Sabrr Mark and Cut Most entrepreneurs MYOB profiles make their money off of an idea. They come up with a way to provide an existing service or product better or more efficiently than the way it is currently provided. But Tony Johnson is not our usual entrepreneur. He’s an inventor/entrepreneur. He explains the way he came up with the invention that became his livelihood: “The opportunity to come up with the Sabrr presented itself when I was an apprentice. I was in the process cutting some material I needed and I saw the same method that I used was also used by sheet rockers and plumbers and other trade workers. I figured I could combine various tools to make us more efficient at what we do.” He came up with the Sabrr Mark and Cut. It’s a five-in-one tool that boasts a tape measure, utility knife, straight edge, marking device, and radius layout tool. Johnson patented the Sabrr in 2000, designed in 2002, and received his first shipment of Sabrrs from China in 2004; 5,000 models of the tool that he hoped would get his business off the ground. The evolution of the Sabrr is only five years old, but the evolution of Johnson as an inventor/entrepreneur has been happening since he was a kid. Even then he knew he wanted to work for himself and no one else. “I’ve always had that desire since I was a little kid. I would go out and try different things, lawn services, candy stores I operated out of my house. It’s always been a burning desire.” Now with the Sabrr, Johnson believes he has a business that’s going to last. And even though the business is in its infancy, Tony has reason to feel good about the Sabrr. It’s already available on the shelves of several local retailers and on a slick new website. Johnson is confident that a big local chain like Wal-Mart or Home Depot will start selling the Sabrr soon. Johnson’s sister Cosandra does the marketing for the Sabrr. She’s both optimistic and realistic about the future of the tool. “We’re going to have to work our way up,” she says. “I think by getting the advertisement out… and he’s spoke at a lot of schools… I think that’s going to help the business a lot. Just getting out there, getting the name out.” Johnson too is an optimist and a realist. “Right now getting capital to continue to pump into the business is an issue. But because we placed ourselves in a position where bills aren’t overwhelming, we can still just chug along and grow slowly. There’s no big demands on us to meet bank loans because we financed this with our own money. We’re just trying to grow. Trying to get some marketing, some commercial time, and get ourselves moving the product.” For More information about the SABRR Mark and Cut, go to their website at www.sabrr.com

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