CabinetMaker+FDM - February 2011

FIRST CUT
Let’s build business
back in 2011

During the current economic
downturn we’ve heard lots of de-
pressing stories about struggling
cabinet shops. One of the hard-
est hit areas has been Florida, so
I was curious what I’d find on a
recent visit to a central Florida
cabinet shop.
The drive to the shop was
telling. On my last trip to Florida
a couple of years ago, I recalled
seeing building boom signs every-
where. This time I drove past lots of empty storefronts.

by William Sampson

wsampson@wattnet.net

Pleasant surprise

Frankly, I was getting more concerned the closer I got to my destination. I’d heard this shop was doing well, but I’d also heard they were doing significant business out of state.

Maybe that was the answer. I was in for a surprise. Not only was the shop filled with work, it was mostly jobs from the immediate region. Was business really coming back or did this shop owner have some magic potion to scare up new clients?

The truth was almost prosaic. Yes, there are some signs of life in the economy. But the real story was how the shop owner was completely dedicated to the long-term success of his company. He talked about getting really excited about creating a business entity that has a life of its own and that can outgrow its creator. Of course, he has an added incentive in that regard, as he wants to turn the business over to his sons who are currently in their 20s.

Have you just bought a job?

Too many owners of woodworking businesses have really just bought themselves a job by running a shop. They haven’t built a real business. They are too focused on short-term goals to create long-term success. The Florida shop owner I visited talked about selling quality and developing a reputation for jobs that please customers even if they have to dig a bit deeper in their pocketbooks to pay for them. He was talking about buying new machines and constantly making improvements in production and manufacturing. He was talking about investing in and grooming a talented staff that will stick around. (One of his top guys was homeless when he was first hired years ago.)

If we want to build back the economy we all need to first build back our businesses and do it for the long haul. ❮

FDM 300:
A fan’s notes

What did we learn from doing the research on this year’s FDM 300?

We encountered relatively few companies that have gone out of business and closed. Certainly fewer than could be expected in such a difficult year. There were also a few consolidations, which is encouraging – people are seeing value in existing companies. In

2010 many of the woodworking industry market segments reported encouraging news. In our research of the FDM 300 companies we saw more secondary woodworking firms reporting 2010 sales similar to 2009, or down only slightly. Some companies are reporting stronger sales in 2010, a rarity in the previous year.

by Karl Forth

kforth@wattnet.net

Here are a few other observations:

❯ A variety of companies repored stronger sales in 2010: Best Chairs, Inc., Pacific Crest Industries, Spectrum Industries Inc., Norcraft Cos., Wellborn Forest Products, OFS Brands Inc., Affordable Interior Systems, WoodCrafters Home Products, LLC., MasterCraft Wood Products LLC, Nucraft Furniture Co., KI, Fetzer Architectural Woodwork, Barbosa Cabinets, and Exemplis Corp./SitOnIt.

❯ There are more news updates on LinkedIn and Facebook. Relatively few FDM 300 companies have Facebook pages, (maybe 30 or 40) but some of the ones that do have an active update on what they’re doing: new products, upcoming events, community projects, company news. A similar number are on twitter in some form. There are a surprising number of basic company profiles on LinkedIn.

❯ No news is good news? Almost every company in this group has a web site (there are a couple that don’t -- seriously) and almost every one of those has a news section. And most of those have no recent news at all. There’s been nothing new at your company since 2006?

❯ Bad year for the E’s. Of the unlucky 13 companies beginning with the letter “E”, Ello is out of business, Eurodesign and Environments were purchased by other companies, and Eagle Industries is operating in bankruptcy. Ethan Allen reported lower sales and plant closings.

❯ Closing the P.O. Box. We still do a mailing, and in the course of postal, internet and telephone research we found a growing number of companies that have closed their P.O. Box and have gone back to a street address. They’re getting less mail, so that makes sense.