Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn Morrison.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
From meager beginnings of cutting metal by hand and spraying painting each individual line on the American Flag, we took a product line of less than 5 designs to over 30,000 available options! Dirty Acres was started in 2015 as a simple solution to a common off-roading problem of Jeepers getting damage to their radiator when either rocks or tree branches get kicked up on the trail. Instead of putting a bare piece of perforated metal sheeting behind the grille, why not paint it and make it interesting! Our first insert was a Texas flag, of course, and quickly expanded. In 2017 we finally purchased our first sub straight printer, and our business blew up from there!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Business ownership is never a smooth road. There are always trials and tribulations along the way, but nothing worthwhile is easy. We’ve had months where we barely made cost, and others when we had extra. There were times we were stressing about when our supplies would be delivered, and other times when we didn’t have room to store it all.
I think one of the hardest parts of business ownership is making sure we have enough business to keep our employees paid. Our staff is part of our family now, and regardless of how slow or busy our workload is, we ensure they have enough hours in to pay their bills. The security we offer our employees depends on a delicate balance of keeping enough money in the account to cover the times that are slow. Balance is key!
We’ve been impressed with Dirty Acres, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Dirty Acres is the industry leader in Jeep grille inserts. What is a grille insert? Basically, they’re perforated aluminum sheeting that we have powder coated and we print all sorts of designs on them. Not only does it add a little fun to your Jeep theme, but it’s also functional! Designed to protect your radiator from highway and off-road hazards, Dirty Acres Grille Inserts make your Jeep stand out above the rest. Our customers are always tickled to walk out of a store and see people taking pictures of and posing in front of their Jeep, and we honestly love to read messages about that. Hearing stories from our customers and seeing install pictures is really the highlight of what we do. It’s art come to life!
We place quality on the highest of priorities for our grille inserts. We start out by having our metal cut by our metal supplier so all are a consistent size. Next, the perforated aluminum is powder coated which not only gives a clean palate to print on but also adds an additional layer of protection to prevent rust, even though aluminum is pretty rust resistant. The ink and clear coat we use to print is UV cured, so the color will stand the test of time staying bright and vibrant for up to ten years in direct sunlight.
That being said, grille inserts are on the very front of your Jeep, so they will take more wear and tear than any other part of your vehicle. Think of how many rock chips you have on your hood and how many windshields you’ve replaced… Those are all the same rocks and bits of debris that will be hitting your grille insert. That very reason is why we have the industry leading lifetime warranty. If you get a bunch of rock chips or dings from highway driving, or you take out a tree on the trail, just send the insert back to us and we’ll replace it. We really do try to keep it that simple. Life is already hard enough – especially lately! Personally, we hate having to fight with a company to get a manufacturer warranty honored, and that’s why we keep it simple. Who has time for all that mess?
We work on building relationships with our customers because we’re all just PEOPLE, and we’re in this crazy life together. We don’t see customers as just a sale or a dollar amount – that’s not how we operate. We won’t sell anyone something that won’t work with their Jeep and try our best to do right by our customers. Feeling like you got taken advantage of is not anything we want anyone to feel, so we work hard to take care of them. Our goal is to make our customers even more proud of their Jeep, and want to give them something they want to show off!
Dirty Acres wasn’t built on the need to make a bunch of money or becoming millionaires – We built this business to make Jeeps look cool, save some radiators, and the headache/cost of replacing them!
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Business ownership isn’t for the faint of heart… It’s a lot of very hard work, brainstorming, creativity, problem solving, planning, etc. I hear a lot of people say ‘I want to start a business so I can set my own hours and work when I want…’. That’s not how business ownership works. For years, we put in 15 hour work days, went to sleep, and woke up and did it all again. We have a full staff now so we don’t have to work as much, but we still put in over 50 hours a week with help from 5 employees now.
Here are just a few things I wish someone would have told us before starting a business –
Don’t be afraid to take risks – Life is about taking risks and growing from chances taken. When we bought our first printer, it was VERY expensive and as a new business, our salesman wasn’t sure we’d get financed. We’d had our business license for 6 months at that point, and he told us he’d never seen anyone get approved with under 2 years of business income, so we were very doubtful we’d get approved for financing and thought we’d have to get personal financing to pay for it. The next day he called us up – Approved! He said that was the very first time he’d ever seen that happen without established business credit. Had we listened to him and didn’t apply because we ‘probably wouldn’t be approved’, we wouldn’t be where we are. Follow your heart, trust your gut, but use your head. Risks are scary and intimidating. Sean retired from the Marine Corps in 2015, and retired from his civil service job in 2017 to manage the production team at Dirty Acres full time. Was it scary to lose all that income all at once? YES! Was it worth it? Also YES!
There are no failures, only lessons. Business ownership involves all sorts of failures. Whether you stock up on 500 t-shirts and only sell 50 or you get into business with the wrong person, learn from those mistakes. Apply those lessons to your future endeavors. We all make mistakes, we all fail sometimes. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back to grinding.
Don’t be afraid to put in the hard work, and it’s a lot of hard work, even if it’s something you love. If you really want to make your dream come true, don’t give up. Whether you have to keep working a full time job and work on your business in the evening and on weekends, or you just jump in feet first, keep going. If you jump in and have to get a job to supplement your business income, do that! Having to take a step back and reevaluating isn’t a loss, it’s survival. Starting your own business is a lot like a duck on the water – looks like smooth sailing on the surface, but under the water that duck is paddling and paddling as fast as he can. While you may love what you do, it is work and you can’t stop innovating and pushing yourself to reach the next level. Just keep swimming!!!
Stagnation needs innovation – feeling stuck in a rut? Brainstorm with employees, friends, family, or even strangers to find ideas to move forward! We’ve reached out to our customer base on Facebook many times to find out what designs they’d like to see. You may know your business inside and out, but sometimes an outside perspective is what is needed to get the creative juices flowing.
The best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten is this – God puts you on a path for a reason. When you’re walking on the path He wants you to be on, the devil will do all he can to divert you from that path. If you feel like it’s just all falling apart, pray about it and make sure it’s not the devil throwing boulders your way. That bit of advice has helped us in so many areas of not only business ownership, but also life in general. It’s the reason we are where we are today.
Contact Info:
- Email: customerservice@dirtyacres.com
- Website: www.dirtyacres.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/dirtyacrestx
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/dirtyacres
- TikTok: @dirtyacres
Image Credits
Dirty Acres
