Background
Starting off as a hobby, Jake Latvala started making coffee tables. As his products started to sell, he would invest the profits into new tools or equipment he needed. Jake liked what he was doing so much that he invested in a sawmill as well. Realizing that he wanted to make a career out of his passion, he started taking all of the bonuses that he would get from his full-time job (of 20 years!), paid everything off, and started working full time for his company, Ol’ Loggin Sawmill, with barely any overhead.
Getting his name out there
After putting his first ad on Craigslist, Jake sold out of everything he had made in less than 15 minutes. On the wave of this momentum, one thing led to another and soon, out of necessity, he was buying a forklift, truck, and a pole barn!
Once Jake posted an ad on Facebook and started utilizing social media, everything really exploded. Besides social media, Jake explains that word of mouth is huge for him, as well as business cards! Initially, he assumed business cards were a thing of the past, but having a significant amount of older clientele who don’t use social media, the cards come in handy, and he uses them often.
Sourcing the wood
Jake gets logs from a few different sources. He has a small business logger that will clear land and then bring the logs to Jake. He also works with Tree Service Companies who would have otherwise taken the logs to a landfill. Instead, they now take them to Jake.
Future of Old Logging Saw Mill
Growing quickly, his company now has two mills and a lumberyard. Currently, Jake is getting ready to build a 60×60 shop. Additionally, the company now has onsite Maple, Oak, Cherry, and Walnut with the plan to keep expanding their selection so that they will have something for everyone.
Links Mentioned
Instagram: @ol_loggin_sawmill
Facebook: @fatherssonsawmill