Slowly we began to build of a small supply of stock, which we would "take on the road" and do some of the smaller shows close to home. Eventually we took a chance and booked into a show down in Abbotsford. This show produced the best sales I had ever had in a weekend. From there we continued to do the smaller shows. Sometimes doing as many as 21 shows in one year. I would use up all my holidays from my day job, to go on the road to sell my toys. My wife and I enjoyed our last holiday of two weeks just prior to starting the toys. We spent the next 11 years working full time and doing shows during my holiday time. The lure of the larger, what I initially thought, very expensive juried shows was the goal. We went to the bank to borrow money to make the plunge. Unfortunately the bank actually laughed at us, and our plans. We had to go to a few banks before they would agree to give us the money to make the next step to the larger, shows and the increased cost of additional stock.

At this point all the toys I made were still finished in natural linseed oil. I did not even think of painting anything at that point. To this date I still finish some things in the natural oil, but a few years ago I decided to paint some of the parts, to allow some contrasts in color. The first few shows I sold these colored toys, the sales increased and it was not long before I started painting more parts. Soon I found I was spending too much time painting and not enough time producing toys. Shortly after that I started looking for someone else to do the painting, so I could continue to build more toys. I found a company who actually tumble painted wooden parts. The only problem was, they needed 150 pounds of small pieces of product, to paint one color. This was the equivalent of 5 banana boxes of little parts, per color. I needed at least 4 colors. That adds up to 20 banana boxes of little parts, a whole lot more more than I needed. This is when we took the next step and started to stock pile toys and parts.

The first couple of years we did 4 different colors, all primary colors. We eventually grew, and in 2001 we actually did 3 batches of 6 different colors, that's 150 banana boxes of small parts. Now we not only paint the wheels and axel pins, but also paint the actual toys. We had outgrown the "local" shows, and now have graduated to the juried shows. Our show schedule has had to be cut, from 21 shows down to 8-10 per year, as we took another step up, to wholesaling. I created my web page in 1999 and launched it in 2000.

We eventually had to build an addition onto our house, with a garage on the ground floor and a computer room upstairs. Even that is a little small now as we have only been able to drive the car in three times, and that was many years ago. The shops in our house are now only used to build the toys. We have no room to store much lumber, or the finished products. Most of my lumber and a large supply of our parts are stored at Charlene's parents farm in a barn, a shed and a leanto, which we built for lumber. The finished product is stored at my parents' home in a converted garage.

The computer room, above our garage is now used to design new toys and some of the old ones, as I have now taken another step, with the bank's help into computer operated equipment. This was a huge step for us as I continue my full time job. One of my teachers from high school helped me a great deal with getting my expensive "new toy" up and running. Some of my friends call me the tool man, as I now have a computer operated overhead router.

I have redesigned many of the old toys, which are now programmed into a cad/cam program. The designs include everything from the simplest of toys, to a new table top wooden train track board, all predrilled for trees, tunnels, houses, police stations, fire stations and even snowmen. The table top sets either join together, or into many of the existing wooden train tracks. We now make the wooden tracks as well. We are continuing to come up with new designs for the trains sets, including garages and intricate track pieces.

I continue to use my original shop and have now started to double up on equipment to increase my productivity. Sometimes it is quicker to set up two drill presses and do one run of two jobs, rather than doing one job and then having to repeat it with a second run. My runs now can be anywhere from 30 pieces right up to 5000 pieces depending on what I am producing. It was a few years ago when I was drilling anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000 holes in a year, so a second saved on a hole starts to add up pretty quickly. Now every second saved is critical.

My father who is now retired used to come over to help out quite a lot, especially with the drilling and routing, but now prefers golfing and tennis.

I am the chief cook and bottle washer of our company, just like most home based businesses. In the past I have done everything from logging my own wood, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of my products right down to doing all the paperwork, including designing the toys on computer and my own web page. After all "If you want to make it, you have to be prepared to put in your time."

My toys are all over the world now. I custom made some games for a computer company in Calgary, a few years ago, and they used them as promotional gifts for some of their customers in 29 different countries all over the world. A television production company in Vancouver found our web site and actually purchased 50 toys to use in a TV commercial, which aired in the United States over the Christmas season.

Over the last 12 years we have donated thousands of toys to our local Food Bank during the Christmas season, on behalf of the Salmon Arm Volunteer fire department, which I am 17 year member. A few years ago we also sent some with a Group from our home church, who went to Eastern Europe to work at a Kid's summer camp in Chernobyl. Many of the children and their families were victims of the Nuclear explosion a few years ago.

1998's donation of three boxes, filled with small cars was donated to The Salmon Arm Rotary club, which I am also a member, who sent them to Zimbabwe, Africa, to a kids club and school. The teacher who received them opened the box and let out a shriek of delight as she turned one toy over to find our Tuff Toys Salmon Arm BC logo, burnt on the bottom. She had apparently visited Salmon Arm only a couple of years previously.

In 2000 we custom made some trucks, in a fund raising effort for training nurses in Africa. Local nurses were raising funds to buy a truck to transport the nurses in Africa for training. These were sold to raise $4000.00 towards the $30,000.00 goal.

Another box of toys was donated to a second group from our local church, who went to the Ukraine in the summer of 1999. These were also very well received and will be used for years to come.

In 2001 our donation was to the shoe boxes, which are donated around the world. We put toys in over 200 boxes.