| 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
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