Hey Puzzle Bomb Fam,
Today is a bit of a "business of operating a puzzle company" diversion, or perhaps more broadly, running a business in general.
The Initial Business Requirements
Before deciding to launch a wooden jigsaw puzzle company, I had known I wanted to start something. I even had a period where I was perfecting a mac and cheese recipe to launch a food truck! However, two things were clear that were non-negotiable:
1) The business couldn't sap all of our time and energy. I watch a lot of entrepreneurial YouTube videos, and one unfortunate commonality I see is how "the grind" is so often seen as some sort of badge of honor, where I see it as bondage to your business. IMO, a business should serve you rather than dictate your life.
This is why I ultimately ditched the mac and cheese truck. Although I think it would have made a lot of money, I saw the immense time commitment, and it didn't make sense to sacrifice ministry and family time for the sake of making money.
2) No employees. I just plain am not a fan of having to manage people, so the business plan would have to be one that didn't require a bunch of people.
How Puzzle Bomb Satisfied Those Requirements
With my 20 years of experience at BoardGameGeek, I was already familiar with outsourcing manufacturing and shipping logistics.
Honestly, I don't understand why I see other small businesses with their garage packed with product, slaving away packing and shipping packages day after day. Outsourcing to a fulfillment partner is incredibly economical and efficient, as their entire business is warehousing and shipping product. In fact, they're so efficient, I often can't catch address errors before they have the package already processed!
This means I'm not a slave to the day-to-day nitty gritty, and can focus on what I love to do. I was already deep down the wooden puzzle rabbit hole when we started Puzzle Bomb, so it's truly a labor of love when I'm designing, and I'm not designing already tired and worn out by other facets of the business. I have the passion, time, and energy to give each design the attention it deserves!
Patience is a Virtue (The Temptation to Deviate)
Maybe this is more of a life lesson than a business lesson, but I think we're all tempted by impatience to try to "get there faster". We firmly believe the Lord directs our steps, and tangibly experience that truth, but it can be so tempting to try to run ahead of Him! The current subscription model is spot on what we needed to arrive at, as it's sustainable and predictable, while also reliably serving y'all new puzzles in an easy and reliable way.
However, so many times I've started down other routes trying to accelerate revenue. For example, I spent time gearing to get onto retail shelves. I've even designed entire product lines that are more retail-friendly than our high-end wooden puzzles, including cardboard puzzles with the more interesting cut styles we see in wooden puzzles. For example:
While these puzzles are a neat idea, and perhaps I'll bring them to fruition at some point, this path ultimately distracts from what's already working, and adds a whole new set of logistics, with the corresponding time and energy expenditure.
Ultimately, while it can be less exciting and require patience, staying the course is the best way to achieve those overarching reasons for launching Puzzle Bomb in the first place.
Other Beautiful Distractions
This is probably related to having a creative mind, but I have a slew of offbeat puzzle ideas that are nearly production ready, but ultimately confuse and water down the identity we've built, so I haven't moved forward with them.
The chief example of one I acted on was the Toomuchery series.
I thought our success, combined with an artist with a big following, was a surefire success. While they were a wonderful bunch of puzzles, they were ultimately a mismatch for the brand we'd built. The sales (or lack thereof) showed abundantly clearly that folks were underwhelmed with them, or at least weren't what our customers were looking for.
Again, staying the course can feel a tad monotonous, even though each Bumfuzzled design can be quite different from the others, but it's a very strong identity we've built and folks identify with. My attempt at leaping forward was a distraction from the success that was already building.
A Side Note on Those Beautiful Distractions
It's hard having neat ideas and keeping them on the shelf. However, with the subscription model, I built in the idea of yearly subscriber gifts. This serves two purposes:
1) I love being generous with folks. This is a way to go above and beyond anyone's expectations for the Bumfuzzled subscriptions. My hope is that folks will be blown away with the gift, rather than just a small token gesture.
An example of an idea that might-maybe-possibly be something perhaps allegedly:
2) It's an outlet for some of the ideas that are sitting on the shelf, allowing me to get these fun ideas out of my head and into your hands. Ideas are fun, but making them a reality is even funner, and this is a good vehicle for it without watering down our brand and identity.
Looking Forward
After six years or learning, and some missteps and successes along the way, we're so excited to be on a solid path with directional clarity, along with the wisdom/patience to see it through.
Thank you all for being a part of that journey; we love serving you and look forward to providing you with countless more enjoyable hours at the puzzle table!
Blessings,
Chad aka Puzzle Bomb Puzzle Designer, Among Other Things, Guy
3 comments
Joy, it’s both incredibly simple, but then tough to execute.
The wood is first colored with a UV printer, and then laser cut. So, both simple steps, but the trick is that the cutting has to be within 0.1 mm of the print to achieve the desired result!
A question more than a comment. How do you color the pieces? I can’t quite figure this out.
Just got my latest puzzle and showed it to my sister and we both agreed it’s diabolical.
I just want to say something supportive about your toomuchery puzzles. They were fun to build, and they were interesting art, but the reason I didn’t buy them at first was they just had a little girl feel to them, like they were meant for young girls to enjoy. I did buy them eventually when you first put them on sale though, so I did work them and they made their way into my collection. You did a good job, it was a good idea, it just hit as a child’s puzzle and I have feeling many of your followers are adult puzzlers probably. :) Not a failure, just the wrong audience as you say. I’m glad you found your path into the wooden puzzle world as your creativity is wonderful. :)