Buying Smart; Selecting Among Snowboard Brands

But hey, if the graphics are cool, the product is new and there aren’t many of that brand around you can probably sell some as long as the construction is solid, they are delivered on time and there’s a semblance of a marketing program.

 

Let’s assume that, like most shops, you’re going to carry some old brands and some new ones. I’ll leave it to you to figure out if the graphics and shapes are right. If I could do that with any certainty, I probably would have been in a position to buy Transworld myself instead of letting Times Mirror do it. 

 

So into your store walks the sales rep, or into the booth you walk at the trade show. What factual information can you have that would allow you to compare brands from a business perspective and keep from being completely carried away by the enthusiasm of the moment? A checklist with the following information would be useful.

 

1)            Where are the boards made?

 

Al Russell, the president of Grindrite, says there are eighty (!) factories in the U. S. alone. That includes everybody from Burton to the garage that will turn out 200 hand made boards in a season. If it’s a larger factory (Morrow, Pale, Elan, Taylor-Dykema, etc.), ask who else has their boards made there. Don’t take “I don’t know” for an answer. Somebody in the company knows. If it’s convenient, call the factory and ask for a tour. The company you’re buying from can help you get in the door. You’ll learn a lot about how snowboards are made and, at a minimum, that knowledge and the fact that you’ve been to the factory will make you a more effective sales person.

 

If it’s not convenient, go anyway. Go visit a factory in Europe, spend some days “product testing” on new terrain, and deduct the cost of the trip. I like to think this industry is getting to the point where tax deductions are becoming important. Means somebody is making some money.

 

If it’s a new brand and/or a small factory you’ve got a whole new set of issues. Can they deliver in a timely manner, will they be there for service and what will product quality be like? Lacking a track record, there’s no way to tell, so be wary. Check out the people involved. Do they actually know anything about making boards? Get a couple of samples to ride. As discussed below, make sure they have enough financial strength and savvy to be around when you need them. Consider insisting on personal guarantees from the principals.

 

2)            What’s the construction like?

 

In past issues, this scholarly and erudite publication has told you all about the various constructions and the materials used. There aren’t many basic constructions and the materials are more or less the same from board to board and factory to factory.

 

Once you’ve got all this good information from questions one and two, what are you suppose to do with it?

 

You now know brands A and B are made at the same factory (or different comparable factories) with the same materials and very similar (if not identical) construction techniques. After examining the boards, it’s clear that the visible differences are only in graphics.

 

Oh yeah- and maybe in prices. If the wholesale price sheets show major differences in what you know are boards that are basically identical except for graphics, why should you be willing to pay it?

 

Maybe the graphics are so hot that a price differential is justified. Perhaps the brand’s reputation, marketing program, quality of service, warranty policy, payment terms or some combination of these justify the higher price. If it isn’t clear that’s the case, your decision just got a whole lot easier. Alternatively, your negotiating position with the more expensive brand just got stronger. “Hey, how come I’m paying you $25 more a board when the only difference is the graphics?”

 

Could lead to some interesting conversations. Even if you’ve decided that the more expensive board really is the one you want, use your knowledge to negotiate a little better deal.

 

Consider carrying the information gathering process one step further and starting a little sooner. Meet with or call a half dozen or more other retailers. Have each retailer rate each brand they carried on a scale from one to five for timely delivery, warranty claim handling, service and other factors you consider important. Share that information among yourselves and get together to discuss it. Now the questions becomes, “Hey Joe, how come I’m paying you $25 more a board for your product when the only difference is the graphics, you were late delivering and it took two months to get warranty replacements?”

 

Alternatively, you might find out exactly why you want to pay that extra $25.

 

3)            How is the company financed? Can they provide a bank reference? What does the company sell during the off season?

 

The simple fact is that financing a fast growing, highly seasonal business is tough. It takes a lot of capital for a short period of time and coming up with it can be hard, especially if you’re a new business without a history of profitability. I’m here to tell you that just because a snowboard company has an outstanding sales organization, great graphics, a strong marketing program and a good reputation doesn’t mean it’s well financed. Size and apparent prosperity is not a guarantee of financial strength. Ask the people in Orange County, California.

 

It would be nice if your supplier would give you a financial statement, but that’s probably not going to happen (except for Ride of course). Ask for a bank reference. The banker will always be cautious about what they say but in general, the less they have to say, the more reason there may be for concern. Ask your banker to get a Dun and Bradstreet report on the supplier. Ask them for a list of credit references and check them. See if they have any cash flow during the summer, or if they just lose money for six or seven months of the year. Having some summer cash flow simplifies the problem of working capital financing significantly by reducing the peak amount required and providing some collateral for bank borrowings. I imagine that has something to do with why there are so few snowboard only shops around.

 

They say that when you go to the supermarket, it’s best to go with a list to avoid impulse purchases. I have to think that’s true in Las Vegas too. To a large extent, snowboarding is the fashion business. Hype, controversy and the other intangibles are always going to sell product. You can’t be completely rational about brand selection; your gut feel and experience does count for something. But there is some hard information out there for those of you who are willing to take the time and make the effort to collect it. It isn’t too much time or too much effort, and you can significantly improve your decision making process. Not only will it show up in your bottom line, but you can expect fewer surprises and headaches once you get into the season by finding out a little more about your suppliers now.