Campbell now installs just the basic interior fittings and wiring in the trailers, adding the big screen TV, satellite dish and other extras only after he has a customer's order in hand.
He also had trouble figuring out a workable marketing scheme. An ad in the local newspaper didn't generate any responses, and he couldn't afford radio or TV commercials. The $2,500 he spent on a website ( www.gamedaycustoms.com) wasn't scaring up much business either.
So Campbell started hauling the trailer to games at the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, indulging his love for USC football while getting exposure for his product. Orders started trickling in, word of mouth led to more sales and customers finally began finding him in cyberspace -- leading to orders from Seattle, Texas, North Carolina and other far-flung locales.
Working alone, it takes Campbell about two weeks to complete a custom trailer, but with his current order backlog, a trailer ordered today will take four to six weeks for delivery. He recently hired his first employee to speed up production and to relieve him from 55-hour workweeks. (That doesn't count game-day sales time -- he was in the Coliseum parking lot at 5:30 a.m. for the USC-UCLA game -- which he considers more fun than work.)
Campbell's goal is to build the company for five years and then sell it to someone with deeper pockets who can finance a more ambitious expansion plan. In the meantime, he's cooking up ways to reach his core tailgater customer base while steering clear of markets where he'd get sacked by bigger RV players -- such as toy haulers or camping trailers.
And he'll keep doing the kind of personal market research that comes naturally to a tailgater.
"Unlike a lot of guys, I actually use my product," said Campbell, who's pictured on the Gameday website in full tailgate mode, beer cup in hand. "I know what works through personal experience."
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martin.zimmerman @latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Gameday Customs
Business: Manufactures trailers that enable tailgaters to indulge their love of partying and sports simultaneously.
Owner: Jeff Campbell
Employees: 2
Headquarters: Long Beach
Revenue: About $400,000 in 2007
Goal: Build the business for five years, then punt.
