EP462: Tim Leatherman - Build A $200 Million A Year Brand

While travelling in Europe with his wife for six months, Tim Leatherman made a practical note to modify his pocket knife to include a pair of pliers. Later, he saw the potential in that idea and started on the path to becoming the world’s first and, to this day, the world’s leading multitool producer. It took a few years to get things started and involved tremendous support from his wife and eventually his business partner, Steve Berliner, who helped Tim through the final stages of bringing Leatherman Knives to the market. In their first successful year, they hoped to sell 4000 knives but when Cabela’s, then only a mail order catalogue, featured their knives, they quickly sold 30,000 and attracted a lot of attention from L.L. Bean, Sharper Image, Neiman Marcus, and Eddie Bauer. Ten years later they sold 1 Million knives in one year.

Leatherman Knives was founded and remains in Tim’s home city, Portland, Oregon. They pride themselves on being almost entirely owned and operated in the United States. Today, Tim talks about the need for competition for raising standards in business, taking inspiration and advice from outside sources like partners and projects, and other lessons learned from 40 years in business.

Expert action steps:

1. Set goals.
2. Persevere. But understand the fine line between perseverance and refusal to accept reality.
3. It will take longer than you expect to become successful and it will cost more.
4. Learn what you need to know as you go along.
5. Sweat the details.
6. Hire good people.
7. Don’t let your employees make the same mistake three times.
8. Delight your customers.
9. Make money.
10. Have fun.

To find a Leatherman you can go to leatherman.com or one of the following retailers:

Home Depot, Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, Mountain Equipment Coop.

You can also have a Leatherman custom engraved at Leatherman.com.

Visit eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.