Where The Rubber Meets The Mold

By MARY SHEDDEN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 27, 2007

YBOR CITY - The world's most tortured artists may be those who run their own business.

Ask Tom Kopian, creator and co-owner of a 13-year-old rubbery amalgamation: Ybor City's Creatures of Delight workshop-studio-toy factory-retail store-warehouse-tourist destination.

What started as a Halloween craft experiment in his parents' Long Island, N.Y., basement has transformed into literal bread and butter for this artist and his partner.

"I need to eat every day of the year, not just on Halloween," he said.

He and business partner Stewart Buffaloe have spent years developing ways to diversify this unique operation dedicated to offbeat and somewhat whimsical rubbery artwork. They've learned through a lot of trial and error that they can't live off a niche product if they depend too much on just one niche.

Simply put: Companies that produce a narrow specialty item need to diversify. If you ever want to make it rich or even survive in today's retail environment, you need to be versatile and flexible in how you get your product out on the shelves to consumers, Kopian and Buffaloe said.

Take toy stores, for example. Creatures of Delight once had 127 accounts to sell its products that go for $15 to $275. It's now down to 27 thanks to the industry's shift of sales from independents to big box retailers that don't sell a lot of handmade toys. Art galleries and craft stores also are unreliable, suffering sales as the economy ebbs and flows.

Creatures of Delight currently depends on making money from five streams: custom artwork; wholesale orders from toy stores; licensing deals for plush toys sold at Kmart and BJ's Wholesale Club stores; retail sales at the Ybor studio and a few dozen art galleries; and the duo's new personal favorite: art workshops.

This latest diversification allows children to decorate their own colorful creature from a molded shape. Hundreds of YMCA field trips and birthday parties, Buffaloe learned, can pay a lot of bills, especially during slow summer months.

"It's saved our butts in a lot of ways because we can buffer the storm," he said, standing in the workshop area that consumes nearly half of the entire Creatures studio on 15th Street.

The workshops are an unusual blend of the popular Build-a-Bear and make-your-own-pottery companies. The success of those brands has prompted the pair to develop a standalone Creatures franchise prototype in Raleigh, N.C.

Raising money to launch the project and getting the prototype done are a challenge, they said. It would be easier if they weren't also the company's production staff - pouring molds, building creatures and hosting workshops here in Tampa.

"The hard part is that you're doing everything. Even now, we're molding pieces, we're building. We're doing workshops," Kopian said.

"A lot of people who are creative would be more business-savvy if they didn't have so much else to do."

WISDOM FROM WHIMSY

The duo behind Creatures of Delight say the best business lessons come from experience, both good and nearly disastrous. They don't have a mantra for selling their whimsical toys but incorporate basic rules to guide day-to-day operations:

•Know your clients. Accounts with a few stable companies are better than deals with everybody who calls. "We know they're not going to bounce checks," Buffaloe said.

•Don't take every sale opportunity. Kopian regrets signing contracts worth just a hundred dollars when the work involved was too great. Some of those deals didn't pay upfront, and payment never came.

•Never underprice the product. Even when "piss-poor broke," creative companies should never devalue their products.

"You're thinking short-term just to pay the bills," Kopian said. "It always backfires."

•Learn from your mistakes. Kopian has been burned by problematic licensing deals in the past, but now uses his knowledge to make better deals. Contract negotiations are more familiar now, and he knows to ask a lot of questions and make certain demands.

•Pick your investments. The pair spent $12,000 attending a trade show in Chicago a few years ago. Frigid weather resulted in low attendance, maxed-out credit cards and little new business.

Reporter Mary Shedden can be reached at (813)259-7365 or mshedden@tampatrib.com.