Marcus Richards
Makers Cabinet design, manufacture and retail high quality drawing and writing tools that last a lifetime or more.
Tell us about yourself?
I studied Product Design at Central Saint Martins. I started the business with my two friends during first year of ree. We were unsatisfied with the process of designing products and never taking them further than a presentation to our lecturers. We decided to take it into our own hands and design a product.
We started with the humble pencil sharpener as it was an area we knew well and thought we could design a really lovely sharpener which would be extra functional, satisfying and beautiful. Using £1k of our student loan, we prototyped the product, made a pitch video for it and then listed it on Kicksatrter.
Ended up selling 750 sharpeners and raising over £25k. At this point we got the bug and decided to take it a bit more seriously and see how far we could push the business.
None of us have had any other business experiences, or studied a course which taught us about business or industrial design. I’ve only had saturday jobs in retail so this has been entirely learning along the way.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Be more present – don’t expect the good times to last forever, and the same for the bad times too!
What problem does your business solve?
Our products do away with planned obsolescence. they are designed to improve with time and use. Meaning that you buy it once and it gives you more and more reward as it continues to function as well from day one but the sentimental value increases.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
We were inspired by the shoddy tools we used in university and what was available on the market. Almost entirely plastic crap designed to break and be rebought. We are inspired by the tools we have inherited from family members, built and designed in a different time, when quality and workmanship was valued differently to today.
What is your magic sauce?
Our products function, look and feel completely different to what exists. They made do a similar function but do it in a unique and magical way which makes them feel entirely different.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We will ahve a complete range of drawing and writing tools. We will also move into nee product fields and away from the desk. We want to bring manufacturing closer to home and have our won manufacturing complex too.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
The biggest challenge we faced was the change to Facebook/Instagram algorithm which made our advertising and main revenue source far less effective. We are diversifying revenue streams and attempting to open the business up to new revenue models, like our collaboration with the Royal Mint.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
Purchase our tools at makerscabinet.com. Purchase our products as corporate gifts, we can offer personalisation for holiday season. Considering investing into Makers Cabinet when we look to raise funds towards the later part of 2022.
