From Corporate to Craftsmanship with Nick and Courtney Starrett of Nick’s Custom Woodworks

 

“I mean when I started I was working in my parents’ horse barn, building rustic furniture with a framing nail gun. So we’ve definitely changed a lot since then.”

 

• Nick Starrett

 

Welcome back to Building a Furniture Brand with Ethan Abramson, the show that talks about the business behind the furniture business. In this episode, Ethan sits down with Nick and Courtney Starrett, owners of the Jacksonville, Florida-based furniture company Nick’s Custom Woodworks.

 

Nick and Courtney did not originally have their roots in the furniture business. Far from it actually. Nick worked at a corporate job and Courtney owned a bakery. But as you will hear, once they committed to the furniture business, they jumped in with both feet and haven’t looked back.

 

Since they learned the building side right along with the business side it’s worked out very well for them! It was a big learning curve with a combination of incredibly hard work, an unshakable belief in quality, customer service, and laser focus and they have taken all of that to build their company into what it is today. 

 

Follow along as we talk about building a customer base, social media, the company’s bottom line, working together as a couple and as business partners, and so much more. 

 

But let’s go back and start at the beginning of their story. Back when building furniture wasn’t something either of them had ever even thought about.

 

 

High Anxiety Corporate Life to a Passionate Furniture Company 

 

 

Prior to 2014, Nick had almost no experience in woodworking, which is kind of crazy when you consider the success these two have had in such a short time. Nick was working a desk job at a corporate company, sitting in a cubicle on a computer all day and it was high stress, high anxiety. 

 

“It literally was killing me, I couldn’t do it. My wife and I decided to build a tiny house on wheels. So we started from scratch. We didn’t know anything about building stuff. So we bought a trailer, bought all the supplies, and we built a tiny house on wheels in about four months, and actually ended up living in it for three years. 

 

That’s where most of my knowledge for starting to understand how tools work, what tools do what, and the basic concept of building things began.”

 

-Nick Starrett

 

Ethan notes how it’s interesting that to get away from a stressful job Nick decided to go into furniture making, as many people would consider the business more stressful than an office job, but for those with the passion it makes a lot of sense. Luckily, Courtney had experience as she’d owned a business and she had some knowledge of how the back office of any company works. 

 

Courtney recalls that Nick would come home from his regular 9-5 job and put in another four or five hours in the evening building furniture as he had set a goal to pay off all his debt so he could go into full-time woodworking. His dream was to have financial freedom and time freedom, and he did that in less than six months.

 

Once the debt was paid off, they decided to jump right in.

 

“People who build furniture or want to build furniture are definitely a different breed, a different type of person, because I’m sure that people sitting in an office, typing on their computer, sending emails, look at people who are building furniture full time in a shop, dealing with cutting wood and loud noises and think that there can be nothing more stressful than that.

[For many people] being in a nice air-conditioned room with a mouse and a computer screen is the opposite of stressful. But I totally understand what you mean, sitting at a computer is very, very hard for me and I’d much rather be in the shop. I feel what you’re saying, and I’m sure a lot of people listening feel that as well.”

 

-Ethan Abramson

 

 

The Evolution from Facebook Market Place to Full-Time Furniture Brand

 

The duo notes that the evolution of their business and pricing structure is a huge aspect and that it is something that should always be evolving as the business evolves. 

 

“One of the most asked questions we actually get from new woodworkers or up-and-coming woodworkers is how do you price your items so that you can make a profit,  sustain your lifestyle, and stay in business. 

 

So it’s one of those things that I think needs to progress as your business progresses. Your pricing model, in the beginning, is not going to be the same pricing model that it is five years down the road.

 

After growing our business for years. We built a local reputation and we all also became more aware of how much projects cost, how long it take us to build them, and how much overhead is going to be associated with everything. So all of those factors play into our pricing now. And being that we do a lot of custom work, our pricing also reflects that as well.

 

I think a lot of people also leave out the competition. You have to look at your community and see who else is doing what you’re doing.”

 

-Nick and Courtney Starrett

 

Nick and Courtney discuss their deposit percentage, and the contract that they put in place with new clients, but at the end of the day they say it boils down to customer satisfaction above everything else. They don’t want customers worried about having to put down a huge deposit, and while they make sure to protect themselves they realize the value of exceptional service.

 

The team says being open and honest with your clients is one of the top ways to keep them happy. If you think something isn’t going to work as far as the design that they send, adjust it and work with them.

 

In addition to their pricing structure, their style has also evolved in the years they have successfully been running their business.

 

The overall building style and the type of furniture has changed a lot since they started. The pair started like a lot of other woodworkers, just with your basic rustic style furniture. Now they are doing more entertainment center style work, cabinetry, and into the finer woodworking projects. 

 

 

Social Media Successes and Local Recognition

 

While Courtney and Nick focus a lot on the local scene, Ethan dives into the reach that they have on social media. For the fine furniture projects the pair are doing typically location and proximity is key as it is a very “site-specific” medium, but the impressive thing that Nick’s Custom Woodworks has done is they have expanded their reach using social media, specifically TikTok.

 

Social media has always been a part of the business the pair explain as they started on Facebook and then moved to Instagram, but in 2019 they started their TikTok account. They have been able to leverage the TikTok account as a marketing tool and have even seen requests for certain pieces spike after they make a video on it.

 

To finish things off, Courtney and Nick dive into the business and fine detail aspect of their partnership and how it works so well because they each have complementary skills that make the business run smoothly. 

 

To hear their advice for the community and more incredible information and tips be sure to listen to the podcast episode, and check out Nick and Courtney’s socials below!

 

Instagram: @nickscustomwoodworks

Website: www.nickscustomwoodworks.com

 

This episode is brought to you by Jobber – getjobber.com/ethan