AOW Handmade

Annie Oakley Waterman is an entrepreneur and owner of AOW Handmade. AOW Handmade, founded in 2015, is a unique business that connects artisan enterprisers from all over the developing world to buyers in the United States. Whether it is textiles, silver, brass, paper maché or other materials, Annie seeks out socially responsible producers and helps them to sell their products to the western world. Annie’s favorite places to find her goods are in Mexico and Nepal, but she has loved every place she has been. Annie’s primary focus is sourcing ethically made products.

Like many entrepreneurs, in order to establish her business, Annie found a small niche and worked off of a need. Annie recognized the growing demand for artisan made products, and also that there was no real platform to connect them. There are a lot of companies that work with wholesalers, but Annie saw none working with small-scale producers on a one on one basis. Thus, she decided to seek out unique artisans, and expedite the sourcing process.

Starting AOW was certainly not easy. According to Annie, “I’ve created something that no one has really done before, which is difficult and scary because there is no real business model for it.” Annie first reached out to the Boulder SBDC in April of 2015. She signed up for the Boulder SBDC’s Business Bootcamp workshop, then accessed SBDC consultants. At the time she was struggling with pricing, as she had to cater to the needs of the clients, and thus create unique proposals for each one. According to Annie in regards to the workshop and consulting, “it really helped me with the breakdown of pricing, and how to manage my case by case situation. The consultant was great at offering different ideas, and reminding me that I need different avenues and streams of income. Having a bouncing board to process my ideas with was vital.”

Annie’s biggest challenge has been finding her target market. Annie explained to us, “large retail chains cannot fit me into their business, and it is tricky to find right priced products. My target is medium sized wholesalers.” Although her job is tough, Annie remains ambitious. She explained, “My goal is to get at least one or two retainer clients for stability, but the smaller ones are adding up.”

Annie is currently meeting her goals in regard to capital inflow. She understands that the nature of her business is volatile, as demand is constantly fluctuating, but is taking her challenges in stride. Annie explained, “You never quite know what the projects will be but that’s what keeps them exciting.” It is this inspiring spirit that has helped spur her success.

Annie has also just achieved a consulting position with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for an artisan project helping refugees to gain market access. Annie, and AOW Handmade have a promising future, and the Boulder SBDC is happy to be part of her journey.

Ku Cha House of Tea

Originally from China, husband and wife entrepreneurial team, Qin Liu and Rong Pan graduated from the Leeds School of Business at Colorado University with the dream of starting their own company. The original business idea was from Qin’s Business Plan Preparation class while enrolled in CU. In 2005, they launched their business, drawing upon the 5000-year-old tradition of drinking tea. In 2007, Qin and Rong changed the company’s original name from “The Leaf – All

Black Swift Technologies

Boulder-based company Black Swift Technologies was founded by three PhD students from the University of Colorado. The three men were inspired to start the company from their work in the field during their studies. At CU, they learned how to chase storms and collect data using old military equipment, which is relatively complicated to use. They set out to simplify the process with unmanned aircraft systems and Black Swift Technologies was born. Although they are

Bookcliff Vinyards

“We like drinking wine!” was the simple and honest reason that Ulla Merz and her husband John Garlich decided to open a winery and vineyard. “We started collecting wine in the 1970’s and grew grapes in our backyard. In 1994 we took grape growing and wine making classes and bought a vineyard in an area of Palisade called the Vinelands. That’s where we planted our first grapes in 1996. Bookcliff Vineyards was launched in 1999

ERC Insulation

ERC Insulation is a local, majority woman-owned and operated business based in Boulder, Colorado, serving Boulder, Denver, Jefferson, Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin Counties. The story surrounding the formation of ERC Insulation began in 2006, when Elton and Christine Randall formed Elton Construction and Design. Elton had difficulty finding a spray foam contractor for his jobs, so he sought a solution to this problem. Elton purchased a trailer with a spray foam reactor, which he could

Flight Deck Grill

One day, after leaving her full time job, Diann and her husband were at the Vance Brand airport in Longmont for flight class. She really just wanted to sit down at the end of the day and have some good food and cold drink. She realized that the Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, CO had a lot to offer except a restaurant. That desire and realization was the birth of The Flight Deck Grill. Over

Brewmented

We brew what we teach and we teach what we brew — and we’re gonna have fun. — Bill Campbell, Brewmented Oftentimes, a good business opportunity can be found by looking at an established industry in new and unique ways. For Bill Campbell and partner, Vlad Aleksiev, Brewmented was a solution to converting craft beer drinkers and wine/mead/cider affectionados to home brewers and winemakers. A home brewer since the 1970’s, Bill Campbell has watched the

Tech Venture Accelerator for Women

Grant opportunity available for SBIR/STTR proposal writing assistance

Live Stream Webinar Library