Star Wars Fan Forges Lightsaber Empire

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Those of us of a certain age may look back on being a kid with nostalgia. We were like, "Wow, wasn't it so great back then?" But guess what? Today's kids and grown-up kids have it better in a lot of ways. First of all, the internet. Second, video games have continued to improve.

And now, as you'll hear in this story, Star Wars fans can purchase their own custom working lightsaber. That's right. Welcome to "Side Hustle School." Welcome to a brand new week. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This story is all about an appliance repairman who moves into the ultra competitive world of lightsaber construction.

And also lightsaber repair because, you know, they break. He is now earning a full-time living with this project, fighting the evil empire, and equipping fans with battle-ready tools. How does he get started? How does he make it happen? And what can we learn from the story?

Well, stay tuned. You got about 30 seconds, and I'll tell you about the Star Wars fan forging a lightsaber empire. [Music]

If you are a fan of Star Wars as a kid, you may have owned a toy lightsaber to duel with friends or annoy your siblings. Back then, they were just telescoping plastic tubes. But now, grown-up Star Wars fans can have grown-up lightsabers, thanks to a small community of sabersmiths that are making lightsaber dreams come true.

Collectors spend hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars to buy unique sword handle designs, changing color blades, gyroscopic sensors, programmable audio, and more. And thanks to Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, we've entered a new era of explosive Star Wars enthusiasm. Justin Marshall started his Star Wars collection long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away when he got hand-me-down toys from his cousins. He always gravitated toward the lightsabers. Then as an adult, Justin began to build custom lightsabers for friends.

He started while he was working full-time as an appliance service technician. These bespoke projects were time-consuming. He invested in tools for his workshop, including machining equipment, a powder coder, and a 3D printer to make custom parts. The lightsaber market is an active community, easy to find and market to, but very competitive. Justin got more traction when a critical website in that community, the FX Saber Forum, made him an approved seller.

This success gave him exposure and credibility with the cosplay fans and collectors that frequented. We might say the force was with him. He knew, however, that if he wanted to scale, he would have to move from one-off sales to creating his own product. Because do or do not, there is no try. The first product he developed was a heat sink.

What is a heat sink, and what does it have to do with lightsabers? Those are two questions I had, but it turns out the LED bulbs in a lightsaber blade can make the handle literally too hot to hold, at least for inexperienced Jedi's. A heat sink will transfer the heat generated by the electronic device to a fluid medium, where it then dissipates from the device, providing more power to the Alliance. Justin's costs were $3.50, and he sold them for $15 each. Since launching in 2015, he has sold over 450 heat sinks, along with many other parts.

When selling a product or a part, Justin advises aiming for at least a 50% markup, because it takes a lot of time and energy to market, ship, package, and store products. The next evolution was to become a reseller of lightsaber parts such as lights, batteries, and handles. He had the know-how, and he had made a name for himself. So he asked himself, "Where do Jedi's go shopping for their lightsabers?" It turns out they no longer go to that galaxy bar, now they go to Etsy. So that's where he set up shop, and the reselling arm is now about 70% of his business.

Another aspect is product development. Once he got going, he began collaborating with others to design, finance, and bring new products to market. This mix of reselling parts on Etsy, creating customized lightsabers, and product development has allowed him to be profitable enough to quit his day job. Since last February, he's been focusing on Sabre Bay full-time, distributing his products and services throughout the galaxy. There are a lot of things that Justin enjoys about having his own business.

While employed as a technician, he wanted to provide customers with a high level of service. But someone else's decisions sometimes kept that from happening. He feels fortunate now that he was able to turn his hobby into a business, and he likes helping people do something that they enjoy. Also, he's never bored, as there's always something new, bigger, and better to bring to the market. Much to learn, he still has.

If he had to do something differently, he says he would have been smarter with his capital. When he got started, he said he had more of a hobby mind than a business mind, and he made some purchases that weren't strategic. He's also now contemplating whether or not to leave Etsy because of their fees. As far as advice, he says, pay attention to what other people want, because if they want it, it means that someone is not offering it. Enter that negative space and make a profit.

Congratulations to Justin on taking his hustle to the next level. And now, witness the power of this fully operational battle station. [Music]

All right, awesome project. Well done, Justin. Super cool to hear about this.

Now, just a couple comments from me on this part about leaving Etsy. So, I don't know his specific situation, but my general advice to someone who asked that would be don't do that, basically. And the only exception would be is if you have enough business and you deliberately want to remain small, you wanna be focused on this tight-knit community that is in the forums or coming to you directly. But it seems to me that people are always gonna go there to Etsy, in this case, looking for those things, those parts, et cetera. So, why wouldn't you wanna be the one to get their business?

And you can still work on bringing them to your website and selling direct after that. But it just seems like a great customer acquisition tool, and naturally, they're gonna have some fees for that. So, I think that's just part of acquiring customers. Just my two cents. Now, his website is very fan-centric, as it should be.

And what I mean by that is it's pretty clear that obviously it's a business, it's selling products, but it's clear that he is a fan of Starworks. And this is kind of illustrated throughout the copy, the photos he has, et cetera. He says, "Nothing transports you to that galaxy far, far away, like holding a high-quality laser sword." So, direct connection between that nostalgia and that love for the franchise and the products that he is selling. Also on his About page, which is well done, he says, "At the Savor Bay, we like to fly casual." Another Star Wars reference there. And he says, "Not that I don't take my business seriously, I just never want to lose that sense of fun and amazement I got six years ago when I entered this hobby." And goes on to tell more of his story, but the point is like he clearly is a fan.

And as a potential customer, you really connect with that. So, lots of cool stuff there. If you are a fan of Star Wars, definitely want to check it out. We will link it up on the show notes page. That page is site@slowschool.com/933.

Episode 933 as a new week is rolling out. Now, before I go, here's a little pop quiz for you. Maybe it's a fun fact. Did you know what software program Jedi use to open PDF files? The answer is Adobe One Kenobi.

That's right. No charge for that. You're learning all kinds of things here on the program. Do come back tomorrow. Make sure you're subscribed.

My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]

from the Onward Project.