Necessity is the mother of invention but liquor gets the cogs of the machine moving. In this case, two Colorado State University students saw a need for better beer pong tables and a night of drinking inspired a business plan.
Bradley Nelson and Zachary Peek were freshmen as CSU, partaking in the typical evening of pong and bad decisions. We talked about all the make-shift beer pong tables at different house parties,” the duo explained, “and we just kept joking around about how we could make one that was way better.”
Their only holdup, at the time, was space. A cramped dorm doesn’t exactly make for the best workstation, especially when wood and power tools are involved in the crafting process. In their sophomore year, crashing in a much roomier dorm, the wood-shaving covered entrepreneurs found sufficient space and ample time to whittle out their first custom made table.
“The table turned out way better than we were even anticipating. We showed our work off at a couple parties and people were really jacked about it. We posted it on Craigslist to try to sell it, and again to our surprise, it sold in a couple days.”
With a couple bucks in their pockets, and designs in their brains, the two engineering students started B&Z Custom Tables. Since they’re students first, Brad and Zach have made sure to grow the business slowly. Right now, a majority of their clients are from the Colorado area, since each table is hand delivered by the bros, but they did make the trek to North Carolina for one specific and special table.
One of their early creations came from a diehard Celtics fan living in the Tarheel state.
“This guy grew up on the Celtics and wanted a custom table for his place. So we drew up some plans that utilized the Celtics logo. This turned out to be one of the most intricate and labor intensive tables we produced.”
So how much does a custom Celts table set a guy back?
“The cost of each table depends on the final design. Our first tables were less complicated so the prices were lower. As the difficulty in design and quality of final products have increased, so has our pricing. A standard table will sell for around $400 now. This isn’t a flat rate and it’s dependent on each individual order.
For now, B&Z are going easy on scaling the business, but as soon as they get more free time, they’re going full bore into production.
“We started this company in hopes that it would turn into something big. Over the first couple of months it has showed promise, and we have been able to get our name out on Facebook and through word of mouth. We are currently working on expanding our product line from strictly beer pong tables to all varieties of party and tailgate products, including custom corn hole sets, bar signs, in home bars, anything really. What started out as a fun hobby, turned into what could possibly be a legitimate business.”
After graduation, both men have full intention of moving forward with the company.