433 | How to Disrupt a Dinosaur Industry: Gun Storage, Creative Conflict, and the Band of Misfits | Tom Kubiniec

What do you do when your revenue disappears completely? After eight months without a single order, Tom Kubiniec was preparing to sell his house to keep the business alive. Instead of doubling down on the same market, he found a $700 million consumer opportunity behind an $11 million defense market. In this episode, Tom explains why he avoids competitor research when solving a new problem, how “why do we have mice?” beats building a better mousetrap, and why creative conflict helps his team move faster. He also shares what happened when he shut off $30,000 a month in Google Ads and saw no change in traffic or sales. This is a conversation about pressure, purpose, fast course correction, and building a company around a problem worth solving. Key Takeaways 00:00 Discovering a $700M market 06:07 Switching from music to sales 08:23 Landing US Army contract 11:25 Reflecting on business challenges 14:44 The mindset of true entrepreneurs 17:43 Creative problem-solving approach 23:10 Modern threat: shift in break-ins 24:02 Discussing gun safe security issues 29:12 Encouraging Open Dialogue at Securit 31:34 Reflecting on marketing struggles 35:31 Empowering employees and valuing creativity 38:17 Questioning ad campaign results 40:57 Challenges of managing digital marketing 44:23 Mission to secure firearms safely 48:39 Engineering a high-speed small car 50:21 Rethinking business challenges Tweetable Quotes “Making money is a perk.” Tom Kubiniec 00:00 “The win is getting the order.” Tom Kubiniec 00:30 “Sometimes you don’t see the future properly unless your back’s against the wall.” Tom Kubiniec 10:55 “When your back’s against the wall, you see things differently.” Tom Kubiniec 11:18 “You have to love that battle.” Tom Kubiniec 14:08 “Every successful person is just jumping from failure to failure.” Tom Kubiniec 14:16 “The worst thing you can do is think about things too long.” Tom Kubiniec 14:30 “It’s not who’s right, it’s what’s right.” Tom Kubiniec 30:08 “The last thing I want to do is see what others have done.” Tom Kubiniec 17:52 “We didn’t know there was a box.” Tom Kubiniec 17:52 “Why do we have mice?” Tom Kubiniec 19:39 “If we solve the problem, we don’t need a mousetrap.” Tom Kubiniec 19:43 “Quirkiness is an asset in my world.” Tom Kubiniec 31:00 “I don’t have a problem admitting I’m wrong. In fact, sometimes it’s fun.” Tom Kubiniec 33:28 “Why do I do this?” Tom Kubiniec 44:12 “The what can sell, can run a company, but the why can change the world.” Tom Kubiniec 44:23 “You can build a company that lasts and live a life worth remembering.” Jeff Mains 01:43 “Don’t deny yourself the struggle.” Jeff Mains 51:12 SaaS Leadership Lessons Solve the underlying problem, not the visible symptom. Tom Kubiniec challenges founders to stop asking how to “build a better mousetrap” and ask, “Why do we have mice?” Start with the root problem before improving the existing solution Let constraints force better thinking. After eight months without an order, Tom moved from military storage into consumer products and found a much larger market. His lesson: “When your back’s against the wall, you see things differently” Fail fast, then course-correct. Tom Kubiniec says his company makes decisions quickly. If the decision is wrong, the team adjusts. Waiting too long creates its own risk Build a culture where people can challenge leadership. Tom tells new employees that he makes mistakes and needs people to speak up. His standard is simple: “It’s not who’s right, it’s what’s right” Don’t confuse personal taste with performance. An outside agency created ads Tom disliked, but the campaigns produced strong results. He accepted that the work performed better than his own preference and let the data decide Give the company a purpose beyond revenue. For Tom, money is a byproduct. Secure-It’s purpose is to change how America stores firearms, and the win is seeing customers realize the product solves the problem better Guest Resources [email protected] https://www.secureitgunstorage.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomkubiniec/ Episode Sponsor The Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1N The Captain's Keys Small Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’ Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/ https://jeffmains.com/books/ SaaS Fuel Resources Website - https://championleadership.com/ Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmains Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/ Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains