Drum building. Scratch that… Brand Building!

I spend a lot of time when I am not taking classes or working for that matter, researching the custom drum market. I actually began to build my own drums over three years ago in my grandparent’s basement after a long six years fixing them in high school. I have since moved my workshop into my basement where I have acquired some serious power tools and sharp objects. Oh yeah, its been a lot of fun but like I originally stated I do a lot of research (tip: which is essential for any entrepreneur starting a venture). My findings are usually not as good as I would like but I’m not going to throw away my passion because of a little overcrowding in the market. The market is hostile but my passion is fierce.

Now that I have made a hostile market my playground where copycats roam freely, I need to brand my drums to be the biggest and baddest of them all. It sounds like a hard feat to accomplish when there are already solid names in the drum industry making their way but it can be done and has been done in other markets by brands like Xerox and Kleenex. The brand can essentially be one of your biggest competitive advantages. After all no one can own or copy your brand but you, so its important do just that and “Own it”. You can do it with money or no money at all. It all starts with a story. I “Own it” by sneaking “Breaker Boy Drums and Percussion” in almost every conversation I get myself into. The people that I am closest to probably think I am obsessed with my small venture, which I am, but ask them something about drums, I bet they first tell you what I do.

I make “Breaker Boy” a part of me. My story becomes my company’s story. My company’s story becomes my brand. There is nothing artificial about it. I live the name through and through. The kid who played on duct taped drums all throughout high school, learns all about the craft of drum building and dedicates his life to it. My high school did not have the money to give us the best drums so we learned how to make the best out of them with the little tools we had. I had no choice but to learn how to fix a drum in the few hours of the morning before school started. It became routine to re-duct tape certain parts and recycle parts from other drums. I complained a lot on those cold mornings but I am grateful for it now. I finally retired the duct tape for some real parts and have started to build my brand with my story being just the beginning.