Today we’d like to introduce you to Clayton Massey.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Clayton. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
After College (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) I moved to California on a whim, kind of a whim. I was a Marine Reservist in college, so I spent a few months in California for training. I wouldn’t say I fell in love with it. It’s hard to love something when you are getting yelled but something in the air felt right about this place.
When I was not being yelled at our getting lost in woods on a drill weekend, I spent most of my free time surfing in corpus christi. Not the best place learn, but you make do. In 2005 with a tiny amount of money in my pocket ($1200) I packed my 82 Mercedes Benz and drove west with everything I could fit stuffed in the back, surfboards on the roof. I lasted a solid year working as a data processor for a mortgage company, I lived in Long Beach and surfed Huntington almost everyday, it was a fantastic year. I also had really long hair, picture Jeff Spicoli, and yes I have photo evidence. At the end of the year, my younger brother had an opportunity to start a small software shop, he had a friend who needed some point of sales software. So I made the painful decision of heading back to Texas to get the company off the ground. Long story short it didn’t pan out, after two years, we had to shutter the doors.
So after the fall of the company, I ventured off on my own, still in Texas and trying to rebuild. My brother was newly married so he had to go get a “real job” I was stuck with just my skillset which at the time was primarily in design and web development. So I broke off and started to do freelance web development. For the first couple of years, I suffered through what I call my “crowd source” days. I was finding contracts online, bidding and taking whatever I could get. Most of these were mom and pop size shops needing websites. One of them was actually for an Indian actor running for the Presidency of India, he wanted a US-based website. If you know anything about old youtube viral videos, he was the same guy who has the Michael Jackson thriller remake video, so you can imagine how colorful this website was.
This continued until about 2010. I had honed my skills and was eager to get back to California. On May 6, 2011 I packed my bags and headed west again. I was still freelancing but primarily for a marketing agency in Laguna Beach called “Young Company”. This was a significant blessing in my life. The owner, Bart Young, took me under his wing and did two things I could not on my own. One showed me how to run a functioning agency and two networking. I knew very few people in Southern California outside of my old surf crew, so having a foot in the door was something I can never repay.
In 2014 I broke off on my own creating SmallHouse Software, I loved building websites, but what I really wanted and still want to accomplish is a more software app-driven business. Things started pretty slow. I had a couple of small clients that kept the revenue flowing, but it was hard to expand. I had a single developer and a marketing girl but little growth. In early 2015 I partnered with a tech recruiting company called Synergy Direct in San Clemente and things picked up rapidly from there.
Besides an influx of new small projects, this partnership brought me into the world of larger San Diego based firms. From 2016 – 2019, I worked very closely with Red Door Interactive. With them, my company built a few San Diego Staples such as SDCCU.com, Shae Homes, GoGo Air, Gemological Institute of America, and a plethora of other projects. I also sprinkled in a few of my own with Donut Bar and Fast Frames. Through all of this, my long term goals are finally starting to come to fruition. I currently run the development for three unique startups. One in the events management world (great timing I know) one in the home security world and another in the retirement and insurance world. I love building and creating websites and will probably continue to do so for the remainder of my life, however my drive is creating a product or brand that people look towards and say, “That was helpful”. Until then, I’ll keep plugging away.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Early on the struggles were like any small business, such as learning how to create a small business. When I started my first company with my brother, I had also been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, which kept me planted at home until I got it under control. This was at the same time my first business started to fall apart. So timing was not great. It hasn’t been smooth sailing since then but I’ve navigated the tides pretty effortlessly.
SmallHouse Software – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I run a web development and App company. SmallHouse Software. We specialize in custom web builds. In the San Diego Market, I’ve built a few relatively known sites, such as SDCCU.com, SheaHomes, GoGO Air, and GIA.
My biggest accomplishments are things yet released. All our software products that have in some cases been years in the making.
One is an events app, called “eventsmack” This saw a limited release before the pandemic, but we are gearing up to get this running when things go back to normal.
The others are still in the NDA phase.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Growth and Goal Realization.
Growth: The markers here are easy to define. This can be in the most obvious revenue, or it can be scope and complexity of a project. When I first started out, I was building simple HTML driven websites for obscure clients.
I now have a team that can work with any tech on the market. Ten years ago, I would have to stop and ponder how I could get something done, now it’s how long will this take.
Goal Realization: One of the hardest aspects of creating something is understanding you may very well fail at what you are doing. I’m currently involved in 3 startups, but I’ve been a part of 3 others that failed wildly. Most cost me time, but some cost me money. At some point, you have to step back, pivot or quit. If you choose quit, the next thought you should have is, ok, let’s try something else. If you find yourself there and you find yourself optimistic after that failure, you may very well have what it takes to realize your goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.smallhousesoftware.com
- Email: info@smallhousesoftware.com
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