Bourbon Barrel Therapy with Cruise Customs Flags featuring Chris Cruise
The Small Business Origins player loads once you accept cookies in the privacy banner.
Show Notes
Welcome back to the Beef! Today’s guest has a great story, and a big impact to match. Joining us in conversation is Chris Cruise with Cruise Customs Flags. Tune in to hear why Chris has chosen to hire predominantly veterans and how working together at Cruise Customs Flags fulfills their needs. Chris lives by the motto of ‘giving a shit’ and he strives to help wherever he can. During today’s conversation, you’ll hear how this plays out in his business and get introduced to his range of products, along with some of the custom work he has done. You’ll also hear where it all started and the simple business model that Chris aims to nurture: sell more products, hire more veterans! He urges us to buy made-in-America, even if it’s not from him, and walks us through the process of ordering your own bourbon barrel flag. All this before revealing why he believes relationships are at the heart of a successful business and telling us how he goes about helping them to thrive. Thanks for joining us!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Icebreaker question: would you rather live without social media or heating and cooling?
- How working at Cruise Customs Flags gives veterans camaraderie and purpose.
- The story of the flag they created during the pandemic to raise funds for hospitals.
- The special edition pink flag they make for breast cancer awareness.
- How Chris avoids bureaucracy within his business structures to promote trust.
- His background in manufacturing prior to starting his own business.
- The stock he has with the option to customize flags for orders.
- Custom products they sell, including bourbon barrel bottle openers, small flags, bourbon and bullet pins, whiskey grills, and more!
- Custom flags Chris has created to commemorate loved ones.
- The price range of his flags: $75 to $1,200.
- Some of the custom projects Chris has worked on for customers.
- How Chris has used social media to promote his business.
- Where it all started: with flags he made as gifts for his father and father-in-law.
- Why Chris loves customer service and offers a personable experience to all customers.
- His motto to just give a shit, help out, and do what he can.
- The impact you can have when you buy products made in America.
- How to go about ordering: browse online and then send Cruise Customs an email!
- Why Chris has chosen not to offer certain services his competitors specialize in.
- Why he believes that business consists of 80% relationships.
- The Cruise Customs business model: the more they sell, the more veterans they can hire.
Tweetables:
“Veterans miss two things when they get out of the military: they miss the camaraderie they had—and we have that in the shop—and they also miss the sense of purpose.” — Chris Cruise [0:04:58]
“The guys don’t clock out for lunch because, if I need you to clock out, there’s a trust issue and we have bigger problems.” — Chris Cruise [0:07:58]
“I’m the owner and I still get excited when we get orders. We’re still small enough that I am the person that emails customers. I enjoy customer service. We’ve been on national news multiple times and I still try to get to every customer we’ve had.” — Chris Cruise [0:26:20]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Cruise Customs Flags on Instagram
Cruise Customs Flags on Facebook
Cruise Customs Flags on Twitter
More Small Business Origins Episodes
American Armor and "Black Sunday" with Tac 11 featuring Justin Bellamy
One of the superpowers of small business owners is often the ability to bring skills and ideas from one area of…
Veteran Transitions with Fly Through It featuring Anthony Robinson
Readjusting to life as a veteran comes with a host of practical challenges. After finding solace in learning to fly,…
Coffee Beans to Business Franchise feat. Just Love Coffee with Jon & Tamara Hamilton
Welcome back to the Beef! Today we have the honor of speaking with Jon and Tamara Hamilton, right down the road from…
Want a podcast like this for your business?
Both of these shows are Beefy Marketing productions. We help businesses plan, record, edit and publish a branded podcast, from show concept to every episode page.