Working Independently
Tony has been designing and restoring furniture since he was a child. He learned this trade from his father and now he is continuing in his father’s footsteps. Before receiving services through the Careers through Partnerships Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and administered by Montana Job Training Partnership (MJTP) and their partner, the Rural Institute at the University of Montana, Tony held several different jobs, but none of those jobs really enabled him to creatively express himself and offered him the flexibility that he needed and wanted. For the past three years Tony has been operating Unicorn Design Industries from a small storefront in Missoula, Montana. What he likes most about running his own business is that it “gives me the opportunity to work independently and be productive by myself. In view of my disability I probably function much better by myself, and I am much happier being able to adjust to my own surroundings.” Tony can adjust his work schedule to accommodate his disability and estimates that he is earning between eight and fifteen dollars an hour when he is able to work.
As his own boss, Tony makes the important day-to-day decisions regarding inventory, marketing efforts, funding allocation, and which projects he will accept. These efforts allow Tony to build on his existing furniture reupholstering skills while developing better customer service and marketing experience, skills he had not needed to hone when he worked with his father. Tony was not reaching many of his potential customers, but after reviewing his business goals with MontanaWorks (the direct service employment arm of the Rural Institute), Tony decided he wanted to create inexpensive fliers that could be delivered door-to-door. He delivered his fliers in neighborhoods with older, wealthier homes whose owners might have furniture worth refurbishing. Tony has acquired several customers using this inexpensive marketing method. Since his work is exemplary, customers just need to see his work to know they can trust his promises of quality.
A Social Security Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS plan) and funds from Vocational Rehabilitation helped Tony purchase a van for the business. Tony provides free pickup and delivery services for his customers. Tony was able to buy a new industrial sewing machine with funds from the Careers Project.
Tony spends the majority of his time restoring and reupholstering older furniture, but he has also created his own custom furniture. “I wanted to give this business some sense of design.” In the front of his store are a variety of fabric samples. At first, he located the business in a building that had manageable rent, but it did not offer the easy pedestrian side-walk presence that was important for his type of business. Later, he found the ideal location on a busy intersection. The rent was somewhat higher, but it also included an apartment in the back of his work studio. In the end, quite a bit of money was saved by combining two needs in one location. Tony works about 8-15 hours per week and hopes to build his business slowly and manageably.
How to contact this small
business owner:
Tony Hawkins
Unicorn Design Industries
1043 South 5th West
Missoula, MT 59801
(406) 543-5851