August 20, 2009 :: Valley Times Section B6

Taking Care of Business: A Weekly Q&A from Ed Johnson
Ryan Belshee the Inventor of the RocLok

Ever lock yourself out of the house? Ever worry that the key under the doormat isn’t secure?  Beaverton entrepreneur Ryan Belshee may have a solution. He calls it RocLok, and it’s basically a realistic-looking rock with a locking, combination-controlled safe in the bottom.

After developing the RocLok for more than a year from a special mixture of concrete designed to withstand intense physical pressure and temperature changes, Belshee, along with his wife Melanie, began selling the product in May 2008.

The Valley Times recently caught up with the Belshees, and asked them about how their business got started, where they see it going and why they feel it’s a necessary product.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why did you start RocLok?
Ryan Belshee: My background is that I did real estate for eight years. Part of what I do is bank-owned properties, as such, I know how to get into most any house. Unfortunately, the combination lockboxes that they sell for contractors’ lockboxes are insanely easy to pick. Like, five minutes or less. So that’s not really a viable solution. Another thing is that you can see it from the street , so it’s basically a blinking light saying “I have stuff inside me, come steal it!” And, as the market slowed, I had the opportunity to start playing with making faux-rock, and make a better hide-a-key solution than what is currently out on the market.

Have you had a lot of success so far?
Ryan: We’ve had good success but limited success. It’s been good for the marketing budget we’ve had. The biggest challenge has been getting the word out.

How does it work, being together as husband and wife and also operating the business together?
Ryan: Quite well.
Melanie: Yep.
Ryan: Anybody will tell you the best thing to do is to find someone who can fill in for the things that you’re unable to do, and that’s the best team. I can do sales, I can do marketing, things like that, but as far as graphic design, blogging, stuff like that she’s really good.

And is RocLok your sole income right now?
Ryan: That’s what we’re hoping. Realistically, she still does marketing for other people. I still do real estate. The goal is to have this be our primary focus.

And what plans do you have in place to make the business grow?
Ryan: I think realistically, our primary goal is to keep meeting with people in the media, getting the word out that way. Keep doing our online marketing. Doing things to build word-of-mouth.

Is there a certain type of customer for RocLok?
Ryan: Well, our product works for a lot of demographics. Our customer base tends to be people who are affluent, professionals in their industries.

Melanie: We see a lot of doctors, professors. Most of the sales are back East, we haven’t seen a lot here in Oregon. Which is strange. California and New Jersey are loving it. Which is good.

Do you feel like you’ve met your goals so far?
Melanie: I feel like we’ve done really well, for our marketing budget. I’ve been amazed by some of the places we’ve shipped to, like Guam.