Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Mojica.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Michael. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
In 2012 I moved from Texas to the Denver area. I thought I loved the outdoors before, but then I met Mount Yale …my first 14er. I also experienced real seasons with spring, fall, and winter. Coming from Texas, I had plenty of summer under my belt. This new part of the country also did not have fire ants, chiggers, nor high humidity. I love Texas, I love the people and the attitude, but this new backdrop was the perfect spark for the birth of Outdoor Element. A close friend of mine and I had been talking about starting a business for some time and this was the ideal time. We redesigned the typical survival paracord bracelet and launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise capital to get it off the ground. By education, I am a mechanical engineer, so I was always tinkering and had a notebook full of ideas. For this project, I designed a fire-starting buckle for the bracelet with a ferrocerium rod and hardened stainless striker integrated into the buckle. This was a unique of designing “flint and steel” on a wrist…a survival bracelet with true utility. We were the first to introduce this type of buckle to the outdoor industry. Outside Magazine included it in an article, and a design patent was eventually awarded to me from the USPTO. We thought we had this entrepreneur figured out.
Then it happened so quickly. I was surprised by how fast a product can get knocked off. A few months later there were several “overseas” knockoffs in the US market. This was a major kick in the pants. I also learned that great friends do not necessarily mean perfect business partners. Within the first 18 months of we found ourselves with very little revenue stream – like a trickle, and I also realized that the partnership would not workout. I continued to work my 8-5 and keep OE as a side hustle. A few months later, a mutual friend set up a meeting with Joe Brown. Joe had previously helped other small businesses scale and become solvent and quite profitable. A few months later Joe was part of the OE team.
We launched the Firebiner® on Kickstarter in September 2016 and were able to raise over $100K in 30 days. The Firebiner® is a fire-starting multitool carabiner. We have both a design and utility patent pending for this design.
There is a short 30-sec video showing all of the features on our website.
My name is Michael Mojica and my native name is Bodaway which means “Fire Maker”. Thus you might find a common theme in much of my product line.
This was a crazy time… I learned to wear many hats of a true entrepreneur, from mechanical engineer and designer, graphics and packaging designer, logistics backend, envelope stuffer, marketing, janitor and CEO. It’s not always pretty and most days it’s just plain hard, but it is beyond rewarding. There are currently 3 partners at OE…but we are not above enlisting the help of our wives and kids to get the work done. I know the American Dream is alive and well. If you have the vision, innovation, guts, and determination, the dream awaits. In Oct 2017 I finally decided to be all in, and I left my comfortable day job. On a personal note, I believe being comfortable is what holds many people back. We need to be stretched and get uncomfortable to see some interesting things develop.
Since the firebienr®, we have launched a couple of knives (yes, one of the knives starts fires) and another generation of the fire-starting carabiner that we call the Fire Escape.
The Fire Escape is the result of a conversation I had with a SAR (Search and Rescue) group at the Outdoor Retailer Show… They told me they loved the firebiner® and wanted to see a fire-responder themed carabiner. I took some quick notes on my phone and several months later the Fire Escape was born.
We have applied for trademarks, design and utility patents for most of our products. Let’s face it, if we don’t protect our intellectual property (IP) then we become a free R&D source for the knockoff vultures, who are constantly circling small business and crowdfunding campaigns. It’s not cheap to protect IP, but it is worth it. Granted patents and trademarks will become a multiplier effect for the valuation of your business. What hurts the budget now on the front end will pay high dividends on any exit strategy.
We have sold our gear through many channels including our online site, www.OutdoorElement.com, and Amazon. We have also grown our wholesale base selling with many companies including Ace Hardware, JAX, Sportsman’s Warehouse, REI, Duluth Trading, Scheels, National Parks, and many other moms and pop outdoor outfitters. Our first three wholesale accounts were 3 fly fishing shops in the Littleton area. We love how we have been supported by many local owners and the outdoor community. For now, we continue to develop more outdoor adventure and survival gear.…why, because we love it. Sure, we still scrape by, but that tipping point is just around the corner! The Dream is real, explore with confidence.
Has it been a smooth road?
The road is anything but smooth. I look at it more like an adventure. When we launched the Phoenix Talon and Feather, a set of hunting and survival knives we quickly learned that the larger advertising community is against products like this.
The great people at Google/Amazon/Pinterest/Instagram/Facebook have all decided that if a blade is not primarily held in the kitchen then it must be used to incite violence and mayhem and thus they have policies in place to thwart and blacklist us for using their services to create consumer awareness.
They are hunting knives used for field-dressing an animal (meat). The same meat that people cut into smaller pieces in the kitchen. This is not a zombie slayer or a human predator blade… it’s a knife. A slight upgrade from our caveman brothers. Their blanket policy for knives really hurts small business.
Yup, I have a strong opinion about this. I understand that I am using their platform to promote my business and if I do not like their policies then I can leave. However, between Google and FB/IG they truly have the largest consumer database… they enjoy a duopoly. And on top of that, they have a public IPO. It’s my opinion that when a company goes public, the rules for that entity should change. If you remain privately owned, I get, make and keep your own rules. It’s really a disservice they are doing to so many people and small businesses. I have recently sent in questions to Google regarding this policy and have yet to hear back. Both Facebook and Google continue to reach out and invite me to advertise with them. These companies offer amazing services, insight, and metrics. They just need to tweak some of their advertising policies.
Marketing and creating brand awareness has always been an uphill battle for our company, this added layer of nonsense just further complicates things.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Outdoor Element designs and manufactures adventure and survival gear. We encourage all to get outdoors and explore with confidence. We do our best to design lightweight and durable gear. We believe that innovation is the key to success.
Our Firebiner® continues to be our best selling product. It was named “best gadget” by Backpacker Magazine in their April 2019 Gear Guide. It was also awarded “Radical by Design” by the Venture Out section of the Outdoor Retailer 2019 Summer Show.
We are not afraid to try new things and think outside the box…we prefer to just think outside.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The Denver area is a great place to start an outdoor industry business. Denver is now the home of the Outdoor Retailer Show. It is the largest US show for this industry. The people in Denver are very welcoming to outdoor startups. Generally speaking in my perspective, most people in this community come together and support each other. We have even “split” a booth with other small companies (like Revel Gear) to make our budgets work. Revel make some awesome camping lights.
It is a bit pricey to live and operate in the Denver area. However, Denver has a couple of co-op opportunities to help with this situation.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8142 S. Mobile Way
Englewood, CO - Phone: 720-507-6963
- Email: mmojica@outdoorelement.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outdoor.element/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoutdoorelement/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_outdoorelement
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClaoiGlqvUiAzBmZogK47dA
Image Credit:
Outdoor Element
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