Today on the podcast we are thrilled to have Justin Larson of JML Woodcraft as our guest. Justin is a one man show and a garage workshop warrior who specializes in highlighting the natural beauty of live-edge slabs. In fact, technically Justin only does woodworking part time about 15 to 20 hours a week, but he says if you ask his wife, she’ll say he’s out there a lot more than that! 
The Creative Focus and Origins of JML Woodcraft
Right now the focus of Justin’s company is unique serving boards and live edge slab desks and tables, but the history behind the company has been in the making for over ten years now. JML Woodcraft actually all started back in 2011, when Justin and his family bought their house and needed some furniture.
As Justin says, he had the thought process, like most woodworkers, that he could just build everything they needed so that they could save some money. First he built a farm table and some shelves, then he started getting more advanced. For the first few years he was just building things at home for his family, but then after a while friends and family started wanting the things that Justin was building for their own houses too.
Justin started building furniture for friends and family, and then some of his business minded friends told him that he should start an LLC and start building a fully realized brand and legitimate business.
In 2016 Justin started the LLC and opened up his business to go neighborhood wide. The savvy woodpreneur explains how he used Facebook to get the word out and start attracting customers, and once he did, he did everything they requested, he didn’t say no to any projects which really got the ball rolling. Then, once he started the LLC, Justin’s wife encouraged him to turn their garage into a woodshop. With the work space complete, JML Woodcraft was then able to take on more complicated custom projects.
The Motivation Behind the Business
Steve and Justin talk a bit about the fact Justin has accomplished so much, and even has a 3-month backlog of customers, all while being part-time. For Justin, he says it comes down to the fact he just loves building.
The business growing has been incredible for this exact reason. As Justin sees it, the more projects he can do, and the wider of a variety the better. Justin also talks about how building isn’t just a creative process, it’s also a learning process, each project he does he feels that he learns valuable lessons for the next one.
Another learning experience for Justin has been learning not to get burnt out, and setting rules for himself about what kind of projects he works on. He even let go of some pieces of equipment with the understanding that not having the capability for certain things will allow him more projects he truly is passionate about. He says it’s all about learning, and finding your way.
Lead Generation Strategies
Steve and Justin talk about lead generation strategies and the importance of documenting your product and taking killer photos. Justin says that when it comes to his social media content strategy there is a lot of intent behind what he posts and nothing’s accidental.
Justin actually has lists on his phone for what he wants to post, and he keeps an order to his Instagram feed that compliments the visual medium of the app. Justin aims to have a common theme to what he posts too, while also keeping it engaging, fresh and interesting.
He says you need to be sure to keep creating new content, but it needs to be kind of visually similar as people will like your stuff for a reason. They want to see more of whatever it was they liked that first time.
After they talk a bit more about the resources and apps Justin uses for his photography the two jump into the challenges that Justin faces in his business. For JML Woodcraft, Justin says one of the biggest challenges is that he over analyzes everything. Even with the business plan, it seems very focused and it seems like it shouldn’t be very complicated, but Justin feels like he is still constantly tweaking what he thinks the method is to get where he wants to be.
Steve’s Marketing Corner
Steve and Justin talk a bit about some of Justin’s projects, wins and shipping methods before they move into the marketing and business advice section of the podcast. Justin says that right now he wants to get a website put together because he thinks it will be easier than dealing with Dms all day. On the other hand though, so far he hasn’t had one and he has no shortage of customers so there is a question of it’s necessity.
Steve points out how important it is to have multiple connection points with your audience, and how a mailing list and website could really take JML to the next level. Steve suggests that Justin consider doing a few different promotional lines of furniture with a set number of premade pieces and showcase them on a website.
Steve also offers some great advice about how to use email marketing without being pushy. In general, if you provide your customers and followers with valuable content, like a tip for when a new collection is dropping etc., it doesn’t come across as pushy.
The line you need to walk is always providing value, if you’re just emailing for the sake of emailing, it’s not a good idea, if you have content you can share or information your customers could use, that is the key.
For his advice for the Woodpreneur Community Justin says to not be afraid to shift your focus if you need to, make sure you love what you do, value your time more than anything, and don’t be afraid to raise your prices!
To see more from JML Woodcraft check out the links below!
Instagram: @jmlwoodcraft
Facebook: JML Woodcraft
Thank you Uneedainc for sponsoring this episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast.