the automotive space. I won't tell you what they are yet, but, um, we could be doing really big things coming up
[01:12:35] Cameron Clark: circle back in a couple years.
[01:12:37] Chris Chandler: Yeah. I would say that if we can get this one done to the finish line, it's the biggest thing we've ever done.
[01:12:44] Cameron Clark: That's
[01:12:44] Chris Chandler: amazing. The biggest company, uh, we could turn this thing into the biggest, the biggest spot and it, it's a big footprint and it's like dreaming bigger.
[01:12:53] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm. So it's like, I, I love to dream big and this one's dreaming really big. And if we can, it's gonna take a long time and I'm really [01:13:00] excited about it. But, and all, all these things are related, so it's like that's what sticks in my, in our wheelhouse of like, you know, what's next. And, you know, we want to continue to grow these businesses.
[01:13:10] Chris Chandler: We're not here to build 'em and sell 'em. We're here to build 'em and, you know, give people more opportunity and they can move into different, different teams or, you know, give the, give the families opportunity to grow in the, in the community as well. And. So that's kind of, that's kinda what chain of capital group's about now.
[01:13:26] Chris Chandler: It's just building for the next generation and, you know, just having fun doing it. Mm-hmm. There's, there's no outcome. There's no like, here's my number, here's, here's where we're gonna be, and then we're, and then we're happy. There's none of that. We're just, we're happy to be here every day. Like, we're happy to walk in, smile, make connections, make relationships.
[01:13:47] Chris Chandler: Um, we talk about three things right now. Uh, creating value for each other. Like, that's the number one, creating value for our customers. That's number two. And then exploring number three. So we're not ex, you know, you can do the [01:14:00] one and two and just be okay, but if we're not exploring, we're not trying new things and trying to better ourselves.
[01:14:05] Chris Chandler: And that's what I think most companies miss is like, they feel like they're gonna get it figured out. And then going back to like, what humbled me is it changes immediately. Mm-hmm. It's so swift and like the market shifts, the customer shift, everything shifts. And you're. You get to like, oh, I got it. I got it to the, my magic number.
[01:14:24] Chris Chandler: And then you've lost it. Yeah. Because you're not trying to continue to, to go after it. Like, you have to keep grinding and keep going.
[01:14:32] Nick Beyer: That's cool. Talk about the, the truck idea being, being at a dealership. Did that, did you see that somewhere? Is that just like kind of a, a dream?
[01:14:39] Chris Chandler: Oh yeah. There. Where did it's, it's been out there, so like if you see like a black widow truck mm-hmm.
[01:14:44] Chris Chandler: Or we talked about Hennessy and there's Roush and there's a bunch of these companies that do kind of that aftermarket, upfit side of things. Um, I've just always wanted to be in that space. Mm-hmm. I just think it's cool to have like a, a so and so name truck because everybody, [01:15:00] I mean, there's only four big automakers in, in the world, and everyone's kind of got the same stuff.
[01:15:04] Chris Chandler: And that's where I'm like, how do we make ours different? How do we be unique? And like, they're purpose built and it's like really different. Yeah. And so that's what's, that's the fun part about it. Like. And then seeing like what we've built that goes out to shows and people wanna buy 'em. And I'm just like, okay, there's a demand.
[01:15:22] Chris Chandler: We should be doing this, we should be doing this. Like,
[01:15:25] Nick Beyer: could you do it quicker?
[01:15:28] Chris Chandler: I think in time, yes. I think initially you're, you've got that startup phase where you're trying to, you're learning about things you don't know very well. And I think once you get involved with that and build it, it's just like any other business that we have, like
[01:15:42] Cameron Clark: mm-hmm.
[01:15:43] Chris Chandler: We're gonna trial and error until we get it right. And then once we do, you'll just roll with it. That's cool.
[01:15:51] Cameron Clark: Well, um, kind of getting towards what we're wrapping up here now. Yeah. Um, you know why Northwest Arkansas, you're, you're even [01:16:00] these acquisitions you're bringing mm-hmm. What you've done so far, you've been bringing north of Northwest Arkansas.
[01:16:04] Cameron Clark: Why Springdale? Why build a business here?
[01:16:08] Chris Chandler: Community man. This community is. The best I've ever been in, uh, growing up here. You, you take it for granted on, you know, you go visit somewhere and I always wanna come back home. When I get home. I'm like, this is my place. Like I, I feel like it's such a strong pool here.
[01:16:26] Chris Chandler: We have the best of everything. You have outdoor life, you have all four seasons. Um, you've got some industrial community, you've got good retail, you've got Fortune 500, you've got this good mix of like the right growth. And um, seeing how far Northwest Arkansas's come is just super cool. Like, you know, seeing the old school days of these were all farms and there was, there was no buildings here to where it is today.
[01:16:52] Chris Chandler: And even, I mean, it's rapidly growing now.
[01:16:55] Cameron Clark: Yeah. In that, what would you say to someone who's like, uh, you know, because you've seen the [01:17:00] past and now you're seeing kind of the current stage. About like the environment to build a business here from like, you know, the entrepreneurial side.
[01:17:06] Chris Chandler: Yes. I think it's, it's easier today than it's ever been.
[01:17:09] Chris Chandler: I think there's more opportunities here. There are, um, as the area continues to grow, you have population shift. You have, you know, we don't just have one type of job. So like when you go to, like, I was in Kansas City, Kansas City's a very industrial town. So like when you look at it through and through it's, if you're not in the industrial market, what are you really doing there?
[01:17:29] Chris Chandler: Where in northwest Arkansas, we're getting this kind of good mix. So we have a little bit of everything. And so like if, if you're trying to build a business here, you need a good mix of. Economy. It can't just be all stuck in one. Yeah. One system or one area. So like we have a good, you know, diverse system.
[01:17:48] Chris Chandler: There's, you've got multiple towns that are growing as one, which is awesome to see. And that's, that's very unique too, because that's different leadership styles in each town. And there's different development styles too. So [01:18:00] like, and that's really cool to see where, like, going back to the Kansas City or you know, the bigger tents one way.
[01:18:06] Chris Chandler: Yeah. You only see it one way. And so we've got this really cool mixture of what's happening here and then. Springdale, like Springdale. To me, Springdale is like the unsung hero of northwest Arkansas. I'll say that to everybody. Fayetteville has a university, Bentonville has Walmart, Rogers has the Pinnacle Hills area.
[01:18:26] Chris Chandler: What's Springdale have? Springdale has industrial growth. We have old school farming. Um, it's the biggest footprint of any of those towns. If you think about it from structure size, it's got the most growth opportunity. And I think it's just getting started. I think what you're gonna see coming up next is the growth West.
[01:18:44] Chris Chandler: You're gonna see more companies wanting to be in Springdale. It's the heart. So I feel like this is the heartbeat. We're sitting right in the middle of that heartbeat. So like watching all this growth happen and it's gotten a bad rap, I feel like as a town, and I love Springdale, [01:19:00] like through and through growing up here, you didn't, I don't realize like the structure that we had and like.
[01:19:07] Chris Chandler: It's, it's a really, like, I feel like it's an old school, uh, mentality where we're here to get things done and we're here to do it the right way. And growth takes a long time and everyone's jumping to the new flashy thing and Springdale is just churning along. Mm-hmm. They're just keep, keep rocking and rolling.
[01:19:25] Chris Chandler: And I'm a huge fan of that. That's my style too. Yeah. Let, let's just keep rocking. Let's just keep moving forward. And, and that's where like Springdale is at. And Springdale is so great to like work with the business owners too. So, like, my relationship with the town itself is fantastic. Like Morgan and I can go inter interact with anybody.
[01:19:44] Cameron Clark: They know you,
[01:19:45] Chris Chandler: they know us. They're, they wanna be involved like here lately, even more so, so like, you know, we're involved with the chamber and involved with a lot of the new things with the school systems and like trying to develop the next group of leaders. Mm-hmm. So like, just being involved here [01:20:00] is just even, you know Yeah.
[01:20:01] Chris Chandler: Built it that much bigger.
[01:20:02] Cameron Clark: That's cool.
[01:20:03] Chris Chandler: So that's really cool. That's awesome.
[01:20:05] Cameron Clark: How do you define success?
[01:20:07] Chris Chandler: Gosh. Um, it's not a number, it's not a destination. It's, it's a feeling that you have, that you're, you found your value, you found your worth. That's, that's what I think success is. So, like, I'm gonna tell you I went through the last 18 years and from the outside you would say, oh gosh, they're successful.
[01:20:29] Chris Chandler: They're, they're blah, blah, blah. Well, I wasn't feeling it even though things were looking great on paper. Until the last couple years when we've really figured out that like, this is what it's about. It's about developing our people, finding our value, and like what we're worth as people, not as what our bank account says or, or, or our opportunities look like and like.
[01:20:52] Chris Chandler: And then trying to teach, teach the next generation. That has also helped us like kind of come full circle and say like, quit chasing [01:21:00] money. Quit chasing, don't chase fame. Chase, chase you. You know, find yourself, and if you can find yourself, you'll be successful at whatever you do. So like, you know, telling, telling high school kids, like they don't, they don't know where they are.
[01:21:15] Chris Chandler: They don't know what they're doing yet. It's really difficult to like, you know, get them, get them to a place where they feel comfortable about who they are. And I was like, gosh guys, I wasn't, I was over 40 till I figured me out. So, yeah. You know, it's just like you just try to. Trying to find success is different for everybody though, I think.
[01:21:36] Chris Chandler: But I would go back to like the things that we've, you know, found really important to us is like finding our self value. Like we're, we're what makes us feel fulfilled every day, then that's success.
[01:21:46] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[01:21:47] Chris Chandler: So like for, for us here at this company, um, for me coming in here every day, I love it. I love helping these people.
[01:21:54] Chris Chandler: I love growing. I love finding solutions. And that's [01:22:00] success. There's no money tied to it. There's nothing, I mean, I don't, I don't come in here for a paycheck. I come in here to create value. Yeah. And, and that's, that's where it comes from. It's cool.
[01:22:12] Nick Beyer: Well, one of the things we do, um, at the end of every episode is we try to highlight the biggest kind of themes that people, that we learn from you today.
[01:22:19] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm. And then we think our listeners are gonna learn from you. Yeah. And I think the first one that's been pretty clear. Um, is that your competitor? Yes. And that's a, that's a good thing. You ha you have to be in, in business.
[01:22:30] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[01:22:31] Nick Beyer: And kind of look at the industry that you're in. There's four big manufacturers of vehicles.
[01:22:37] Nick Beyer: Yeah. And then there's probably like a handful of small or big manufacturers of products for those vehicles. Right. And so you are in a super competitive industry. Absolutely. And so to not be a competitor, you wouldn't be able to be successful in it.
[01:22:49] Cameron Clark: That's right.
[01:22:50] Nick Beyer: Um, so I think that's really cool, just hearing that, Hey, I want to go up against the big guys.
[01:22:56] Nick Beyer: I think if you can bring that mentality into any business that you own, that you [01:23:00] operate, that you're part of, like to be a competitor and to do it in a healthy and honorable way. Yeah. I think is is just really cool. Yes. So I think a lot of people are gonna learn and hear that from you. I think the second thing is you're clearly a fixer, um, solving problems is in your DNA.
[01:23:16] Chris Chandler: Mm-hmm.
[01:23:17] Nick Beyer: Um, from when you started working here. You, I mean, walking through the facilities, seeing those robots. Yeah. And there are people in 2026 who are still just manually welding stuff's. Right. And you guys brought in robots to help, uh, make things more efficient 20 years ago. Mm-hmm. I mean, that's crazy.
[01:23:33] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[01:23:34] Nick Beyer: And so, just hearing you talk about those solving problems, innovation, helping customers, like that's in the DNA of the company, and that's why you guys have been able to grow and that starts with you as a leader.
[01:23:46] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[01:23:46] Nick Beyer: Um,
[01:23:46] Cameron Clark: that's right.
[01:23:47] Nick Beyer: So really, really cool being a fixer. And then I think the last one that's probably an underrated leadership value is being a helper and hearing you talk about the team when we were walking outside, like, Hey, [01:24:00] it's cool in, in our meetings to see how many people have started here and now they're here.
[01:24:05] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[01:24:06] Nick Beyer: Um, helping people who work here, helping our community, helping people, high school kids mm-hmm. Learn about, um, the things that you've, you've helped with. Like, it's very clear that that is a gift that was given to you. Right. And so. If you're a business owner, if you are operating a business and you can figure out how to help your clients and then how to help your employees, you will have a thriving business.
[01:24:31] Nick Beyer: Um,
[01:24:32] Cameron Clark: that's right.
[01:24:33] Nick Beyer: So thanks so much for your time. Loved hearing about Sure. All the different businesses and what you guys are building here, right here in Springdale. Right, right off the four 12. Right On four 12.
[01:24:41] Chris Chandler: Yeah.
[01:24:42] Nick Beyer: And, uh, yeah. Thank you so much, Chris.
[01:24:44] Chris Chandler: Yeah, love, love being on here. Love talking with you guys.
[01:24:47] Chris Chandler: Thanks, Chris. Awesome. Alright, thanks.
[01:24:49] Cameron Clark: Thank you for listening to this episode of NWA Founders, where we sit down with founders, owners and builders driving growth here in northwest Arkansas. For recommendations are to connect with us, reach out at [01:25:00] nwa, founders@gmail.com. Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, then please consider leaving a rating, a review, and sending it to someone who you think would benefit from it.
[01:25:09] Cameron Clark: We'll see you in the next episode.