“This is big in the US”

Hand-welded exhaust systems for four wheelers. Narrow niche, it may seem. But here, the Boden company RJWC has managed to establish itself properly in the international market.

In 2010, Robin Jansson started his own business and took on the welding jobs he came across. The company name became Robin Jansson Weld Custom, abbreviated RJWC, and the business was run at home in the garage.

One day a friend called and asked if Robin could weld him a muffler to his four wheeler – and this is where the whole success story began. Robin said okay and built some more mufflers that he tried to sell on Blocket.

– At the end of 2012, I posted a post on Facebook and then it was an American who got in touch and asked if he could demonstrate them at a off-road meeting that they would have in the US. After that, it was a guy who asked if he could start selling them in the US, in Louisiana, says Robin.

The customer asked what the minimum order was and Robin imagined a dozen. But the order was 60 exhaust systems.

– I did not have my own warehouse so I had to work quite hard for a few weeks, haha. It was like an order for 20,000 dollars and that was a lot then. I had to work hard, but it was then it started.

Great on Instagram

In an anonymous workshop at Erikslund, the company is unassuming, many people from Boden have not even heard of them. Still, the account @rjwcexhaust has 54,000 followers on Instagram. Social media, influencers and sponsored drivers have been of great importance for the company’s growth.

– It started when a large page shared our Instagram post and the morning after I had gained 8,000 new followers – what happened? It’s hard to understand but this is so big in the US, it’s completely inconceivable, says Robin.

In June, about 20 international guests came to visit here in Boden, influencers and retailers from Canada, Russia, Lithuania, Norway and southern Sweden. Including the world’s largest youtuber in the area, “Ostacruiser”. They went on a guided tour in Rödbergsfortet, had a fermented herring party and rode a whole lot of four wheelers.

– They were very impressed and said it was the best thing they did. It was raining heavily the day before so it was just as muddy as they wanted it to be. I was nervous, I can honestly say, about bringing people here to my small business. But everyone was great and thought it was fun and that the workshop was nice.

Handmade in Sweden

He bought the workshop in 2014, 25 meters from the home and garage where it all started (#närhetsliv), and the following year he hired his first employee.

– The last two years it has really exploded. Now we are four in the company and it is close to five, I am scouting people. The work is almost surgical, you have to be good at what you do, says Robin.

RJWC currently manufactures aftermarket products for the powersport industry, primarily stainless steel exhaust systems for ATVs (four wheelers), UTVs (roughly off-road golf carts) and snowmobiles. The market is mainly found in the USA, Canada and Russia, but also in Europe.

– Everything is handmade in Sweden. The Yankees are very patriotic, but “made in Sweden” seems to be associated with something good. The unique thing is that we have very high quality of our products. They are expensive, of course, but we do not save on gunpowder anywhere, says Robin.

In 2019, he expects to turn over 12 million and deliver 4,000 exhaust systems in about 40 models. During the spring, they have also developed model-adapted lamps for quad bikes, a project that has worked out well.

– We invent a lot of good things. We do everything in house – everything from development and drawings to prototypes and tests, says David Rutström, responsible for sales and product development.

New for this autumn is a CNC machine that can manufacture prototypes in metal, a million investment that will facilitate product development and bring in new income through custom jobs.

– I love what I do. I’m passionate about this with manufacturing and what I think is the most fun is custom stuff. Then I am purely interested in business as well, I am driven and want to move forward, says Robin. #