MotionGrey
From Flipping Gaming Chairs to a $18 Million Dollar Company
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Transcript
Filmosity:
We are currently in a warehouse of over 10,000 square feet filled with tens of thousands of items, all of which are products of MotionGrey, a company that does over $18 million a year in revenue selling office furniture.
Filmosity:
How many orders do you do a day?
MotionGrey:
Around 200 orders.
MotionGrey:
That is around 15 to 18 pallets going out from the warehouse every single day.
Filmosity:
Every single day.
Filmosity:
And I’m here with Andy, the co-founder of MotionGrey, who started all of this because he wanted to flip some gaming chairs on Craigslist.
MotionGrey:
Craigslist, Kijiji, we’re just like doing anything we can to get any visibility.
Filmosity:
So my question is, how do you go from flipping gaming chairs on Craigslist to a multi-million dollar company?
Filmosity:
Well that’s what we’re here to find out.
Filmosity:
My name’s Andrew, and today I’m speaking with Andy to dive deep into the story of MotionGrey.
Filmosity:
Enjoy the video.
Filmosity:
How many items are actually in here?
Filmosity:
Andy, this is such a huge warehouse.
Filmosity:
Do you know off the top of your head, how many items do you have here?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, for sure.
MotionGrey:
So there are around 750 pallets here.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
So if we do the math, about 75,000 different pieces of product actually stored at River Drive.
Filmosity:
Dollar value.
Filmosity:
Yeah. – How much is it, roughly?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, around two million, actually.
Filmosity:
Two million dollars.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
To give you some sense of the scale, we do about 160 containers inbounding every single year.
MotionGrey:
So that’s around three to four containers per week.
MotionGrey:
So there’s a lot of volume and flow in our business on a day-to-day basis.
Filmosity:
How many orders do you do a day?
MotionGrey:
Around 200 orders on a daily basis, and that is around 15 to 18 pallets going out from the warehouse every single day.
Filmosity:
Every single day.
Filmosity:
One thing I noticed immediately walking into here is just how organized everything is, especially like this wall.
Filmosity:
Everything is so straight and just organized.
Filmosity:
Is that something like a requirement that you tell the people to organize this to do?
Filmosity:
Is that something you focus on?
MotionGrey:
Well hats off to the warehouse managers.
MotionGrey:
They’ve done a fantastic job with keeping it organized.
MotionGrey:
But again, for me, keeping things organized is a way to scale.
MotionGrey:
You want to reduce as much variability in the business as much as you can.
MotionGrey:
And I think things haven’t been disorganized in the past, but we’re trying to really build out structure within the business to make sure that everything is as structured as we can be.
Filmosity:
This is all so incredible.
Filmosity:
I know it’s just a warehouse, but really it’s not just a warehouse.
Filmosity:
What makes this interesting is the story behind all of this.
Filmosity:
And that’s what we’re here to learn about today.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, so try out the chair, man.
Filmosity:
These are…
MotionGrey:
How is it?
Filmosity:
Dude, it’s so much better than the one I have at home.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
I really need to get, like the lumbar support, you know?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, it’s on point, I would say.
Oh my gosh.
Filmosity:
How did MotionGrey get started?
Filmosity:
Why was office furniture the business to get into?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, so funny enough, it wasn’t actually standing desk to begin with.
MotionGrey:
It was gaming chairs.
MotionGrey:
So my business partner, Alex, and I, we actually wanted to introduce a product to the market.
MotionGrey:
But at the time, we were in our early 20s in university.
MotionGrey:
So all we knew was like gaming, sports, and eSports was like on the rise.
MotionGrey:
Now, gaming chairs specifically is because it’s bigger, it’s bulkier, so the barrier of entry is higher, right?
Filmosity:
Well, how did you transition from gaming chairs to office furniture?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, for sure. So I think it’s all about the addressable market.
MotionGrey:
Gaming chairs, if you remember, were all very vibrant in colors, right?
MotionGrey:
You got the red and black, you know, pink and black, blue and black.
MotionGrey:
But we actually tried out Black on Black.
MotionGrey:
And we started to see that orders were coming from business customers.
MotionGrey:
They were ordering by like a quantity of like five or six or seven at a time.
MotionGrey:
And that’s when it clicked.
MotionGrey:
It was like, okay, like this office furniture like niche is more closely related to what we’re trying to do.
MotionGrey:
Like offering great quality products at an affordable price.
MotionGrey:
At least that was the company goal at the time.
MotionGrey:
And at that point, we were looking at complementary products to our office chairs, our office gaming chairs.
MotionGrey:
And that’s when the standing desk became an idea.
MotionGrey:
Now, initially, it was just going to be gaming desk, right?
MotionGrey:
But standing desk was on the right, pun intended, okay?
MotionGrey:
But I think why standing desk was so, I mean, such a good product that we introduced because it had a tangible feature to a traditional item, right?
MotionGrey:
Desk did not have any features at that time, like, say, six, seven years ago.
MotionGrey:
And I think it really allowed just, you know, the ergonomics for customers to be adjusted with the product itself.
MotionGrey:
So that was kind of the inception of why we went into e-commerce and office furniture.
MotionGrey:
And that’s how MotionGrey started.
Filmosity:
So the transition came from just observing your customer base.
Filmosity:
You’re like wait a lot of business customers are ordering these gaming chairs.
Filmosity:
So it makes sense to make that transition.
Filmosity:
Let me just backtrack slightly.
Filmosity:
When you were flipping gaming chairs, or you’re selling gaming chairs, you were doing it on craigslist?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, I do everything right.
MotionGrey:
Craigslist, Kijiji, Facebook Marketplace.
MotionGrey:
Facebook marketplace just came out at that time.
Filmosity:
Yeah
MotionGrey:
So it was like doing anything we can to get any visibility.
MotionGrey:
Craigslist was a big part of that for sure from a local base.
MotionGrey:
But it was like trying any type of avenues.
Filmosity:
So was it buying gaming chairs from like a supplier or somewhere and then just like listing it on Craigslist and delivering it yourself to those people?
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
Filmosity:
How did that work?
MotionGrey:
So we bought the items from our suppliers.
MotionGrey:
Import it over to Canada, stored it.
Filmosity:
Where did you store it?
MotionGrey:
The garage man.
MotionGrey:
We self-stored it for sure, got to cut cost right?
Filmosity:
Yeah
MotionGrey:
But yeah, definitely like doing anything we can to find customers in the beginning.
MotionGrey:
And then we discovered e-commerce was possible
Filmosity:
What was like the lightbulb moment?
Filmosity:
Okay wait, this office furniture, standing desk, this is going to work.
Filmosity:
And what kind of encouraged you to go down this path?
MotionGrey:
Getting the first sale online.
MotionGrey:
I think to me we were in a state of unknown for a very long time.
MotionGrey:
But once you got the first sale it really defined that this e-commerce thing had potential.
MotionGrey:
It’s just a matter of how do you do it again, and do it like in scale on a per day basis,right.
MotionGrey:
So I think that was like a huge like mental like jump that I had when the first sale came.
MotionGrey:
I was like, man, this is mind-blowing.
MotionGrey:
There’s potential.
Filmosity:
Was it the first sale that you had with the gaming chairs?
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
Filmosity:
Do you still remember that day?
MotionGrey:
Dude, I remember that day, man.
Filmosity:
Can you talk me through that day?
MotionGrey:
It was a white on black challenger chair.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
I think it was in Quebec.
Filmosity:
In Quebec?
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Oh, the order was from Quebec.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, the order size was about $290.
MotionGrey:
And it was mind-blowing.
MotionGrey:
It was like, dude, someone bought our chair.
MotionGrey:
And then now we’re figuring out how to fulfill it.
Filmosity:
Yeah, yeah.
Filmosity:
How are you going to get to them?
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
MotionGrey:
That’s the entrepreneurship journey.
MotionGrey:
It’s like, okay, you’re kind of moving past each little level.
MotionGrey:
You figure out each step.
MotionGrey:
And then you’re trying to repeat it again.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
But after you discover all the different points and levels to conquer, it’s just about replicating that step over and over again to grow a business.
Filmosity:
When you guys started, did you just, you know, like, did you bootstrap this yourself?
Filmosity:
How much did this initially cost when you started doing this?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, so it’s $8,000 from myself and Alex, and totaling $16,000.
MotionGrey:
We imported 80 chairs to begin with.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
And then we kind of kept on rolling on inventory from 80 chairs to 300.
MotionGrey:
And then from 300, you kind of grow to 450.
MotionGrey:
And then now it’s…
Filmosity:
Now it’s, what, 200 a day?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, 200 a day.
MotionGrey:
That’s insane.
MotionGrey:
That’s like, I guess, like 75% of the container.
Filmosity:
What advice do you have for people when it comes to, say, like picking co-founders?
Filmosity:
Do you have any advice on how to choose the right co-founder and if you should or when should you co-found?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, I mean, I think we got really lucky together at that age as well, early 20s, right?
MotionGrey:
I think as you grow older, you become wiser in the type of people you want to surround yourself with.
MotionGrey:
Now, that wisdom, I think it’s through a lot of trial and tribulations that you understand what your boundaries are.
MotionGrey:
Now, I would say if I were to give any advice, it would be to look at their character.
MotionGrey:
And see if you can vibe with them even outside of the business of the context of business.
MotionGrey:
Do they have can you trust them?
MotionGrey:
Are they hard working?
MotionGrey:
How are they under stress right?
MotionGrey:
But again how do you know these things when you don’t you never like worked with them before?
Filmosity:
yeah
MotionGrey:
So i would say yeah look at their character.
MotionGrey:
Now, if you’re looking at it from more of a business perspective, like trying to grow together, I think just having the right roles and focuses on the business.
MotionGrey:
You got to identify that in the beginning really concretely so that there’s no hard feelings when things don’t go the way you think.
MotionGrey:
Again, but these things are things that you kind of grow to understand, to structure.
MotionGrey:
And if you think about our case, we started when we were early 20s, so we didn’t think about any of that.
Filmosity:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Filmosity:
You just kind of like, jump into it.
MotionGrey:
Exactly, but the character part is what really meshed us together.
Filmosity:
When you started out, what were some of the biggest struggles you had to go through and learn?
MotionGrey:
Yeah biggest struggle I think was just the whole understanding of waht to do for like an e-commerce business.
MotionGrey:
I think everything was scrappy, and we tried to learn things as we go.
MotionGrey:
Even the first sale we made.
MotionGrey:
Okay, we got the sale. What do we do now?2
MotionGrey:
Okay, do we need to set up a bank account?
MotionGrey:
How do we do fulfillment?
MotionGrey:
Okay, if we have any customer service issues, okay, how do we deal with that?
MotionGrey:
So I think it was really just the whole learning process about how do you make this work?
MotionGrey:
Now, struggle, I think it’s coming from a sense of, oh, man, like, damn, like, what do I do?
MotionGrey:
Like, oh, man, I feel a little bit stressed here.
MotionGrey:
But I think to me, like, it was just a fun journey.
MotionGrey:
Like it’s still a fun journey.
MotionGrey:
Like my perspective of the whole business and e-commerce thing is like I’m just enjoying that I’m in this ride.
MotionGrey:
Like to be able to learn and do this like it’s awesome.
MotionGrey:
So it was always just very fun.
MotionGrey:
Even now.
Filmosity:
Wow so it wasn’t even you didn’t really have i guess hardships struggles.
Filmosity:
Like it was hard obviously.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
But you just you just enjoyed it it was just fun for you and that’s how you’re able to go through it?
MotionGrey:
I think so.
MotionGrey:
To me, my perspective was there really isn’t anything that can get me down.
MotionGrey:
If it fails, then I learn a bunch of new skills.
MotionGrey:
Am I going to do my next thing?
MotionGrey:
But it’s just repetition at that point.
MotionGrey:
I think that everything obviously worked out perfectly, but the perspective was always to just learn and grow.
Filmosity:
Someone’s watching this like, “Oh my gosh, e-commerce. This is so cool. I want to get into it.”
MotionGrey:
Right.
Filmosity:
What advice do you have for them?
MotionGrey:
Okay, number one, don’t believe any of the internet gurus saying that it’s going to be easy, okay?
MotionGrey:
It’s super, super tough.
MotionGrey:
Now I think the advice I would give is understanding your position.
MotionGrey:
So what I mean by that is you have both time and capital as the factors that you need to understand what you have.
MotionGrey:
Now say if you have time but no capital, I think my advice would be to learn skills, transferable skills that you can learn and possibly build a business afterwards.
MotionGrey:
So things like email marketing, you know, advertisement like Facebook, Google ads, or even designing a website.
MotionGrey:
I think these are all skills that can be transferred when you do have time and the money to grow your e-commerce business.
MotionGrey:
Now if you have both time and capital, then you can possibly look into getting your first product and then selling it through on marketplaces.
MotionGrey:
Because the direct-to-consumer method is super hard.
MotionGrey:
You have to learn way too many things to try to get your first sale.
MotionGrey:
So I think to understand that position is very, very important.
MotionGrey:
Now if you don’t have both, then you probably need to figure out how to kind of maneuver that and go from there.
MotionGrey:
But that would be my final advice.
Filmosity:
What did you have at the start?
MotionGrey:
Dude, I had both a lot of time and a little capital.
MotionGrey:
That’s why we were able to get our first 80 chairs.
Filmosity:
When did Ocean Grey officially start?
MotionGrey:
2018.
Filmosity:
2018 and now it’s 2025.
Filmosity:
What was kind of like the revenue from each year trajectory, roughly?
MotionGrey:
For sure, for sure.
Filmosity:
So this is very interesting because I think everything fell into the right places, right?
MotionGrey:
Officially started 2018.
MotionGrey:
I think first year was about $750,000 in revenue.
MotionGrey:
And then we went up to 1.5.
MotionGrey:
And then now we’re going into 2020, which is when COVID hit.
Filmosity:
Yes.
MotionGrey:
Okay, now this is the crazy part.
MotionGrey:
We 5x in 2020.
Filmosity:
Because everyone’s at home.
MotionGrey:
Everyone’s from home.
MotionGrey:
And the shift from traditional desk to standing desk was, like, across the whole just world became what was a habit.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
Right?
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
So, yeah, a huge part was transitioning into the work from home structure really catapulted our top line and just business in general.
MotionGrey:
And even if you think about it now like it’s it’s become a habit.
MotionGrey:
People work from home people need standing desk and office chairs.
MotionGrey:
The next year I think it’s around the same around the 7.5.
MotionGrey:
And then next year kind of went to the 14s.
MotionGrey:
And then now we’re kind of here at 18 and then trying to get to the 25s to 50s in the next couple years.
Filmosity:
Someone hears this they hear you say the first year is $750,000.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Can you kind of like break down the realities of that?
Filmosity:
Because they might think like, oh my God, you can make so much money doing this.
Filmosity:
But can you kind of give them almost like a reality check and like actually, like it’s not just all $750,000.
MotionGrey:
Right.
MotionGrey:
2018 is the official time, but we actually started even in 2016.
MotionGrey:
But if you want to talk about official incorporation date, then that would be the time.
Filmosity:
I see.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
Now, top line, $750,000.
MotionGrey:
but there’s so many in-betweens that you have to account for, right?
MotionGrey:
Do you have an efficient fulfillment process?
MotionGrey:
Are you using the right money and a capital for the right ad sources?
MotionGrey:
And now if you trickle down to the bottom, we weren’t really making much.
MotionGrey:
But it was enough to let you know that there is a proof of concept and that if it can reduce expense, then there is more margins to play with.
MotionGrey:
But the reality is, I think it takes a lot of time to understand what you have and how to operate efficiently.
MotionGrey:
And I think the kind of cliche two to three years until you really see any money is quite true.
MotionGrey:
Because you really don’t know what you’re doing in the first two years.
Filmosity:
How much revenue did you bring in before incorporation in 2016?
MotionGrey:
Dude, it was like $200.
MotionGrey:
Like legit.
MotionGrey:
It was definitely like on the smaller side for sure.
MotionGrey:
But again, proof of concept, everything worked.
MotionGrey:
But then if you look at it from a year-to-year basis, it was like, you know, a 3x to a 5x from the year before.
MotionGrey:
Now it’s just a matter of like replicating that.
MotionGrey:
And I think the compound growth is really cool to see.
Filmosity:
What are actually the expenses and costs that comes with operating a business like this?
Filmosity:
What are like monthly costs or yearly costs?
MotionGrey:
For sure.
MotionGrey:
I think if we’re talking about where we’re at right now, there’s a lot to think about, right?
MotionGrey:
There is storage cost, there is employee cost, ad cost, and fulfillment cost.
MotionGrey:
And if you add everything together, it is quite substantial.
MotionGrey:
It is about like $350,000.
Filmosity:
A month?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, a month.
Filmosity:
Jeez.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
And then now when you’re trickling it down, yeah, the margins aren’t as glamorous as what people say.
Filmosity:
How many employees do you have?
MotionGrey:
We have 25.
Filmosity:
25.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, 25.
MotionGrey:
10 here in Vancouver, head office.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
15 overseas.
Filmosity:
Wow.
Filmosity:
What are margins like, roughly?
MotionGrey:
Margins are like 15%.
Filmosity:
15%?
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
We’re trying to make it work, for sure.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
But I think we’re in a good position, at least in the e-commerce space as well.
MotionGrey:
And to really be able to grow the business, I think you do need some margins to pull.
Filmosity:
Yeah, I was going to mention, you’re in that phase where you’re just reinvesting and trying to grow.
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
Filmosity:
That’s how you’re able to grow so fast.
MotionGrey:
That’s right.
Filmosity:
So MotionGrade does about $18 million a year in revenue.
Filmosity:
That’s about eight figures.
Filmosity:
That is eight figures.
Filmosity:
How does the business go from zero to one million and then one million to 10 million and beyond?
MotionGrey:
I would say both scenarios are very difficult, but the problems are a little bit different.
MotionGrey:
From zero to one million, you are trying to come up with processes, workflows, understanding what you have.
MotionGrey:
And you’re trying to really create a workflow that can get you to the one million.
MotionGrey:
I would say from one to ten, you kind of know what you have and you’re trying to scale.
MotionGrey:
Now, with that said, with the realm of e-commerce, for us, it was all about trying to find what that flow is from having the product to getting it to the customer’s hands.
MotionGrey:
And getting to 10 million, actually, in e-commerce, once you understand the workflows and processes, you can kind of get to 10 million.
MotionGrey:
But it’s about getting to the 20s, the 25s, that’s when it becomes really tricky, right?
MotionGrey:
The same workflows and systems that you had before, just throw that out the door because it’s not going to work.
Filmosity:
Oh, wow.
MotionGrey:
Right?
MotionGrey:
And you start to have to look into softwares and hire different people to be part of the team.
MotionGrey:
And the problems that you may have before, whether it’s coming up with a workflow, is not the question you’re looking at now.
MotionGrey:
It’s about how do you fit people within the company culture so we can all work together as a team.
MotionGrey:
You’re dealing with things like organization, like you’re trying to keep everything as structured as possible because you want as little variability as you may experience.
MotionGrey:
And everything gets amplified once you’re doing bigger numbers.
MotionGrey:
So these fundamentals are actually super key when trying to scale your business.
Filmosity:
So zero to one million is just figuring out your systems, figuring out your flow?
MotionGrey:
Correct.
Filmosity:
Something that works and when it works you can get to that 1 million.
MotionGrey:
Yeah now I would say it’s probably gonna be a very inefficient 1 million.
MotionGrey:
There’s a lot of expenses that you can probably cut. Right. But I would say it’s about understanding the workflows and the proof of concept of what you can do.
Filmosity:
Right.
MotionGrey:
To try to get from that 1 to 10 and then you start to reduce expense afterwards.
Filmosity:
Right, you get to it inefficiently.
MotionGrey:
Yes.
Filmosity:
But you got to it, like, okay, I did it, but what can I optimize now?
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
Filmosity:
That’s how you get to the eight figures.
MotionGrey:
Yes.
Filmosity:
But then when you get to the eight figures of 10 million, you said just completely, it’s not that anymore.
Filmosity:
Now it’s just about people.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, people, systems, and making sure that you’re reducing as many possible mistakes within the business as you may face. Because everything gets amplified once you go from 20 to let’s say 50 to 100.
MotionGrey:
So we’re trying to reduce again the variability so that that cost will be reduced as well once you grow bigger.
Filmosity:
What’s the main problem you’re trying to solve in your business for MotionGrade right now?
MotionGrey:
Right, so again just thinking back to when we first started, we were doing maybe one order a day.
MotionGrey:
Now we’re doing 200.
MotionGrey:
So the main problem we’re trying to solve is number one, what are the systems that we need to build right now that we can get to 100 million.
MotionGrey:
Who are the type of people we need to work together with so that we can all collaborate and move together as a team to get to that point as well?
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
Because it’s not a two-man show anymore. Right? You need to build a team to work together to get to that point.
Filmosity:
Can you talk to me, like, I always hear this, you know, we talk about gurus earlier.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Or whatever, business books. People always say systems, systems.
MotionGrey:
Right.
Filmosity:
Can you simplify that?
Filmosity:
Like what does that actually, I hear that all the time and I know it’s important, but it’s like, what does that actually, like how do you create systems?
MotionGrey:
Right.
Filmosity:
Like what does that mean? Can you simplify it down?
MotionGrey:
For sure. So I’ll try to give you an example.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
When we’re doing about 200 orders.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
How do you, where do you fulfill that from?
MotionGrey:
So you see here, we have about 750 pallets.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
We’re doing about 20 pallets a day for outbound.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
Now, this is where we need to do our math and making sure that we have sufficient inflow of goods to match the outflow of goods.
Filmosity:
Makes sense. Okay.
MotionGrey:
Now, when you’re dealing with bigger numbers, again, it’s not a one-person show.
MotionGrey:
You’re dealing with different stakeholders and teammates to delegate a specific role within the company to focus on.
Filmosity:
But what systems really do for you is you’re trying to connect the information across each team member in an efficient way.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
Right?
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
So that would be really one of the main problem I’m trying to solve is how do you get really good information to our teammates in the most efficient way?
MotionGrey:
And how do you nourish that information so that you can make a decision when you look at that number across different teams?
Filmosity:
Okay, I think I kind of get it.
MotionGrey:
Okay.
Filmosity:
So it’s like how to find a way to make sure all the things are tracked.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
And for that tracked information to be passed along to everyone in your team who needs it.
MotionGrey:
Correct.
Filmosity:
Once they have all that, then they can present some kind of data for you to see.
MotionGrey:
That’s right.
Filmosity:
So you see the big picture.
MotionGrey:
That’s right.
Filmosity:
Because you can’t be in there seeing everything.
Filmosity:
You just want the big picture after they kind of organized it.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, that is the very ideal situation that we need to be able to grow to the next level for sure.
Filmosity:
That’s the system.
MotionGrey:
That’s the system.
Filmosity:
You told me this.
Filmosity:
Most e-commerce businesses, they source out the logistics.
Filmosity:
They don’t have a huge warehouse.
Filmosity:
But you went in-house.
Filmosity:
What was the reasoning behind that?
Filmosity:
And how did you make it work?
Filmosity:
And is that actually the better approach?
MotionGrey:
For sure.
MotionGrey:
Well, number one is definitely we want to pass on cost savings to the customer.
MotionGrey:
By having your own fulfillment, you can have that potential.
MotionGrey:
Now, coming into the warehouse wasn’t really by choice, actually.
MotionGrey:
We worked with a 3PL in the beginning, all the way up until 2020-ish.
MotionGrey:
But during that time, our stuff is so big and bulky.
MotionGrey:
Our items would be like the lowest profit for the 3PLs to hold or to ship.
Filmosity:
Right.
MotionGrey:
So we had to transition from 3PL to self-fulfillment literally within two, three months, right?
Filmosity:
3PL, for those who don’t know.
Filmosity:
They’re a third-party logistics.
MotionGrey:
Third-party logistics.
MotionGrey:
But that also proved a really great opportunity for us because at that point, we had a sales funnel.
MotionGrey:
So we had the time to look into how to do our own fulfillment.
MotionGrey:
And by mastering this part, then you can actually pass on the cost savings now to the customer.
MotionGrey:
So again, I think for our items specifically, big, bulky, in general, 3PLs just don’t really have great rates for clients like us.
Filmosity:
Makes sense.
MotionGrey:
But it’s been, yeah, definitely a great learning experience.
MotionGrey:
But I would say this whole logistics and fulfillment thing is like a whole other business.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
How does all this feel, Andy?
Filmosity:
Just like looking at being at this warehouse, seeing how, you know, large the company is now.
Filmosity:
Like you’re sitting back.
Filmosity:
Do you ever look at it and think, like, how do you feel about all this?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, I definitely feel really blessed for sure.
MotionGrey:
I think doing this interview with you actually made me take a step back and really see, wow, this is amazing, right?
MotionGrey:
But I also think that I’m just excited for the journey.
MotionGrey:
I think we’re in a phase where I have teammates that are kind of ready to go to war with me.
MotionGrey:
And then I think I just want everyone to enjoy this growth journey of MotionGrey together.
MotionGrey:
But, man, it’s pretty insane for sure, but I definitely feel really blessed.
Filmosity:
I heard you mentioning you gave thanks to God.
Filmosity:
You said you thank God for everything.
Filmosity:
Are you religious?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, I’m Christian.
MotionGrey:
And MotionGrey is a Christian-owned business.
MotionGrey:
Both Alex and I, we are Christians.
MotionGrey:
And I got baptized in November 19, 2023.
MotionGrey:
And I think I just praise Jesus for everything that he’s provided for myself, for Alex, for the business.
MotionGrey:
And really just to be a good leader, you know, practice patience, love, and trying to be the best representation, of course, for the Lord.
Filmosity:
Totally. Amazing.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
So i have a tradition on this show where I ask previous business owners what question they want to ask you.
MotionGrey:
Sure.
Filmosity:
So this is that question and I’ll play for you here.
Vanilla Bean Bakeshop:
Would 13 year old you be happy with where you are at today in your business?
MotionGrey:
i think 13 year old Andy would say, who even are you?
MotionGrey:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
But all jokes aside, I think 13-year-old Andy would be really proud, not because of the scale of the business of where we’re at, but more so that I didn’t have any regrets when I think back about the decisions I’ve made.
MotionGrey:
Now, there might have been mistakes along this journey, but those are mistakes that kind of built me into who I am today.
MotionGrey:
So I think Andy would be really proud to see that, yeah, the time that I’ve spent was spent on the right thing.
Filmosity:
And what question do you have for the next business owner on this show?
MotionGrey:
Which role that you hired was the most impactful for your business?
Filmosity:
There you go.
MotionGrey:
All right.
MotionGrey:
We got to do a dab, man.
MotionGrey:
Do you want to do a handshake?
MotionGrey:
Or do you want a dap?
Filmosity:
I want a dap.
MotionGrey:
Dude, we gotta do this one.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, dude.
Filmosity:
Thank you, Andy.
Filmosity:
Appreciate your time.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
This was super fun.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Thanks for sharing.
MotionGrey:
I appreciate it.
Filmosity:
Yeah, no, thanks for sharing your story.
MotionGrey:
For sure.
Filmosity:
If you want standing desk, if you want more motion in your life, you know, increase your gray matter here.
MotionGrey:
Nice.
Filmosity:
You want adjustable dumbbells.
MotionGrey:
Let’s go.
Filmosity:
And walking pads and cool swag.
Filmosity:
You know where to go.
Filmosity:
It’s linked down below, which is search for MotionGrey.
Filmosity:
You can get all that.
Filmosity:
Nice chairs as well.
MotionGrey:
That’s a wrap.
Filmosity:
That’s a wrap.
Filmosity:
That’s a wrap, yeah.
Filmosity:
If you enjoyed this, make sure to like the video, hit the subscribe button.
MotionGrey:
Let’s go.
Filmosity:
And comment down below anything you have for Andy or me.
Filmosity:
And subscribe, like I said, because we’ll have more interviews coming soon with amazing people like Andy.
MotionGrey:
Hey.
Filmosity:
I’ll see you soon.
MotionGrey:
All right guys I appreciate you.
MotionGrey:
Each one of you gets several hundred dollar credit.
MotionGrey:
You can choose anything on the website.
Filmosity:
Wait how much?
MotionGrey:
700 dollars.
Filmosity:
Are you sure?
MotionGrey:
Yes.
Filmosity:
So no way.
MotionGrey:
So you can choose anything from our desks to our chairs, to our dumbbells and just let me know what you need and then we got you.
Filmosity:
Dude.
Filmosity:
What the heck?
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Key Moments
Key Moments
Transcript
Filmosity:
We are currently in a warehouse of over 10,000 square feet filled with tens of thousands of items, all of which are products of MotionGrey, a company that does over $18 million a year in revenue selling office furniture.
Filmosity:
How many orders do you do a day?
MotionGrey:
Around 200 orders.
MotionGrey:
That is around 15 to 18 pallets going out from the warehouse every single day.
Filmosity:
Every single day.
Filmosity:
And I’m here with Andy, the co-founder of MotionGrey, who started all of this because he wanted to flip some gaming chairs on Craigslist.
MotionGrey:
Craigslist, Kijiji, we’re just like doing anything we can to get any visibility.
Filmosity:
So my question is, how do you go from flipping gaming chairs on Craigslist to a multi-million dollar company?
Filmosity:
Well that’s what we’re here to find out.
Filmosity:
My name’s Andrew, and today I’m speaking with Andy to dive deep into the story of MotionGrey.
Filmosity:
Enjoy the video.
Filmosity:
How many items are actually in here?
Filmosity:
Andy, this is such a huge warehouse.
Filmosity:
Do you know off the top of your head, how many items do you have here?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, for sure.
MotionGrey:
So there are around 750 pallets here.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
So if we do the math, about 75,000 different pieces of product actually stored at River Drive.
Filmosity:
Dollar value.
Filmosity:
Yeah. – How much is it, roughly?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, around two million, actually.
Filmosity:
Two million dollars.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
To give you some sense of the scale, we do about 160 containers inbounding every single year.
MotionGrey:
So that’s around three to four containers per week.
MotionGrey:
So there’s a lot of volume and flow in our business on a day-to-day basis.
Filmosity:
How many orders do you do a day?
MotionGrey:
Around 200 orders on a daily basis, and that is around 15 to 18 pallets going out from the warehouse every single day.
Filmosity:
Every single day.
Filmosity:
One thing I noticed immediately walking into here is just how organized everything is, especially like this wall.
Filmosity:
Everything is so straight and just organized.
Filmosity:
Is that something like a requirement that you tell the people to organize this to do?
Filmosity:
Is that something you focus on?
MotionGrey:
Well hats off to the warehouse managers.
MotionGrey:
They’ve done a fantastic job with keeping it organized.
MotionGrey:
But again, for me, keeping things organized is a way to scale.
MotionGrey:
You want to reduce as much variability in the business as much as you can.
MotionGrey:
And I think things haven’t been disorganized in the past, but we’re trying to really build out structure within the business to make sure that everything is as structured as we can be.
Filmosity:
This is all so incredible.
Filmosity:
I know it’s just a warehouse, but really it’s not just a warehouse.
Filmosity:
What makes this interesting is the story behind all of this.
Filmosity:
And that’s what we’re here to learn about today.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, so try out the chair, man.
Filmosity:
These are…
MotionGrey:
How is it?
Filmosity:
Dude, it’s so much better than the one I have at home.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
I really need to get, like the lumbar support, you know?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, it’s on point, I would say.
Oh my gosh.
Filmosity:
How did MotionGrey get started?
Filmosity:
Why was office furniture the business to get into?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, so funny enough, it wasn’t actually standing desk to begin with.
MotionGrey:
It was gaming chairs.
MotionGrey:
So my business partner, Alex, and I, we actually wanted to introduce a product to the market.
MotionGrey:
But at the time, we were in our early 20s in university.
MotionGrey:
So all we knew was like gaming, sports, and eSports was like on the rise.
MotionGrey:
Now, gaming chairs specifically is because it’s bigger, it’s bulkier, so the barrier of entry is higher, right?
Filmosity:
Well, how did you transition from gaming chairs to office furniture?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, for sure. So I think it’s all about the addressable market.
MotionGrey:
Gaming chairs, if you remember, were all very vibrant in colors, right?
MotionGrey:
You got the red and black, you know, pink and black, blue and black.
MotionGrey:
But we actually tried out Black on Black.
MotionGrey:
And we started to see that orders were coming from business customers.
MotionGrey:
They were ordering by like a quantity of like five or six or seven at a time.
MotionGrey:
And that’s when it clicked.
MotionGrey:
It was like, okay, like this office furniture like niche is more closely related to what we’re trying to do.
MotionGrey:
Like offering great quality products at an affordable price.
MotionGrey:
At least that was the company goal at the time.
MotionGrey:
And at that point, we were looking at complementary products to our office chairs, our office gaming chairs.
MotionGrey:
And that’s when the standing desk became an idea.
MotionGrey:
Now, initially, it was just going to be gaming desk, right?
MotionGrey:
But standing desk was on the right, pun intended, okay?
MotionGrey:
But I think why standing desk was so, I mean, such a good product that we introduced because it had a tangible feature to a traditional item, right?
MotionGrey:
Desk did not have any features at that time, like, say, six, seven years ago.
MotionGrey:
And I think it really allowed just, you know, the ergonomics for customers to be adjusted with the product itself.
MotionGrey:
So that was kind of the inception of why we went into e-commerce and office furniture.
MotionGrey:
And that’s how MotionGrey started.
Filmosity:
So the transition came from just observing your customer base.
Filmosity:
You’re like wait a lot of business customers are ordering these gaming chairs.
Filmosity:
So it makes sense to make that transition.
Filmosity:
Let me just backtrack slightly.
Filmosity:
When you were flipping gaming chairs, or you’re selling gaming chairs, you were doing it on craigslist?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, I do everything right.
MotionGrey:
Craigslist, Kijiji, Facebook Marketplace.
MotionGrey:
Facebook marketplace just came out at that time.
Filmosity:
Yeah
MotionGrey:
So it was like doing anything we can to get any visibility.
MotionGrey:
Craigslist was a big part of that for sure from a local base.
MotionGrey:
But it was like trying any type of avenues.
Filmosity:
So was it buying gaming chairs from like a supplier or somewhere and then just like listing it on Craigslist and delivering it yourself to those people?
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
Filmosity:
How did that work?
MotionGrey:
So we bought the items from our suppliers.
MotionGrey:
Import it over to Canada, stored it.
Filmosity:
Where did you store it?
MotionGrey:
The garage man.
MotionGrey:
We self-stored it for sure, got to cut cost right?
Filmosity:
Yeah
MotionGrey:
But yeah, definitely like doing anything we can to find customers in the beginning.
MotionGrey:
And then we discovered e-commerce was possible
Filmosity:
What was like the lightbulb moment?
Filmosity:
Okay wait, this office furniture, standing desk, this is going to work.
Filmosity:
And what kind of encouraged you to go down this path?
MotionGrey:
Getting the first sale online.
MotionGrey:
I think to me we were in a state of unknown for a very long time.
MotionGrey:
But once you got the first sale it really defined that this e-commerce thing had potential.
MotionGrey:
It’s just a matter of how do you do it again, and do it like in scale on a per day basis,right.
MotionGrey:
So I think that was like a huge like mental like jump that I had when the first sale came.
MotionGrey:
I was like, man, this is mind-blowing.
MotionGrey:
There’s potential.
Filmosity:
Was it the first sale that you had with the gaming chairs?
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
Filmosity:
Do you still remember that day?
MotionGrey:
Dude, I remember that day, man.
Filmosity:
Can you talk me through that day?
MotionGrey:
It was a white on black challenger chair.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
I think it was in Quebec.
Filmosity:
In Quebec?
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Oh, the order was from Quebec.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, the order size was about $290.
MotionGrey:
And it was mind-blowing.
MotionGrey:
It was like, dude, someone bought our chair.
MotionGrey:
And then now we’re figuring out how to fulfill it.
Filmosity:
Yeah, yeah.
Filmosity:
How are you going to get to them?
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
MotionGrey:
That’s the entrepreneurship journey.
MotionGrey:
It’s like, okay, you’re kind of moving past each little level.
MotionGrey:
You figure out each step.
MotionGrey:
And then you’re trying to repeat it again.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
But after you discover all the different points and levels to conquer, it’s just about replicating that step over and over again to grow a business.
Filmosity:
When you guys started, did you just, you know, like, did you bootstrap this yourself?
Filmosity:
How much did this initially cost when you started doing this?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, so it’s $8,000 from myself and Alex, and totaling $16,000.
MotionGrey:
We imported 80 chairs to begin with.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
And then we kind of kept on rolling on inventory from 80 chairs to 300.
MotionGrey:
And then from 300, you kind of grow to 450.
MotionGrey:
And then now it’s…
Filmosity:
Now it’s, what, 200 a day?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, 200 a day.
MotionGrey:
That’s insane.
MotionGrey:
That’s like, I guess, like 75% of the container.
Filmosity:
What advice do you have for people when it comes to, say, like picking co-founders?
Filmosity:
Do you have any advice on how to choose the right co-founder and if you should or when should you co-found?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, I mean, I think we got really lucky together at that age as well, early 20s, right?
MotionGrey:
I think as you grow older, you become wiser in the type of people you want to surround yourself with.
MotionGrey:
Now, that wisdom, I think it’s through a lot of trial and tribulations that you understand what your boundaries are.
MotionGrey:
Now, I would say if I were to give any advice, it would be to look at their character.
MotionGrey:
And see if you can vibe with them even outside of the business of the context of business.
MotionGrey:
Do they have can you trust them?
MotionGrey:
Are they hard working?
MotionGrey:
How are they under stress right?
MotionGrey:
But again how do you know these things when you don’t you never like worked with them before?
Filmosity:
yeah
MotionGrey:
So i would say yeah look at their character.
MotionGrey:
Now, if you’re looking at it from more of a business perspective, like trying to grow together, I think just having the right roles and focuses on the business.
MotionGrey:
You got to identify that in the beginning really concretely so that there’s no hard feelings when things don’t go the way you think.
MotionGrey:
Again, but these things are things that you kind of grow to understand, to structure.
MotionGrey:
And if you think about our case, we started when we were early 20s, so we didn’t think about any of that.
Filmosity:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Filmosity:
You just kind of like, jump into it.
MotionGrey:
Exactly, but the character part is what really meshed us together.
Filmosity:
When you started out, what were some of the biggest struggles you had to go through and learn?
MotionGrey:
Yeah biggest struggle I think was just the whole understanding of waht to do for like an e-commerce business.
MotionGrey:
I think everything was scrappy, and we tried to learn things as we go.
MotionGrey:
Even the first sale we made.
MotionGrey:
Okay, we got the sale. What do we do now?2
MotionGrey:
Okay, do we need to set up a bank account?
MotionGrey:
How do we do fulfillment?
MotionGrey:
Okay, if we have any customer service issues, okay, how do we deal with that?
MotionGrey:
So I think it was really just the whole learning process about how do you make this work?
MotionGrey:
Now, struggle, I think it’s coming from a sense of, oh, man, like, damn, like, what do I do?
MotionGrey:
Like, oh, man, I feel a little bit stressed here.
MotionGrey:
But I think to me, like, it was just a fun journey.
MotionGrey:
Like it’s still a fun journey.
MotionGrey:
Like my perspective of the whole business and e-commerce thing is like I’m just enjoying that I’m in this ride.
MotionGrey:
Like to be able to learn and do this like it’s awesome.
MotionGrey:
So it was always just very fun.
MotionGrey:
Even now.
Filmosity:
Wow so it wasn’t even you didn’t really have i guess hardships struggles.
Filmosity:
Like it was hard obviously.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
But you just you just enjoyed it it was just fun for you and that’s how you’re able to go through it?
MotionGrey:
I think so.
MotionGrey:
To me, my perspective was there really isn’t anything that can get me down.
MotionGrey:
If it fails, then I learn a bunch of new skills.
MotionGrey:
Am I going to do my next thing?
MotionGrey:
But it’s just repetition at that point.
MotionGrey:
I think that everything obviously worked out perfectly, but the perspective was always to just learn and grow.
Filmosity:
Someone’s watching this like, “Oh my gosh, e-commerce. This is so cool. I want to get into it.”
MotionGrey:
Right.
Filmosity:
What advice do you have for them?
MotionGrey:
Okay, number one, don’t believe any of the internet gurus saying that it’s going to be easy, okay?
MotionGrey:
It’s super, super tough.
MotionGrey:
Now I think the advice I would give is understanding your position.
MotionGrey:
So what I mean by that is you have both time and capital as the factors that you need to understand what you have.
MotionGrey:
Now say if you have time but no capital, I think my advice would be to learn skills, transferable skills that you can learn and possibly build a business afterwards.
MotionGrey:
So things like email marketing, you know, advertisement like Facebook, Google ads, or even designing a website.
MotionGrey:
I think these are all skills that can be transferred when you do have time and the money to grow your e-commerce business.
MotionGrey:
Now if you have both time and capital, then you can possibly look into getting your first product and then selling it through on marketplaces.
MotionGrey:
Because the direct-to-consumer method is super hard.
MotionGrey:
You have to learn way too many things to try to get your first sale.
MotionGrey:
So I think to understand that position is very, very important.
MotionGrey:
Now if you don’t have both, then you probably need to figure out how to kind of maneuver that and go from there.
MotionGrey:
But that would be my final advice.
Filmosity:
What did you have at the start?
MotionGrey:
Dude, I had both a lot of time and a little capital.
MotionGrey:
That’s why we were able to get our first 80 chairs.
Filmosity:
When did Ocean Grey officially start?
MotionGrey:
2018.
Filmosity:
2018 and now it’s 2025.
Filmosity:
What was kind of like the revenue from each year trajectory, roughly?
MotionGrey:
For sure, for sure.
Filmosity:
So this is very interesting because I think everything fell into the right places, right?
MotionGrey:
Officially started 2018.
MotionGrey:
I think first year was about $750,000 in revenue.
MotionGrey:
And then we went up to 1.5.
MotionGrey:
And then now we’re going into 2020, which is when COVID hit.
Filmosity:
Yes.
MotionGrey:
Okay, now this is the crazy part.
MotionGrey:
We 5x in 2020.
Filmosity:
Because everyone’s at home.
MotionGrey:
Everyone’s from home.
MotionGrey:
And the shift from traditional desk to standing desk was, like, across the whole just world became what was a habit.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
Right?
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
So, yeah, a huge part was transitioning into the work from home structure really catapulted our top line and just business in general.
MotionGrey:
And even if you think about it now like it’s it’s become a habit.
MotionGrey:
People work from home people need standing desk and office chairs.
MotionGrey:
The next year I think it’s around the same around the 7.5.
MotionGrey:
And then next year kind of went to the 14s.
MotionGrey:
And then now we’re kind of here at 18 and then trying to get to the 25s to 50s in the next couple years.
Filmosity:
Someone hears this they hear you say the first year is $750,000.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Can you kind of like break down the realities of that?
Filmosity:
Because they might think like, oh my God, you can make so much money doing this.
Filmosity:
But can you kind of give them almost like a reality check and like actually, like it’s not just all $750,000.
MotionGrey:
Right.
MotionGrey:
2018 is the official time, but we actually started even in 2016.
MotionGrey:
But if you want to talk about official incorporation date, then that would be the time.
Filmosity:
I see.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
Now, top line, $750,000.
MotionGrey:
but there’s so many in-betweens that you have to account for, right?
MotionGrey:
Do you have an efficient fulfillment process?
MotionGrey:
Are you using the right money and a capital for the right ad sources?
MotionGrey:
And now if you trickle down to the bottom, we weren’t really making much.
MotionGrey:
But it was enough to let you know that there is a proof of concept and that if it can reduce expense, then there is more margins to play with.
MotionGrey:
But the reality is, I think it takes a lot of time to understand what you have and how to operate efficiently.
MotionGrey:
And I think the kind of cliche two to three years until you really see any money is quite true.
MotionGrey:
Because you really don’t know what you’re doing in the first two years.
Filmosity:
How much revenue did you bring in before incorporation in 2016?
MotionGrey:
Dude, it was like $200.
MotionGrey:
Like legit.
MotionGrey:
It was definitely like on the smaller side for sure.
MotionGrey:
But again, proof of concept, everything worked.
MotionGrey:
But then if you look at it from a year-to-year basis, it was like, you know, a 3x to a 5x from the year before.
MotionGrey:
Now it’s just a matter of like replicating that.
MotionGrey:
And I think the compound growth is really cool to see.
Filmosity:
What are actually the expenses and costs that comes with operating a business like this?
Filmosity:
What are like monthly costs or yearly costs?
MotionGrey:
For sure.
MotionGrey:
I think if we’re talking about where we’re at right now, there’s a lot to think about, right?
MotionGrey:
There is storage cost, there is employee cost, ad cost, and fulfillment cost.
MotionGrey:
And if you add everything together, it is quite substantial.
MotionGrey:
It is about like $350,000.
Filmosity:
A month?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, a month.
Filmosity:
Jeez.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
And then now when you’re trickling it down, yeah, the margins aren’t as glamorous as what people say.
Filmosity:
How many employees do you have?
MotionGrey:
We have 25.
Filmosity:
25.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, 25.
MotionGrey:
10 here in Vancouver, head office.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
15 overseas.
Filmosity:
Wow.
Filmosity:
What are margins like, roughly?
MotionGrey:
Margins are like 15%.
Filmosity:
15%?
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
We’re trying to make it work, for sure.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
But I think we’re in a good position, at least in the e-commerce space as well.
MotionGrey:
And to really be able to grow the business, I think you do need some margins to pull.
Filmosity:
Yeah, I was going to mention, you’re in that phase where you’re just reinvesting and trying to grow.
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
Filmosity:
That’s how you’re able to grow so fast.
MotionGrey:
That’s right.
Filmosity:
So MotionGrade does about $18 million a year in revenue.
Filmosity:
That’s about eight figures.
Filmosity:
That is eight figures.
Filmosity:
How does the business go from zero to one million and then one million to 10 million and beyond?
MotionGrey:
I would say both scenarios are very difficult, but the problems are a little bit different.
MotionGrey:
From zero to one million, you are trying to come up with processes, workflows, understanding what you have.
MotionGrey:
And you’re trying to really create a workflow that can get you to the one million.
MotionGrey:
I would say from one to ten, you kind of know what you have and you’re trying to scale.
MotionGrey:
Now, with that said, with the realm of e-commerce, for us, it was all about trying to find what that flow is from having the product to getting it to the customer’s hands.
MotionGrey:
And getting to 10 million, actually, in e-commerce, once you understand the workflows and processes, you can kind of get to 10 million.
MotionGrey:
But it’s about getting to the 20s, the 25s, that’s when it becomes really tricky, right?
MotionGrey:
The same workflows and systems that you had before, just throw that out the door because it’s not going to work.
Filmosity:
Oh, wow.
MotionGrey:
Right?
MotionGrey:
And you start to have to look into softwares and hire different people to be part of the team.
MotionGrey:
And the problems that you may have before, whether it’s coming up with a workflow, is not the question you’re looking at now.
MotionGrey:
It’s about how do you fit people within the company culture so we can all work together as a team.
MotionGrey:
You’re dealing with things like organization, like you’re trying to keep everything as structured as possible because you want as little variability as you may experience.
MotionGrey:
And everything gets amplified once you’re doing bigger numbers.
MotionGrey:
So these fundamentals are actually super key when trying to scale your business.
Filmosity:
So zero to one million is just figuring out your systems, figuring out your flow?
MotionGrey:
Correct.
Filmosity:
Something that works and when it works you can get to that 1 million.
MotionGrey:
Yeah now I would say it’s probably gonna be a very inefficient 1 million.
MotionGrey:
There’s a lot of expenses that you can probably cut. Right. But I would say it’s about understanding the workflows and the proof of concept of what you can do.
Filmosity:
Right.
MotionGrey:
To try to get from that 1 to 10 and then you start to reduce expense afterwards.
Filmosity:
Right, you get to it inefficiently.
MotionGrey:
Yes.
Filmosity:
But you got to it, like, okay, I did it, but what can I optimize now?
MotionGrey:
Exactly.
Filmosity:
That’s how you get to the eight figures.
MotionGrey:
Yes.
Filmosity:
But then when you get to the eight figures of 10 million, you said just completely, it’s not that anymore.
Filmosity:
Now it’s just about people.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, people, systems, and making sure that you’re reducing as many possible mistakes within the business as you may face. Because everything gets amplified once you go from 20 to let’s say 50 to 100.
MotionGrey:
So we’re trying to reduce again the variability so that that cost will be reduced as well once you grow bigger.
Filmosity:
What’s the main problem you’re trying to solve in your business for MotionGrade right now?
MotionGrey:
Right, so again just thinking back to when we first started, we were doing maybe one order a day.
MotionGrey:
Now we’re doing 200.
MotionGrey:
So the main problem we’re trying to solve is number one, what are the systems that we need to build right now that we can get to 100 million.
MotionGrey:
Who are the type of people we need to work together with so that we can all collaborate and move together as a team to get to that point as well?
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
Because it’s not a two-man show anymore. Right? You need to build a team to work together to get to that point.
Filmosity:
Can you talk to me, like, I always hear this, you know, we talk about gurus earlier.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Or whatever, business books. People always say systems, systems.
MotionGrey:
Right.
Filmosity:
Can you simplify that?
Filmosity:
Like what does that actually, I hear that all the time and I know it’s important, but it’s like, what does that actually, like how do you create systems?
MotionGrey:
Right.
Filmosity:
Like what does that mean? Can you simplify it down?
MotionGrey:
For sure. So I’ll try to give you an example.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
When we’re doing about 200 orders.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
How do you, where do you fulfill that from?
MotionGrey:
So you see here, we have about 750 pallets.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
We’re doing about 20 pallets a day for outbound.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
Now, this is where we need to do our math and making sure that we have sufficient inflow of goods to match the outflow of goods.
Filmosity:
Makes sense. Okay.
MotionGrey:
Now, when you’re dealing with bigger numbers, again, it’s not a one-person show.
MotionGrey:
You’re dealing with different stakeholders and teammates to delegate a specific role within the company to focus on.
Filmosity:
But what systems really do for you is you’re trying to connect the information across each team member in an efficient way.
Filmosity:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
Right?
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
So that would be really one of the main problem I’m trying to solve is how do you get really good information to our teammates in the most efficient way?
MotionGrey:
And how do you nourish that information so that you can make a decision when you look at that number across different teams?
Filmosity:
Okay, I think I kind of get it.
MotionGrey:
Okay.
Filmosity:
So it’s like how to find a way to make sure all the things are tracked.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
And for that tracked information to be passed along to everyone in your team who needs it.
MotionGrey:
Correct.
Filmosity:
Once they have all that, then they can present some kind of data for you to see.
MotionGrey:
That’s right.
Filmosity:
So you see the big picture.
MotionGrey:
That’s right.
Filmosity:
Because you can’t be in there seeing everything.
Filmosity:
You just want the big picture after they kind of organized it.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, that is the very ideal situation that we need to be able to grow to the next level for sure.
Filmosity:
That’s the system.
MotionGrey:
That’s the system.
Filmosity:
You told me this.
Filmosity:
Most e-commerce businesses, they source out the logistics.
Filmosity:
They don’t have a huge warehouse.
Filmosity:
But you went in-house.
Filmosity:
What was the reasoning behind that?
Filmosity:
And how did you make it work?
Filmosity:
And is that actually the better approach?
MotionGrey:
For sure.
MotionGrey:
Well, number one is definitely we want to pass on cost savings to the customer.
MotionGrey:
By having your own fulfillment, you can have that potential.
MotionGrey:
Now, coming into the warehouse wasn’t really by choice, actually.
MotionGrey:
We worked with a 3PL in the beginning, all the way up until 2020-ish.
MotionGrey:
But during that time, our stuff is so big and bulky.
MotionGrey:
Our items would be like the lowest profit for the 3PLs to hold or to ship.
Filmosity:
Right.
MotionGrey:
So we had to transition from 3PL to self-fulfillment literally within two, three months, right?
Filmosity:
3PL, for those who don’t know.
Filmosity:
They’re a third-party logistics.
MotionGrey:
Third-party logistics.
MotionGrey:
But that also proved a really great opportunity for us because at that point, we had a sales funnel.
MotionGrey:
So we had the time to look into how to do our own fulfillment.
MotionGrey:
And by mastering this part, then you can actually pass on the cost savings now to the customer.
MotionGrey:
So again, I think for our items specifically, big, bulky, in general, 3PLs just don’t really have great rates for clients like us.
Filmosity:
Makes sense.
MotionGrey:
But it’s been, yeah, definitely a great learning experience.
MotionGrey:
But I would say this whole logistics and fulfillment thing is like a whole other business.
Filmosity:
Yeah.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
How does all this feel, Andy?
Filmosity:
Just like looking at being at this warehouse, seeing how, you know, large the company is now.
Filmosity:
Like you’re sitting back.
Filmosity:
Do you ever look at it and think, like, how do you feel about all this?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, I definitely feel really blessed for sure.
MotionGrey:
I think doing this interview with you actually made me take a step back and really see, wow, this is amazing, right?
MotionGrey:
But I also think that I’m just excited for the journey.
MotionGrey:
I think we’re in a phase where I have teammates that are kind of ready to go to war with me.
MotionGrey:
And then I think I just want everyone to enjoy this growth journey of MotionGrey together.
MotionGrey:
But, man, it’s pretty insane for sure, but I definitely feel really blessed.
Filmosity:
I heard you mentioning you gave thanks to God.
Filmosity:
You said you thank God for everything.
Filmosity:
Are you religious?
MotionGrey:
Yeah, I’m Christian.
MotionGrey:
And MotionGrey is a Christian-owned business.
MotionGrey:
Both Alex and I, we are Christians.
MotionGrey:
And I got baptized in November 19, 2023.
MotionGrey:
And I think I just praise Jesus for everything that he’s provided for myself, for Alex, for the business.
MotionGrey:
And really just to be a good leader, you know, practice patience, love, and trying to be the best representation, of course, for the Lord.
Filmosity:
Totally. Amazing.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
So i have a tradition on this show where I ask previous business owners what question they want to ask you.
MotionGrey:
Sure.
Filmosity:
So this is that question and I’ll play for you here.
Vanilla Bean Bakeshop:
Would 13 year old you be happy with where you are at today in your business?
MotionGrey:
i think 13 year old Andy would say, who even are you?
MotionGrey:
Okay.
MotionGrey:
But all jokes aside, I think 13-year-old Andy would be really proud, not because of the scale of the business of where we’re at, but more so that I didn’t have any regrets when I think back about the decisions I’ve made.
MotionGrey:
Now, there might have been mistakes along this journey, but those are mistakes that kind of built me into who I am today.
MotionGrey:
So I think Andy would be really proud to see that, yeah, the time that I’ve spent was spent on the right thing.
Filmosity:
And what question do you have for the next business owner on this show?
MotionGrey:
Which role that you hired was the most impactful for your business?
Filmosity:
There you go.
MotionGrey:
All right.
MotionGrey:
We got to do a dab, man.
MotionGrey:
Do you want to do a handshake?
MotionGrey:
Or do you want a dap?
Filmosity:
I want a dap.
MotionGrey:
Dude, we gotta do this one.
MotionGrey:
Yeah, dude.
Filmosity:
Thank you, Andy.
Filmosity:
Appreciate your time.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
This was super fun.
MotionGrey:
Yeah.
Filmosity:
Thanks for sharing.
MotionGrey:
I appreciate it.
Filmosity:
Yeah, no, thanks for sharing your story.
MotionGrey:
For sure.
Filmosity:
If you want standing desk, if you want more motion in your life, you know, increase your gray matter here.
MotionGrey:
Nice.
Filmosity:
You want adjustable dumbbells.
MotionGrey:
Let’s go.
Filmosity:
And walking pads and cool swag.
Filmosity:
You know where to go.
Filmosity:
It’s linked down below, which is search for MotionGrey.
Filmosity:
You can get all that.
Filmosity:
Nice chairs as well.
MotionGrey:
That’s a wrap.
Filmosity:
That’s a wrap.
Filmosity:
That’s a wrap, yeah.
Filmosity:
If you enjoyed this, make sure to like the video, hit the subscribe button.
MotionGrey:
Let’s go.
Filmosity:
And comment down below anything you have for Andy or me.
Filmosity:
And subscribe, like I said, because we’ll have more interviews coming soon with amazing people like Andy.
MotionGrey:
Hey.
Filmosity:
I’ll see you soon.
MotionGrey:
All right guys I appreciate you.
MotionGrey:
Each one of you gets several hundred dollar credit.
MotionGrey:
You can choose anything on the website.
Filmosity:
Wait how much?
MotionGrey:
700 dollars.
Filmosity:
Are you sure?
MotionGrey:
Yes.
Filmosity:
So no way.
MotionGrey:
So you can choose anything from our desks to our chairs, to our dumbbells and just let me know what you need and then we got you.
Filmosity:
Dude.
Filmosity:
What the heck?
MotionGrey:
Yeah.