About Us

This web site was developed by Dennis & Eric Smith, the owners of Two Brothers Engraving -- now known as 2BPersonalized -- located in Marion, Indiana. The following article, written about them, was published in A&E Magazine, July 1998.

Brothers In Business

Dennis and Erik Smith, 27 and 24 respectively, are Two Brothers Engraving. In the four short years since they started the Marion, Indiana-based business, the young proprietors have seen it grow at a rate only dreamed of by most of us -- at one point boasting 800 percent in one calendar year.

Dennis Smith started the wheels in motion when, while in high school, he got a job at a local jeweler’s. There he learned how to operate a computerized engraver. When he went off to college, the engraving job was handed down to younger brother Erik Smith, who also embraced the trade. “Dennis trained me how to operate the equipment, but computerized engraving is a specialized skill,” Erik Smith states.

Both brothers found the trade satisfying-not to mention the basis for a promising business -- so they agreed that someday they would make a go of it. That someday came sooner than they had hoped, when the jeweler who taught them both went out of business. Deciding that opportunities like this shouldn’t be passed by, the brothers each took out personal loans and bought the jewelers engraving equipment. At the same time they enticed a few of his old clients to bring orders their way, and as a result a hopeful new business had sprouted.

The first Two Brothers location was established in a friend’s garage during the fall of 1994. Setting up their computerized engraver was as easy as snapping a model plane together but the real work -- getting accounts -- was a bit trickier, which they took on with drive and ambition. For starters, the brothers’ involvement in local sports proved to be valuable. “Especially in our community, through coaching and playing, we had contact with a lot of people. So, we followed up with some people we knew and got a few more accounts,” explains older brother Dennis Smith.

Within the next six months, the brother’s were presented with another unexpected opportunity when their engraver irreparably broke down and had to be replaced. “We knew of another guy in town who had a trophy shop and wanted to retire. He wanted to sell everything, so we called him to buy his computerized engraver,” tells Dennis Smith. When they made the call, however, they discovered that the man had passed away and his widow wanted to sell everything at once. The brothers had the option of buying everything, or nothing “we said, what the heck, we’ll take it all,” chuckles Dennis Smith as he remembers.

Everything included the man’s customer lists, supplies and equipment-all for the reasonable price of $11,000. Fate seemed to be at work here, and the brothers were taking nothing for granted. “All along it has been like this. It’s kind of eerie actually,” admits Dennis Smith.

At this time the brothers were taking virtually any order that came along. “If someone had a request, we would find some way to get it done, regardless” said Dennis Smith. With this policy, however, the brothers soon realized that the business wasn’t making any money. One of the problems was a lack of retail showroom space. They needed a more retail-friendly location than their friend’s garage. It developed first into sharing the showroom of an established jewelry store and then into the spacious downtown they have now.

DEVELOPING DOWNTOWN

The current facility measures around 6,000 square feet total. Allowing for a 3,000 square foot showroom and the remaining half for workspace and storage. The brothers now employ 3 people, and the equipment on the floor has multiplied as well. The equipment inventory includes two NEW HERMES computerized engravers, a large WESTERN ENGRAVER machine, a pantograph and a ring engraver. The store’s laser engraving needs are fulfilled on a contract basis, and a hand engraver’s services are retained as special jobs arise.

The brothers explain that the big jump-from small and shared to large and independent- was possible because of the nature of the area they moved into. Rent in the expansive establishment is quite reasonable. Why? The city of Marion, like hundreds of cities and towns across the U.S., experience an exodus of businesses from the traditional downtown area to the new center of commerce- the mall. This has left open prime store locations in the heart of town, which have been renting at very low prices. “Forty or fifty years ago, this was the place to be, then it all moved to the mall,” Dennis Smith tells.

Marion community leaders are now making an effort to attract businesses back to the downtown area by highlighting the advantages, like low rents for spacious storefronts, and by offering incentives. “They’ve created a special enterprise zone,” says Erik Smith.

The success of Two Brothers Engraving has benefited the whole downtown area of Marion. In the short time the business has operated out of the location-Two Brothers opened its downtown doors a mere nine months ago-it has won several awards and commendations from community organizations. “They say our business has been a real boost to the area,” says Dennis Smith proudly.

The relocation has meant boom-time for the brothers, too. In fact, within the first three months of the Two Brothers relocation, the business experience an incredible 800 per cent growth compared to the same period one-year prior. Dennis attributes the phenomenal growth to one thing-exposure. The storefront faces one of the busiest intersections in the city of about 50,000 residents.

“People have to stop at the traffic light right in front of the building, so they look in our windows,” relates Dennis Smith. As a result the brothers are seeing orders from not only local sources, but also from surrounding towns and even from out of state. All due, they believe, to the constant stream of traffic flowing by their store.

But, just because people drive by doesn’t mean they’ll come in-they need to be attracted to the business by something special. One of the awards that have been presented to Two Brothers Engraving- given by the Urban Enterprises Association of the City of Marion- praises the store’s window displays. Because the business takes up the better part of a short city block, it has ample display space. This is in the form of old-fashioned plate glass windows that run the length of the store, which faces the busy street. “We’ve got trophies, plaques and bubble lights arranged in there now,” Dennis Smith says.

Bubble lights, which are water filled acrylic panels that have a light source and an aquarium pump attached that blows bubbles from the bottom, have proven to attract a lot of attention to the store’s window displays, he explained. They’re also big sellers because anything can be engraved on the front of the panel.

The entrepreneurs are proud to relate that city leaders often come into the store to compliment them on their success, as well as for their creative window displays.

BROTHERS EMPHASIZE PARTNERSHIP

The brothers have made a firm commitment to each other to maintain a partnership. Their roles continue to develop and change, along with their dynamic business, but their relationship is as strong as ever. “You couldn’t ask for a better working relationship,” says Erik Smith. He admits, however, that at first he was apprehensive because of the age-old warning about going into business with family members. So far, they agree that the partnership has been pleasant, if not uneventful.

Up until mid-1997 both brothers were working full-time jobs, attending college classes and running Two Brothers. Saying things have changed a lot for them in a very short period of time is like saying there are just a few stars in the night sky. In order to make it work, Erik Smith explains that he and his brother alternated school and work schedules to be able to man their own business. Any free time they had was also spent at the store. “There were times when we wouldn’t sleep for twenty-four hours,” groans Dennis Smith.

Now that the business has developed to the point that it can support not just one, but several employees, Dennis Smith has taken on the role of main operating partner. Erik Smith is working full-time at an insurance company, while continuing to spend evenings and weekends at the store doing the necessary equipment maintenance and some production work. “I am the second shift, third shift, and maintenance department,” Erik Smith laughed.

He explains that his favorite part of the business relates to the mechanical and design aspects, while he believes his brother prefer the retail and administration end of it. Dennis agrees, he says that employees schedule and other day-to-day business is handled by him, but all of the important decisions are made jointly. Everything from new purchases to how the window displays will be arranged is discussed between the brothers. “We both agree on it or it doesn’t get done,” states Dennis Smith.

The brothers believe that their relative youth has worked both for and against them. Swindlers tend to target them, falsely assuming that young automatically mean naive, for example. And others, the brother's say, see them as “just a couple of kids” whose success can be easily replicated.

On the positive end of the spectrum, they have found their youth is advantage with customers, because they say, they’re always doing something fresh and new. A fresh approach to style and attitude has been an asset. “We’re always up to date because we keep our eyes open at trade shows and read the trade publications. These resources help us come up with new ideas and to find neat new products to offer our customers,” tells Dennis Smith.

The package Dennis and Erik Smith have put together in Two Brothers Engraving is proving to be a good one. “We never imagined that the business would take off like it has. We wanted and hoped that it would, but never did we think it was going to be like this,” Dennis Smith says humbly. Erik agrees, and adds that the beauty of the business for him is “make it or break it, it’s all up to you.” If you look at it that way, so far Two Brothers Engraving is making it big.