SPARTAN BLADES: Why we make knives

Mark Carey and Curtis Iovito know a few things about risks and how to take them to succeed. The retired non-commissioned officers of the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) founded Spartan Blades, LLC over eight years ago, giving up highly paid jobs in the process. Since then, Spartan Blades has grown from a small start-up to an internationally recognized knife brand, recently winning American-Made Knife of the Year. The entrepreneurs were kind enough to spend an hour with the American Havok Journal to answer a few questions:

About their humble beginnings:

Mark Carey: We founded Spartan Blades in February 2008 and released it to the public in September 2008. The six-month gap was used for business planning. From the outset, we focused on expanding our online distribution and dealer networks.

Curtis Iovito: We got the name because the first package we shipped was held together with 100mph tape (Army slang for duct tape). Our customer commented on the "spartan" nature of the material, and thus the name was born.

Why knives:

Mark Carey: When we were considering starting our company, we thought about weapons, knives, or accessories. After doing our research, we saw that knives had lower start-up costs, making it easier to start a new business. And we also had experience with them.

Curtis Iovito: I used to build knives as a hobby. It was not only a pragmatic business decision, but we chose something that interested us as well.About Business Planning and Special Forces Experience:

Mark: We incorporated many of the Special Forces planning principles like mission analysis into our business planning. We did our own independent research, consulted friends in the industry, and read a lot of "Open Source" information. We wrote three business plans before settling on the final one. The business planning software we purchased cost about $200.

We also got involved with SCORE, a nonprofit organization run by retired CEOs and CFOs. In the end, there is a lot of free and low-cost help out there; you just have to look for it.

Curtis: Look at it this way: killing people is a business, and foreign internal defense abroad is too. There are many transferable skills from Special Forces to business; e.g. decision-making processes, utilizing people's time and resources, doing a lot with a little. You already know plenty of practical applications from your military service.

Mark: This brings up an important point for Special Forces guys leaving the military: you have exceptional organizational and planning skills. Many people can analyze statistics and ask questions, but often they don't know why. If they don't understand the why, they don't know what they are working towards. SF soldiers understand the "why." They can learn the basic foundational knowledge and the rest OJT (on-the-job). The hardest part for us was learning the civilian business jargon.

Curtis: Don't underestimate yourself or your value. Recognize yourself and understand your value before you retire. The industry already knows your value and won't have a problem hiring you for potentially less than your value and utilizing your skills over several years. Get what you're worth.

About Business Lingo:

Mark: Six Sigma and Lean are very similar to the military planning processes: Troop Leading Procedures (TLPs), the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP), deliberate intelligence processing, deliberate planning. Soldiers, especially SF, have a variety of practical applications in these areas.

How the knife industry differs:

Curtis: During our research, we found that the firearms industry is rife with secrecy. The knife industry, in comparison, is quite polite and accepting. Gaining mentorship in the industry was crucial and was provided by companies like Gerber™ and Chris Reeve Knives™.

Mark: We chose to aim for a higher price range because trying to bring a knife to market with a price of $20 to $100, especially in America, is extremely difficult. A higher-priced, high-quality knife "excites" the market.

Curtis: We know that when someone buys a high-quality knife, it won't be the only knife they buy, so we help the market as a whole, including competitors and ourselves.

About running a successful business:

Curtis: One lesson I learned as a young private investigator was: "Know yourself and seek improvement." Know your strengths and weaknesses. Work on improving your weaknesses or simply let someone else handle those tasks. There are things I am good at, things Mark is good at, so we talk about it and constantly learn from each other.

Mark: I equate it to Foreign Internal Defense (FID). You build good relationships with suppliers and dealers, understanding their operating environment. Knowing what is important to them in advance will help build mutually beneficial relationships.

Curtis: Special Forces soldiers can crush others in building relationships, as that's what they are trained to do. Interview your suppliers and sellers before deciding to do business with them.

About starting something new:

Curtis: Too many people let fear drive what they do. You can't let fear drive what you do; at some point, you will have to take a risk, even if you might not feel like you know everything you need to know.

We had a saying in the 1st SFG (A): "See it once, do it once, teach it once." It's a methodology that actually works. I was fresh from the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) when we were deployed to Indonesia. I was tasked with building the Indonesia Mortar Leader Course and had to teach it in my target language! The only time I had worked with mortars was in the 18B course [SF Weapons Sergeant], but I learned more and more through teaching and successfully built the course. If fear had taken over, it would have been a disaster.

About risk management and mistakes:

Mark: Those composite risk management sheets that everyone in the Army hates really work. Risk analysis and risk management work!

Set up P.A.C.E. plans (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency). Everyone fails at some point, so if you make a mistake and it costs some money, absorb it, learn from it, and move on.

On money and success:

Mark: Money is a byproduct of success. Don't worry about how much money you will make, worry about being successful, and you will make money.

Curtis: Do good things, treat people right, treat your customer right.

Mark: You have to offer quality and exceptional customer service in everything you do. If you slightly exceed expectations, you will have loyal customers, suppliers, and dealers.About Business Partnerships:

Mark: Keep the number of partners as low as possible, as it simplifies the planning and decision-making process. We let our personalities and talents dictate what we do at Spartan Blades™. Curtis has more experience with knife design and marketing. I am more of a planner, linear thinker, purchaser, etc. I have learned some of what Curtis knows, but Curtis is obviously better in certain areas and I am okay with that. It's kind of like comparing the left and right brain.

Curtis: We like each other and get along well. Many successful companies fail because people don't get along. Choose someone you know, choose someone you trust.

Mark: Just like in a marriage, choose wisely, because you might be stuck with the partner for a long time.

Curtis: Look at a Special Forces team. Generally, there are one or two "superstars," like everyone wants to be. Then there are 7-8 "good guys", a proverbial "dirtbag" that you can't fire because he meets the minimum, and a guy you can't expect to fire from the team. This perception dates back to ancient Greek warriors and still applies to companies today. Every team, no matter how big or small, has these people. If you can, choose the superstar. That's the person you're looking for as a business partner.

Who should NOT run a company:

Mark: Some people just aren't cut out to be leaders. If you run a company, you are a leader, whether you like it or not. If you don't want to be a leader, don't start a business. It's okay, be a middleman, there are entire industries run by them.

Curtis: Again, it goes back to knowing yourself. Identify the things you are not good