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