The Business of Supplying the “Do-It-Yourselfer”

An increased interest in urban farming, homesteading, and “do-it-yourself” (DIY) activities has kicked off a demand for all sorts of raw materials and specialized equipment.

Portlanders have been taking pride in home-grown veggies and basement-brewed beer for decades, but in the last few years, these quiet hobbies have made rapid strides in both intensity and diversity. In certain neighborhoods, it is increasingly common to find people who make their own wine, mead, cider, yogurt, cheese, soap, and/or candles. Portland now boasts a high rate of urban chicken ownership and a growing population of backyard beekeepers. Some households even keep goats for milk and cheese. What’s more, these activities are drawing an impressive cross section of society according to Jocelyn Fabbri, who teaches and supplies home brewers at the Home Brew Exchange in Kenton. “From a mom coming in to a grandparent to a college kid who just turned twenty-one," she says, there is no average customer.

DIY Activities Have Increased Demand for Raw Materials and Specialized Equipment

This increased interest in urban farming, homesteading, and “do-it-yourself” (DIY) activities has kicked off a demand for all sorts of raw materials and specialized equipment. The economic models we may remember from high school and college suggest that where an unmet demand arises, sooner or later a business will arise to meet that demand. That old lesson may hold true, but the businesses that have arisen to meet this demand differ markedly from the popular view of cutthroat capitalists determined to capture market share and force out competitors.

Relationships Built Through Sharing Knowledge

Lisa Erenyi, of House Farm, exemplifies the attitudes of many of these new entrepreneurs. She says House Farm is about building connections between customers, suppliers, the land, and the food that grows from it. “It’s highly relational, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she says. Her business isn’t determined by a rigid plan for growth, but is rather a reflection of the needs of her St. Johns community. Through informal conversations with customers, dialogue with Oregon suppliers, and round tables with community members, Erenyi examines her community with academic rigor and adjusts her operations accordingly. “I’m really counting on the community and the people to drive this business,” she says. Other entrepreneurs are no less assiduous in building relationships, often through classes that allow them to share their knowledge of brewing, beekeeping, and other formerly esoteric disciplines.

These classes not only help people develop expertise of their own but also serve an important business function. They foster the development of personal, trusting relationships between business and customer and encourage repeat business. For example, a person may first learn to roast their own coffee from Ginny and Trevin Miller of Mr. Green Beans. As they begin to roast on their own with greater regularity, they can rely on the Millers’ expertise to help them match the right bean to the right equipment to the right process. Repeat visits to the store and regular interaction with the Millers results in exposure to the other products the store offers, as well as encouragement to experiment with new activities like soap making or pickling. This repeat business, largely based on the personal relationship between the store’s owners/operators and the customer provides the customer with an accessible, trustworthy, and above all human resource to support their DIY activities. In return, the business gets a loyal and stable customer base—essential for small businesses dependent on local customers.

Sales Not Local Only. Internet Business is Brisk.

However, not all sales are exclusively local, and not all of these businesses plan to remain small. Matthew Reed of Bee Thinking conducts a brisk Internet-based business in prefabricated bee hives. About 70 percent of his hive sales are not out of his Sellwood storefront but take place online and worldwide. He has mailed bee hives as far away as Europe, and his Internet business has contributed to 400 percent growth over the last year. Still, despite the international scope of his work, he makes sure to man his storefront, teach classes on beekeeping, and perform swarm removal services for community members. When asked how large he plans to grow, he says, “We’d like to get to the point where one day I can do this full-time... It’s what I love doing."

Amanda Englund, owner and operator of Lion Heart Kombucha in Northwest District, envisions a similar balance between driving growth and nurturing her local connections. While she aspires to make sales of kombucha (a fermented tea-based drink) up and down the West Coast, she remains firmly committed to teaching the craft of brewing. Once she covers West Coast distribution, Englund says she would intentionally restrict her growth. “There’s sort of an unspoken agreement among most small kombucha brewers that the best thing to do is to stay regional,” she says. What’s more, not trying to dominate the national kombucha market means Englund has the time and energy to teach brewing and to supply her students with kombucha cultures and equipment.

This balance of growth and community is not the only thing that makes Portland’s DIY supply businesses distinct from the popular college economics model. The atmosphere within this business community is also somewhat counterintuitive. Where classical economics would pit many of these entrepreneurs against each other as competitors in the same market, there actually exists a surprisingly collegial culture. Kristl Bridge of the Portland Homestead Supply Company regularly refers customers to her competitors, who in turn send business her way. She also collaborates on classes, inviting other establishments to use her store as a teaching space. Bridge says she looks forward to seeing more people enter this market. “It’s a great synergy that builds when you have more homesteading suppliers,” she says.

Future of DIY Business Niche Difficult to Predict

While certain patterns have emerged within the DIY niche, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the newness of most of this market means that its future will be difficult to predict. When asked about their plans and goals for the next five years, most of these business owners pointed out that there were so many unknowns that it didn’t make sense to set plans in stone. “It will be a time will tell kind of thing,” says Miller. After all, will public interest in DIY prove a passing fad, or will it spread and deepen among Portlanders? If more entrepreneurs begin to enter the DIY market, will increased pressure to compete change the collegial atmosphere of this business community? What effects could an unpredictable economy or changes in national, state, or local policy have? The only thing one can predict with certainty is that the next few years will see many of the existing businesses engage in rapid adaptation in response to their communities and customers. Within a very short time, we stand to see a radically different DIY supply landscape in our neighborhoods than currently exists.