What started out as a software company in 2001 has turned into something else all together.

Matthew Maloney only wanted to test the software he created that could produce better results for Web sites in common search engines.

He bought 150 monk and Jedi style robes to sell on the internet, created a Web site and, using his software, sold all of the robes in a few months.

Maloney, who was joined by his mother and sister, decided to continue selling robes and other costumes, and Costume Craze (www.costumecraze.com) was born. In 2003 they gave up on the software and turned solely to costumes, said Kate Maloney, Costume Craze's Chief Executive Officer and Matthew's sister.

The company now carries 8,500 different costumes and related products. They now get 2,000 new products every year, said Kathleen Maloney, Matthew's mother and the chief operational officer of the craze.

"This is new for all of us," Kate said.

She had just graduated from BYU with a degree in business management when the family started Costume Craze. Her mother managed a medical office, and her brother was into software development. Matthew is now the IT director for Costume Crazy.

Not only have they run a successful business for the past six years but Kate received a Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year nomination and "for three years running we have appeared in the Utah 100 emerging elite list," Kate said.

Costume Craze is also the only online costume retail that does international selling.

But it is not all smooth sailing for this family of entrepreneurs.

"It still feels like we are a starter business because there are always new challenges," Kathleen said.

Currently the biggest issue they are facing is growth, she said.

"The warehouse is too small," she said. "We have 23 pods in the parking lot and we probably need more."

Because of continued growth, Costume Craze is now moving into a bigger space. They are currently at 400 N. Geneva Road in Lindon and will move about a mile up the road to 350 W. Center Street in Pleasant Grove.

While the business has grown immensely, they still use the software Maloney created.

There are other frustrations that the whole industry has to deal with, Kate said, the largest being the seasonal nature of costume sales, which reaches its greatest volume the weeks before Halloween.

"We have 150 employees at the peek and we have to let them go on Oct 31," Kate said. "There is a whole bunch of extra space that we pay for and a bunch of desks and chairs that, for the rest of the year, sit dormant."

Christmas is the second largest holiday, as parents purchase costumes for dress up, said Jeff Wiseman, the company's marketing director. But it doesn't come close to Halloween.

But the Maloney family does not sit around for the rest of the year.

"It takes 42 weeks of the year to prepare for the 10 weeks leading up to Halloween," she said.

Those 42 weeks are spent ordering, receiving and marketing.

"Then hopefully by Sept. 1 we are done with all of that and are ready to sell," Kate said.

Kate also does lectures around the valley, including BYU and UVSC.

"There are a million ways to fund your business and there are a million ways to run a warehouse, etc. etc. but I just try to motivate and inspire people because then you can come up with your own good idea," she said she tells students interested in entrepreneurship.