Joel Aultman, Monster Munkey

[00:00:55] Sanjay Parekh: Hi, and welcome to the Hiscox Side Hustle to Small Business podcast. I'm excited to have today's guest here with us today. Joel Aultman of Monster Munkey. Joel, welcome to the show. 

[00:01:05] Joel Aultman: Thank you. Thank you. 

[00:01:06] Sanjay Parekh: I'd love for you to give us a couple of minutes about your background. And we are definitely going to be diving into Monster Munkey because I love that name. But first, tell us a little bit about you. 

[00:01:14] Joel Aultman: I grew up in a design world where I like to draw and make things and build stuff. And so, I went into graphic design work, and that was primarily my whole entire life. And then I decided to go into design. So, everything I own, I want to go fast, I want to build fast. I started doing Crazy Cart stuff. And right when COVID hit, we had nothing to do but ride Crazy Carts, because nobody could do anything. So, I produced, or I started to produce parts and motors for Crazy Carts. 

[00:01:48] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. Since most people are probably not going to know what a Crazy Cart is, what is a Crazy Cart?

[00:01:53] Joel Aultman: So, a Crazy Cart is designed and made by Razor. 

[00:01:57] Sanjay Parekh: So, the people that make those scooters.

[00:01:58] Joel Aultman: It's a drift cart. Pull a bar on the side and you can drift. They're for kids, when they came out, they started as kids. So, 8 miles an hour, 10 miles an hour-ish. 

[00:02:11] Sanjay Parekh: You don't represent a kid to me really.

[00:02:12] Joel Aultman: No. So, we take them and make them anywhere from 30-ish to 45 miles an hour. So, you have to change the motor and the parts and all the batteries and all that stuff. So, that's where I came into play.

[00:02:25] Sanjay Parekh: So, souped up Crazy Carts. That's what we're talking about. So, pretend like you're in Fast and Furious the movie, drifting in a small vehicle.

[00:02:33] Joel Aultman: Yes. Very small. Like the standard carts are throw-in-the-back-of-a-car small. The XL came out because parents or bigger kids wanted to ride them, so that's a little bigger. You have to have a truck or like a sport utility. 

[00:02:51] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. And how are these things powered? 

[00:02:52] Joel Aultman: They're battery powered. Yeah. Okay. So electric motors. It is the future. Everything goes to electric. 

[00:03:01] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. And you get instant torque out of them too. 

[00:03:03] Joel Aultman: Instant torque, right. So, in 2020 was my first prototype. My buddy told me that it couldn't be done because we were using brush motors that come in them. I went brushless, so you get more power, more torque. And he just told me I couldn't do it. So, in 2020, I did it. And he's like man, this is the way you get better performance. You get better torque, you get better speed, and then your battery lasts longer. 

[00:03:30] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Okay. So, you've got this career as a graphic designer and then you're like, yeah, I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm going to go all in on this Crazy Cart thing. Is that essentially what happened? 

[00:03:40] Joel Aultman: Close to it. I still do 3D design and 3D prototyping. So, I still design, I'm just not a graphic designer as much anymore. Still do graphic design work here and there.

[00:03:52] Sanjay Parekh: So, like that's a side hustle then for you now is the main hustle, the Crazy Cart thing?

[00:03:57] Joel Aultman: The Crazy Cart is the part where I'm pushing right now for Monster Munkey. But the other stuff keeps me afloat while I'm pushing the Crazy Cart stuff. 

[00:04:07] Sanjay Parekh: Okay, so you don't have a regular full-time job with anybody. It's your own thing. You're just doing all this stuff yourself?

[00:04:13] Joel Aultman: Yeah. 

[00:04:13] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. I've got to ask the name Monster Munkey. It's a great name. I like the alliteration I always love alliteration names like that. Where does that name come from? 

[00:04:22] Joel Aultman: So, the monkey part of my life comes from Curious George, which is old.

[00:04:29] Sanjay Parekh: Great story, but also a great movie. 

[00:04:31] Joel Aultman: Right? I love it. I just got into everything growing up, so everybody started calling me Curious George.

[00:04:36] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. Even though your name is Joel and not George, but okay. 

[00:04:41] Joel Aultman: Joel never gets a good nickname though. Ever. Curious George is what stuck, or George, or whatever. So, everything I have and own gets a sticker of a monkey if it's mine. So, when we started doing Crazy Cart Parts I went with Monster Munkey because it's just an overpowered cart. So, I was just thinking monster, overpowered, and then monkey. So, all the parts on the cart that I'm designing have a name with monkey in it. I actually have a monkey wrench that I designed. And then the casters will be monkey feet, or monkey foot is the caster. And then one-eyed monkey is the headlight because it only has one headlight. So, we're calling that One Eyed Munkey. So, it's, yeah, it's just a play on everything monkey. 

[00:05:30] Sanjay Parekh: So, I'm assuming you're not the only one that's doing this kind of stuff. Were you, like, where were you in the kind of scheme of things of people souping up these Crazy Carts?

[00:05:37] Joel Aultman: So, Taxi Garage is the forefront of everything Crazy Cart. They are the first kids that were like, hey, we're going to make these things fast. So, Taxi Garage is literally the Mecca of your fast cart parts. They do power coding. Full kits and everything.

[00:05:58] Sanjay Parekh: So, did you see them doing that stuff and that's what kind of drove you or did you go on your own? 

[00:06:03] Joel Aultman: I just went another direction with brushless. So, it's the same premise but different direction and things. They definitely are the ones that everybody looks to for inspiration. They're the guys for sure. 

[00:06:18] Sanjay Parekh: And they're, where are they based out of?

[00:06:19] Joel Aultman: They're in Florida. They used to live up here and I guess at some point they moved down to Florida. So, they're down there. I think most of them actually drift real cars. So, they're big into the scene and then they have their little carts, their Crazy Carts that they drift too. So, that's cool. 

[00:06:37] Sanjay Parekh: So, what's your thought about the business itself? Like, where are you trying to take this? 

[00:06:42] Joel Aultman: Just enough to where I can just, I don't know, just live a more fun life, I guess. Like less stressful and just a carefree, go have fun kind of life. 

[00:06:56] Sanjay Parekh: Is the company just you right now?

[00:06:59] Joel Aultman: Yes. Yeah. It'll just, it'll be me for a while. Because I wear many hats. 

[00:07:04] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So, is your thought to grow this? 

[00:07:06] Joel Aultman: Oh, yeah. Yeah, if it grows and manufacturers, then yeah. Definitely. I design a lot of things. 

[00:07:13] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So right now, like you talked about the monkey feet. You manufacture those yourself?

[00:07:18] Joel Aultman: That's all me. Yeah. 

[00:07:20] Sanjay Parekh: Slow process I'm imagining. Because it's one at a time type of deal. 

[00:07:23] Joel Aultman: Yeah. Which is crazy. 

[00:07:24] Sanjay Parekh: How are you thinking about that growth of the company? 

[00:07:28] Joel Aultman: Just trying to get companies that can make smaller, or parts of things to get those in faster for me to put together faster, so to speak. Would be how I would do it. Instead of making a wiring harness, I would have somebody make part of the wiring harness. I can get a batch of those to grow the business and then I put them together. It would speed things up so I can still do quality control and make sure everything's good without having to ship everything out to do.

[00:07:57] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Yeah. Got it. So, it sounds you've been hustling for a while doing entrepreneurial things. What was the first thing that you did something as a kid maybe that was entrepreneurial? 

[00:08:09] Joel Aultman: Every, everything. Since I was little, it was always a hustle to make some kind of money to sell something.

[00:08:17] Sanjay Parekh: What's the first thing? Can you remember? Like I sold candy bars to other kids in elementary school. 

[00:08:18] Joel Aultman: I can't remember something that, oh man. Anything you can think of. 2016, even though that's not like early stuff, was 3D printers. I got my first 3D printer in 2016. So, I was selling parts off of that a lot. 

[00:08:22] Sanjay Parekh: So, custom parts?

[00:08:23] Joel Aultman: Oh, yeah. So, before everybody got 3D printers, you could sell a prototype. Because a normal person, if you wanted a prototype, you would have to send it to China. Spend $10,000 to get molds made and all that. And then you get it back. And if it's wrong, you have to do another 10 grand. So, like people were coming to me from friends of friends. Hey, can you make this part? And I'd be like, yeah, just give me product dimensions. I'll build it, bill you, and then print you a part. And they could hold a part without going to China.

[00:09:18] Sanjay Parekh: Within days, probably.

[00:09:19] Joel Aultman: Yeah, at the most a week. Some of those prints would be three or four days, but it would be a product that they could hold and check fitment and everything. 

[00:09:22] Sanjay Parekh: So, do you feel like that experience set you up for what Monster Munkey is right now? 

[00:09:28] Joel Aultman: Oh yes. 

[00:09:28] Sanjay Parekh: And manufacturing? 

[00:09:29] Joel Aultman: Yes. 3D printers are a forefront of everybody's creativity coming out of their mind. It is, it's insane. You can just sit down, make something and then wake up and have a part that you could at least prototype or use if it's not structural, which is very cool. 

[00:09:49] Sanjay Parekh: And we're starting to now move into a place where there's metal 3D printers as well. Have you had any experience with those?

[00:09:54] Joel Aultman: I haven't. 

[00:09:55] Sanjay Parekh: They're very expensive. 

[00:09:56] Joel Aultman: Astronomical. They're coming down though. There are kids who are developing smaller, more home-based ones. That will be in my house soon if they make that, yeah. 

[00:10:12] Sanjay Parekh: Listening to you talk is somewhat feels like this whole business and side hustle is really just an opportunity for you to get toys in the house to play with.

[00:10:20] Joel Aultman: Oh, yes. 

[00:10:21] Sanjay Parekh: That's a great way of going about this. I appreciate that quite a bit. 

[00:10:23] Joel Aultman: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. If there’s anything that I need to build, I get a new toy to play with for me. 

[00:10:30] Sanjay Parekh: And for the listeners that are not watching the video, Joel just air quoted, need to build. Just so you know. 

[00:10:36] Joel Aultman: But I have a product that I can use for my own stuff. 

[00:10:41] Sanjay Parekh: So, where's the shop for making all this? 

[00:10:43] Joel Aultman: In my backyard. Yeah. I have a 42 by 25 shop. And my CNC lathe, my laser, my CNC router. All my woodworking equipment. I've bought tools since I was little. Every tool you can imagine working on cars. I used to build cars. And stuff like that. 

[00:11:01] Sanjay Parekh: I feel like I know where I'm going now when I need something fixed. 

[00:11:06] Joel Aultman: Yeah. I'm the guy. My dad, ‘Hey, this is broken.’ What do you think, that I can just fix that, just some random thing? But most of the time I do. Growing up, that's what I did most. My dad would give me broken VCRs or broken whatever when they would break. I could take them apart and see how they work and everything So that was cool. 

[00:11:26] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah, I think that's one of the big things that's missing nowadays. Kids can't take things apart. I used to take things apart too when I was a kid. I can't tell you how much electronics I took apart and then never was able to put back together again. 

[00:11:37] Joel Aultman: The good thing about taking it apart is you get to see the inside and how it works, is why I took stuff apart. Like, how does that DVD actually go in and lower, or a VHS go in and lower? How does a DVD spin up and the laser move and all that stuff? Yeah. That just helps build other things. Input equals output. 

[00:11:59] Adam Walker: Support for this podcast comes from Hiscox, committed to helping small businesses protect their dreams since 1901. Quotes and information on customized insurance for specific risks are available at Hiscox.com. Hiscox, business insurance experts.

[00:12:20] Sanjay Parekh: Okay, let's talk a little bit about how you're thinking about the businesses and how you manage with the stress of running a business and all that stuff. These things that you're doing are very hands on, intensive things. For me, I just sit around on a computer and type all day long. So, it's very different, I think. So how do you manage that stress of running a business and kind of all the rest of life? 

[00:12:41] Joel Aultman: I don't really get stressed. I run at a high frequency anyway. So, sitting doesn't work. I'm just go all the time. My six-year-old that I have a lot of the time, definitely plays a part in harder time management, but, yeah, I just try to keep notes and just follow the notes and just stay on path. It's hard to hop from one to the other, but if bills need to get paid and somebody's going to pay me for a job, I might have to pivot that day. And do graphics or do 3D design or print. And the good thing about printing, it takes a long time to print. You can start a print for somebody that's paying you and then pivot to go to another job.

[00:13:26] Sanjay Parekh: You don't have to babysit the print. 

[00:13:27] Joel Aultman: Yeah, just let it go. And while it's printing, you're making money somewhere doing something else.

[00:13:32] Sanjay Parekh: You mentioned having a six-year-old, like, how do you think about that kind of balancing work and life and family and all those things?

[00:13:37] Joel Aultman: Just throw it up in the wind and hope for the best. It's literally day to day with a six-year-old. The other day I was working and she needs lunch, you got to stop, I'm not eating lunch, I want to make money so yeah, or something needs to be fixed, or she wants to go outside and play, and of course I'm going outside with her, so it's like, okay, let me finish this and we'll go outside, so yeah. I mean it's a very good balance between dad and getting business done, but I like it. Just stay up there that high frequency and just keep going for sure. 

[00:14:15] Sanjay Parekh: Is your daughter helping you out at all in terms of Crazy Cart stuff? 

[00:14:18] Joel Aultman: Oh, yeah. Since she was two. She picked up hammers and she would stand beside me and just knock on stuff, and she loves building stuff. She organizes all my stuff. She loves organization and stuff. 

[00:14:29] Sanjay Parekh: So, that's great. Yeah. I love that. Okay. Let's talk about kind of the process that you went into in thinking about this and the concerns that you have, did you have any kind of nervousness or concerns about trying to launch these companies, quitting your job and launching these companies. How did you think about that? 

[00:14:47] Joel Aultman: That's a big jump, because you're brought up through your whole life to stay on track and do this and do that. Stay in line. Don't talk back. Don't talk back to your teachers and all that stuff. 

[00:15:00] Sanjay Parekh: So how did you break that mold for yourself?

[00:15:00] Joel Aultman: I just, I woke up one day and was like, I can't. I was like, being a graphic designer in a corporate world, isn't the same thing as being a sales guy in a corporate world. We had radios on in our office all time. It was upbeat and you could do stuff that you can't do in another office. So, it's not like I was stuck in a cubicle corporate. I was in a room full of designers, and we played all day and it's fun. Because you're playing with colors and making stuff. So, it wasn't ‘corporate’ corporate, but I just got to the point where, if you're working for somebody else to make the same product, why are you giving them all the money, kind of thing?

[00:15:41] Sanjay Parekh: Right. So that was your realization of the why. 

[00:15:42] Joel Aultman: Yeah, my whole entire life, I give ideas to people that I'm working for. And they're making the money.

[00:15:49] Sanjay Parekh: And you're getting a sliver of it.

[00:15:50] Joel Aultman: Right. Yeah. One day you wake up and you're like, I can do this by myself. Or at least try. 

[00:15:57] Sanjay Parekh: So how did you think about that? Was it nerve wracking? 

[00:16:00] Joel Aultman: I saved up enough money and I was just like, bye. 

[00:16:05] Sanjay Parekh: And how long did it take you to save up money that you needed to? 

[00:16:09] Joel Aultman: I worked a good, I saved up a good year of my last job that I was working. And ramen noodles every night and not buying anything just to save up that bulk money. And that was my cushion. 

[00:16:20] Sanjay Parekh: So, a one-year cushion is what it took to make the jump.

[00:16:24] Joel Aultman: And just jump. And start trying to make money. 

[00:16:29] Sanjay Parekh: And how did you find people, clients initially? 

[00:16:32] Joel Aultman: Oh, word of mouth is crazy around here. You talk to anybody, and somebody knows somebody who's bigger and corporate and all that stuff, right? It's just word of mouth for the most part. 

[00:16:45] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. And did you start that process once you left, or did you do it beforehand? 

[00:16:49] Joel Aultman: I've been networking most of my life. Just know the right people for getting stuff done, parts and things like that.

[00:16:58] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Okay. Let's switch gears and talk about, you've talked about, man, when somebody needs something done, you got to switch gears and get it done. How do you balance that with health and wellness and all of those things? Or do you not? Is that a foreign word for you, Joel? 

[00:17:17] Joel Aultman: Yes. I sleep eight hours about once a week, maybe. And then some nights two, some nights four. 

[00:17:25] Sanjay Parekh: And what is it that's keeping you up? Is it because you're excited about the work or is it the pressure of the work? What is it that's driving that?

[00:17:31] Joel Aultman: Excited. Actually, designing things. So, when you work for yourself, if you're not working, you're not making money. So, my brain works better at night, I'm a night owl. So, if I'm working until 2, 2:30, 3 in the morning, my brain is excited and just wants to build and wants to work. And then I'll have to go to bed and then my daughter gets up at six for school. So, I'm right back up at six. Just tired getting my daughter ready for school. Don't ever do this. Just go to school.

[00:18:07] Sanjay Parekh: So how do you make it through the day? Because two or three hours is rough. 

[00:18:10] Joel Aultman: Just don't sit down. Yeah. The thing that kills somebody like me is sitting. As soon as you sit for lunch, as soon as you just tell your body it's okay to stop and sit down, you might as well quit the rest of the day. 

[00:18:25] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Hopefully we're not making you sit for too long here for the podcast. 

[00:18:28] Joel Aultman: No, that's a good view. 

[00:18:30] Sanjay Parekh: It is a great view for those of you that are watching on the video. Okay. Thinking back to everything that you've done, obviously you've probably reflected back on the things that you did and didn't do, right or wrong and all those types of things. Is there something that you'd go back and do differently, knowing what you know now?

[00:18:47] Joel Aultman: Nope.

[00:18:48] Sanjay Parekh: Not a thing? You don't regret one thing being like, I wish I'd done this earlier? Did you wish you'd left your job earlier and done your own thing? 

[00:18:56] Joel Aultman: Not really, because I feel like I was there when I needed to be there. So, anything that I struggled through, I feel like that's a lesson that I took and know, hey, maybe later on, I don't need to do it that way. So, if you go back, if you have a regret and you go back and fix it, you're going to do that same regret as some other time in your life. Because you didn't learn it then. 

[00:19:19] Sanjay Parekh: What are some of those lessons that you picked up from those early jobs? 

[00:19:22] Joel Aultman: Watch your money. Yeah. When you order parts, don't over order parts. Just small things like that. Make sure you're ordering stuff that people want. You don't want to sit on inventory if it's your own inventory. If you're working for corporate, sure. 

[00:19:35] Sanjay Parekh: Because it's not your money at that point, right? 

[00:19:37] Joel Aultman: Just sit on inventory. 

[00:19:42] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Yeah. Have you been in those situations where you're overordered and then?

[00:19:46] Joel Aultman: I definitely have a lot of parts at my house right now. Oh, yeah. 

[00:19:50] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. And do you have a strategy of getting rid of them or are you just like…?

[00:19:53] Joel Aultman: I can't. They're products where you thought was going to work, so you ordered parts, put them together, tested them, and they didn't work. And then you have ten sets of them, like a ten set, and then the next revision is a ten set, and that didn't work. So, there's A lot of parts that just sit, eventually I could take all that metal and just go recycle it and get some money back. Or just use those parts on something that I build that would work. 

[00:20:20] Sanjay Parekh: So how do you fix that problem for yourself in the future then? 

[00:20:23] Joel Aultman: Just spend more time 3D printing. So, spend the extra three days or four days, whatever it takes to get a prototype that you can use is the main thing. Don't get so jumpy about getting it done. Print one and be like, oh, I can change this just a little bit, send it off and get it bent or whatever. And then it comes back and it's not right. I think that would be it. 

[00:20:45] Sanjay Parekh: That's an interesting kind of lesson about entrepreneurship, I think in general, is that sometimes we get so excited about diving into one thing, and not really understanding what the market is for that. Talk about kind of the market for Crazy Carts and the things that you do. So, you're selling these upgrades and things to do these things how do you think about the marketing side of it or do you not?

[00:21:08] Joel Aultman: Sometimes I do most of the time it's what I would want. So, I ride with a couple different kids and if I'm riding and I feel like I could change something, I talk to everybody like, hey, would this help? And they're like, yeah, so then I go home and stay up for three days and design something and then 3D print it and then show them and they're like, dude, we just talked about this.

[00:21:32] Sanjay Parekh: So, you have a focus group just built in with people that you're riding with. 

[00:21:36] Joel Aultman: Yeah. And that's a good thing. You sit in a white room; you're not going to have anything good come out of it. It just doesn't work. Like you just need input from people. 

[00:21:45] Sanjay Parekh: What about marketing on the other side of Monster Munkey overall? Are you thinking about that? Are you doing like SEO, like ads? 

[00:21:53] Joel Aultman: Yeah, so we do ads for my other business or whatever, or we did do ads. Once I get a footing and get most of the people word of word parts. Then I'll start trying to grow all that and get ads out and SEO and all that stuff for that. So, I feel like you have to grow slowly sometimes. You can't just throw all your eggs in a basket and then lose all that because you jump too high. Yeah, that will all come eventually, the ads and SEO stuff and start pushing hard. Once I have inventory coming in on a regular basis and I can see what's coming in and what's going out and how I can scale that up, without losing stuff. That will get bigger. 

[00:22:41] Sanjay Parekh: Okay last question for you if you were talking to somebody who's thinking about doing what you did quitting the job starting a side hustle, starting a small business. What piece of advice would you have?

[00:22:52] Joel Aultman: Do it. 

[00:22:55] Sanjay Parekh: Simple advice. 

[00:22:55] Joel Aultman: Yeah, I mean It's the same thing having a kid. When's the best time to have a kid? Never. When's the best time for you to stand up from your job and just go, I'm going to go do something. It's never a good time. Ever. You just can't. It's not. It's not. Unless you have just massive amounts of money, like sure. But the average person that's working the average nine to five, there's not a good time for you to go do what you want to do. So, you literally just have to get up and go do it. Or at least try to side hustle after work. I've done that with 3D prints. You go work a ten-hour shift and come home for five or six hours and work on your own stuff. And then try to sleep somewhere in there. And who cares about eating? Because you're more worried about sleep. But yeah, it's just a do it thing. 

[00:23:49] Sanjay Parekh: So, I said that was the last question. I actually lied because I want to ask you, how do you think about the downsides of doing it? Like, when you did this, did you think about the downsides? 

[00:23:58] Joel Aultman: Sleep. No, you don't ever think about lack of sleep, lack of eating, lack of just everything that has to do with you, gets thrown out of the window sometimes. You wanting to go do something or you going to do anything, eating out sometimes, or getting eight hours of sleep a night, might not happen. It just is not there sometimes. 

[00:24:23] Sanjay Parekh: This has been fascinating, Joel. If our listeners want to find and connect with you or buy some Crazy Cart parts, where can they do that?

[00:24:29]: Joel Aultman: So, the Crazy Cart Parts is MonsterMunkeyParts.com. 

[00:24:34] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. MonsterMunkeyParts.com. Yeah. What about if they want to connect with you directly? 

[00:24:38] Joel Aultman: [email protected]. 

[00:24:40] Sanjay Parekh: Awesome. Yeah. Thanks so much for being on the show today, Joel. 

[00:24:43] Joel Aultman: Definitely. Definitely. Thank you for having me. 

[00:24:47] Sanjay Parekh: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Side Hustle to Small Business Podcast, powered by Hiscox. To learn more about how Hiscox can help protect your small business through intelligent insurance solutions, visit hiscox.com. And if you have a story you want to hear on this podcast, please visit www.hiscox.com/shareyourstory. I'm your host Sanjay Parekh. You can find out more about me at my website, www.sanjayparekh.com.