TitleAbacus Promo Video





































































































































The Rise and Fall of a Skate Company.

Have you ever wondered what to do if you can't pick up a sponsor in the wonderful world of skateboarding?


Maybe you are past your sell-by date. Or you really don't have the
skills or attitude to cut it as a sponsored rider. Well what can you
do? You could always start your own company. Then there's your sponsor!

Every kid dreams of sporting a company logo on their chest or on their feet. People who say they aren't, well they're lying.

I
never thought of getting a sponsor. I had friends in the industry and
friends who were sponsored. When times were hard they would sort me out
with boards or shoes. After all we are all brothers of the board.
I
lived in the best place for skating. Not because of the endless amounts
of marble, smooth surfaces and parks. We hardly had any. Our little
town in the UK had something better. We had a crew.

I moved to
Ipswich on the East coast of England in 1994 to study Art at the
college. The first day I met some of the local skaters. They took me
under their wing and I honestly had the best time of my life. I did my
stint at college and had a couple of jobs. Then I got the job at the
skate shop. Four years I worked behind the stickered counter. Not
really thinking anything about what to do. I was skating a lot, helping
build the new park and dabbling with some Art.

Like most pipe dreams
it started over a pint down the local pub. What are we going to do? I
told my drinking buddy "why don't we start a company'? He agreed. We
got the ball rolling. We met with designers, printers and riders. It
was all coming together. Then the friction began. The guy with the
money didn't quite see eye to eye with the designer. A conflict of
ideas. The money was pulled out. Well it was good while it lasted.

Starting
a skate company is actually a lot harder then I imagined. I thought
about it then decided to give it a go. What did I have to lose? Well
you will find out!

The first thing I needed was a name. My original
partner and I had got that far. We spent a whole lot of time going
through a dictionary. We came up with Abacus Skateboarding Apparel. We
thought about boards but the market was going through tough times. A
clothing company seemed the way to go.
I know what you are
thinking "Abacus"? Obviously you got bored looking through the
dictionary. We actually did go through A to Z. Abacus seemed to strike
a chord. It's made of wood. Okay. Skating uses mathematics also. So
far, so good. It sounded cool. The Job was nearly done.

My friend
whom I went to Art College with was more than happy to help out.
Another web designer also opted to lend a hand. He gave me the sickest
website which actually got hits from all around the world. It was
mostly kids wanting to get sponsored or bands wanting stuff for shows.
All good publicity though.

It was time to the bank for some finance.
I got a business loan. I had to attend a small business seminar which
was quite interesting. The loan came through and we were off.

The
person to print the shirts was my boss at the time. He had started
screen printing our own shop logo tees. So could he do mine? No
problem. Plus he was willing to give me a deal.

Okay, how about
riders? Easy. I had picked a few guys who were willing to sport the
goods. A few park rippers and street dogs. It was a good mix to be
honest.

It was all working out well. Too well. So what happened?

Well
I started with the best intentions. Money seems to find a quick way out
of a business. I seemed to be paying for advertising, free products for
riders, catalogues, stickers, screen prints, business cards and
samples. It was going out quicker than I could put in. Then the
bombshell hit. My flagship shop was to shut down. In the words of the
wise Homer Simpson."DOH"!

I considered trying to market from my
house. The printer was still going. My website was getting a lot of
hits and a magazine had given me coverage. At the end of the day I just
bit off more than I could chew.
It's funny that when I go back to
visit Ipswich, friends pull out the Abacus shirts as a memorial. We had
fun times. Mostly involving the best places we could put the stickers.

I have thought of a 'Son of Abacus' to emerge like a phoenix. At the end of the day I really think it was a one shot deal.

I
got my fifteen minutes of fame and sported some rad tees in the
process. You really have to have a good head for accounts when it comes
to a business. Don't get carried away with the little things. Try and
get legit from the get go. Research other companies. Check out
copyright and sort out the tax. The key is 'responsibility'.

I so
admire these little companies that have sprung up from nothing and are
still around today. The companies that stay under the radar and just
stay that popular that it's still cool.

Good luck to all running a
company or toying with the idea. If it's done right it can be so
rewarding! It took me a long time to wipe the slate from the bank. A
few red letters and scares from collection agencies made me buck my
ideas up. The more I think about it the more it scares me running the
whole thing. I guess I will never be that skater entrepreneur after all