Christian and Lauren: Big Sky Wood Company
Welcome to another episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Today, we have a recent repeat guest Christian and Lauren from Big Sky Wood Company. They used to be called Big Sky Dry but they’ve rebranded!
The last time the pair were on the show they realized that they were expanding quickly and wanted a name to reflect the new products and services they were offering. Steve helped out with the name suggestion, Christian and Lauren loved it and felt it would create a brand that encapsulated everything they were doing. The pair has also moved from the little garage they started in, to a real location with a warehouse, showroom, and a brewery across the street!
Lauren and Christian talk a bit about community and how moving to their new location has given them the means to expand their community even further.
“We were already trying to get involved in the woodworking community through social media, but we were in a pretty remote location before. Now we’re in this neighborhood where all the businesses are locally owned businesses that are trying hard to work together and help each other out.”
-Lauren, Big Sky Wood Co.
The Power of Placement
In addition to the more central location, word of mouth has been huge for Big Sky Wood Co. Even just having folks from across the street enjoying the brewery coming by to visit the showroom afterward has been great for business. Christian and Lauren also note that staying on top of social media and attending events has also been instrumental in giving them the confidence to invest and double down even more on their brand.
Another critical aspect is that they are one of the only people in their area with a kiln. Christian notes that what they can offer is pretty special to the area. The duo saw a lot of potential in the space, the move, and the timing and on top of that, they really enjoyed it.
“More than anything, that’s probably why we like going into the shop, we like working with our hands, we like getting to interact with customers. We get to see all this really cool and diverse wood that comes through and meet these cool and diverse customers. We are constantly learning something.”
-Christian, Big Sky Wood Co.
Branding and Marketing Wins
Lauren says in terms of the brand, because they started with Big Sky Dry it was kind of a pain to decide to do a new logo, new name, and everything else. But they got really great feedback. They have seen so many people that want to buy a hat or T-shirt and learn more about what they do. Lauren notes that they also started seeing social media growth even before they started doing any paid social prompting which gave them the confidence to keep growing the business and the brand together.
Slab sales have been another great avenue and what they have been able to do is use the kiln to provide a quick turnaround without having to keep a massive inventory of slabs.
“Turnover and output is kind of what we’ve been focusing on in terms of how we’re getting our product out. Saying, maybe we don’t have this right now- but we can get it to you in a usable way, in a month at most, has been something that we’ve really used to our advantage.”
– Christian, Big Sky Wood Co.
Even more aspects of the business than planned have emerged as well. The team had an order for 1600 board feet of linear dimensional lumber that is being used for a roof, they also do trim packages, slabs of course, and even some special order options.
Steve asks if they have been able to take advantage of their local competitive prices during the lumber shortage.
Christian says that a point of pride is being able to say that the wood came from the Bitterroot Valley, which is 40 miles from the shop. It’s been in the local metaphorical backyard for years, folks know exactly where it came from, and it’s sustainable.
“You can see where this was from start to finish, somebody cut it down, our sawyer in the valley milled it, we are drying it, and you know where it was from start to finish. I think people really value that a lot.”
-Christian, Big Sky Wood Co.
Lauren also says that there are a lot of people that have a lot of pride in Montana, the same as they do, and they’re really excited to support local Montana businesses, and have local Montana wood in their homes.
Curating a Community Conversation
Steve says that it’s really interesting because what Big Sky Wood co is doing is putting what is traditionally decentralized in a central place, and helping to curate a conversation in the community. He also applauds them for intermingling with like-minded, creative, entrepreneurial, business owners like themselves.
Christian says another facet of that for them was that they wanted to be in this area because they find that lumber yards can sometimes be pretty intimidating and sometimes it’s like “Wow, there’s mountains of wood here!” Big Sky Wood Co. didn’t want it to be intimidating when somebody comes in and looks at a piece of wood. They have been trying to cater to the arts community and the DIY community. The goal is that they want it to be a comfortable place to come in and look at cool slabs and talk about wood.
The Future for This Fast-Growing Company
Christian and Lauren have a lot of big plans on the horizon from more custom work to filling more orders, but first off Christian says they have their eye on some new equipment.
“We need some better equipment for mass-producing furniture. So that’s another thing we can do for sure. And then I really see the dimensional lumber being something that we might do a little bit more of, especially with the iDRY, I think those custom orders like that will be pretty big for us.”
-Christian, Big Sky Wood Co.
As far as lessons go. The duo says to take a deposit down when you take a really big order. Also just expect the grind. The pair remember there was a time where they were getting up at 6 am because they could only landscape before it got really hot out. Then they were working until 11 pm every night to get the new spot up and running.
“It was a little fun, but a little bit miserable, and it was worth it. So it’s worth the grind. You know, if you have to be exhausted for a few weeks, or months or years, you might as well do it for yourself and your future.”
-Lauren, Big Sky Wood Co.
Social Proof is Crucial
For Steve’s advice corner he suggests that Big Sky Wood Co. improve their Google reviews and social proof to flesh out the new rebrand.
“Literally go to every single one of your customers and say 10% off, If you leave a Google review.”
-Steve, Woodpreneur Podcast
It’s crucial to blow up your Google reviews and social proof because what ends up happening is if people google “lumber, Missoula” your company needs to be first. The businesses with the most reviews end up being first, and even if you’re not first because you didn’t have SEO on your website, you’re going to be first in terms of reviews.
As a local business, Steve also suggests leaving reviews on all of the local businesses as well as planning a grand opening, inviting everybody, and having a calendar for their events. Steve suggests they could even run a “Learn how to build your own table.” workshop series out of their showroom.
To See more from Christian and Lauren, check out the links below!