January 8, 2024
OOSTBURG – Max Buechler said he’s always been a crafter at heart.
From a young age, the now 19-year-old said he enjoyed working with paper crafts, such as scrapbooking.
“I’ve always loved art,” he said. “Every year in school, art was my favorite class. I like the idea of being able to use your creativity to make something that you’re envisioning, and be able to see the end result.”
Right before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Buechler – who was 16 at the time – started to venture into wreath making.
“I tried it out, and I liked it,” he said. “Then when the pandemic started, I was home from school because our school was shut down, so I started doing more research on (wreath making) online, and I found out there’s a whole industry.”
Another passion of his, Buechler said, was one day owning his own business.
As he began researching – Buechler said he quickly realized that he could bring his two passions together.
“When I started doing this, and then realized that I could sell what I’m making – I knew it would be the perfect business,” he said.
Getting started
Though deciding to start a business was easy, preparing to start a business as a minor Buechler said, came with its own challenges.
“I started off making (wreaths) and then posting them to Facebook,” he said. “It was challenging because when you’re only promoting to 50 Facebook friends, you’re not getting a whole audience. I got a few sales here and there.”
Buechler said he began to try out different avenues to promote his wreaths – YouTube being the next opportunity.
“That started my social media presence,” he said. “Then I had people commenting, ‘can we buy these wreaths?’ I didn’t know how to sell a wreath to someone that lives in Florida, so then I started researching how to start an Etsy shop.”
It was then, Buechler said, that he had to overcome another entrepreneurial obstacle.
Max Buechler said venturing into wreath making was an easy decision, as the entrepreneur said he’s always loved being crafty. Photo Courtesy of MB Crafts
“It was challenging because I started when I was 16,” he said. “On Etsy, you can sell if you’re under (18), but you have to have parental supervision, so there were a few extra steps I had to do to show them that my parents are watching over me.”
Buechler said he ran his Etsy shop as a sole proprietor under the guidance of his parents for two years, and then once he was 18, he got his LLC and “turned it into a legit business” – MB Crafts.
Fast following
As Buechler continued to work on his business, he said he found his social media presence started to grow as well – and fast.
“I started (with) Facebook because I started watching what other business owners were doing, and I saw a lot of them were on Facebook,” he said. “I tested it out and (went live). I didn’t get a lot of engagement, but I just kept on.”
Determined to grow his presence, Buechler said he continued to go live and post to Facebook – continued engagement that soon paid off.
“I remember one day I was doing a Facebook live, and all of a sudden I had 200 viewers,” he said. “I was like, ‘this is crazy,’ because normally I only had like 20 (viewers).”
Before he knew it, Buechler said he hit 5,000 followers on Facebook, and soon after that, 10,000.
“I thought that was humongous,” he said.
Around the same time, Buechler said he began to see other business owners take to TikTok as another mode to promote their business.
“I didn’t see any other wreath makers on TikTok, so I started a page,” he said.
Growing his TikTok presence, Buechler said, also took time and patience, but it was well worth it.
“You can’t go live (on TikTok) until you have 1,000 followers,” he said. “I started with posting videos and then as soon as I got to 1,000 followers, I started going live. It was like Facebook – I would have hardly any viewers watching, and then a couple of months into it, I started getting more. It has just recently blown up. I’ve gained more than 80,000 followers since Halloween.”
Now, Buechler has 24,000 followers on Facebook and 162,800 followers on TikTok.
“It’s been insane,” he said. “My goal was to hit 100,000 followers (on TikTok) by the end of the year, and I had that by Thanksgiving. Then I said, ‘okay, well let’s get to 110,000 by the end of the year,’ and then I hit 150,000 a couple weeks before Christmas.”
Wreaths, classes, supplies
Though MB Crafts offers wreaths available for purchase on Buechler’s Etsy page, he said his business offers more than just that.
For example, Buechler also sells his go-to crafting scissors, which he said he added as a direct result of feedback from his customers.
On top of selling wreaths on his Etsy page, MBcraftsByMax, Max Buechler said he also sells other items, such as his go-to pair of scissors when making wreaths. Photo Courtesy of MB Crafts
?
“One of the products that everyone asks me about is my scissors,” he said. “I was like, ‘if everyone’s asking for them, why am I sending them to other businesses to buy when I can just go and buy them myself?’ I started carrying them about three months ago, and I’ve probably sold almost 600 pairs.”
Buechler said he is also looking into possibly selling ribbon on his Etsy page, again because of feedback he received.
Through wreath making, Buechler said he also realized he enjoyed teaching.
“I started doing little video tutorials here and there,” he said. “Then everyone was saying, ‘you should start doing actual paid classes.’”
From there, Buechler said he decided to start a private design group that meets virtually each Thursday, where he teaches the different facets of wreath making.
Design group members, he said, also receive access to all the content in a private Facebook page as well.
?“It’s $10 a month,” he said. “I have almost 200 members in that group.”
The success of the private design group led Buechler to also start virtually offering different master classes.
“I gauge what people in my (Facebook and TikTok) lives are struggling with – one being bow making,” he said. “So, back in September, I did a bow-making masterclass. I (walked) about 250 members (through) 15 different bow tutorials.”
The classes have gained so much demand that Buechler said he has added previously recorded classes for customers to watch.
“My goal for 2024 is to offer one master class a quarter,” he said. “I’m planning to do a spring floral workshop, so people become comfortable with using fake florals.”
Buechler said he also offers MB Crafts in-person classes, but hasn’t done too many yet.
“I did a few in-person classes at my aunt and uncle’s wedding venue throughout the summer, but those are usually about 20 people maximum,” he said. “I do offer house parties – if you want to have a bachelorette party at your house and you want to come over. I haven’t done too many of those, but I do offer those as well.”
As of the end of 2023, the young entrepreneur said he has grown MB Crafts into a six-figure business since starting three years ago.
Bright future ahead
As Buechler nears closer to graduation from Lakeshore Technical College for business management, he said he already has ideas for what he would like to do post-college.
“My ultimate goal when I graduate is to sell all the supplies (I use),” he said. “I’m limited on space right now, so I want to start venturing into that just to get my head into the wholesale space and figure out how it works. I want to get a warehouse and then be a supplier of all my wreath supplies.”
Buechler said he’d also like to grow his private design group, with the possibility of adding more coaches in the future.
?
Max Buechler, owner of MB Crafts, said he offers virtual master classes and in-person classes as well. Photo Courtesy of MB Crafts
And, though, of course, he plans to continue making wreaths, Buechler said he also expects the wholesale part of his business to take up a lot of time once he gets it off the ground.
“Once I start selling supplies, they’ll go crazy, because it’s a super large market,” he said. “There’s not a lot of people that sell good quality supplies that people want to use.”
Eventually, Buechler said he would also like to open an apparel or shoe business – but for now he’s content with keeping busy with MB Crafts.
“I’ve always told myself that I wanted to own three businesses by 30,” he said. “This is almost like running three businesses already, I don’t have time for any other ones.”
As a young entrepreneur himself, Buechler said he’d encourage others his age that ‘“if you have a goal or a dream, you should chase it, because you never know where it’s going to take you.”
“You can’t listen to the haters,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of haters in my life, or even family members that have doubted me… Follow your dream and prove the haters wrong.”
To learn more about Max Buechler and his wreath-making business, visit MB Crafts on Facebook.