Bud Farmer: Forrest Design Co.

 

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Bud Farmer, owner of the Jacksonville, Texas-based Forrest Design Company.

 

Bud has established himself as something of a social media posting expert. Highlighting the entire build process in his reels and perfectly incorporating the right music and the right vibe for every video means that he has an ideal visual representation of his products and his company.

 

Check out this episode and listen to learn all about Bud’s social media expertise, his company’s history, the details of his most recent builds, and much more.

 

 

 

 

Born to the Business

 

“I started the business in September of 2018. I grew up in Jacksonville, Texas, and my dad was always a builder, so that was just kind of in my blood; it was always around. He had this construction business, and he passed away when I was 20, so I took over the business and just jumped in full force.

 

Then years down the road, my wife and I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. We got out of that scene, didn’t have anything to do with construction, and then cut to 2014, moved back, and got back into it, but I wasn’t crazy about it. I enjoyed working with wood and things like that, but ultimately I wanted to try to get into the woodworking business, and in September of 2018, I just jumped into it, but I didn’t know it’d be a full-time job.”

 

• Bud Farmer

 

Initially, the shop was Bud’s side hustle as he was still working construction, building homes. But over the year that he started the business, he realized that his side hustle could become a full-time job. So Bud began to take fewer and fewer construction jobs until he found himself out of that industry and fully supported by his woodworking business.

 

 

 

 

Steve’s Advice Corner

 

“I just bought a building with a buddy of mine downtown. It’s basically going to be a retail showroom space of mine intermingling with a bar and restaurant. So I think my next big challenge is retail space, keeping it stocked, and managing my time at the shop. I’ve never been in retail, so it’s almost two businesses in a sense.”

 

• Bud Farmer

 

Expanding a business so that it develops an entirely new arm or subsection of the company can be an enormous challenge. In Bud’s case, he is branching Forrest Design Co. into an area that he is entirely unfamiliar with, so getting Steve’s take on how to give his company the momentum it needs can be a vital growth opportunity.

 

“I don’t know if they have like an art week or a design week or something. You can make your business the center of this design, culture, and entertainment. Then, there are opportunities to integrate everything vertically with the restaurant and bar. So you’re making all the tables and making all the countertops. Everything should be branded with Forrest Design Co. right there.”

 

• Steve Larosiliere

 

Whether you are creating a new division of your company or growing an existing part of it, you can never have too much branding. Take every opportunity to show that you are involved with any business venture that you are working on. You never know what will catch people’s attention and further your company’s growth.

 

Website: https://www.forrestdesignco.com

 

Instagram: @forrestdesignco