In 2017, our business took an important new direction. After starting out selling secondhand goods, we began introducing handcrafted musical instruments from around the world.
The decision wasn't driven by market research or a carefully developed business plan. It began with a simple idea founder Ryan Bomzer heard on the radio: sell something you're genuinely passionate about.
Finding Our Direction
At the time, Ryan was selling everything from toys and furniture to clothing and household goods. Hearing someone explain how they built a business around their love of hair accessories made him reconsider what he was selling.
Looking around his room, the answer was right in front of him: a Turkish darbuka drum, a ukulele he'd received for his birthday, a microphone, a MIDI keyboard and a laptop running music production software.
Music was already where he invested his time and money. Why wasn't it part of his business?
Discovering Handcrafted Instruments
Ryan began researching musical instrument retailers and discovered a company selling handcrafted instruments from around the world.
He placed an order at retail price, initially out of personal interest. When the instruments arrived, their quality exceeded his expectations. Even the simple paper packaging stood out.
Curious about the company, Ryan read the founder's stories about traveling, discovering instruments and selling at markets. Inspired, he picked up the phone.
He explained that he had purchased the instruments, admired the business and wanted to begin selling similar products himself. That conversation led to an offer of wholesale pricing.
A Turning Point for the Business
Ryan placed his first wholesale order, focusing on African percussion instruments, particularly shakers and a coconut thumb piano. He listed them on the selling platforms he was already using, and they sold quickly, outperforming many of the secondhand products.
The change also transformed the way the business operated. Instead of constantly sourcing, cleaning and photographing individual secondhand items, popular instruments could be reordered and sold again.
It was a more repeatable business model, built around products Ryan genuinely understood and enjoyed.
What began as a personal passion was becoming the foundation of Carved Culture.