Our story
Bakersfield built. Zachary and Blake Been started out as kid entrepreneurs. Today they paint, refinish, and build alongside the dad who taught them.
The idea of Been Brothers started long ago when one of the Been brothers had a big idea and the other Been brother was just a baby. When Zachary was just five years old, a Blockbuster Video store went out of business. Zachary noticed that the store was sitting empty and started dreaming about buying the store and opening his own business. He told his parents his plans and spent almost an hour describing in detail what he would sell, how he would set things up, and how he would find customers. After listening and encouraging Zachary, his parents realized that Zachary intended to do this now. They gently let him know that they couldn't purchase the store and after some sad moments, decided to have a lemonade stand to satisfy the entrepreneurial bug that had bitten Zachary.
Age 5
The lemonade stand was a bit of a challenge. At that time, the Beens lived in the country with the closest neighbors being family and even they were several miles away. But they sent out invitations and set up the stand. Now not everyone can say that they had a harrow-bed tractor show up to purchase lemonade! After several hours of selling lemonade, Zachary had made $40 and he was hooked.
About a year later
The lemonade stand fueled Zachary's ambition to open his own store. He was ready to build a shed and have a weekly lemonade stand. Based on a limited customer base, he had to keep thinking before he had his next stand. His next business venture was about a year later. This time he teamed up with his cousin, Emma Mae, to create EZ Holidays (E-Emma Z-Zachary ~ Another cousin, Wyatt, joined in after their name was set.) They both created all sorts of fun crafts and baked goods and sold them at a farmers' market in Wofford Heights. Again, Zachary found success in his business and added a bit of money to his pockets.
Age 8
The family moved to Bakersfield when Zachary was eight. This is when he started his first continuous business. As the family drove into their new neighborhood, Zachary commented that someone must need to mow all of the yards and stated that he was going to do just that. At this point he had helped out with the family's yard, but that mostly meant sitting on the riding lawn mower with dad or helping mom with the bubble mower. Zachary was determined though.
He started out with a push mower in the backyard. Once he showed enough responsibility he started using a gas powered mower and when his lines proved to be straight, he moved into the front yard. By this time, one neighbor knew that Zachary had goals of mowing the neighborhood lawns, and offered him his second yard as soon as he was ready. Zachary jumped at the chance and started mowing both 1/2 acre lots.
His new business was named Zach Attack's Lawn Service. When a new neighbor moved in, they inquired about who did the landscaping (because it looked so good) and Zachary gained his third lawn. By now he was nine and had his lawn care business going strong. He added another yard to weed (no need to mow artificial turf).
Blake joins in
Now, the second Been brother is almost ready to enter the family business. Blake is about five and starting to see that his big brother works hard and gets paid for what he does. He's not quite ready to mow yet, but starts pulling buckets of weeds alongside his brother. Through the next three years, Blake begins to help more and more with the lawns. When Zachary breaks his shoulder (on a hover board), Blake is ready to step in and at age 8, just like his brother, takes over the mowing while Zachary heals.
June 2019
At age 8 and 13, the Been brothers decide they are ready to venture out to a new business. Both boys are still mowing and weeding, but they are ready to expand their skills. For Christmas, they ask for some basic woodworking tools and start to tinker around. Then, in June of 2019, their aunt sends the brothers a note about an upcoming farmer's market that is looking for kid entrepreneurs. This is just what they have been waiting for . . .
The boys fill out the application and realize that they need a business license. After a trip to City Hall and the CA Tax Board, they are set with a business license and sellers permit. Now the fun part begins . . . creating the projects. The first couple of projects started with the scrap wood pile on the side of their house. They made a great planter box, a vase holder, and some picture frames, but then they were out of supplies. They quickly found out that purchasing wood can be expensive. So, they started thinking, they realized that there were probably other people who had piles of scrap wood just sitting around and that they might want some help hauling it off. The boys decided they would focus on repurposing old wood and creating new one of a kind products with it. With a little help from their parents they put out a call to friends and neighbors for any scrap wood that might be laying around. In just a couple of days they had over ten people respond with materials. The boys spent several afternoons picking up piles of wood and organizing it, so they would be ready to create. They would pick up wood in the afternoon and create their projects in the evenings. In just 3 weeks the boys created over 40 projects for their first farmer's market. Now they will see what their customers think!
The next year
Fast forward 9 months and the Been Brothers have been creating and selling their handmade wood decor items at the Family Fresh Market, First Friday, and at other craft fairs. They also set up a website and Facebook page for customers to see their products.
They quickly found that their patriotic flags were a hit with customers. They were also getting a lot of requests for front door signs. This is when they decided to use part of their business funds to make two big purchases. First, a nail gun. They swung a lot of hammers, but were so excited to get a nail gun to make jobs go a little quicker. The next purchase was a vinyl cutter. This allowed them to make the front door signs and other items with a professional look.
Just as they were getting into the swing of things, the Been Brothers had to adjust. Covid-19 shut down all of their venues that they had been attending and selling items at. Plan B went into effect. They already had their website and Facebook page, so they started posting more. The distance learning set up gave them a lot of time for "vocational education". As the orders came in, they built and delivered.
Once everything returned to normal, the Been Brothers continued to do special orders through social media and do some shows and events.
Bigger builds
The boys spent several years fine tuning their skills. They advanced from making smaller decor items to creating larger items like doghouses. As their skills advanced, they also started designing furniture like outdoor bars, picnic tables, and conference tables. Each of these items required them to learn more tools and work with more materials.
2023 & 2024
In 2023, Zachary decided that the business needed to grow and offer more services. He started painting houses - interior and exterior. He used the income from his first job to buy quality equipment and has been painting ever since. Zachary is now in college and he fills up his painting calendar for holidays and summers before he comes home.
In 2024, Blake wanted to add his own piece to the business. He decided to start offering refinishing services. He started with front doors and expanded to furniture. With a little music and a whole lot of patience, he can transform a piece of furniture.
So far
The Been Brothers have been building together for over 7 years. Here are a few of their accomplishments so far . . .
And they've diversified to painting & refinishing.
Our newest addition
Our newest addition to the team is here. The man who taught us all of this in the first place has now decided to go full time with us. We are extremely excited for him to be working with us. Please help us welcome our dad, Allen, onto the Been Brothers team.
Together we are the Been Brothers, and together we can accomplish anything!
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