Solving a niche problem—then learning to ship it

Kenny Crenshaw didn’t set out to become an ecommerce entrepreneur. As the owner of a successful weed control and lawn spray business, he had his hands full. But when he invented Dos Pistolos, a two-trigger, two-outlet spray gun explicitly designed for right-of-way herbicide applicators—the workers who spray under power lines with backpack sprayers—he found himself navigating unfamiliar territory.

“It’s a niche, niche, niche product,” Crenshaw explained. “It fits in a certain place where there was not a good product.”

What started as an innovative solution to a real industry problem quickly became a crash course in manufacturing, assembly, marketing, and sales. For someone used to managing his lawn care business at a strategic level, the operational challenges of running a product-based business were eye-opening.

One challenge stood out above all others: shipping.

dos pistolos shipstation spraying

When technology becomes the problem

Crenshaw was transparent about his relationship with computers: “I absolutely hate computers. I’m 63 and I remember when we didn’t have the blasted things.”

His frustration wasn’t irrational—it was born from years of experience being held hostage by complicated software systems. So when he found himself trying to navigate websites to ship spray guns, the experience was, in his words, “terrible.”

The problems were multifaceted:

  • Manual label creation for every single order
  • No way to compare carrier rates
  • High shipping costs without access to negotiated rates
  • International shipping felt nearly impossible to navigate
  • Hours spent fumbling through complicated interfaces

For a business owner juggling his primary company while trying to grow a side venture, every minute spent wrestling with shipping software was a minute lost. Even worse, he was paying premium prices for the privilege of that frustration.

A recommendation that changed everything

The turning point came through Crenshaw’s marketing firm. The firm recommended ShipStation to other clients and suggested it might solve his shipping headaches, especially since Dos Pistolos was selling through both WooCommerce and eBay.

“When my marketing firm set up my website, they set it up with WooCommerce. And so they had to find something that would integrate with that and eBay,” Crenshaw explained.

What he discovered immediately upon implementation was transformative. ShipStation wasn’t just a shipping tool—it was a complete reset of his shipping costs.

“I just couldn’t believe it. My carrier was charging me like $23 to ship, and ShipStation was $9,” Crenshaw said. “Sometimes it was less than half, but regularly ShipStation is half of what I was paying.”

The cost savings alone—40 to 50% compared to his previous rates—justified the switch. But ShipStation delivered far more than just better pricing.

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Simplicity by design

For someone who dreads computer work, ShipStation’s interface proved surprisingly intuitive. The WooCommerce integration ensured that orders flowed seamlessly into the platform without requiring manual data entry.

The workflow became remarkably efficient. He could set up preset package sizes for his most common orders—one sprayer or two—eliminating the need for repetitive data entry. The Rate Shopper Tool let him quickly see which option made the most sense for each shipment.

“With ShipStation, the comparison of rates is really handy,” Crenshaw noted. “Previously, you had to go look at UPS. And you had to go look at the mail, and you had to go look at FedEx.”

Processing an order that once took endless fumbling now took about a minute from start to finish.

“When an order comes in, I click on it, I’ve got a certain size box, I look over, make sure the address is verified. Boom, boom, boom. I print the sticky label out and I’m done,” Crenshaw said.

International shipping made simple

Perhaps nowhere was the transformation more dramatic than with international orders. What had been a nightmare of customs forms and documentation became straightforward.

“When you use ShipStation, it prints all the shipping manifests and everything for you. And I just carry that to FedEx and, you know, have them look at it to make sure it’s right. And then they stuff it in the little envelope, and off it goes,” Crenshaw explained.

The cost savings on international shipping were equally impressive. He shipped a sprayer to Australia through FedEx and ShipStation for just $43—a fraction of what he would have paid through other methods.

The features that matter most

After about a year with ShipStation, Crenshaw identified his favorite capabilities:

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The bottom line

For a business owner who openly admits he hates working on computers, Crenshaw’s assessment of ShipStation carried particular weight.

“ShipStation makes my life a lot easier,” he said.

When asked what he’d tell another company considering the software, his response was characteristically straightforward.

“From the perspective of a guy who doesn’t like to do work on computers, ShipStation is pretty straightforward. It’s just easy to use compared to what I was doing before.”

Kenny Crenshaw, Founder, Dos Pistolos

What had been one of the most frustrating aspects of running Dos Pistolos had become one of the simplest. And for a busy executive trying to grow a side business while managing his primary company, that simplicity made all the difference.

“Doing it outside of ShipStation was hard for me. Doing it inside ShipStation has been very, very easy,” Crenshaw said.

Ready to simplify your shipping and cut costs like Dos Pistolos? Start your free ShipStation trial today—no credit card required.