Want to create consistent cash? Outsource, says Jeff Finney

What’s the mark of a healthy business? Is it profit? Customer count? Leadership? I’d argue that the clearest sign of a healthy business is stable, positive cash flow. With cabinet shops, getting the timing right on cash inflows and outflows is crucial.

 

Outsourcing manufacturing capacity helps you generate consistent cash in two major ways:

 

• You expand your capacity without investing in new, expensive equipment or inventory
• You’ll have more time to bid jobs CONSISTENTLY

 

YOU NEED A CONSISTENT SALES PROCESS TO HAVE CONSISTENT CASH

 

I’ve written about it before, but it bears repeating: a consistent sales process is the only way to end the vicious sales cycle.

 

You know what the vicious sales cycle is because your shop lives in it month after month. You bid, bid, bid, and then you manufacture, manufacture, manufacture. When you’re busy producing, you don’t make time for sales, so your cash reserves deplete. When you finish your manufacturing push, you finally take time to assess your accounts and realize that your cash has bottomed out.

 

Having low cash reserves is not a great feeling. If you haven’t developed a consistent sales process, your mood probably correlates with your cash levels. That’s no way to live. While you focused on sales, your team may not have enough work to do because you’ve finished the manufacturing jobs in your queue.

 

The only way to end the vicious sales cycle is to implement a consistent sales process, but what does that mean?

 

When you outsource your manufacturing capacity, you gain the time to bid jobs more consistently, not just when your current jobs are complete. If you keep your sales funnel full, you’ll never have to scramble for more work or face a cash flow crisis.

 

If a consistent sales process is part of your everyday efforts, you’ll consistently grow year after year without the violent swings up and down. Your business will be healthier, and so will you.

 

Are you ready to try outsourcing so that you can finally focus on consistent sales and end the vicious up and down of your current sales cycle?

 

See Jeff's full article, which features a link to his podcast.

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/want-create-consistent-cash-outsource-says-jeff-finney

4 ways to prevent a skills shortage at your cabinet company

The skills shortage has been a problem since the dawn of the modern corporate system. Both companies and employees have not been able to keep pace with the rapid changes in almost every industry. The lack of skilled staff can obstruct or even stop some long-standing operations.

 

Many manufacturing-related jobs that require a highly specific skillset are going unfilled. This situation is the result of an entire generation heading towards retirement without passing on their skill-set to younger generations.

 

With a skills shortage, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Here are the four main ways to prevent and address a skills shortage:

 

1. Focus on Your Existing Employees

 

The people employed at your firm are already familiar with its culture, regulations and expectations. They know each other and have developed a sense of belongingness to their workplace. If they also feel that the organization invests in employees by upgrading their skills regularly, then they might not have a reason to leave. Investing in training and development can help increase the overall capabilities of an employee and their level of job satisfaction. One creative way to develop a junior employee is to pair them with a senior one to learn new skills in a hands-on fashion.

 

Author Ankit Sharma is a 2019 40 Under 40 honoree. He owns Kitply, a Vancouver-based wood products company.

2. Build a Talent Pipeline

 

This strategy is considered to be the best when it comes to preventing a skills shortage happening in the first place. The idea is to create a pool of talent, within your organization, that will be used to fill positions in the future. This pool of skilled individuals can be acquired in many ways – one of which is through an internship program.

 

3. Introduce a Referral System

 

An employee referral system helps to land the most suited talent for a particular job since existing staff are likely to recommend someone they know shares the same value system. This approach can also increase the overall employee engagement and give them a sense of importance at their workplace.

 

4. Re-examine the Hiring Criteria

 

Organizations often have stringent and unrealistic hiring criterion. Finding the ‘perfect fit’ of skills, talent, and values for the role can be more difficult and expensive than hiring people based on their potential and attitudes. Relaxing some less important criteria such as educational background will get you a diverse workforce that can manage different tasks and develop additional skills over time.

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/4-ways-prevent-skills-shortage-your-cabinet-company

A podcast for cabinetmakers: "I fired myself as the owner"

The Cabinetmaker Profit System podcast is for architectural woodworkers, joiners, and of course, cabinetmakers. We recommend checking it out.

This episode, podcast host and professional business coach Dominic Rubino speaks with Jeff Finney, founder of Ultimate Cabinet Components and 2018 40 Under 40 honoree. In the episode, Finney tells Rubino how he was holding his business back by constantly being on the shop floor, and how he always using the edgebander and table saw because he thought none of his employees could do it.

"The primary reason that so many of us get stuck being a slave to our shops is that we don’t know how to fire ourselves. We don’t know how to start delegating the activities that we don’t personally have to be doing," Finney says. You know what those activities are - running the saw, making sales, doing the accounting. We know that we need to fire ourselves from these things, but the “how” is a little tougher. Check out Finney's article "Why you're a slave to your cabinet shop" here.

Rubino is a professional business coach focused on wood product companies. He has nearly 70 videos on his YouTube channel - most of which are interviews with successful cabinetmakers. Specific topics include winning commercial bids, talking about drugs in the workplace with your employees, finding good employees, and marketing tips when selling to homeowners.

Learn more about him here.

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/video/podcast-cabinet-makers-i-fired-myself-owner

Why you're a slave to your cabinet shop

Are you a slave to your cabinet shop?

 

Until just a couple of years ago, I definitely was.

 

The primary reason that so many of us get stuck being a slave to our shops is that we don’t know how to fire ourselves. We don’t know how to start delegating the activities that we don’t personally have to be doing. You know what those activities are - running the saw, making sales, doing the accounting. We know that we need to fire ourselves from these things, but the “how” is a little tougher. 

 

Firing yourself doesn’t mean that you don’t want to work. It means that you don’t want to be so tied down to your business that you have no freedom. 

 

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE A SLAVE?

 

Let’s do an exercise. Ask yourself:

 

What would happen to your business if you left for a day? Probably, everything would be fine.

 

What if you left for a week that wasn’t a planned vacation, but an impromptu break? Could you do it? How would your business handle it? How would you handle it? Would you be stressed and worried about your shop the whole time, or would you be fine?

 

What if you left for one or two months? Is that even possible for your shop, or would your operation crumble? 

 

When you think about stepping away from your shop for a day, a week, or a month, when do you start to feel your blood pressure rise? That spot is the place you need to put in some work. If you can’t leave your business for a week for vacation or a family emergency, then you’re a slave to your business. 

 

Your goal should be to set up your shop so that it can survive without you if you need, or want, to leave for a week. 

 

You have to get yourself out of the mindset that you can never be away for any amount of time.

 

Being a slave to your shop isn’t just hard on you; it’s hard on your loved ones as well. I’m fortunate to have a wife who reels me back in if I get too focused on the business over our family. Always keep in mind that your attitude toward your business also affects your family. If you’re at risk of losing your family over your shop, then you’re definitely a slave to your business. 

 

STOP BEING A SLAVE

 

It’s unreasonable for micromanagers to expect freedom from their shops. If you can’t let go and delegate, if you can’t trust your team to take responsibility for anything, then you’ll forever be a slave to your shop. 

 

Even worse, your shop will never be able to grow past your personal capacity. 

 

Personally, I’ve enjoyed the freedom of not being a slave to my shop for the past few years. Getting off the shop floor has opened up other opportunities for me like writing articles and creating a podcast.

 

What would you do if you had freedom from your shop? Would you expand your business? Would you golf more often? Spend more time with your family? Get a full eight hours of sleep each night? 

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/why-youre-slave-your-cabinet-shop

5 reasons shop owners don't have time

Many shop owners feel like they don’t have time to spend working on their business because they’re too busy working in their business. It’s easy to get caught up in your shop’s day-to-day work. However, getting your shop to run without you is nearly impossible if you don’t put strategic processes in place.

 

So, why don’t shop owners have more time to spend on their business?

 

REASON #1 – SHOP FLOOR

 

Shop owners are too busy running the shop floor day-to-day. Whether it's planing wood or running the saw, owners spend too much time trying to get just one more order through the shop.

 

It’s easy to get caught up on the floor, but you’re not creating long-term value for your shop when you’re at the saw. If you want to remove yourself as the bottleneck, then the shop floor cannot be your main focus.

 

REASON #2 – HIRING HEARTBEATS

 

You’ve got to get yourself out of the mentality that you’re just hiring a heartbeat to fill your spot on the shop floor. Don’t waste your time training an employee who, ultimately, doesn’t want to be there.

 

Hire people who want to be a part of your operation. It may take time, but waiting for the right employee will save you time in the long-run.

 

REASON #3 – CHASING CHECKS

 

It happens to all of us at some point: you call a customer for payment, and they tell you to pick up the check at their office. Chasing paychecks pulls us away from our shop. It’s a symptom of not having a standard operating procedure, or SOP, for collecting your paychecks. 

 

Every time that you have to call for payment or leave the business to pick up a check is time that could otherwise be spent improving your business. Put procedures in place to collect payments reliably, quickly, and with minimal effort. 

 

REASON #4 – LACK OF SOPs

 

If you don’t have quality standard operating procedures (SOPs) that are continually improving and getting better, you’ll have a hard time getting your shop to run without you.

 

SOPs are a guideline for how to do specific tasks in your shop. They’re a great way to wean yourself away from the floor because they empower your team to run the day-to-day processes without you.

 

SOPs are not people dependent; they’re process dependent. The person doing a specific task can change without your shop melting down. If someone moves to a different area of the floor, is promoted, or leaves the job, SOPs make it easy for others to fill that role.

 

REASON #5 – FAILING TO DELEGATE

 

Delegation and outsourcing go hand-in-hand. Ask yourself, what’s your focus? What do you do really well? Where does your shop excel?

 

Is there a case to be made for outsourcing or delegating things that you don’t do as well?

 

Look at delegation as a way to leverage your knowledge. You know everything that there is to know about your shop. By delegating, you’re duplicating that effort and creating other experts. You’re giving someone else responsibility and helping your team improve their craft.

 

Delegation means both hiring great people and outsourcing what you don’t do as well.

 

MAKE MORE TIME

 

Making more time to spend on your shop requires a mental shift. You have to decide that you’re ready to do things differently. It may not be easy at first, but the payoff will be worth it.

 

There are several articles and resources available on the website when you decide that it’s time to focus on your business. You can also reach out to me directly to learn more.

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/5-reasons-shop-owners-dont-have-time

Taking a cabinet shop from $250K to $500K

See $0 to $250K here.

 

I remember this stage of growth very well. We were still in our small backyard shop, just getting to the point of looking to hire another employee. But then we bid off a job that there was no way that we could handle!

 

It was a 62 duplex project in a town that was about an hour and a half drive from our shop. We thought we should bid it and much to our surprise we won the contract! All of a sudden, we had way more work than we could have possibly imagined; it was an adrenaline rush.

 

This phase of growth was totally brute force and awkwardness. Looking back we could have made our life easier if we would have done several things differently.

 

Normal Path

 

On the normal path to breaking through this threshold, your business starts to acquire recurring customers outside of friends and family. These customers may be builders, architects, or a developer that you’re working for who is feeding you some recurring jobs because you’ve built up a level of trust with them.

 

Meanwhile, monthly volume has increased to about $30-$50k a month and you’re starting to find out that it’s enough work to consider hiring some extra help around the shop so that everything gets done. At this point, you’re considering buying some machinery or equipment to help in the production process. Additionally, you may be looking at finding and leasing a space of your own.

 

It seems at this phase that you’re growing faster than you’re learning. Mistakes are common on almost every job that you send out from the shop which can be a frustrating process. Unfortunately, this is the point where most smaller businesses fizzle out because it can be such a frustrating time as you aren’t able to learn at the rate you’re growing your business.

 

Accelerated Path

 

The most important thing that separates a business from the normal path is learning to be transparent with your numbers.

 

This is a hard thing to do without coming across as either: we’re making a killing or we’re going out of business. But you have to find a way to convey the right numbers to your employees so that they have an understanding of how the finances of the business are working.

 

If you aren’t transparent with your employees and tell them the numbers, they will begin to generate their own. The accelerated path also includes finding an implementing a solid drawing and cutting program which produces lists and order files for cabinets you’re going to buy.

 

IMPORTANCE OF OUTSOURCING AND FRUGALITY

 

Looking back, when I was at this phase I wish I would have considered outsourcing for just about everything other than design and sales. Today, with our world being as connected as it is, there are many niche providers of outsourcing that exist for things like: drawers, doors, and box components. It’s hard not to consider using outsourcing as your primary means of manufacturing.

 

Be very frugal. I learned this from Warren Buffet in his book The Snowball. Buffet recounts that at the start of his first business he evaluated every dollar as if it were ten. A dollar invested now is going to be worth ten in the future. If done correctly, this is how you get on the path to 'The Snowball' with your business.

 

Learning to be frugal with a small budget teaches you and your employees the value of efficiency and sets the groundwork for good practices so that when you have a large budget you know that your company will be responsible with it.

 

Alongside this line of thinking: Be debt averse and risk heavy. Hoard what little cash you have an watch it grow with you. This stage is very important and you might experience times where it doesn’t feel like you’re growing. But always remember: 

 

Don’t give up! 

 

It’s okay to let your company simmer as you learn the lessons on how to control growth in a healthy manner and implement good business strategies. You are still early on in the business journey so don’t underestimate the power of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in your company. Quality SOPs are important every time you make a new transition.

 

INVEST IN YOUR BRAND

 

Start working on your business and not just in it. I wish I would have learned these lessons 10 years earlier because they have huge effects. Carve out some time in the week where you’re not working on the shop floor, not producing product, you’re working on something that can make your business stronger. Whether that’s accounting procedure, SOPs, efficiency standards, whatever it is, set aside a few hours a week for working on your business and it will pay huge dividends later on.

 

The stage is called brute force and awkwardness for a reason. You just have to power through and learn as much as possible to set your business up for years to come.

 

So take your time, find the lessons, and watch your company grow.

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/taking-cabinet-shop-250k-500k

Taking a cabinet shop from $0 to $250K

About 20 years ago, I started my journey into learning how to build cabinets. It began in a very small shop right behind my house. The building was about 25 x 40 feet and I created a ton of products out of that little shop before moving to a larger space. 

 

Our first year however, was spent in that small shop and we blew through the first few thresholds of growth in no time.

 

Growing Pains

 

I specifically remember my journey from starting with nothing to hitting the $250,000 mark on an annual basis. Although it was a rather quick journey, as we hit this threshold at about the four-month mark of being in business, initially it was a tough time.

 

Looking back, we had zero systems in place and it was only by brute force and awkwardness that we got product out. During each job, we learned through mistakes. At the time there was not a single person that worked with us who understood how to build cabinets efficiently or effectively. Our cabinets had no consistent quality, we were just focused on banging out orders as fast as they came in.

 

Owner duties were split between myself and my partner. I handled the sales, drawings, and cutting the plywood. He handled the back-end of assembly, doors, outfitting, drawers, and other tasks. It was a tough time! 

 

The Normal Path

 

Normally, when you’re growing through this phase, one of the first things you learn to set up correctly is your books. Then you begin to look for a drawing software that can handle your cut list; because up to this point you’ve been doing most everything manually. In fact, you might not even be drawing your cabinets on a software.

 

One of the downfalls of the normal path is the ‘yes man’ mentality.

 

By this I mean that you’re a person who says yes to any project that’s even close to what you’re doing. As long as there’s some semblance of the project resembling a cabinet, you say yes to doing it. Even going so far as to saying yes to anything that has to do with wood!

 

We all understand, you have to do what you can to pay the bills, to grow your business, and to get your name out there. But the yes man phase is definitely something I do not miss!

 

Many people also refer to this threshold as the ‘friends and family network’.

 

If you’re starting your business from scratch then you definitely know what I mean. During this time you lean on support from your family and friends who may have a project going and allow you to come in and do the work for much less than you would like to charge. However, that’s one of the normal parts of growing in this business, doing work because it seems familiar.

 

The Accelerated Path

 

What’s more important to focus on is the accelerated path. The goal I have in mind is to get you through these thresholds as quickly as possible, in order to position your company in a strong way to handle the next threshold or project that comes your way. My hope is that this becomes a snowball effect, and that your company grows from a strong position, to one that’s even stronger.

 

On the accelerated path, you need to start by identifying standard procedures. Companies don’t normally spend a lot of time on their SOPs at the start. Often they’re handwritten, fluid, and change on a daily basis.

 

This is fine for the start, however, you should get in the habit of identifying a process that needs to be standardized so that you set your company up for success in the long run. Standard procedures may not last very long and change with your ever growing company and for this reason you shouldn’t spend an extended amount of time creating them.

 

BUILD YOUR TEAM

 

Start regularly posting ads for holes that your company needs to fill. Positions like: a new operator, draftsman, or laborer. Whatever the job may be make sure you’re posting in advance so that you’re ahead of the game when the time comes.

 

Even if you don’t need to fill roles immediately, make sure that you’re collecting people’s names and information in a spreadsheet. That way, when the time comes that you need to be making hires, you’re not scrambling around for new applications, rather you already have a pool of people to contact.

 

COMPILE THE QUESTIONS

 

Pay very close attention in this phase to the questions that customers are asking about your product. Questions like: What are the current design trends? What are the materials you use? There will always be redundant questions which you’ll hear time and time again on every project. At this phase, you won’t be doing too much with these questions, but you need to make sure that you have a solid answer for each of these questions. I suggest that you collect the most frequently asked questions in some kind of google document or sheet so that you can refer to them later when you begin to create marketing materials to send to customers.

 

PLAY TO YOUR FORTE

 

In the early stages, identify what your strong suit is. Try to focus your efforts on that particular task or product as much as possible. In the normal path, we have the ‘yes man’ mentality that I referred to earlier, however that’s the brute force and awkwardness method.

 

Instead, identify what you want to focus on early so that you can move your company toward that niche. Picture that strong suit as your specific island and move in that direction. It doesn’t mean that you can’t take projects outside your niche, just don’t lose focus of the ultimate goal.

 

In the early stages, identify what your strong suit is.

 

SALES

 

Start changing your mindset away from: I only need to sell when it gets slow. On the accelerated path, you have to make sure it’s a continuous effort to be successful. During the busy times as well as the slow times, you have to be continually selling in order to be successful.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey from $0 - $250k and I’d love to hear some comments on what you endured to get through this phase of business. It can be an exciting time as often we’re just running on adrenaline!

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/taking-cabinet-shop-0-250k

Positive self-talk boosts cabinet shop's profits

I fell for it.

 

I am not talking about being duped, I’m talking about tricks I play on myself to work smarter not just harder.

 

Matt sells custom kitchen cabinets. He has a retail showroom, and his own shop. He often gets so busy he has to sub out work.

 

When he subs out work it’s still profitable but he gets grief from his foreman who wants everything to go through their shop. Sound familiar?

 

Matt and I are working together because he wants to get more in control of his business and stop it from running him.

 

One of his frustrations is that the people around him are telling him to stay small, think small, and be small. 

 

Ugh.

 

In one of our last meetings, I reminded Matt of the reality of a manufacturing-based business – that all of us have an unlimited capacity to sell, but a limited capacity to produce.

 

As business owners we have to think a little bit differently because we’re looking for different results. We’re trying to work smarter not harder. We need to find profitable jobs and keep our crew working. And we need to take care of our families who rely on us to do that.

 

That’s why I say to myself and the people I work with "I need to play mental tricks on myself …and fall for them every time."

 

Here are some mental tricks for success. When you see another business owner getting the kind of results you want, it’s good to know that this is what’s going on in the background. 

 

People often ask me for the “Secret Sauce”, or the “Silver bullet”… well - this is it.

 

It starts with “My Thoughts”.  How I think is where it all starts.  It’s the same for a pro athlete- if they don’t believe they can make that play or take that shot it’ll never happen. A little trick I use is to say this to myself... "What I say to myself when no one is listening his what the world sees when everyone is watching."

 

Matt was being influenced by his foreman, who was looking at the world through his own lens. He wanted Matt to think small, stay small, and be small so that their shop did all of the work.

 

My thoughts directly impact "My Feelings". You might call this going with your gut. That’s why the things I say to myself are so important. You probably hear about positive self talk for athletes and it’s the same for us in business – what we think impacts how we feel about things.

 

If Matt listens to his foreman, who wants him to stay small, and keep the shop running at 75- 80 percent then he’ll never be able to see a world that looks any different.

 

So this leads us to "My Actions".  Now we’re at a place where what I say to myself (positive self-talk), and how I feel about things (going with my gut) has an impact on my success.

 

In Matt's case, his action was to stop the feast or famine of up and down of estimating/not estimating based on how busy his shop is. 

 

Now, Matt's actions and his language line up with... "I’m going to keep selling, and we’ll figure out the best way to deliver profitable deals."

 

You might have seen people who have lined up their feelings, thoughts, and actions in the negative. They see the world in a negative way, they take negative actions, make bad choices, and they get failure as a result. Tragically, you probably see some of the guys in your shop doing this in their lives all the time.

 

The same holds true when my thoughts, feelings, and actions line up positively. Positive self-talk leads to positive gut feelings leads to me taking actions that lineup for success.

 

Matt checked his language. He also checked what he was hearing from his foreman. Matt’s job is to keep the shop busy, the guys busy, and keep the profits coming in.  

 

His foreman’s job is to keep his job- so they see the world in a different way.

 

Results? Matt had his strongest July and August ever, he’s got bookings through to January, his shop is full, and he’s subbing out overflow work.  In just two months he’s $140,000 over his profit projections.

 

All of that by working smarter not just harder.

 

---

Author Dominic Rubino is a professional business coach focused on wood product companies. He also hosts the Cabinet Maker Profit System Podcast. Learn more about Dom here:  https://www.bizstratplan.com/

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/positive-self-talk-boosts-cabinet-shops-profits

How to make it in the cabinet industry: Part 3 - Delegate or Die

See Part 1 and Part 2.

 

Something was wrong.

 

I was literally going crazy about three or four years ago when I decided I needed a change.

 

I could never seem to move forward in the cabinet business for the constant moving backwards. One step forward, two steps back.

 

I had realized a year or so earlier that I had fallen prey to the viscous sales cycle. Upon this realization, I tried to analyze what I was doing incorrectly as an owner and could not seem to come up with the solution.  

 

The problem is: You don't know what you don't know. 

 

I then made what I consider to be the finest business decision I have ever made.

 

After listening to some Tony Robbins podcasts, one of them by a business coach, I immediately got on Google and searched for “business coaches." I never knew such a thing existed.

 

After interviewing about three coaches, I found the one for me and he is still my coach to this day. Finding someone with manufacturing experience was a must so I didn't have to spend half our sessions explaining what the term table saw means.

 

My coach Martin Holland helped and continues to help my business get aligned with our vision.

 

DEFINING THE PROBLEM

 

As we looked into my business, Martin helped point out that a lot of this problem I was sensing actually lied with me.

 

How could this be?

 

I had all the skills to kill it on the floor, bang out some drawings, sell to customers, and balance the books...and that was before lunch.

 

The fact that I was knocking out all of those tasks was precisely the problem.

 

This was my introduction to delegate or die.

 

I learned that it was not only possible for my operation to function without me having to be the battering ram behind everything that happened, but it would actually be much better off that way.

 

DELEGATE OR DIE

 

Why do I need to delegate? Why can't I just keep doing what I am doing?

 

You can certainly keep doing what you are doing, but if you want time to finally work on your business, instead of just in your business, take my advice.

 

If you are eager to better your business and grow beyond just your personal capabilities, you’ll pay attention. After all, you know what the other option is…

 

DELEGATION DONE RIGHT

 

Let’s lay a little ground work.  

 

Delegation is not just, “He runs the saw while a take a couple phone calls” or “Hey! Make this delivery because I have a doctor appointment.”

 

Delegation done right is removing something from your plate that is not moving the business in a positive direction and instead having a qualified person do it for you.  

 

Here are the basics of delegation:

 

Start small (unlike me)

 

Start with something to get an easy win. Why not find someone to set you up a weekly maintenance plan and write it down? That person's responsibility is to make a maintenance plan for the entire shop and execute it on a weekly basis.  

 

After a successful month, give that person a raise because he just freed you up, even if just a little, to work on your business.  

 

Then, make a list of things to delegate over time. If an item on the list is too big, break it down into its individual activities and delegate the activities.

 

If you are still having trouble, round the crew up and talk to them. Ask them what they think you should delegate out to most help the business. Trust me, you will get a response. You may even find a sleeper in the group that surprises you.

 

Move on up

 

Now that you have down an easy one, let's move on to something bigger. Now may be a good time to list the things that you do on a normal basis that are not making the business better and helping the business to grow. From that list, pick the one that will be the quickest and easiest to implement.

 

This is not an overnight change. Remember, this is changing the course of your business, so don't get frustrated. Remember that the discomfort you feel now, if you push through, will be worth it when you get there.

 

Hire better

 

Make your hiring process more than hiring a heartbeat. Make a process of asking increasingly more telling questions. Questions that don't sound like anything, but the answers can reveal what they are really like.

 

The main point is don’t settle. If a person is not moving your business towards the goal then replace and try again. Get people that want to be on the bus, not knocking it off course. This will give you employees you can trust to delegate to.

 

DELEGATION FOR THE WIN

 

What does it all mean?

 

In short, it means you, your business, your employees and your customers win.

 

You will finally be doing what you were meant to do, working on your business, not in it. You will be amazed at the doors that open from that simple change.

 

What has it done for my company?

 

By delegating things like daily production, sales, design, accounting, customer selections, delivery, install, we are on a course that is aligned with our vision of becoming the most efficient cabinet component manufacturer in the world.  

 

Delegation has afforded me the time to solely work on my business. My time now is filled with improving sales methods, marketing strategy and writing awesome content like this!

 

THE COST OF DELEGATION

 

If your first instinct is to say. “I can’t afford it”, I will tell you, without a doubt, that you can’t afford not to.  

 

How you like them apples?

 

You can’t afford not to do this if you want to grow your business and create value for your employees, customers and your own family.

 

You have earned it.

 

DELEGATING PRODUCTION

 

Thinking outside the delegation box: What if you delegated your entire production process to an outsource supplier?

 

How could buying your cabinet components simplify your business process and streamline growth?

 

Now that you know how to delegate, don’t forget the previous key strategy, outsourcing.

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/how-make-it-cabinet-industry-part-3-delegate-or-die

How to make it in the cabinetry: Part 2 - Outsourcing

See Part 1 here.

 

About 10 years ago I realized that, for a small to medium cabinet shop, outsourcing cabinet doors was the only reasonable way to go.

 

Beyond the normal problems of quality control, training, turnover, and capacity was the enormous amount of equipment needed to build doors.

 

So, I decided to source my doors…and I didn’t look back.

 

The inner struggle with outsourcing is mostly one of pride and emotion, not logic and numbers. As a cabinet maker, I understand that once a craftsman, always a craftsman. The problem though, is at some point you are going to want to grow beyond just your own, personal capabilities.  

 

So, it boils down to two options:

 

• do it myself
• hire a specialized company to do it for me.  

 

APPLYING THE PROS OF OUTSOURCING

 

To start, first identify the areas of your business that are capacity constraints or bottlenecks and analyze how the following pros of outsourcing apply to that particular need.  

 

A few areas that come to mind are cabinet doors, drawers, and cabinet boxes.

 

Economies of Scale

 

As an outsource cabinet component provider, I know that we can mill parts for cheaper than most operations because our whole operation is set up for just that.  

 

From the conveyors, layout, automation, and software, our whole business is geared for cranking out large amounts of components in a short amount of time. On the flip side, a normal cabinet shop may only mill a couple days a week and cannot benefit as much from these economies than from utilizing our operation.

 

Fixed Costs

 

This is a biggie.

 

Knowing exactly what your costs are before you ever cut a board is like seeing the future. By eliminating the majority of the variables that can fluctuate, your chances of making a great profit go up exponentially. Outsourcing allows you to do just that.

 

Shorter Delivery Times

 

Generally, outsource component providers can reduce your overall time by several days. For example, with our goal of producing parts in a week or under, you are left with plenty of time to focus on selling more jobs than you ever had time to before.

 

Maintain Low Debt

 

If you don't use it, you don't lose it.

 

Cash that is.  

 

If you purchase all of your components from an outside supplier, you only pay for the service when you order something. However, when you take a capital lease out on a $150k CNC router or edgebander, that payment rolls in every single month like clockwork.  

 

Not to mention, payroll for the operator that you have to keep around to run the equipment for when the work picks up.

 

This point may be the most important aspect of consideration, as it allows you to follow the first rule of making it in the cabinet industry : Maintain low debt, while increasing your capacity and profitability.

 

THE EFFECTS OF OUTSOURCING 

 

What can outsourcing really mean for your business?

 

By freeing up your labor to only assemble cabinets and install, you are in turn doubling your capacity and reducing your overhead.

 

When you move the bottleneck to sales instead of somewhere in the production process, new doors begin to open that you had never thought of before.  

 

Imagine, how many jobs could you sell if you actually had the time to do nothing but that, just sell?

 

DOUBLE CAPACITY WITH OUTSOURCING

 

In our experience, a shop can double capacity without adding any capital to their business or hiring more labor.

 

One of our earliest customers was a local cabinet maker that added frameless components as a supplement to her current offering. Before she knew it, she was selling more frameless because it just went through her shop so much faster and easier.  

 

Not long after that, practically everything she did was coming from an outsource supplier. Working with only 3 shop hands and a 3000sf shop, they were producing close to $1 million in annual revenues.

 

Still not convinced? If any of these 10 statements apply to you...then it’s time to consider outsourcing.

 

STEP OUT AND OUTSOURCE

 

Now that you’ve seen the pros of outsourcing, give it a try.

 

Grab one of those small projects that are hard to get through the shop and source the cabinet boxes or doors and just get a feel for the process. Test drive the turnaround and then try it again.  

 

Remember, the first time you switch from what you normally do, it can be a little rough to get accustomed to.

 

Overall, pay attention to the points from above and give it a fair go.

 

Also, make sure to choose an outsource partner that is right for you.

 

Read Part 1 to this article here.

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/how-make-it-cabinetry-part-2-outsourcing

The huddle: How it works and why you should consider it

He felt guilty saying it….I want to work less and earn more.

We were sitting in the corner at Starbucks, and I asked him what he really wanted.

He fumbled and mumbled a bit and then, frustrated,  he just threw up his hands and blurted out “… I just want to work less and earn more. “

But what he said next really floored me. “... I mean- I feel guilty saying it- but that's what I want Dom…”

I hear the word “guilt” more often that you’d think.

That’s because the owners of most woodwork shops got to where they are now by 100 percent, all-out work ethic. They’ve worked hard, sacrificed everything and now they just can’t believe how big their company has gotten.

I hear things like

• I started in the garage
• My first job was my Aunt's house.
• I started working with my dad in high school and now I’m the owner.

But at some point, these owners start to realize that no matter how hard they work, they aren’t getting ahead. What they did to get here… is holding them here.

Think of an Olympic weightlifter. He has to walk up to that heavy bar and get it over his head- every day.

Now what? A business owner is like that. Where your business is at today is the same thing. You figured out how to get that business- that heavy bar -up over your head and then stand there with it – holding it up. But you physically can’t get it any higher. And, by the way- you’re getting tired of holding it too.

So what’s next? Do you let it crash down - or do you need to build a rack to hold it up for you?

Wow! Imagine building a rack. You’d be able to step back. You could rest. And then you’d be able to figure out how to get that bar even higher!

The good news is that you’re not the first one to tackle this problem. There’s a system to deal with it- and it’s called “the Huddle”.

Just like in football, this meeting is where the team comes together to share quick information before the next play.

In a business we use the huddle to do the same thing. Owners put it in place to increase 2 things. Communication and Accountability.

It’s an on-time, productive, and painless meeting that you hold once a week with all your key staff.  You talk about numbers, who’s doing what, and where people are stuck.

And once you learn how it works, a team of five can complete this meeting in under 13 minutes – and everyone gets to talk at least twice!

Owners love it, because once you have it set up – the owner doesn’t run the meeting. The person running the meeting just follows the agenda and keeps everyone on task.

It’s not a beefing session – as a matter of fact it’s a massive part of putting a winning culture in place in your business.  Here’s an inside tip – it’s also used to keep family businesses from imploding….

Here are some important things for you to do introduce “the Huddle” to your company.

Know your critical numbers.  These will go on a whiteboard or monitor that everyone can see.

Know exactly who needs to be in this meeting.  The owner, the finance person, your admin, your PM’s and your foreman.

Same old/Same old. This meeting is at the same time of day, in the same place every week.

The meeting starts on time.  It ends on time too.  If your people are frustrated with meetings that go nowhere you’re going to love the Huddle.

The huddle master is in charge- but only of the meeting. The huddle masters job is to keep the meeting on the agenda and on time. If a side conversation starts up, then the huddle master simply redirects the people involved to talk about this immediately after the huddle – but not during it.

Bonus- since the huddle is run by different people, the owner can take a backseat to listen and watch to see what’s going on.   Rotate the huddle master position every week – and you’ll quickly see who runs a better, tighter meeting

The Huddle Agenda. It’s simple- and it’s the same for every meeting.

• The meeting starts on time
• Everyone is standing around the whiteboard with their info ready.
• Welcome everybody to huddle
• Looking at whiteboard, the HuddleMaster asks everyone for their numbers going around the room one-by-one. (The only thing that can be reported here is numbers. See “Critical Numbers” above)
• Now, again 1-by-1, going around the room, the HuddleMaster asks for an update on “What’s going on in your department this week?” (In 30 seconds or less per person, just tell me the facts. There’s no complaining,  no finger-pointing,  no blame.)
• Next, going around the room again, one-by-one the HuddleMaster asks each person “Where are you stuck this week?” (In 30 seconds or less per person, just tell me the facts. There’s no complaining,  no finger-pointing,  no blame.)
• The meeting ends on-time. We thank everyone and get back to our day
• Side conversations can now happen

There are a few more tidbits that can be added, but let’s get you started before we get fancy!

I recently introduced this to a 16-man architectural millwork company.  The two partners were run off their feet. Every time they needed a piece of info it took half a day to dig it up.

Now, by coming up with their critical numbers, and creating a simple whiteboard that everyone can see at the weekly huddle – it’s a completely different business.

Out of curiosity I asked them if they would ever stop doing huddle now that they have in place.

The answer…..” Not a #$%^& chance, Dom ! “

It’s really clear who’s responsible for what and everyone gets their turn to talk.

Since this meeting was started with very clear rules that there is no blame excuses or finger-pointing- its easily the most energetic and positive meeting of the week.

The Huddle is the base of the weight rack. It’s a simple system.

If you’re wondering how to work less and make more then you’ll need to put a lot of simple systems in place – and this is the perfect one to start with.

---

Author Dominic Rubino is a professional business coach focused on wood product companies. He also hosts the Cabinet Maker Profit System Podcast. Learn more about Dom here:  https://www.bizstratplan.com/

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/huddle-how-it-works-and-why-you-should-consider-it

How to make it in the cabinet industry: Part 1

In 2006-2007, I thought we had it all figured out. I thought there was nothing that could stop our company and the sky was the limit.

 

We were “making it!”

 

Just as we were riding high, and even before the recession hit us, we got hit in the face with something else: the consequences of everything that we had done wrong up to that point.  

 

Previous to this slap in the face, we had purchased a couple machines. Because of our growth trends at the time (and our 18 foot tall and bulletproof attitude), we thought we would be just fine.

 

To our surprise, it wasn’t long before we were in crisis mode. Our main issue sprang from the fact that we simply had too much debt for a new company.

 

Ultimately, we did not lose the whole company, but we came closer than I ever care to go again. Not only was it frustrating, it was embarrassing. However, many folks lose more than their pride in this situation.

 

We were one of the lucky ones. We had a foundation to handle the changes that were coming.   

 

MAKING IT IN THE CABINET INDUSTRY

 

In this article series, we will peel back the layers of the loaded question “how do you make it in the cabinet industry?” and uncover the key tactics that can change your trajectory from stress to success.

 

When it comes to “making it” in the cabinet industry, we all default to the same strategies: Increase Sales and Increase Capacity.

 

Increase Sales

 

We know that we have to have more sales to grow. Build a sales plan that will grow with your capacity.

 

Increase Capacity

 

Once we add sales we have to add capacity. If you make a logical decision about increasing sales we need to apply the same logic towards our capacity.  

 

Both strategies are correct, both are necessary, but both are detrimental if not guided by a third strategy: maintain low debt and reserve cash.

 

YOU NEED CASH

 

According to a U.S. Bank study, a whopping 82 percent of businesses that fail do so because of cash flow problems. If we are burning our cash financing receivables and debt, there is not enough left over to fuel our growth engine.

 

We must redefine what it means to grow and implement the type of strategy that doesn’t lead to cash flow crisis and destruction. Growth is not only a top line deal. If we only focus on sales as our primary indicator for growth we will subordinate all of our decisions to that ideal.

 

ARTICLE 10 things I wish I knew before starting my cabinet shop I want to dive into the top ten things I really wish I would have known before I got into business.

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For example, if you are looking at a new saw that will gain you capacity, but it’s going to cost $100,000, the only decision you have to make is, “will you create enough extra monthly sales to cover the cost?”

I'm here to tell you there's a flaw in your logic.

 

There is no safety valve built in for if and when things go bad or slow down. No debt is not reasonable, but an unreasonable amount of debt will destroy your business.

 

IS LOW DEBT POSSIBLE IN THE CABINET INDUSTRY?

 

Okay, on paper, low debt seems great, but is it actually possible?

 

We go into debt to fund our increase in sales and increase in capacity, not to mention to hopefully gain a profit.

 

What if I said that I knew a way that you could double your top line sales without spending a dime on capital improvements such as space or equipment?

 

Would you call me a snake oil peddler or a liar?

 

OUTSOURCING

 

Outsourcing is the only way you can double sales without adding any debt, labor, or additional capital expenses.  

 

For example, if you have a three-person crew and you do $300k/year in sales, you are maxed out. You can’t take on any more work and all of your time is consumed with your production schedule and managing your crew.

 

ARTICLE Why would you want to increase your woodshop's capacity? And how would you do it? Increasing capacity is a conversation we have all had with ourselves as shop owners at some point or another. So what exactly are we talking about when we say “Increase Capacity”?

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Now, what if your three crew members only had to assemble and deliver the final product?

 

You’d be able to toss out your production schedule, win more jobs, and focus on working on your business rather than working in it. With all the extra time and energy, doubling sales becomes realistic.

 

Buying outsourced components can get you there.

 

Some people think that it is more expensive to outsource their production, but when you drill into the numbers, outsourcing in the new economy makes a lot of sense. I will explain more in Part 2 of this article.

 

KEY STRATEGIES IN THE CABINET INDUSTRY

 

Once you’ve begun outsourcing capacity needs, your debt risk is not only minimized, but you are also then freed up to practice the next key strategy to making it in the cabinet business: delegation.

 

As you begin to delegate, you’ll find you finally have time for another key strategy to making it in the cabinet industry: standardizing.

 

TAKE ACTION

 

Maintaining low debt and reserving cash is the first, and most critical key to “Making it in the Cabinet Industry” and outsourcing is one of the most practical ways to do so. Once in place, delegation and standardizing, two other critical tactics to making it in the industry, can actually come into play.

 

If you haven't figured out the right formula for “making it” in this industry, try the steps outlined above and put your business on the fast track to success. You can drive your business in the direction you need to go rather in the direction that your current workload drags you.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/how-make-it-cabinet-industry-part-1

40 Under 40 honoree: Are you ready for the cabinet industry of 2030?

Cabinet production has remained consistent over the last 40 years. Production technology improvements have worked to enhance productivity and profits while maintaining the process.

 

However, it’s clear to see that a significant shift is happening now. The jobs today will not be the jobs of tomorrow. How your father operated his business is not the way you can manage your business and expect the same results. The market is changing, and it’s changing fast, so you’re either green and growing or ripe and rotten.

 

Here’s how you can prepare for the woodworking industry of tomorrow.

 

1. Desire

 

In the words of Napoleon Hill, it all starts with desire.

 

“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.” – Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

 

We need to first and foremost be motivated to think outside the box and be open to the possibility that significant change is required for us to succeed in the future.

 

2. SWOT Analysis

 

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis can help you understand your competitive advantage and develop ways to take advantage of your strengths and new opportunities. Create a new SWOT) analysis document for your company. If you have never done this, here’s how to do one for yourself.

 

3. Rank & Prioritize the SWOT

 

To identify where your company has the most room for improvement. Have each manager/leader do this for their department and for the company. Then match them together to sift from the most impactful to the least.

 

4. Focus on the Top 3-5

 

These are your most significant challenges and opportunities where a change in how your company operates would have the most considerable impact regarding profitability. Eg. 3D Printing or On-Demand Cabinets

 

5. Begin With The End

 

Clearly articulate what you want from the improvements you choose to pursue. Be as clear and descriptive of the end result. Eg. Deliver our first 3D printed cabinet.

 

6. Implementation Plan

 

Create a detailed improvement implementation strategy to make changes that will positively impact the bottom line. Implementation is a key component of any strategy and must be project managed with detailed who, what, when documents created for each priority. Eg. Alex to create a proposal of all possible 3D printers capable of printing furniture by May 15, 2019.

 

7. Measure

 

Create performance metrics to measure your performance. What gets measured gets done. This may be as simple as what percentage of tasks were completed on time or as complex as cost per square foot of 3D printed cabinets.

 

This may seem like a simple list but it is powerful in its application. It requires deep diving into uncharted territories and may or may not always provide instant results. But if Henry Ford had invested in horse harnesses instead of the Horseless Carriage, the 4 trillion-dollar automotive industry may not be where it is today!

 

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/40-under-40-honoree-are-you-ready-cabinet-industry-2030

Why would you want to increase your woodshop's capacity? And how would you do it?

Increasing capacity is a conversation we have all had with ourselves as shop owners at some point or another. So what exactly are we talking about when we say “Increase Capacity”?

 

Capacity is defined as the maximum amount that something can contain. If you ask my wife about capacity the answer you will get is, “The only capacity I want to talk about is the capacity of this vehicle. Between our kids and their friends we need another row of seats.”

 

Although not exactly shop related, it is a great example of not having enough capacity.

 

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK.

 

There is nothing more frustrating than selling more work and not being able to produce it. If your current throughput can no longer match your monthly sales, then you have a dilemma. Increase capacity, or ultimately lose the ground you just made by getting extra sales.

 

One step forward, two steps back. 

 

If it were a matter of just stating, “We need more capacity” and it was so, then there would be no problems with increasing capacity.  

 

However, increasing capacity often means spending capital, taking out debt, or adding more building space.

 

Either way you go, your expenses are going to go up to increase capacity.  

 

EMOTIONS AND QUESTIONS

 

The fact that we must invest to gain capacity usually brings with it a variety of emotions: Fear that we will not keep the work to support the investment, excitement that we will be able to handle more work and grow, deep thought about the logic of our upcoming decisions.   

 

As we are running the gamut of emotions we start uprooting several potential questions surrounding increasing capacity:

 

• Are we ever going to get the business to a point where we can grow without investing everything we have made?
• Is there any other way to increase capacity without spending all our capital or going into debt?
• What is our new break even if we add debt service to our current balance sheet? 

In this article, we will answer some of these questions by exploring the when, why and how of adding capacity to your shop and offer you resources to help make your growth decisions much easier.  

 

WHEN, WHY, AND HOW

 

The discussion of increasing capacity can be overwhelming, but if you start by listing out the when, why, and how, then the task will become much easier. 

 

So let’s get started on the main questions.

 

• When do we expand capacity?
• Why should we increase capacity?
• How do we expand capacity and minimize potential negative effects on business?

WHEN TO INCREASE CAPACITY

This is a pretty easy question to answer.

 

To most owners it is intuition that tells us we are maxed out with our current setup. In order to keep up with increased sales we must add capacity to keep up with the workload.  

 

Evidence of the "when” comes when jobs are falling further behind because of production bottlenecks. Generally, there will also be a lack of either quality control or oversight of the finished product. Quality control seems to suffer the most when we are at capacity because the jobs are getting farther behind and we don't have the time complete a thorough check before they leave the door.

 

The problems that stem from poor quality can devastate a business and WILL shut down a business’ growth engine quicker than any other force.  

 

You probably won’t have to think too hard of a business that is experiencing this phenomena right now. Maybe it was a service company you used for repairs at your house and the worker was inexperienced or late because they were too busy to get to you. Or a flooring company that never even returned your call for a quote.

 

If your quality and your customer service seem to be going downhill, your "when" may have arrived. 

 

As stated earlier the “when” of needing additional capacity is pretty easy to identify. The important step to take now is to not act in haste or make a snap business call that may put your business in jeopardy down the road. First, let’s take a deep look at the “why” and “how” to increase capacity.

 

WHY INCREASE SHOP CAPACITY

 

Identify your “why” as soon as the “when” has become apparent. Your “why” can be anything. You want to grow, you want to be the best in your area, you want to be the biggest, you want to have more employees, whatever the reason, we all have a why.

 

I suggest making a list of "Why I Desire to Increase Capacity". You may consider making this a pro/con list so you can evaluate the positives and negatives of your actions. List an action in the center of the sheet, on the left put a pro of that action and on the right of the sheet list a con of that action. This should put everything into perspective.  

 

In high school I asked a local farmer how his farm seemed to always look great and just get better every time I came by. His response was, “If you're not growin’ you're dyin'.” This stuck with me and helped me to form my own why for growing. 

 

HOW TO INCREASE CAPACITY

 

If you are like me you probably just skipped down to this point of the article so you can get to the meat of the whole thing. If you did, I understand, but at least make sure you have your “Why” list that we talked about earlier.  

 

One of the first things I learned when I was new to the cabinet making world was, “There's a hundred ways to skin . . . .” I don't even have to finish it! While that statement is surely true, let’s lay down a framework to go about your “skinning” a little smarter.

 

We can increase capacity in the following ways:

 

• Add labor and equipment.
• We can try to become more efficient in our processes to maximize efficiency.    
• We can outsource our manufacturing bottlenecks to an outsource company capable of handling our work load. 

 

SKINNING SMARTER

 

We know our options, but which one is the best and why?

 

Adding labor and equipment is probably the first option we consider when we realize we need to grow. There are times when that is the answer, but we have to consider that it will generally result in added debt or lease payments that the company will now be responsible for. Is your company in a place to take that on? Will you really be able to get ahead?

 

Becoming more efficient in our processes is also another option we consider early on. It is always a great thing to do in all of our operations. For tips on maximizing efficiency check out our articles on Delegation, Standardizing Systems, and Theory of Constraints. Although becoming more efficient is always a win, at some point you will likely find that capacity will still need to be expanded to truly continue growth.

 

Typically the last option we consider is outsourcing our bottlenecks. There's actually lot of pride and emotion that can block us from considering it. It's difficult to keep our pride of being cabinet makers on the shop floor, but if we want to continually get better in business we have to keep an open mind.

 

When it comes to the "how" we have to look at it strictly as a business decision so our judgment isn't clouded by our emotions. That's when we can see that outsourcing can often be our best option. 

 

OUTSOURCING ENABLES GROWTH

 

The idea behind outsourcing is not a new idea, but it is just recently becoming popular and viable. 

 

Opting for an outsource partner for increasing capacity allows you to keep your cash where it belongs, in your company!  In our experience, outsourcing can allow a shop to double capacity without spending any additional capital. More cash will leave your company in a strong position to gain more sales and be able to grow within your limits.

 

With systems like Lockdowel for frameless cabinet, a shop can offer frameless cabinets with no extra investment or tooling. Basically, you could be a frameless cabinet pro in no time and assemble it on the same workbench you assemble everything on now. With assembly time in the 2-5 minutes per box range you are sure to see the value in the Lockdowel system for easy, fast assembly.

 

KNOW TO GROW

 

As a cabinet maker, I understand that once a craftsman, always a craftsman. The problem though, is at some point you are going to want to grow beyond just your own, personal capabilities. In fact, the value of your shop depends on it. 

 

If you have the grit to grow beyond your personal capabilities, you will soon find your when, why, and how.

 

The “when” is easy which begs the all important “why”. If you take the time and pin down exactly why you want to increase capacity, then you are ready to tackle the “Hhw." Remember when addressing the "how", keep an open mind and keep your pride of being a cabinet maker on the shop floor. 

 

If you can push thru and execute these steps in detail you will be able to come up with a clear, concise plan of action that will keep your company nimble and eager for growth.   

 

 

 

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/why-would-you-want-increase-your-woodshops-capacity-and-how-would-you-do-it

What can you do to better teach your woodshop employees? 4 tips

Employees are a crucial part of any organization. Training and development should be as important to senior management and CEOs as bringing more customers/sales. In the words of Steve Jobs, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” To stay competitive, however, each employee must continuously improve their skills to be a productive part of their team. A well-trained workforce will look after the customers and take the organisation to new heights.

 

Increasing the Effectiveness of Training

 

Training offered to the employees won’t always be fruitful. The organization must look for ways to imprint what was taught during the training into the trainees’ memory for them to use it in practice when needed. Here are four actions that you, as an employer, can do to increase the effectiveness of your employee skills training:

 

1. Use Micro-Learning

 

Employees can be unintentionally forgetful of what they have learned in past training sessions. The goal behind micro-learning is to increase retention of training materials. It requires organisations to divide training into smaller pieces and actionable items. This method makes it easy for them to assimilate and apply the new knowledge and skills. For example, at our company Kitply Industries, we do one hour Lunch and Learns on every Monday and teach staff one small aspect of our business.

 

2. Make it Available

 

Make the training accessible at all times on different platforms. Many corporate trainers keep things to themselves but if employees have access to the training whenever and wherever they want, they will be more comfortable with implementing what they are learning. We are living in a world where people are always connected to their mobile devices and having training data there will boost their confidence to take advantage of it. For example, we use an online training platform called Thinkific to store all our corporate training.

 

3. Make it Memorable

 

The more memorable a training session is, the more people will accept it and follow its teachings. Making connections and using case studies from real life will help them stick to the content in question. Some organisations have their own mobile games to remind their sales force to reinforce recent training material. We often give small handouts for staff to make the learning memorable.

 

4. Measure Growth

 

Measuring the growth of employees by tracking what results they produce after the training session/s also helps you to review the overall training system of your organisation. At Kitply, we quiz our staff after every training session to check for comprehension and often repeat training after a few weeks/months.

 

Use Feedback

 

It is also essential to get feedback from your employees about company training efforts. Learning sessions can be made more engaging by incorporating feedback as employees may feel more value aligned with the training when they know their input considered seriously.

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Author Ankit Sharma is owner of Kitply, a successful wood products business in Vancouver, British Columbia. He's also a 2019 Wood Industry 40 Under 40 honoree. Check out his blog here.

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/what-can-you-do-better-teach-your-woodshop-employees-4-tips

40 Under 40 winner: Consider these 5 costs when pricing

A poorly estimated job may damage your company’s reputation when you have to re-quote the customer. It can also negatively impact your bottom line if the cost of the project is not accurately reflected.

 

Consider these FIVE costs before determining the price for your next project:

 

Material Costs: Usually up to 25% of the total costs. Includes the cost of wood and hardware such as hinges, accessories, fasteners, mechanical parts, etc.

Labour Costs: Hourly production labor wages multiplied by the total number of hours it may take to complete the job. This can make up to 50% of the total project costs.

Overhead Costs: Includes the rental and utilities of equipment, tools, glue, sandpaper, shop, finishing material and more. Overhead is usually 15% of your material and labor cost.

Selling Costs:  Selling costs are used to cover the cost of sales and admin staff, time spent, plus commissions or bonuses.

Profit Costs: Yes, you heard right – add profit as an expense. Once you’ve calculated the accurate manufacturing cost for your product, set your sell price markup as an expense. For example, a $1,000 project at 20% margin should be $1,250 - not $1,200.

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/red-book/best-practices-guide/40-under-40-winner-consider-these-5-costs-when-pricing

Closing a cabinet job sale: What you should be doing

Grant Cardone is one of the great salespeople out there, he has got a lot of content about how to sell more effectively.

 

Cardone says that “closing is for sitting.”

 

You should be sitting down when closing because the negotiations are over. If your customers ever stand up during the closing phase, you should stay seated all the time. To stand during this phase is to signify that something has changed, and you don’t want to go backwards at this point. You’re so close to the bottom of the funnel and converting them into a sale so it’s time to sit down and close the deal.

 

PREPARING TO CLOSE

 

In the past we have talked about how to create inbound leads vs outbound leads. We’ve talked about why you need to create a sales process for your leads and have laid out the ways to plan for the future. By this time you’ve got consistent leads pouring into your funnel and you’re working on sales qualified leads as they move down toward the bottom and become a sale. So now we have to close that customer.

 

This is the fun part of the job where all of the work pays off.

 

At the bottom of the funnel, we have been staying in constant contact with our customers, possibly close to a daily basis, getting everything exactly as they want it for their first quote. A line that I use all the time to help close is “give me a chance on one, and I’ll earn the rest.” It’s such a great line because it takes the seriousness out of the situation. The customer can justify it to themselves by saying “okay, we’ll just try this guy on one job and we limit the problems that could occur.”

 

This gives the customer a way out and gives you a way in without them feeling like they’re betting their whole business on your services.

 

At this point in the funnel we need to stop selling so much, and sit down to login a customer. We are now transitioning from a focus on the things that we can offer, to focusing on negotiating the close of this deal. This means getting the terms of business down on paper so we can progress on starting the project.

 

Another great thing to ask when you know you’re at the closing phase is “do you have everything that you need to make a decision?”

 

This is a way of drawing a line in the sand which signifies that you’re done selling and you’re going to be moving into the closing phase. It puts the onus on the business owner by asking if they’ve heard everything that they need to make a decision or do they need to stay in the funnel for a little while longer so that you can learn more about each other.

 

Generally the answer to that question is “yes, I believe that I’ve heard everything I need to make a decision.”

 

This means we’re in closing time.

 

CLOSING THE DEAL

 

When you’re in closing time you need to have all your docks, all your contracts, your quotes, drawings, and anything else which needs to be approved, finished and in the order that they will go in. These things should be stapled, in a binder, and done so that when you’re sitting at the table, the only thing that happens is you hand them the documents to be signed. Put some effort into having all your ducks in a row before you sit down at the closing table.

 

Don’t delay. Don’t let a customer delay you as you’re moving into the closing stage. It doesn’t matter if they’re busy today or can’t make it to the office tomorrow. You should go to them and do whatever it takes to get your documents in front of them to close because this is a vital point in the process where you have got to convert them into a customer. At this point, you have spent too much time and too much effort to lose this customer because of something trivial like a scheduling conflict.

 

If a customer starts to delay after they’ve moved into the closing phase and they start to backtrack, take just a couple short seconds and have a few points in your pocket ready to remind them why they got to the closing phase and want to business with you in the first place. In other words, there were some key points about what you do as a business which locked the customer in and made them want to do business with you.

 

Going into your closing meeting, you have to know what those two points are so that you can rehash those and get them back into the closing mindset. One key thing to mention is that you can’t rely on yourself to remember these points in the heat of closing while you’re at the table because you may get thrown off guard by them trying to back out. So before you go, have them written out or memorized, and bring those two specific points to the table which make them really want to commit to business with you.

 

After you reel the customer back in, continue right into the closing phase and finish the deal. Once you’re closed, you’re done selling. They are now your partner and you move into the ‘doing’ phase of the sales process which is delivering on everything that you promised and going above and beyond to make that customer yours for life and not just one job.

 

Feel free to leave a comment about your sales process! I’d love to hear how you do it or how we have helped you streamline your process!

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/red-book/best-practices-guide/closing-cabinet-job-sale-what-you-should-be-doing

There's no excuse for not selling more cabinet jobs

To be successful, you have to have a laid out process for you cabinet company to make sales. I’ve written about the idea of a sales funnel which consistently brings you new leads in the top and pours out new customers from the bottom. What we’ve learned is that sales is a continuous process. It’s not simply something that we do sporadically when we think that we need work. Another idea that we have explored is how Ultimate Cabinet Components can provide manufacturing stability through increasing your capacity with no capital investment.

 

Outsourcing increases sales

 

These ideas end with a specific call to action. There is no reason in today’s day and age, with outsourcing being as easy as it is, that you shouldn’t be taking advantage. With a few clicks you can order cabinet boxes online, or find resources that make it more efficient and easy to do our jobs. There’s just no excuse to have a hold up on your cabinet sales.

 

By following some of the simple steps of continuously interacting and communicating with your potential customers in order to close sales, you are going to set yourself apart from the rest of the competition. The majority of salespeople do not interact with their customers in a way that presents a partnership. There is never a win/win situation for the customer. Generally, it just involves a price and a schedule and that’s the end game.

 

How many more sales would you be able to get if you could increase your capacity by 50 percent with no additional capital investment into your business?

 

I bet the answer would be very staggering.

 

If you had nothing but more time to sell and create your own sales funnel process where you were converting leads into customers with no worries about manufacturing strain, you could easily get your product out the doors. Outsourcing has never been easier or quicker. With the ease of shipping it has never been more accessible than it is right now. Ask yourself that question “How much more sales could I close on, if I didn’t have to worry about capacity constraints?”

 

For most cabinet shops, capacity is the thing blocking an increase in sales. However, if they were able to outsource some or most of their manufacturing production, then some if not all of their effort could be put into doubling their business through sales.

 

The outsourcing challenge

 

I challenge you as a business owner to try and outsource 10 percent to 20 percent of your products. Visually gauge how you would go through this process. How easy would it be to order, receive, and assemble the cabinets. See if this would be a fit for your company and put some numbers to this process. Would it work for more of your business?

 

In other words, if you release some of the manufacturing strain and only had to receive the cabinet box components and assemble them on site, it should make your process much easier and at the end of the day it would reduce your risk and cost by a substantial amount. This would open up the doors for you to have time to sell more cabinets.

 

https://resources.ultcab.com/theres-no-excuse-for-not-selling-more-cabinet-jobs

 

 

 

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/management/theres-no-excuse-not-selling-more-cabinet-jobs

How to make coated wood products last longer

By painting wood products like facades and outdoor furniture you can prolong their service life. However, it is not only the paint that affects the durability, but also the characteristics of the wood. Studied variables were the density and whether the wood consists of heartwood, the inner part of a tree, or of sapwood, the outer part of a tree.

 

Tinh Sjökvist has studied this in a new dissertation from Linnaeus University. Her research shows that heartwood with low density offers the best durability for coated spruce panel outdoors.

 

"I found no difference in the water sorption between coated heartwood and coated sapwood of spruce. However, there is less mold growth on panels of heartwood than on panels of sapwood. And if you want as little crack formation as possible, you should use wood with low density," says Sjökvist.

 

Two conclusions that Sjökvist has drawn from her research is that wood is a complex material and that phenomena that are measured can depend on many different factors. For instance, it has long been claimed that the amount of water that is absorbed by spruce wood depends on how porous the wood is.

 

"I have discovered that water sorption is also affected by the chemical characteristics of the wood, through the fact that the surface tension of the water is changed by the spruce's so-called extractive substances. This is something that I will continue to carry out research on," Sjökvist concludes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/red-book/best-practices-guide/how-make-coated-wood-products-last-longer

Don't forget the chainsaw (mill)

I started milling lumber about 25 years ago with a chainsaw mill, which is just a chainsaw with an attachment to control the depth of cut. The simple device allowed me to consistently cut accurate lumber with a minimal arsenal of equipment. It was a great way for a guy who knew nothing about trees or logs or sawmilling to learn about producing lumber. And, even today, I still use a chainsaw mill (Lucas mill) to cut the live edge slabs which we sell at WunderWoods.

 

Customers are regularly impressed with the quality of the cut from the chainsaw mill, imagining that the chainsaw will necessarily make a terrible cut with a nasty surface finish, which it does not. As a matter of fact, the quality of the cut from a chainsaw mill is better than the bandsaw – it’s very flat and absent of dips and doodles (scientific term) associated with thin bandsaw blades. Don’t get me wrong, bandsaws can and do, cut just as well, but when they start to get dull or otherwise less than perfect, they will cut anything but flat. A chainsaw cut will remain flat as the chain dulls, it will just cut slower.

 

A chainsaw mill is commonly referred to as an “Alaskan mill” because of the brand name “Alaskan mill” attachment made by Grandberg International, the same way you might call any facial tissue a Kleenex, but it doesn’t need to be this exact type. As far as I am concerned, any mill which uses a chainsaw chain and bar is a chainsaw mill, no matter the setup.

 

This photo from Grandberg International shows their Alaskan mill attachment.

The Alaskan mill is a simple metal frame, which attaches to the chainsaw bar and can be adjusted to change the depth of cut. It is so simple, in fact, that you could easily build one yourself. They have never been too expensive, so I think most people just opt to buy one. You have to set up two rails (many use a ladder) on top of the log to guide the first cut, but after that the Alaskan mill just rides on the previous cut. I am a fan of the Alaskan mill for its simplicity, and I have a warm place in my heart because it was my first mill. If you didn’t own a chainsaw and decided that you wanted to cut some lumber, you could be making your own lumber for about $500, for a small chainsaw and the Alaskan mill attachment.

 

I started with the Alaskan mill after reading an article about a father and son using one to cut logs in the woods. I thought it would be cool to cut my own lumber with a chainsaw, and I didn’t want to invest too much in the beginning because I didn’t have a source of logs. Plus, I didn’t own any land, wasn’t friends with any tree service guys and really had never even used a chainsaw before, so I wasn’t sure if it would take. The Alaskan mill promised me the ability to cut lumber anywhere and be able to do it with no heavy equipment – a small pickup truck was more than enough to get milling.

 

The Alaskan mill works just as advertised, but understand that it is not a production machine. The operator is the sole source of power, and as such, it isn’t an easy row to hoe. It would take me most of the day, by myself, to load up equipment, travel, set-up, mill one 20″ diameter x 8′ log, clean-up, load up equipment and lumber, and travel back home. That was fine with me at the time because I was young and I was tickled to end the day with more than 100 board feet of hardwood lumber. Using my simple logic, my equipment would be paid for in just a couple of logs.

 

Needless to say, this milling thing did take, and I kept on finding more logs and milling them. It didn’t take long for me to feel like I needed more production, so I moved up to a Lucas mill, but funny enough, not with a chainsaw slabbing attachment. I bought it only with the circular saw setup, which appeared to cut much faster. I then moved onto a bandsaw mill, then to a large circular mill, then back to a bandsaw mill, and only then back to the chainsaw mill attachment for the Lucas mill.

 

Scott Wunder (a long time ago) with his new Lucas mill, just getting it set up for the first time.

I always liked the Lucas mill and once wide, live-edge slabs started coming into style, it just made sense to use the Lucas with the chainsaw slabbing attachment to cut big logs. The mill I use now (a bigger Lucas mill) is a major upgrade to pushing a chainsaw through a log and really makes the process more enjoyable. I still have the noise of the engine and need to sharpen the saw quite often, but the sawdust and fumes aren’t directly in my face and I don’t have to work so hard to push the saw through the cut. The hardest part now is moving the slabs out of the way, since the Lucas mill can cut up to 60″ wide and they get quite heavy.

 

This Siberian elm slab maxed out the Lucas mill.

 

Most white pine logs are not as wide as this one, which was also cut on the Lucas mill.

 

This sycamore log is a perfect candidate for the Lucas chainsaw mill.

I was prompted to write this because even though I have upgraded to the Lucas mill for my sawmilling, I still do a lot of work with a chainsaw, and I want to remind or encourage everyone to not forget about their chainsaw as a means of milling. Don’t think that you need a “sawmill” to produce high-quality lumber or that if you have a “sawmill” that you no longer need your chainsaw. You won’t get dazzling production numbers, but you can still be milling at almost any time with just a chainsaw. I am reminded of this all of the time when I see posts from others of the big and beautiful wood they have cut, just by taking their chainsaw mill to the tree.

 

Even if I am not using it for the actual milling, there are plenty of times where the chainsaw still comes into play, whether freehand or on some type of mill, and I am still amazed by the simplicity of it all. I use the chainsaw to rough mill mantels which we haul out of tough locations by hand and to cut large logs into quarters for further processing on the sawmill.

 

These white oak quarters are now ready to be milled into quartersawn lumber after being cut lengthwise with a chainsaw by hand.

 

I also use a chainsaw by hand to rough mill logs in tough spots, like this soon-to-be elm mantel.

Every time I do some sort of work with the chainsaw, especially if it is part of the milling process, I always think back to my early days and appreciate what it can do. I think I really like the idea of knowing that if I needed to, maybe if I was stranded on an island full of large trees (and plenty of gas), I could mill everything I needed with just a chainsaw – maybe one with an attachment, but still, just a chainsaw.

 

Feel free to send me a photo of your chainsaw milling, and I will be glad to post it here with a link. I am sure everyone would love to see what is possible with a chainsaw/chainsaw mill.

from https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/red-book/best-practices-guide/dont-forget-chainsaw-mill