Charley Friedman was still an undergraduate student at the University of Maine when he founded Flowfold in 2010. What began as a project to make a wallet out of scraps of high-tech sail cloth while working a summer job at a sail loft in Yarmouth, Maine, has grown into an outdoor-gear company that sells products around the globe.
Flowfold now has eight full-time employees and recently moved into a new manufacturing space in Gorham. It made headlines earlier this year for partnering with L.L.Bean on a special edition of the iconic Bean Boot—the first one in that company’s history to carry anything other than an L.L.Bean logo.
Maine Startups Insider spoke with Friedman about his entrepreneurial journey, the personal challenges of building a company, selling his car for seed money to manufacture his first products, and the long-term goals for the business.
MSI: What was your first entrepreneurial experience?
Friedman: There are two entrepreneurial experiences I remember from early on in my life. First, I was obsessed with taking things apart to see how they were built, and learning to fix them. I loved learning about different tools and seeing how they were used. I was always building something with whatever materials were readily available. I think a passion for building or modifying things is a common entrepreneurial trait. Second, I remember being pretty enthusiastic about the whole lemonade stand gig. It’s exciting when someone pays you for a product or service that you are responsible for.
When you first founded Flowfold, did you feel prepared?
There is a wide spectrum of risk associated with starting different types of businesses. I felt prepared when I founded Flowfold, but a lot of my confidence came from knowing there was a lot of flexibility in the product line and business model. In the beginning, flexibility is really helpful because you can let the marketplace pull you toward the product customers really want to buy. As time goes on, you need to loose some of the flexibility and focus on your brand’s offering. Having flexibility in the beginning means you feel prepared for lots of uncertain futures and keeps down the risk.
What’s been the largest challenge you and your team has faced in starting/building your company?
Getting the attention of buyers and decision makers at some of the larger retailers in our market has always been a large challenge. It takes a special type of persistence, grit and professionalism to convince a business that may be a thousand times the size of your business to do business with you. We are extremely fortunate to work with some of the larger businesses in our market, but these connections were not made from luck.
How did overcome that challenge?
Forcing yourself to have a lot a patience and diversifying your revenue streams gives you the time it takes to crack the code of working with the larger players.
What have been the personal challenges to founding a startup?
It is important not to confuse effort with results, but starting a company takes a massive amount of time and hard work. Unlike most jobs where the day is done at 5pm or when Friday rolls around, you can leave work at work, when you are starting a business it can consume all hours and days. In the beginning as an owner, you will probably make far less money than you would working for someone else. You constantly need to remind yourself to make time for a healthy work/life balance and make sure you are taking care of yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. I met my wife Victoria during senior year of college, during the time I decided to start a business. Having an amazing partner at home and outside of work has been critical to overcoming the stresses and challenges of starting a company.
What has surprised you about building a company?
The support infrastructure for entrepreneurs in Maine has been a great surprise. We have such a tight-knit community in Maine and that goes for the business community as well. Everyone is always so willing to help out and give advice. This has been a huge help for Flowfold at some of our most critical points.
How did you fund the launch of the company?
During the Summer of my Junior year at UMaine, I was coaching kiteboarding in Waves, North Carolina in the Outer Banks. I happened to meet one of the World’s leading racing sailboat sail designers. He learned about the products I was making on the side out of scrap and waste racing sailcloth. He basically donated enough scrap fabric from one of his projects to get about 1000 of the first Flowfold wallet design made. After I graduated from UMaine in 2010, I sold my car and found a small contract manufacturer in Maine to make the first batch of products so I could focus on marketing and new product development. In 2015 we worked with our first investor and my long time friend and business partner Devin McNeill came on full-time to work on Flowfold.
How much have you raised from investors?
In 2015 we worked with an investor to raise $200,000 in equity financing to help expand the business.
Have you benefited from mentors? If yes, what impact has mentorship meant to your career?
Our mentors have been instrumental to our success. As a recent college grad without any serious business experience, I needed guidance from mentors who had “been there, done that” in order to make almost every major decision. Most entrepreneurs are not successful with their first endeavors, the only possible way to be successful on your first go around, is to lean hard on you mentors.
What are your long-term goals for the business?
We are committed to long-term sustainable growth. If you look at Maine, there is a strong history, and plenty of examples, of successful retail brands who have continued to thrive for 20, 50, sometimes 100’s of years! All with different paths and stories but some have achieved longevity. If you look at our core values, we want to build a sustainable business and support our community. That’s the goal and exit is the furthest thing from my mind right now. Flowfold will continue to work and hire in Maine. We will be members in organizations like Maine Outdoor Brands and we will continue to inspire other makers, designers and manufacturers and encourage them to create something special here in Maine. We are planning for significant growth. When we filled out our Range 2 application with MTI in 2018 we told them our goals were to be at $10M in revenue by 2023 and launch 4-6 products per year over the next 5 years. We have confidence that we can surpass that.
If you could give two pieces of advice to someone thinking of starting their own business, what would they be?
Start small and simple so that you can react easily to what your target customer and market are telling you. Make sure to force yourself to ask for help and seek out mentors who have valuable experience in your industry. There is so much knowledge out there and most people are more than happy to lend their advice.
I am Mrs Stacy, i want to invest in any business in good faith I have equity capital for profitable investment. Get back to me via email: stacy_elmer@saintly.com with your business proposal or your project plans for review.
Thanks.
Mrs Stacy