SMASHING IT UP IN OGDEN

Smash It is a small business success story that began operations in December 2019 in downtown Ogden. Even during the pandemic, a second location was opened in Salt Lake City, with a third location planned for Logan.

Smash It is owned by wife and husband team Madison and Braeden Furgeson. Having lived on the east coast, the young couple saw that there was a trend for people wanting to smash things in a “rage room,” and that it wasn’t being done as a stand-alone business in Utah. In late 2019, two or three other entrepreneurs suggested the same concept, but the Furgesons made it happen by jumping in full-time and being the first to market it. They bootstrapped the concept with no outside funding using credit cards and reducing their personal expenses. They worked to find lower-rent opportunities, the cheapest inventory/supplies (things to smash that people want to get rid of), and a vision that each location would operate by empowering employees to oversee the operation so they could still enjoy family time.

Smash It is considered an SBDC success story because of the number of partners involved in helping the owners along the way. Ogden City referred them to the SBDC, where it was suggested they present to 1 Million Cups, and more connections were made. The SBDC also introduced them to local landlords with vacant space, potential funding sources such as the Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund (UMLF), and crowdfunding that included consultation from another SBDC location. They were then introduced to venues such as axe throwing companies that also made introductions to the basics of social-based businesses. Smash It has made good use of the many connections and resources the SBDC has to offer.