About Latter-day Family Resources
By Rick
Hopkins
Our family
business was created fifteen years ago after we came to Utah from
California.
When we discovered an especially great
resource for our family, we were eager to share it with our
friends! We wanted to sell at discount, knowing what it takes to raise
a family.
Our first catalog was mailed to less than 300 people
in November 1989. We have been producing 2 catalogs a year since that
time. They have evolved from photocopied sheets to our current version
produced on a high-speed newspaper press.
I (Rick) quit my job as an Mechanical Engineer in December
1988. We started with manual receipts and hand-written invoices. I
remember clearly sitting on the front porch, writing out invoices (with
a carbon sheet between). Daniel was our first employee and packed the
boxes. We liked the idea of a family business, and always involved
our children.
Being helpful with our friends and our customers meant
showing books at all hours of the day or night! Initially we located
our small stock of resources in our food storage room. Anyone interested
in seeing before they bought came knocking at our door, and we would
bring them into our living room while another family member would scurry
down to our storage area and bring up what they wanted. The benefits
for our friends was a very personal service; the downside for us was
an out of balanced lifestyle, with Mommy being unavailable for the
children while people were there. We all worked extremely hard, but
loved being able to be a part of creating strong families, helping
families start homeschooling, and using natural remedies.
Next we created
a "store" of
sorts in Nathan's bedroom downstairs (one boy had to relocate his bed
to a small storage
area that we call the loft!). We made make-shift shelves and I served
the people, making Diane available to do her many duties. Our customers
would come through our front door and come down the stairs, past
our bathroom (we had to keep it shut or clean it all the time!), down
the
hall past a boy's bedroom (door shut too!) and then to our store.
It was pleasant for the customers except when there were more than
3 people
in our store at one time!
As our business
grew, we finally made the plunge and converted our garage/greenhouse
area into
a store. Nate was elated,
since now he had a bedroom again. Diane loved the front door being
for family while our customers came to the side door of our garage-turned-store.
Our new store was a big 14 ft by 32 ft area, plenty for our nice,
newly constructed bookshelves. Shoppers would come, their children
would
play in our yard with our children. Our hours were expanding too:
Wed- Sat, 2-5:30. During off hours, we would pull orders off the shelves
and ship products in an adjoining "shipping" area made
for that purpose. It was a nice setup for about 10 months until,
to our
surprise, we outgrew our store again!
The answer
to our growth dilemma came to both Diane and I and the same time one
Sunday: move the
business out of our
home! Surprisingly, that thought had never really been an option, since
we
really wanted to remain an "at-home-business". Even the
UPS man suggested to us that we had failed by finally succumbing
to moving
our family business out of our house.
That very day, after church, we took a half hour stroll
down Main Street in Spanish Fork, Utah and discovered an old furniture
store which had set empty for years was being renovated and divided
into 3 new retail stores. We contacted the owner the next day, and
by that night he was already putting up walls to our specifications!
We moved into 140 North Main Street in Spanish Fork City in October
1994.
Moving our
business out of our home was truly inspired. I finally realized that
I couldn't
do it all. I had just hired our
first "outside-the-family" employee only 3 months prior
to our move downtown. It was a tremendous load off our shoulders
to be
able to close the store and have a normal family life at home. We
have wonderful employees who feel and think like we do. We are extremely
blessed to have had the guidance to progress as we had means and
ability.
We lasted in the 2,500 sq ft area on Main Street until
February 1999 when we moved into an old 7-11 convenience store about
5 blocks down the road. We completely gutted the place, spending plenty
to create a nice store since we thought we'd be in our bigger location
for a few years at least. We had the place modernized with computer
cables and phones lines going everywhere. We only lasted about 9 months
before we outgrew it! The place looked like a hive of busy bees in
our shipping area--we went from 2 shippers to 5 shippers during the
summer of 1999.
Diane kept
having a feeling we should move our business to a large new building
even closer
to home in Salem. Everytime we
drove by it, she would say, "That would be the best building for
us!". The only problem was that it was occupied by a very stable
company. Suddenly, we realized we were outgrowing our current 7-11
building, and at the same time, the large new building relocated
to another town. It only took us a week to sign the deal and we were
on
our way, building new walls, moving all our stuff again--just before
the 1999 Christmas rush.
We are still in this same location in Salem today! It is about 5 minutes by bike
from our home (I've only done that once though...it's a nice thought).
At first it was so enormous to us. Our last store building could fit just in its
warehouses! We now have nice, modern offices, a beautiful store for our
customers to shop in, a large warehouse, lots of parking, and ample
room for growth. We soon began to process 3 to 4 times the
volume of orders as our last place, and get them out within a few days.
The building has much improved and modern facilities built-in like computer and
phone jacks in every nook, a phone system that actually captures all
our phone calls, and plush restrooms and lunchroom facilities.
Part of our effort to help those who homeschool was
been to host our LDS Homeschool Convention. In August 2000, we hosted
our 3rd Annual Convention. In the year 2000 we had about 1,000 attendees
and our speakers were excellent. We also had about 70 great vendors
at our large LDS Products and Curriculum Fair. Our goal was to give
homeschoolers a boost before the new school year starts. We have since discontinued the effort since it was such a big effort. Diane felt she could reach a large group of people through articles and our catalogs that we kept growing in numbers.
In 2001, we started our first Homeschooling Prom held at the historic Peteetneet Academy in Payson, Utah. We advertised heavily and were very pleased to have around 200 LDS homeschooling teens in our area, plus many parents, come to our first prom we organized. Since this time, this has been a highlight for our own children and many others. It is extremely heartwarming to have such a great time together, dancing to uplifting music, with our friends. In 2005, we plan to host again oru 4th annual Homeschooling Prom, probably in March again. Sign up on our email list and we'll notify you of the time and place.
In 2000, we decided to publish our catalog in full color.
It took over 1200 color images which took us literally months to scan.
Diane re-wrote everything, we added more great products and dropped
others they replaced. Daniel uploads the full online catalog each week
to keep it current. He has also continued to enhance our web site with
discussion boards, a newsletter section, specials and more.
In 2001 we completely revamped our web interface so that our computer systems would create an invoice when our customers purchased over the internet. This did away with the need for our employees to re-type everyone's web orders. We have continued to add "bells and whistles" on our web sites to hopefully better meet the needs of our customers.
We have now been in our Salem location nearly 5 years now. Since moving here, we have consumed the second warehouse and have even rented a portable container to hold all the products we have collected to keep up with sales. We are bursting at the seams again!
In 2004, we hired some very capable employees with advanced degrees to revamp our warehousing system. The first iteration of this overhaul is now done. We have cut down our warehouse employees by half and have greatly reduced our recurring costs in receiving, stocking, picking, and shipping. We are also able to ship orders out faster, ususally the next business day.
Our next project is to continue to revamp our computer systems with better accounting and inventory ordering software and a rewrite of our internal computer systems. Our son Daniel, who will graduate in December 2004 with a degree in Information Technology, is charged with these tasks.
We are so thankful to you, our friends and customers,
for your patience as we grow and improve. We apologize for any inconvenience
that this may have caused you if we have not handled your calls and
orders as cordially and efficiently as possible. We hope we are continually
improving!
Our belief is that our business is our mission, directed
by our Heavenly Father. I have felt His direction continually in our
business. Our mission is to help save the family. We believe that as
soon as we can demonstrate to Him that every needful thing is in place
in our business (see
Doctrine & Covenants 88:119), that he "will order all things
for our good, as fast as we are able to receive them." (Doctrine & Covenants
111:11). That means we will then continue to grow even faster to
meet the needs of LDS families, helping them become more self-reliant,
develop greater dependence on the Lord, and be strengthened in their
family relationships.
Hoping to serve you,
The Hopkins
Rick and Diane
Daniel, Nathan, Mark, Julianna, Emily, Ammon & Louisa |
