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They're out. They can't make the tires anymore.
That's when most people reach for the panic button. It's not your fault, but this really can threaten your business.
Mark Chelgren isn't most people. This happened to him. The loss of the tire manufacturer threatened Frog Legs, the company Chelgren created to make after-market - after they've been sold to the consumer - supplies for wheelchairs.
Chelgren took a hard look at his options, then offered to buy the assets of the Eurothane company he used to buy from. The equipment should be up and running in Ottumwa within a month.
Frog Legs started in an unlikely place. Chelgren drew the original design on the back of a napkin in a Mexican restaurant in Colorado. He had spent the day with some wheelchair-bound athletes who were learning to ski.
Chelgren loves physics. When the skiers told him that vibrations were a major problem with wheelchairs, he saw a challenge he couldn't resist and sketched out a design.
He figured wheelchair manufacturers already made the parts, it was just a matter of finding them.
He was wrong. Nobody made what he sketched. So Chelgren sent the idea to a manufacturer. He wasn't looking to make money off it; he had other things going on. The manufacturer told him the design wouldn't work.
Chelgren decided to prove that wrong. He set up shop in Vinton, Iowa, after talking with a friend. Frog Legs was born.
Chelgren moved to Ottumwa when he and his wife wanted their family to live closer to her parents. The company came with him. The move made sense, because Ottumwa has a wealth of trained machinists who can make the parts his company sells.
Frog Legs brought some 15 jobs to Ottumwa. That will grow when the Eurothane operation gets going.
Chelgren is still coming up with new ideas. He holds a patent for a new type of armor for military vehicles. Testing and marketing is beginning in partnership with a South Carolina company.
He also figured out how to make spinning rims for Frog Legs. Personalization is important when you're talking about equipment someone uses virtually every minute of the day.
But if you really want to get Chelgren going, ask him about Aaron Fotheringham.
Fotheringham is in a wheelchair, but you're more likely to find him at a skateboard park practicing tricks. He landed the first wheelchair backflip in July 2006, and ESPN profiled him in a special report.
Fotheringham uses Frog Legs, and he shows up in the company's catalog. Chelgren has an e-mail link to the ESPN video on his computer at work. He's proud of what Fotheringham does.
Yes, it helps marketing. But it also shows what people can do when they want to push their limits.
That's what keeps Chelgren inventing products and tweaking them. He wants to push the limits.
Besides, you never know when that napkin is going to transform into a business.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com
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