Get a 'leg' up in online business - Second Military Careers - Military Times

Get a 'leg' up in online business

Brian Jones turned America’s obsession with a holiday movie into cash — lots of cash. Since its release in 1983, the movie “A Christmas Story” has grown from cult status to classic. The film chronicles a young boy’s quest for the ultimate Christmas present: a Red Ryder BB gun. Along the way, the audience is introduced to the hilarious and endearing Parker family as they prepare to celebrate a 1940s Christmas.

Jones became an instant fan when he saw the movie for the first time in the early '90s. A decade later, he launched www.redriderleglamps.com to market another of the movie’s famous props: the tacky leg lamp.

Think this idea is a little too quirky for a business plan? Think again. In 2005, Jones’ San Diego-based online business grossed $700,000.

“‘A Christmas Story’ is this generation’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ Almost everybody knows about it and knows the scenes. The business made sense to me because the movie is so big,” Jones said.

The leg lamp, he added, is an integral part of this much-loved story.

The lamp comes on screen midway through the film, when the dad receives a “major award” in the mail. Instead of a trophy, the big brown box opens to reveal the lamp shaped like a woman’s leg, complete with fishnet stocking and a fringe lampshade. Despite his wife’s objections, Dad places the lamp in the house’s front window for all his neighbors to admire. (Later in the movie, the lamp is destroyed in a suspicious cleaning accident.)

Jones got the idea for the business when his parents sent him a leg lamp to cheer him up after a career disappointment.

“When I joined the Navy, I wanted to be a pilot. When I failed the vision test, it was very disappointing. To cheer me up, my parents sent me a leg lamp as my ‘major award,’” the 1998 Naval Academy graduate recalled.

Soon, this leg lamp became the big topic of conversation among those who visited Jones’ living room. It didn’t take long for him to figure out the sales potential for the lamps.

First, Jones researched his product and found that the leg lamp was, in fact, public domain and could be manufactured without a licensing agreement from the film’s distributor, Warner Brothers. With no patent or copyright barring him, he soon started assembling lamps during the evening and on weekends while he was still in the Navy.

While Jones thought he had the makings of a successful business venture, he at first received some lukewarm responses from his wife, Beverly, who is still in the Navy, serving as a lieutenant.

“At first, my wife wasn’t impressed. We had not been married long, and it was a bit nerve-wracking to go from having a payday where you knew the money was going to be there, but I had to try,” he said of his decision to launch his leg-lamp business.

His discharge date from the Navy fell in September 2003. Jones considered the timing perfect and went about trying to sell his wife on his business idea.

“Christmas was right around the corner. Why not give it a shot? I had enough money saved up to make it into January,” Jones said.

More than 200 lamps were ready for sale prior to his discharge. All those sold before Christmas, making his wife a believer.

In between getting the go-ahead regarding proprietary rights and selling his wife on the idea, Jones had to overcome his own personal fears. Would-be entrepreneurs often worry about the fear of losing a paycheck, the possibility that the business may fail, and — in Jones' case — the fear of leaving the security offered by the military. In the end, however, he decided that his idea was worth a gamble.

“Sometimes, you just have to do it. So many people get locked into (the military) and stay instead of leaving to do something even better,” he said.

Jones said he was able to limit his risk by opening his business online. Because of the low overhead and minimal time requirements, Jones opened redriderleglamps.com with the help of a friend for a fraction of what a traditional storefront operation would cost.

Opening redriderleglamps.com as opposed to a traditional bricks-and-mortar store also gave Jones the ability to sell to “A Christmas Story” fans everywhere.

“The customer base is huge. I ship leg lamps all over the world. And the margins are much higher. If you’re not opening a service business, I would do it online,” Jones said.

Jones also took advantage of many free resources available in the civilian community. He first attended a “mini-MBA” course offered by the Small Business Administration. That class provided some basic business information. He then was able to secure a $12,000 loan through SBA. Since he started his business online and didn't have to pay for a real store or a large inventory, that covered most of his start-up costs.

“There’s a lot out there to help you get started if you just take advantage of it,” he said. He believes a good starting point is the Service Corps of Retired Executives, a nonprofit organization which offers free business counselors who can give one-on-one advice concerning virtually every aspect of starting a business.

Even before his business started, Jones had to face competition. Two other leg-lamp companies already existed.

“No matter what you do, even if you come up with a brand new idea, you're going to have competition. You’ve got to stay on top of it and keep reinventing your business to make it,” Jones said.

For him, the price mark was somewhere he could compete.

“We were shipping the parts from China to California and making the lamps individually. Just the shipping was costing a lot of money. So I heard everyone talking about o’tsourcing. I read some information and then talked to a factory broker. Now, the lamps are made in China and the factory handles all the deliveries.

“I passed the savings on to the customer and that allows me to compete,” Jones said.

Another way Jones plans to remain competitive is to expand from just a Web site selling a few items related to “A Christmas Story.” He made a big step in that direction in 2006 when he bought the Cleveland house where the movie was filmed. It's now open for tours and has a museum and gift shop across the street.

The house was for sale on eBay, the popular online auction site, with a bid of $115,000. Jones called the owner and offered $150,000.

“I bought it in one day, sight unseen,” he said.

During the holiday season, the house hosted several of the movie’s stars for autograph sessions. Jones said they were well attended. And the house already has helped some other budding entrepreneurs as well.

“A lady there makes chocolate leg lamps and we sell those in the gift store, so it’s good that we’re helping other businesses,” Jones said.

Jones is not sure what direction his business will take next. He does expect the movie to keep increasing in popularity, and he expects to keep relying on skills he learned in the military in planning and executing his chase of the American dream.

“Business is war with dollars instead of bullets,” Jones said. “I use things I learned in the military all the time. I learned some of the financial principles in the military and picked up some time-management skills. I learned how to prioritize things. All the same qualities that you need in the military apply to business.”

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For more information about resources available from the Small Business Administration, call (800) 827-5722 or visit www.sba.gov. For information about the resources available from the Service Corps of Retired Executives, call (800) 634-0245 or visit www.score.org.