Next up on the marketing side: Country music artist Riggin Reins is shooting a music video that will have a 360-degree tree stand in it. That would require $10 million of insurance, which Hillis said would cost $75,000 a year.Įven though they haven't done much marketing, they've already sold about 30 of the tree stands and have exchanged them for advertising on TV hunting shows around the country. Once they figured out where people want the product, those stores would be stocked with 50 tree stands each. The men said they hope Cabela's will sell the tree stands in its catalog and online to gauge the is a market. Hillis said they have to sell three stands a month just to pay for the insurance and service the bank loan.Įventually, they would like to sell stands to big outlets, and Hillis said a buyer for outdoor retailer Cabela's loves the product. Securing a manufacturer, bank loan and insurance has been difficult - and costly. The three men, two of whom are military veterans, decided early on they wanted the tree stands to be made in the United States, with American steel, even if it costs them some profit. But the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority's Erin Rahn Phillips introduced them to Keith Lancaster, a metal fabricator in Guyton who builds the stands in his shop there. Customs.Īt first, they thought they would make the tree stands themselves. Kessler works in the aerospace industry in Savannah, and Diaz is a field agent for U.S. Hillis works for the motor carrier division of the State Patrol. Hillis, Kessler and Diaz have kept their day jobs as they get the new business off the ground. He said it's a hybrid between a tree stand and a shooting house and has big potential. Louck, who has been in the industry for 27 years, said the 360-degree tree stand is a great idea. John Louck, executive director of the Treestand Manufacturer's Association, said he doesn't think the men have to worry about competition because the process is so difficult that no one else would want to do it. "I know for a fact there were times they wanted to throw in the towel." "Part of the problem with small business owners is they have a great idea and jump in head first," she said. Perseverance, she said, may be their strongest asset. Marketing is the new company's next big hurdle, said business consultant Becky Brownlee of the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center at Georgia Southern University.īrownlee said the trio had already done a lot of things right when she began helping them about a year ago. "It's a very safe deer stand and is very well constructed and has the advantage of hunting with more than one person," he said. David Palmer, an orthopedic surgeon, recently had one of the stands installed on 500 acres he owns in the Hiltonia area of Screven County. When people see the tree stand at hunting shows, he said, the reaction often is "awesome" or "wow."ĭr. He estimates the tree stands will last 10 to 15 years before they might need a new layer of powder coat. "It's the last tree stand you'll ever buy," Hillis said. The 360-degree tree stands are being marketed to private landowners with big tracts of land as well as people who operate hunting clubs and won't be deterred by the cost. He said some hunters will spend $60,000 on a pickup but will buy a $100 tree stand that could kill them. Add useful accessories, and the cost can quickly add up to $1,700.Ĭhad Scott, who installed a 360-degree tree stand on his property in Bulloch County, said it's a bargain when safety is considered. Two people can install it in about 20 minutes - 10 minutes if they're used to doing it. It weighs 220 pounds and comes on wheels so one person can pull it into the woods. ![]() It took two years to perfect the design so it's easy to transport and install and can safely hold up to four people and 1,000 pounds of weight. Mike Moulton, an engineer in the aerospace industry, fine-tuned the design and built the prototype. Hillis got a structural engineer to help him build a cardboard mockup of the tree stand, which is shaped like an octagon. The three men set up a limited liability company - 360 Treestands - and went after a patent. Minis Hillis came up with the idea for the stand that allows hunters to watch for prey from every direction and enlisted the help of his neighbor and avid hunter Dennis Kessler and a second friend, Kevin Diaz. Three Effingham County men have secured a $150,000 loan and $2 million in insurance as they try to turn a good idea - a hunter's tree stand that circles a tree - into a successful business.
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