Marketing to the Shipping Container Business Part 3

InSoFast is excited to be associated with a professional shipping container conversion company, like Mantainer out of Texas. This is the 3rd video and blog post of a 3-part series of interviews where Denver Sheddy imparts marketing dos and don’ts pioneering new trails in the shipping container business.

PART Three-Marketing.

The pros and cons of marketing the shipping container conversion business.

Denver turns the table on InSoFast and asks a tough question, “I would be interested to see if other container groups are going to adopt using InSoFast?” We answered with a resounding, YES, to Denver and you could see his relief that he is not the only pioneer blazing new trails into insulating containers. We let him know that other converters are having the same shortage of labor and jobsite control issues.
Something we never thought about but an issue that Denver reveals to us when he was looking for new products for containers, the weight of the building products adds to the transportation cost. A 40’ gooseneck trailer being towed from the back of a pickup can only handle so much weight.
The total weight of the InSoFast insulation and framing for the floors, walls, and ceiling, of a 20’ high cube shipping container is less than 200 lbs. The weight for just the 2×4 lumber for just one long wall of a 20’ container is 240 lbs or more.

InSoFast: I would imagine that no two containers are finished exactly alike, have you done any camouflaged containers?

Denver: Yes, we have done camouflaged containers. We also have done vinyl wraps, and in fact we even have our own camo pattern. I have a guy in Fort Worth with FASTSIGNS who does a great job with custom work for me. He did the one for me that is sitting outside. It is my marketing cabin that tours with me to shows.

InSoFast: That was a heck of an investment building out a 20’ container, a big risk to take to market containers.

Denver: No, it isn’t. There is a silver lining somewhere in this deal, I feel real positive it will pay for itself. When we started this business, we looked at it that we would be just building these, “Man Caves,” hunting cabins, then I realized that was just scratching the surface of a larger market. Housing and affordable housing is so much larger ..more ..than what I envisioned when we started out with, especially now with the resurgence of the oil boom in Texas. People need places to sleep, places to live, that is durable and not going to fall apart after being out in the elements. Unlike travel trailers, containers are built tight and seal out the natural elements like rats, rodents, and other animals. If you put a travel trailer out there in a deer lease in the sticks, you may have all kinds things living in there.

I think that there is a lot of value that we build into our container conversions. We are not the only ones to recognize this with the TV shows like the Containable, and all of this …is becoming a new way of building. I can point out to you a subdivision that they are building in McKinney, TX that is being built out of containers.
Mantainer doesn’t have any immediate plans to enter that subdivision type market. We are going to work on just building them in our shop and delivering the finished product to our client’s lot. I feel that is the best way we can control the costs and the quality of our products that we deliver.

I am really interested to see if our competitors start adopting our methods. Competition is a good thing. It helps builds awareness, credit-ability, and markets. I welcome competitors.