Editor’s note: Made in Tarrant is an occasional Q&A series on small businesses started in Tarrant County. Submit your business here.

Who: Brian Frank, owner
When: June 2021
What: Accessories for camper vans, like window and seat hole covers. Frank won third place in the 2023 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition.
Website: https://knarlyvans.com

Fort Worth Report spoke with Brian Frank about the business. This interview has been edited for content, length, grammar and clarity.

Seth Bodine: What does Knarly Vans do?

Brian Frank: We create campervan components, focusing on passenger vans. We’ve got three young boys, and we try to experience as much as Texas has to offer. I’m from Arizona originally, and I asked my wife who’s from here, “Show me Texas.” And she was like, “Well, let’s go check it out.” So you know, going out and adventuring and spending time on the weekends is the ultimate goal. And so with a bunch of kids, as quick as you can get out the door, and in the car, makes everyone happy. That’s the goal. And so having the van and then creating products to make that happen is our focus.

Bodine: When did you first start thinking about the seat hole covers for the vans?

Frank: My son dropped a bag of goldfish in the car. That’s a true story. It’s kind of a problem with these vans.

There’s a good community of do-it-yourself van builders, and we all share tips and tricks. And it was a question that I posed like, is there a solution to fill these holes? And you just get a lot of people saying, no, I’m looking for the same thing. I said well, I can create that.

Just for my own needs, I came up with a few different prototypes that kind of work. I started with, like an outlet cover, trying to get that or just something simple and easy. And it eventually evolved into the product that I have now.

Bodine: Was it challenging to get the business started?

Frank: It takes a lot of work. Especially with three kids at home, their homework and kids’ activities. Just waking up early and working on stuff or after the kids go to bed. So it started kind of slowly. And there was no real deadline, I just wanted to make cool stuff that scratched my own itch.

Bodine: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be an entrepreneur or start their own business?

Frank: When you have an idea, or a product or a service, someone is creating that. And really, starting is the hardest part, and building up the momentum for yourself. It’s kind of a self feeding cycle. You get a sale, which helps you want to do more, which drives more which can snowball into something great. So just get started.

Seth Bodine is a business and economic development reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at seth.bodine@fortworthreport.org and follow on Twitter at @sbodine120. 

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