Stacey and Jesse Bannor proudly design, handmake, and sell wooden toys that are 100% organic from wood to finish. With three children of their own, they know the importance of quality toys. Founded in 2011, Bannor Toys has become their full-time passion and business. What started off in their basement has now grown into a 3000 square foot workshop in Des Moines, Iowa, pumping out four times as many sales this past holiday as they did in Christmas 2013.
The Start
How did you start your business?
We started Bannor Toys in 2011 in our basement. We first made train tracks and the business took off from there. It grew so we eventually had to move the workshop to a bigger, 3000 square foot building on our property. My husband Jesse quit his job at Wells Fargo in 2012 to focus on the toys. I was running a daycare at home that I closed in May 2014. Now we both work full-time on Bannor Toys; it’s our only source of income.
How did you fund your business in the beginning?
We started with $300 from our savings – enough to get some tools including a scroll saw, table saw, and drill press. We don’t intend to get any future loans.
Running the Business
How did you learn to run your business?
As far as wood-working, we’re self-taught. Jesse’s family has done some wood-working and we inherited a lot of tools from his grandfather. I mostly do the finishing work like sanding, waxing, and I take care of the office side of things. On the business end, there was a big learning curve. We had to figure out tax forms, and know the safety issues and regulations.
Who was your first customer?
We found our first customers at a couple of craft shows – a tiny local craft show in Iowa, and another hosted by Etsy. We have an Etsy store, and in 2013 we started our own website. The majority of our sales happen there, and our Instagram exploded this past year.
Most of our customers are from the West and East coast, but we’ve sold to almost all 50 states.
Our customers are generally moms, grandparents, aunts, uncles buying for babies and small toddlers.
What’s the biggest mistake you made in the beginning?
Not having an inventory system from the get-go and learning as we went about accounting.
What’s the smartest thing you did in the beginning?
Making customers a priority. We interact with customers face-to-face, like at craft-shows.
What’s the most rewarding thing about running your own business?
We love that we work for ourselves and can do what we want with what we’re doing. It’s a dream come true. We both love what we do, and it’s amazing how much the company has grown. It’s also really rewarding to see the toys in action on Instagram.
What’s the most challenging thing about running your own business?
Balancing everything. It’s a family business – I work with my husband, and our kids join us at the workshop which is just six blocks from home. It can be hard to leave work at work.
Also the business is going through some growing pains. We had a huge jump in sales, and it’s hard to keep up because everything is handmade. We use a computer controlled CNC router to cut out things, but the majority of the production is done by hand. We make toys as ordered. We don’t keep an inventory; we can’t afford to since we have almost 150 toys.
What’s the most surprising thing about running your own business?
How much we’ve grown. We’ve been able to work with companies like Nordstrom and Bluum. And over the holidays we sold four times as much as we did in Christmas 2013. It’s a challenge to keep up, but we’re so grateful.
What business owner or entrepreneur do you admire most?
Amy Richardson, the founder of Little Hip Squeaks. She started out making things by hand as well.
What I’ve Learned
What do you wish you had known before you had started your business?
I would want more of a business plan from the start. During our first year we were kind of figuring it out as we went.
What’s your advice for others who are starting their business
Go for it. We started out in just our basement. Many Etsy businesses are part-time run, but we wanted ours to be a full-time business. To do that you need passion for what you do, and also be willing to work long hours.
About the Author — Sarah Tang is a recent graduate of UC Berkeley where she learned to love the diverse personalities of mom-and-pop stores. She likes intriguing storefronts, creative specialty stores, and well-designed business websites.
This article was originally written on February 9, 2015 and updated on July 12, 2016.
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