Brickworkz LEGO Mosaics : Blog : Happy Birthday, Brickworkz!

Brickworkz LEGO mosaics : Blog : Happy Birthday, Brickworkz!

Happy Birthday, Brickworkz!

This week in 2006, I decided to take what was a hobby (designing and creating artwork with LEGO) and incorporate the process into a business. Brickworkz LLC was born on a Wednesday with a few thousand dollars and a gallery deadline in June.

Happy 1st birthday, Brickworkz! Looking back
In January, I set up shop in my home office and began purchasing parts. February and March were spent working on what would ultimately become Brickworkz.com. Parts were arriving from all over the world. By April, I had inventoried more than 165,000 LEGO pieces. April and May were busy months for me, building, building, and building some more.

I kicked off the first LEGO party with friends in the area. Their support and assistance helped speed along the building and kept me on my deadline. By June, I had 13 large-scale LEGO mosaics hanging on public display in downtown Richmond, Virginia. The first display of Brickworkz LEGO mosaics stirred up some great press for the company. I sat interviewed with several publications and learned how to respond to the public attention. I wasn't ready.

I began working the tradeshows, displaying my pieces at public events. Word of mouth worked very well for the company, and by July, new customers were finding me. My father helped me create a large series of inter-connected easels for a portable tradeshow display back-drop. By August, a large LEGO convention called Brickfest was held in Tysons Corner, Virginia. [my review is here] The show was a huge success for Brickworkz. I made some great connections in the LEGO community, and met some executives from LEGO’s Denmark headquarters who admired my work.

The first Brickworkz Newsletter was written in the Fall as an insider’s guide to the company and recent news and activity. Commission jobs started coming in from other states and from customers whom I had never met. Towards the end of the year, I began purchasing more inventory and exploring other colors for more artistic works. I ordered more business cards too- the 2,500 I thought I would never run out of dwindled to 20 by December’s end.

What I learned
2006 ended so quickly, and it wasn’t until I sat down to recap the year that I realized how truly far Brickworkz has come in such a short amount of time. Still, I have big plans for Brickworkz in 2007.

This year, I want to continue creating commission pieces for homes and offices around the country. I also want to help make LEGO mosaics more affordable for our customers. In order to keep the prices down, I will need to explore even better material costs.

The most important goal for me in 2007 is to make Brickworkz a true citizen of our community. I want our LEGO mosaics helping to raise money for worthy charities. I envision educational programs and group projects, helping local area children play well and inspiring creativity in every participant. Brickworkz can be a model of what all creative small businesses should aspire to become- profitable companies that make an impact on the community in a powerful and creative way.

The wheels are already in motion for a successful 2007, and I thank you all for your interest and support in Brickworkz. As always, please continue to let me know what you think, and how I can make this company even better. And thank you for talking to your friends and co-workers about Brickworkz. The response has been overwhelmingly inspiring.

Happy 2007, everyone. Here’s to a year of inspiration!

Brian Korte
brick artist and founder of Brickworkz LLC

Play well,

Posted by Brian Korte on January 15, 2007

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Great review of Brickfest and a good rundown of 2006 events. I find your objectives for 2007 particularly worthwhile and wish you all the best in achieving them as they will no doubt benefit your community as well as Brickworkz. Good luck in 2007!

Posted by: Anonymous on January 23, 2007 11:40 PM

Happy Birthday, Brickworkz!

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