I’m a second generation American born in Brooklyn New York. Since I can remember, My father would always tell me what it was like for him being raised by immigrants from Germany. He being the first generation born in this country for our family. He would tell me about the stories of his parents and how they worked hard to read and write English and to become Americans themselves. Yes they still kept their German traditions, but they wanted to be part of the melting pot that was America. Of course it wasn’t easy for my Grandmother who had a very hard accent. While my father was young there was this conflict going on known as W.W.II. It wasn’t a good thing having German parents and growing up in Brooklyn during W.W.II. My father as well as his parents were proud to be living in the United States. So much so, my grandparents became American citizens.

American pride still runs deep with many Americans. I myself hold this country in high regards so much that I will stand at attention wherever I might be if I hear the National Anthem. I will never let the country’s flag touch the ground. I fly the flag in my yard everyday and lower it to half-mast during remembrance days. I’ve always own an American made car and try to buy “Made In The USA” products when it possible.

Unfortunately, our federal government has made it difficult to continue to find items that are still made in this country. JAG Wholesale does what it can to supply American made products, but more and more it’s getting harder. Two companies that I get merchandise from are American based companies, but because of the regulations that are imposed on themfrom the government, they’ve move the manufacturing part of the company overseas. Duck USA and STAG USA are the two companies that moved the manufacturing to China and Pakistan respectfully. If it wasn’t for my knowledge of the product that I received from them for years before moving overseas, I would have probably not done business with them because of them being considered (by many) a foreign company. The powers-that-be in the companies made it a point to still deliver the same good quality that they have for years. Keeping an eye on the products has help them continue to bring great knives while keeping the price reasonable for the American consumer.

Over the years I’ve stay involved in inspecting all merchandise delivered to JAG, helping to maintain the quality my customers have come to expect. Many of the product that JAG stocks are now made overseas and for that reason I feel compelled to check out everything.

I am still as patriotic as most Americans, but I have come to terms with the way our government has changed the way America creates jobs. The manufacturing industry has nearly stop in this country and we are at the point of exporting more in than we import out to other countries. I will continue to assure our customers that the product we offer to them are good product at a fair price.
Check out our product line and see for yourself.

The experience of owning your own business is something that most Americans have the desire to do, but seem to lack something to get the job done. Either it’s money, time or even a clear idea of what type of business they might want to operate.

Whatever the reason, they’re just excuses to cover you for when you want to complain about your current job or financial situation in you life. Making excuses doesn’t do anything for you, your family or the situation you’re in at this moment. The entrepreneurs that actually go out there and make something of themselves are the ones that didn’t make excuses as to why they didn’t succeed, they just pushed themselves and got the job done.

For many years I’ve been trying to get something going to jump start my independent career decisions. I tried many things along the way and quite a few of them failed. I look at it the way Thomas Edison looked at making his invention of the light bulb. He said, “I didn’t fail 100 times when trying to make a light bulb, I just found 100 ways how NOT to make a light bulb.” His determination and positive outlook on life helped him overcome his situation and created not one, but hundreds of inventions that we still use today.

We don’t need to invent something to be successful, we just need to come up with a better mousetrap to make something for ourselves. I didn’t invent knives, air-soft guns or any of the other things I supply to my customers. I just found a way to better reach customers in my area with better prices than any other in the same region. I bring a different level of customer service that my competitors can not provide.

As for creating a business that’s right for you, that is up to you. No one knows you better than you. What are your interests? Are you more of a labor-type or someone who enjoys using your mind more? Whatever it is, you are the one who decides what you want to do. Nothing fuels a business more than the passion of the owner. Passion for what you do will take you further than anything else in the world. So what is it that you’re passionate about? What is it that you enjoy doing or being involved in that drives your passion?

In today’s economy, many Americans are out of work and quite a few have given up on looking for work all together. It’s times like these that are perfect to start your own business. Follow that passion and the dream of being independent to do what you enjoy doing. Being out of work gives you the extra time needed to focus on the different aspects of operating a business, to see if you can make a go of things. Take advantage of a bad situation and turn it into something good.

What is it that you love to do? What is it that you want in you life? How are you going to make those “wants” a reality? Go out there and make it happen. What else are you going to do? Work for someone else?

If you spend any time online searching for knives to purchase, you know there are way too many brands, styles, colors and sizes to choose from. By just looking at the pictures online doesn’t really give you a good idea of the quality of the knife. You’ll know if you’ll like the aesthetics of the knife, but you’re not just buying a knife for it’s look are you?

If you are, then you just may be taken to the cleaners and find out that the knife you bought looks nice, but it’s made of poor materials and less than acceptable quality craftsmanship. Especially if you purchased a stag handle blade. Stag handle knives are beautiful because of the unique design each one has from any other. Stag handles are made from antlers. Making each one different in minor details, but the blade itself is the same. I own a couple of stag handle knives and the handles may be about the same size, but that’s where it ends. If you haven’t seen a stag handle knife before, take a look at the few that I have listed here on this website.

The manufacturer I want to spotlight in this post is Stag USA. They craft beautiful weapons with a one-of-a-kind look, you won’t find anywhere else. The blades themselves are crafted in Pakistan by quality blacksmith that create two great looking blades. The blade shapes are each different and are available in two different designs, the plain blade and the Damascus blade. The plain blade has a clean look to it with the Stag USA logo stamped right on the blade. The Damascus blade is an etched blade with a great looking design to it. Each blade is made from stainless steel

Once the blade is finished, it’s ship to the United States for the handmade crafted handles to be attached to the blade. The handles are harvested in the United States, mainly the Pacific Northwest. The raw material is trimmed and cut, then sorted, taking into consideration the curvature, diameter and the natural character of the antler. Each antler will vary in color and surface character, which is why like I said earlier, it gives each knife it’s own look and style than any other. With the handles 3/4 tang design along with hidden pins and epoxy, the handle and blade have a permanent bond to hold up to whatever job you put it through. Each knife has a brass guard to protect you from your hand slipping up the handle and onto the blade.

If you’re looking for a blade that is of good quality and crafted beautifully, Stag USA knives are the answer.

As we celebrate the 235th anniversary of our country’s existence, I wonder how many really take the time to do it appropriately. Yes of course we will be barbecuing with friends and family, drinking and playing games, but is that all the Fourth of July has become?

As Americans, we should take the time to thank our founding fathers for the sacrifices they made to create a nation that will become the greatest nation on earth. Granted I am being bias in my last comment, but if you look at the fact of how this county didn’t exist 240 years and rose to be the leader of the free world in about one hundred years, then you would understand my feelings. Too many people these days take it for granted that we have the freedoms to do what we want like have a BBQ on July 4th every year, if we want and if we don’t want to do that, then we don’t, It’s our choice. The freedom to choose is what our founding fathers gave us. That and as Benjamin Franklin once said, “A republic, if you’re able to keep it.”

So let’s take the time out from our busy parties, BBQs and lounging around on our national holiday to appreciate what we have in this country. Something that most other country’s don’t have. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

As we go through life we tend to get more involved in the day to day stress which consumes us from the easy going person we were, to someone a little more edgy. Why is it that we, as humans, go through this process? Unlike other animals who deal with just the instinctive mode of life without stress and anxiety.

In my short but stressful life, I realize it’s all comes back to one thing, the lack of gratitude. I see many people every day complain, moan and groan about things going wrong in their life, how their life has not gone the way the wanted it to go or being so glum about their future. I rarely ever hear people say anything positive in the way of their life. Ask someone how they’re doing and their answer is typically… “good”. Nothing more than that unless they make statements like…”Can’t complain, then again who would listen anyway.” or “Hey I’m above ground.”

I find that most people don’t take the time to think of how grateful they should be for the life they already have, the childhood they’ve experienced or just being thankful for anything in their life. Life is too precious not to appreciate it. We take for granted the good things we have in our lives. Taking time to be thankful helps you to have a positive light on everything else that may come your way.

Recently I started to spend more and more time being grateful for the things that I have in my life. Each day I wake up feeling thankful for waking up, for greeting my wife in the morning, having time to be with my homeschool daughters and so much more. Since then I’ve realize that I’ve been a happier person and motivated to do more in my life. The feeling of gratefulness goes a long way and we should all be doing it. Spend ten minutes each morning, while you’re getting ready to go through your day, being thankful for at least three things in your life. Do the same thing at the end of your day too while you’re going to bed. You will see in a short period of time that you are a happier person and a lot less stressed.

No matter how good your service or products are, if your appearance is not pleasant, you may lose that person or business, as a customer and the same goes for your internet appearance. Your website is your online business card and it’s usually the first thing a potential customer sees. So if it’s not clean, easy to navigate or takes too long to load all the pictures, links and advertisers, they will typically take their business to another site.

That is why I’ve been working on getting this website looking professional, clean, as well as easy to navigate. This site is my online presence to my business, JAG Wholesale. A venture that I know will be taking off faster and faster as I get the name out. The good thing about my changing the look of this site is that I just recently started using this site for JAG Wholesale. Many of the people who know this site, know it more on a personal level. Either way, you don’t want to be where I’m at now changing the look of my site. Especially if you’ve built up a following on your site and have a good client base. Customers like stability in a company and that includes the company’s website.

When you work on your website/blog, remember to take your time and do it right. You only get one time to make a good first impression. Rushing through to get the site up is something you don’t want to do. Once you have people coming to you site, you want them to return. You don’t want to have one look and then later on when they return to do business again, have another. They may think that they’re on the wrong site or that the ownership has changed hands and may go somewhere else.

It’s hard enough to operate a business without giving yourself more work to do.

These days, many more entrepreneur minded people are taking the leap of faith and starting their own business. Why? Because the job market is not what it used to be in the U.S. The internet has taken over and little companies can have a huge appearance on the web. I know of many companies that are on the internet with a large presence, but have less than ten employees. In some cases, less than three. I have already made connections with business’ outside of a hundred mile radius of my city. I’ve shown the customer an appearance of being larger than I actually am. And when you think about it, do you really care how big the company is as long as you, as the customer, is treated fairly and with respect and above all, felt like your business meant a lot to them? I rather deal with smaller Mom&Pop/local business. I feel I get treated better than doing business with a franchise or chain type companies.

The economy isn’t what it use to be and who really knows what kind of condition it will be in comes 2013. Unemployment is currently sitting at 9.1%. Many Americans out of work have also given up on trying to find a “job”, so instead they are venturing out into their own business. A way for them to take control of their lives and make a name for themselves. In doing so, smaller business’ are experiencing the effect of entrepreneurs willing to go the extra mile for their business.

I know how I want to be treated when I’m the consumer, so when I conduct business, I put myself in their shoes. Giving them the product they want and service they need to successfully run their business. All my customers have my cell phone number and they know they can call me for reason. I don’t want them to have a problem and wait for me to stop by or to contact me. it’s what I would expect from a supplier, so why wouldn’t I treat them the same way?

If you’re dealing with a supplier who doesn’t seem to be there when you need him or he/she won’t return your calls, then maybe it’s time to find some other distributor/supplier to do business with.

In my last post, I spoke about how many things were no longer made in the USA. Even though that is the case, it doesn’t mean you can’t find quality merchandise made elsewhere. Over the last few decades, the federal government has been chasing or assisting companies to move manufacturing overseas. In doing so, these countries have been growing as well as improving on things that they make and ship over the the United States. American pride is stronger than ever here. Many people won’t buy things overseas, but let’s be for real, there isn’t much these days that isn’t made overseas. What is still made here is priced quite high because of the labor cost and the taxes imposed on the company by the government.

Let’s look at one of the product lines that I’ve decided to carry for my customers, DuckUSA knives. The name itself is misleading, but I tell all my customers upfront where my products are from. I can not do business properly if I’m going to lie by saying these knives are made in the USA. I looked for information on DuckUSA online, but to no avail, I couldn’t find anything other than the huge amount of people selling DuckUSA on many websites including eBay. What I thought was cool is the fact that every one of these sites are charging 25% or more for the same knives that I sell at retail pricing. My wholesale pricing is even better than that.

What I can tell you about DuckUSA, is the quality of the knives at a good price. I know you can go ahead and spend twice as much for the same type of knife with the name Buck, Cold Steel or even SOG.The question is, Are you really getting the quality of the knife when you pay $100 or more for a spring assist knife? Probably not. I’ve owned many knives over the years and have own high priced name brand knives made in the USA as well as the less expensive ones from overseas, After a few years I haven’t really noticed a difference between the resilience between the two brand. I take pride in what I own and I take care of my equipment. As with anything in life, if you take care of it and maintain it, the tool/equipment will stand up over the years.

DuckUSA makes a quality product and will hold up beautifully over the years if you do what needs to be done to it, just like you would with any other knife. I’m sure you don’t go out and buy the best weapon (pistol or rifle), to not have to maintain it. Don’t you clean and oil your weapons on a regular basis to assure proper working condition? So why wouldn’t you do the same for your knives?

Check out the line of DuckUSA knives I currently carry with more on the way.

I’ve been working hard on finding products of quality at a great price to pass on to my customers. It’s not as easy as one may think when you consider the types of products I supply to them. It’s reached a point where most everything that we consume in America is made overseas. Many of them are of inferior materials and/or assembled poorly.

I supply convenience store, gas stations, and small mom-and-pop business’ with many different products that range from knives and sunglasses to skull caps and caps. Those products are not made in this country any more on a large scale. It’s cheaper to make those products in countries like China, Pakistan and Thailand. As with any product, a big part of the cost is in labor. We all know that workers outside of the United States are paid less than American workers.

But that doesn’t mean that the product is not of good quality. Yes, like I mentioned earlier, many of the products are inferior. That is why I personally inspect and handle any item I consider offering to my customers. Quality assurance is necessary if you want to grow and stay in business. That’s why I’m able to grow my market share. Many of my competitors are not looking at what they provide to their customers. Their concern is how much can they make on each item at that moment. My way of thinking is to increase my revenue over time, not to make a “quick buck”.

I love what I do, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing it. I get to go out and meet people who have a need that I know that I can fulfill. Providing a product that their customers will continue to purchase with confidence. One of the biggest things to do for success is to have you customers trust you and the product/service you provide. I watched many new business’ fail because of failure of doing that exact thing, so why would I follow their lead? I’m in it for the long haul. I want to be able to one day turn the reins over to one or both of my daughters.

One hurdle I find myself jumping lately is the growth of American pride. I see many customers frown on products that are not made in the USA. I think that’s great since I too have a lot of love for this country and it’s people. When I talk to these customers and listen to their concerns about product from overseas, I hear their pride for America come through. Let’s be for real though people. The government isn’t doing the right thing and it’s mostly likely we will never see those “jobs” come back. As for the ones that are still here, I buy from them when I can. Our economy isn’t stable and people are looking to save their hard earned money, if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be shopping in WalMart. We need to find quality product at a fair price, no matter where they are made.

For more information on the products that I can provide for your business and customers, please contact me at billyakerman@yahoo.com. please make sure you write product service in the title of the e-mail.

Time flies so fast and we don’t realize it until it’s too late. One minute we’re young and the next our children are becoming parents. Watching my children grow up has been such a pleasure it’s hard to put into words without tearing up for the joy I recieved from their existance.

I guess one reason why I’ve never taken it for granted that my children are getting older is the fact that when my wife Joanne and I adopted them at the ages of 5,8,10, we felt we already missed out on quite a bit of their lives and wanted to enjoy the time that was still available. Because of that reason, we never over looked our time with them. Yes there were times when I was “too busy” to hang out with them or had “better” things to do, but the truth is that I have the advantage of my daughters being homeschooled.

We started homeschooling them shortly after the adoption was finalized. We figured to make up for some of the bonding time we had missed out on, homeschooling would be a way to do it. Instead of getting up at 6am to get them ready , fed and driven to school, we would take our time sitting down eating a calm meal without the feeling of being rushed. Homeschooling them also gave them more time to talk with us, listen to us or play games with us since there wasn’t any homework to keep them occupied during the afternoon and evening when that time should have been spent bonding as a family.

The most fortunate experience to come out of homeschooling is the great things we get to do together without competing with others trying to do the same thing. When kids are in school, we go to Disney (we have season passes). When kids are doing homework, we get to go to the movies. When kids are out with their parents on the weekend “getting the errands” done, we just relax or ride our bikes in the neighborhood.

Homschooling has been the best thing we’ve done for our kids. They get to grow up in a secure atmosphere without peer pressure or the drama of other teens in the school system. I feel I’ve been able to make up for the time I didn’t have with them in the beginning of their lives. I know them so well and that I’ll never feel like I wished I could have done it over.