Sawmill Business Podcast

This week, we’re sitting down with a one-man woodworking company based out of Portland, Oregon, Blacktail Studios. Blacktail Studios is the business of woodworker and influencer, Cam Anderson. In the first year, business was fun but slow… it wasn’t until Cam took his wife’s advice and set up an Instagram account that things truly started to take off. With the account now at 93.4k followers and his services on a waiting list, Cam credits social media to his explosive growth. In addition to Instagram, Cam also credits Etsy for his commissioned sales and recommends that anyone in the woodworking space start an account, if they haven’t already. As far as what the future holds, Cam plans on expanding his social media reach to Youtube as well as becoming a sponsored influencer. Show Highlights: With the opinion that you don’t necessarily have to quit your day job to become successful, Cam also works as an emergency services flight pilot and loves it. With a flexible work schedule that gives him plenty of time

Today, we’re talking with Anthony and Alex from “Trees Are My Business.” T.A.M.B is a company that provides the rare find of a mill and tree service combination. Based out of Columbus, Ohio, Anthony is a certified Arborist that has been in the tree business for over 15 years. Alex is a metalworker with a passion for woodworking and a knack for strategic business planning. Together, they make an unstoppable team. With their dual-purposed business model, T.A.M.B. is able to use a majority of the trees that they remove as free materials for the woodworking side of their business. With their naturally supplied stock levels, they’re able to proudly boast a wide selection of species in their shop as well as current inventory levels reaching over 4,000 slabs. Not only that, but their unique business position allows them the opportunity to turn felled trees that once held a place in the heart of property owners into a piece of art that they can hold onto for generations. Show Highlights In a unique and lucrative

Today, we’re talking to owner and “Benevolent Dictator” of Heartwood Tree Service, Patrick George. With a passion for changing perspectives on the value of trees, their company tagline “helping trees outlive humans” backs up this passion. Based in the urban areas of Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina, they strive to educate people on the value of trees and their place in this world. With a hope to preserve and not destroy, they focus their efforts on protecting the beauty of the world we all live in.   In the business for 40 years and with a revenue of a little over 5 million last year, Patrick loves the opportunities that his success has brought him. In addition, the ability that he has to go out on the daily and provide excellent tree work, something that’s more of a passion than a job to him, is something that keeps him excited and motivated.   When it comes to his team, a great example of the company culture comes from the office in Asheville he opened up 4 years ago. Patrick’s key employee at t

Today we’re talking to Paul Ostlund from Lacrosse Flooring. Lacrosse Flooring manufacturers red oak, white oak, walnut, and hickory hardwood flooring and produces about 55,000 sq ft of flooring per day. Originally, they were considered a “boutique” manufacturer, up until 3 years ago when they installed robotic packaging machines and a 2 million dollar scanning system. Since then, they’ve become a major flooring plant that services the midwest area, and they’ve taken foreign producers by surprise.   Show Highlights: Lacrosse Flooring is heralded as one of the top flooring plants in the United States.They were considered a “boutique” manufacturer, up until 3 years ago when they installed robotic packaging machines and a 2 million dollar scanning system.Lacrosse produces 55,000 sq ft of flooring per day.They create from multiple species and are a “one-stop shop” for high quality flooring.   Who They Target: Typically, they sell to distributors across the country and tend to sell heavily into the 2-step di

Originally from England and now based in Australia, Matt Lee of the Tree Fairy Arborist brings excitement and solid growth advice to this episode!   Matt has spent the past two years running his own tree business and loves it. He knew he wanted to branch out on his own when he was in Australia and the opportunity presented itself. After chatting with the wife, he embarked on his own venture.   Show Highlights: Matt saved over several years and also went to the bank and convinced them to help him start his business.The first year was a challenge - mainly with staffing. How do you convince someone to come work for you when you can’t guarantee a solid income?   Advice: Don’t get “flashy” buy spending $$ on brand new equipment or shiny trucks when you’re first starting out - stay smart!Don’t listen to other people tell you how hard it is to run a business. They will only slow you down.   Marketing: He started his IG as a way to gain staff and get them excited. It wasn’t initially for marketing reasons.

On this week’s podcast, we’re talking with special guest, Bill Challenger - president of Cannon Bar Works. In business since 1955, the company was founded by Ernie Cannon. Mr. Cannon originally started his work by making sawchain guide bars for Brunette Machine Works. They manufactured a two-man chainsaw called a TimberHawk just after the first world war. Bill became involved with the company in 1974 as a salesman for a homelife brand of chainsaws. In 1981 he struck out on his own, providing chainsaws to the logging industry. Soon, he became Cannon’s largest customer. In the late 80’s, Ernie retired and Cannon Bar was taken over by new owners, who unfortunately struggled. However, Bill was able to buy the business. He then re-branded the line and re-established their dealer connections, growing the company exponentially.   Show Highlights: Cannon Bar prides themselves on the quality of their products and it rings clear through their motto -“The best bar, bar-none”. If it’s not the best, it doesn’t leave

Today, we’re talking with Anthony from Real Antique Wood, a sawmill focused on finding reclaimed wood and telling its story. At RAW, the team focuses on salvaging reclaimed wood from old barns and buildings.   Based in Irvington, North Jersey, Real Antique Wood serves varying types of clients. From homeowners looking for a reclaimed shelf to put their coffee cups on to contractors carrying out large scale renovations, Real Antique Wood doesn’t shy away from anyone and strives to provide reclaimed wood for any person or any project that needs it. Challenges At RAW: Dependable manpower - There’s simply not enough people in this day and age that are willing or capable of working with their hands in a skilled trade.Finding crews willing to travel to dismantle buildings and barns can be a feat.However, knowing how big a challenge finding a good crew is, Anthony is extremely grateful for his core team. A group of dedicated and hard-working employees are on staff at Real Antique Wood!   Educating The Masse

Today, we’re excited to be talking with Anne of All Trades! A woodworker, blacksmith, and organic farmer- Anne started creating online content centering on these topics about three years ago with the intent to go full-time as a content creator. This year, she was able to hang up her part-time hat and start working in content creation full-time!   Acquiring the skills and getting started in this field began when Anne moved to Seattle seven years ago. Once settled, she set up a woodworking shop and started creating. With only $300 to spend on tools, she started buying tools on Craigslist to fill up her toolbox and within three months she had a fully functioning shop. In addition, she would frequent her local library and read anything she could get her hands on that would help her become as skilled as possible.   Show Highlights: Anne would read or watch anything she could get her hands on to help educate herself on woodworking and content creation.Instead of focusing on making large quantities of product,

Today, we’re ending 2018 with a recap of the guests we’ve spoken with over the past year as well as the changes we’ve seen within our own “Woodpreneur” community.   Join us on this episode as we highlight the biggest news from the Woodpreneur community in 2018! Show Highlights: We’ve changed our podcast name from the Sawmill Business Podcast to the Woodpreneur Podcast. - A podcast focused on giving you the tools and mentorship that you need to grow your business.This year we partnered with Jennifer Alger of Urban Salvaged And Reclaimed Wood for the Urban Lumber SummitRiver tables and epoxy pours have dominated 2018The Woodpreneur Facebook Group is growing and full of great information.   Contact Us www.acresoftimber.com @sawmillbusiness Want more?? Read our Free Instagram Report: Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content. Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business? Schedule your Free strategy session with St

Today we’re talking with Ashley Harwood of Ashley Hardwood Woodturning. Our first ever woodturner on the podcast, Ashley started about 9 years ago shortly after going to art school for sculpture and installation art. Knowing that she wanted to create things for a living, she originally thought she would start with glass blowing. However, after taking a woodturning class with her father, she decided to dive into the wood community. She now travels all over teaching woodturning classes and creating wood-turned art! When first starting out, Ashley displayed her work at the Charleston Farmers Market. Soon, she realized that there was also quite a bit of interest from people in woodturning as a hobby. So she wisely added teaching to her repertoire of income generation and began traveling and teaching wood-turning classes throughout the U.S.  Loving the ability to be her own boss, work with her hands, and being able to take something from a hunk of wood and create something unique and amazing are all of Ashley’s

  Today we’re talking with Dustin and Caleb from Iron Timbers. In business for a little under two years, the idea came about when Dustin decided to start making furniture for his home. Soon, he noticed that there was a market for such handmade products and that people on Instagram were selling similar items. Approaching Caleb, who was a metal worker by trade, he asked him to start making metal bases for his pieces. Agreeing, they went into business together and things grew from there.   Soon, they had 19,000 followers on Instagram, orders coming in, and long nights of work, all while still working full-time jobs.   Now, with both guys working Iron Timbers full-time in less than three years, I asked them, “how did they foster this growth??”   “Well,” Dustin said, “with all of the time and effort we were putting in, we just decided to go full throttle and full time.” Starting at an art show where they took home best in show, they then took their products on Instagram and Facebook, started taking custom

Today we’re talking with Austin Roberts from LogOx, a company built on a highly innovative and unique product useful in all facets of the wood industry. With the slogan, “American tools for woodsmen”, the LogOx is completely manufactured in the USA and was created by Austin’s father. An engineer by trade, he spent every fall and spring in the Vermont wilderness working with wood. Looking for a way to load logs from the ground to the log splitter without hurting his back, he came up with the idea for the LogOx. Once he had a rough prototype, he took it to a local metal shop for further development. From there, he patented the product and began looking for companies that would be interested in purchasing or licensing it. Shortly thereafter, Swisher Inc. decided to work with him as a manufacturing partner. It was during this time that Austin came home from his service in the Army. Looking for the next career step to take, he started to get more fully involved in the family business. Soon, he had stopped think

Today, we’re talking with Martin Goebel of Goebel and Company Furniture. First established in 2011 while the economy was just starting to turn around, it seemed like an unwise time to start a business. However, Martin and his partners were tired of working for other people, building awful products, and making little money. He decided that if he was going to make little money, he might as well make it while working for himself. Goebel and Company Furniture started with an 8 piece line consisting of items such as a dining table, coffee table, and king/queen size bed, etc.- the types of items a young couple could start their life with and have for generations. Offering quality products with a beautiful aesthetic, the reputation of the business started to grow, and in turn, so did sales. As a maker of luxury goods, Martin felt the aftershocks of the downturn in the economy as early as 2005, but it wasn’t until 2013 that he started seeing a true return on the work he had put in throughout the years. From the o

Today, we’re talking with Sam Finco from Big Iron Tree Works. Getting started recently, most of Sam’s business is preservation and contract work based. Starting off as a rock climber and in school for forestry education, once Sam saw an arborist in action, he knew it was the perfect career for him. So far, Sam has had great success with every client he’s worked with. He’s continuously asked back and brought on for long-term maintenance contracts. Of course, there have been bumps in the road with no-show employees and competitors who are less knowledgeable and offer lower rates. At the end of the day though, Sam knows that tree service is a luxury service and clients get what they pay for. There’s a marked difference in his quality of work and that’s what brings these clients to him. Of course, Sam also loves getting “paid to play”. The rigging and climbing aspect of tree work is his favorite part. The Certification Process Getting certified as an arborist was a bit time consuming, but not incredibly dif

Today, we’re talking with Jack Maendel, the CEO of EcoPoxy. Epoxies were originally created by the military in the 50’s and 60’s by using petroleum from the oil industry. However, EcoPoxy has entirely different origins when it comes to the creation of their epoxies. As soybean farmers in Manitoba, Canada, they operate on the strong belief that anything made from petroleum can also be made from soybeans. Solid proof of this belief is in the 100% green, eco-friendly, and soybean-based EcoPoxy that they produce.   Jack initially came across the EcoPoxy brand while he was looking for an eco-friendly epoxy to use on flooring that he was installing. He was surprised to find a company that claimed their epoxies came from peanut and soybean oil. After using the product and seeing how well it worked, he became a retailer and distributor for the company. As his sales began to grow, he was able to buy out the company and make it his own.   During this time, he had been on the hunt for the original creator of this ec

Based out of Southern Alberta and going strong since 2015, Dusty Lumber Co. specializes in reclaimed wood. Doing a majority of barn demolitions themselves, they set up shop to mill, clean, and create furniture out of the reclaimed barn wood. In late 2015, they doubled their equipment and production hoping that the economy would turn around and items would start selling. As they ventured more into e-commerce, Facebook, and Instagram, their furniture sales started going through the roof. Not taking a break and pushing through, Dusty Lumber continued to grow, and the hard work and efforts paid off. Switching from his prior career to taking on Dusty Lumber full-time - Dusty considers himself a serial entrepreneur. As his kids started growing older, he knew it was time to focus on one thing entirely. Previously, he had started a scrap business, but as the price of scrap went down, he knew it was time to invest all of his drive into the wood business. His advice to go full time? “Take the jump, have faith in you

This week we’re talking with Mel Hordyk of Exotic Woods. HISTORY   Exotic Woods has been a fixture in the woodworking industry since 1978. The company was started by Mel’s father when he realized the public’s desire for better quality wood. At the time there were plenty of generic designs in stores, but not really any fine wood shops.   Through the years, Exotic Woods has turned their focus less on cabinet and furniture making, and more towards wood sales. Starting with a smaller 1200 ft store, they’ve grown their space to a 20,000 sq ft building with an additional 30,000 sq ft of warehouse space. Here they sell all types of fine wood, flooring materials, European finishes, hard wax finishes, reactive stains, and of course, live edge lumber.   CUSTOMER SERVICE AND KNOWLEDGE   Mel credits the business’s growth and longevity to Exotic Wood’s knowledge-based customer service approach. Many people can sell lumber, but a lot of the time typical sales departments don’t know exactly what they’re selling

You may have noticed that we’ve recently started using Acres of Timber as the logo on our website and in our hashtags... Well... we are officially changing the name of our podcast and Instagram account! Going forward, you can listen to our podcast titled - The Woodpreneur podcast, and check out our blog and other resources on our new website - www.acresoftimber.com! WHY CHANGE THE NAME? When he first started Sawmill Business, our host, Steve Larosiliere, ran it with the vision of serving the portable sawmill community and helping to grow awareness of that field to potential clients.   Along the way, he started working with entrepreneurs (just like yourselves) and other woodworkers and business owners that didn’t actually own sawmills, but were still woodworkers, manufacturers, and people selling slabs and all types of different creations to the public. THE EXPANDING GOAL The ultimate goal is to empower the entrepreneur. However, Sawmill Business infers that we only want to help a limited audience. Thi

On this podcast - we’re back with more Q&A! This week - we’re answering these questions... How important is a website? I have no idea how to create a website. Where do I start and what’s the most affordable? A few years ago, it seemed that having a website was the be all - end all and the only thing that anyone ever talked about. Then, over the past few years, people have started opting out of a website and instead relying solely on Instagram, Facebook, and email. So, is a website really necessary? Total honesty... YES. You absolutely need a website! Really, what you need is a way to collect leads. Websites are important for blogs, galleries, and sales - and you can still link it to your Instagram and Facebook as well. Google, the current alpha of the web, tracks and ranks websites. You can draw in a ton of traffic and leads JUST from search engines directing people to your site. This is something that you simply can’t do with social media alone. Another thing to remember, if you put all your egg

As i’m in the middle of a transition and re-brand of the Sawmill Business, I’ve been asking our audience a lot of questions. Why? Because I want to know what you’re thinking, feeling, and doing in your businesses so that I can identify your problems and challenges and in turn, help you grow your business. As you may recall, the Sawmill Business Podcast started because of my involvement with my father-in-law’s wood biz, Crosscut Lumber. Over the years that I’ve been a part of his family, I’ve helped him grow his business, and he’s let me pick his brain. I’ve seen what it takes to grow a wood business, and I want to help you.   Today’s question comes from a member of our audience, and it’s a good one...   Q. I’ve started my wood related business, and I have a few clients. However, I want to continue growing my client base while increasing my social media following. How do I do this? A. Here’s the thing, you shouldn’t do these two things separately. They go hand in hand and should be done at the same tim