A pair of identical twins attending Dixie State University have kick started a business out of their garage manufacturing innovative skimboards.
St. George locals Duran Bickmore, a junior CIT major, and Harbor Bickmore, a junior art major, founded Bick Skimboards in 2013 when they began selling skimboarding merchandise, from T-shirts to action videos.
The two, with a passion for filmmaking and, of course, skimming shorelines, have been applying entrepreneurial skills they’re learning at DSU — like web design, graphic design and accounting — to bring their business to life. Harbor Bickmore said he’s applied Bick Skimboards to numerous class projects, from the creation of advertisements to magazine spreads.
“I incorporate all of my homework assignments into the business,” Harbor Bickmore said. “I just center my classes around the business so it makes it fun for me, and it doesn’t feel like homework; it’s something I would have to do anyway … We call that double-dipping.”
The skim-addict twins have profited almost $200 from selling their videos and clothing so far — but they’re just getting started. The brothers began selling their first custom skimboard this month: The Cult, which is crafted out of Baltic birch and bamboo with an innovative shape designed specifically for tricks. It also features a top pad made out of cork, which is more lightweight than foam, the typical material of choice for most skimboard manufacturers today, Harbor Bickmore said.
The Bickmore brothers said they discovered the formula for The Cult sooner than expected, but not without plenty of trial and error and months of research for the best design and materials.
“It seemed like there wasn’t any other way to [make a skimboard], so when we finally did get something that actually worked, it was so exciting,” Harbor Bickmore said. “I came home and was bragging to my parents, and it was even unexpected. It kind of renewed my love for the sport and the business and just motivated me because [we] actually did something really really good.”
The twins’ desire to offer more options to the St. George skimboarding community was a catalyst to the creation of Bick Skimboards.
“There’s pretty much one company that dominates the skimboarding world right now, and with that there’s not much variety,” Harbor Bickmore said. “… So, basically, we just want to give people something new — some variety to choose from. Our boards are definitely different from any other board I’ve ever ridden, and it’s a good thing; I’m really excited about it.”
The brothers said so far their experience as business partners has gone smoothly.
“We’re super similar, so we have similar ideas about visually what we want [the company] to look like — the image we want it to present — and I never have to worry about a punk business partner who doesn’t work or wants to pull one on me, so it’s nice,” Harbor Bickmore said.
Any student with the right blend of motivation and passion can apply him or herself to start a business, especially with the variety of class assignments required in order to obtain a degree, Duran Bickmore said.
“You have to have a really strong desire because it’s not easy a lot of the time,” Duran Bickmore said. “And you just have to know how to figure stuff out … (But) you’ll find out what you need to do to start your business if the passion is there.”
While the Bickmore twins’ company is still a work in progress, so far they’re excited to have set it in motion. Duran Bickmore said they plan to continue producing more skimboarding merchandise, and they hope The Cult stirs buyer interest by next summer.
To keep up with the Bickmore twins’ progress or to find out more about their products, follow Bick Skimboards on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and visit www.bickskimboards.com.
