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V O L . X X I N O. X X S E P T E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 5 30 "We're all in," Howell says of Howell Ltd.'s pivot from being strictly a commercial photography stu- dio to being a technology/innovation company. For Kahn, the phrase "all in" accurately describes nearly a quarter century of being in the beads busi- ness. "We became a business purely by accident," he says, describing how the company got its start in 1991 literally on the front porch of his home selling beads on Saturdays, and then moved before the year was out to a rented space on Portland's Brighton Avenue to keep pace with an unexpectedly rapid growth in faithful customers. "We all had full-time jobs, we were all working for free," he recalls, crediting an early story in the Portland Press Herald with fueling demand for their beads and helping the company achieve enough sales to stay open six days a week and hire its fi rst paid employee. "We caught the beginning of the huge boom in the beading industry," he says. "When luck smiles on you, you have to grab your opportunity and run with it." at philosophy led to Caravan Beads' move to the more prominent retail location of Portland's Forest Avenue and its later store expansions; its successful move into wholesale in 1995 as a seller of imported Japanese seed beads through Miyuki; its early embrace of having an online presence via its own website; and its expansion into licensing independent retailers who've received training in the Caravan Beads business model. "I was getting four or fi ve calls a day from people all over the country who wanted to open a bead store," he says of the latter initiative. "In the middle of the bead- ing boom, I did training 51 out of 52 weekends … It was like a freight train racing down the tracks." Like Howell, Kahn says the 2008 crash hit Caravan Beads hard, with many of its bead store customers nationwide being forced to close their businesses. e company survived, in part, by retooling its wholesale packaging (e.g., being willing to sell in smaller quanti- ties) and by maintaining strong customer service. " anks to the Internet and because we're selling to Europe, we had an 'insurance policy,'" Kahn says. "All of our current largest customers are in Europe, not the United States. Our customer base was diversifi ed enough that even though gross reven ues were running 50% to 55% of what they were at our peak, we've remained profi table." Kahn admits that even with a quarter century of being in business, he's never lost the mindset of being a "startup." He takes solace in something Mary Ellen Fitzgerald, founder of the Portland market research fi rm Critical Insights, once told him: "As long as you're terrifi ed, you'll probably do OK. Once complacency sets in, you're dead." "I live with terror on a daily basis," he says, with a smile. J MC, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at @ . and @ JM » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E MEMBER FDIC Let's Make It Happen. Call Today: 1.888.725.2207 Isn't it your business? grow time to You have the strategy. NORWAY SAVINGS HAS YOUR BACK. OUR BUSINESS PRODUCTS • Commercial Lending • Online Banking Services • Checking & Savings Accounts • Money Market Accounts • Remote Deposit Capture • Cash Management Services • Health Savings Accounts Norway Savings Commercial Team Dana Tait, Melissa Babineau, Dan Walsh, Rick Flagg, and Rob Harville norwaysavingsbank.com F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY The patented photography system 'Artemis,' which produces color-accurate images of small items, captures an "image" of beads from Caravan Beads at the Howell Ltd. studio at the Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook.

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