Arctic Spas, a division of Blue Falls Manufacturing LTD, produces a wide range of high-end leisure accessories, including hot
tubs, gazebos, grillhouses, swim spas and more. Due to the highly specialized nature of their product line, Arctic Spas must manufacture quality outdoor products – and due to strong customer demand, the company also has to keep up with a production schedule that rivals most factory floor enterprises. It’s a unique situation that Arctic Spas embraces, and we recently spoke with Marketing Manager Jody Gamracy to learn more about his fast-growing firm.
We touched on some of Mr. Gamracy’s professional achievements, along with some personal insight on marketing, future business prospects and other interesting subjects.
- What piece of advice would you give to someone who wants to become an entrepreneur?
You are already an entrepreneur. You trade your labor or products for something of value. Get better at it if you want to. If you are happy as you are, that’s great, you win. At the end of the day, if you’re doing what you love, consider yourself successful.
And a quick side note on our conception of the word “entrepreneur.” In its native French language, it’s not necessarily associated with starting a business. In fact, it simply means “contractor.”
- Where do you see your business in 10 years?
It seems to be on a solid steady path to grow or stay the same, regarding size and profitability but 10 years is a long time and hard to predict what will happen. It’s been said that, in politics, a week is a long time. The same could be said for the business world!
- How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
We dabble in all of the traditional typical forms of advertising and marketing but the most successful method has been to partner with and hire people who we genuinely like and respect. If you like someone it is much easier to fix issues and work out a mutually profitable relationship.
- What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
I think a big one is spending too much money when business is good. Take it easy, it may not last forever (in fact, it won’t), so grow slower than it feels like you can. “Measured growth” is harder to do than you’d think, and sometimes can be somewhat frustrating. But small, positive steps – keeping costs under control, making wise business decisions, etc. – pay off big-time in the future.
We hope you enjoyed this interview with Mr. Gamracy. To learn more about Arctic Spas, please visit their website, where you can download their latest brochure, browse their product offerings, locate a dealer and much more!
