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Our Story
  1-800-Bunkbed started in a small, 8' X 10' plastic tent in 1993 as a result of my children needing bunk beds. At first my wife and I went to all the large department furniture stores and looked at those bunk beds. We found that either the pricing was outrageous or the furniture was junk. There was no way that we were going to pay well over $1000 for a bunk bed or put our children in a poorly constructed and unsafe bed. The only way my children were going to get bunk beds would be if I built them.

I decided upon a design that was aesthetically pleasing while at the same time being extremely safe and sturdy. It took me about three days to make my first bunk bed (with all the time-saving jigs that I have developed that same bunk bed now takes me 2 hours to complete). Then I thought my bunk bed making days were through. What I forgot to take into account were all my nephews and nieces. Within about a month I had made bunk beds for all of them. Again, I thought I had seen my last bunk bed.
Was I wrong!

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At the time all this was taking place I was operating a small specialized construction company that I had started in 1981. A funny thing started happening to me on the job site. I began getting phone calls from people I didn't know who wanted me to make them bunk beds. It turned out that these were parents of the friends of my nephews and nieces. The more beds I made, the more word-of-mouth business I received. It didn't take a genius to realize that I had stumbled upon a great business opportunity. Even though my construction company was profitable there were times during the year (like all businesses) that I was slow and I would eat into my profits. I grew up in construction and had seen this same cycle of either being out straight or starving for work all my life. For over a decade I had been looking for an add-on business that would help me during these slow times. I had finally found it!

I started placing small classified advertising in the newspaper and soon was making a couple of sales a week. I was also working on different bunk bed designs and accessories that were the products of what my customers were looking for. That first year I kept refining my business model until I got to the point that I had all the business that I could handle. Then my business took a gigantic leap forward.

Approximately 1 year after I started my bunk bed business (which I called "Jim's Bunk Beds") I acquired the phone number 1-800-Bunkbed and the web site 1800bunkbed.com. Once I plugged in my phone number, 1-800-Bunkbed, into all my advertising my sales tripled within six months. Eventually, through developing my own successful proprietary sales and marketing strategies, my little one horse operation turned into one of the largest retail/manufacturers of bunk beds in the Boston area. I will go into greater detail on why and how this happened in the How Does It Work section.

Within two years of starting my small, add-on business I had gone from an 80 square foot work space to building my own 2000 square-foot woodshop equipped with all the woodworking tools needed to efficiently fulfill my work orders. And the best part:

  • I still worked at home
  • I set my own hours
  • There were never any slow times
  • My income was substantially increased
  • My sales continually increased each year

That's how we got our start. By following our 17 year proven business model you can do the same. We give you all the tools you need to succeed. Full-time, part-time — You decide!