Making Plans with Nolan Thompson of Nolan Built

 

“There’s a lot more work out there than you could ever even handle. But the question is, do they know you do what you do?”

 

• Nolan Thompson

 

Hello, and welcome to Building a Furniture Brand with Ethan Abramson, the show that talks about the business behind the furniture business. In this episode, host Ethan Abramson sits down with Nolan Thompson, owner of the Virginia-based furniture company Nolan Built. Nolan has a plan, and he has been following it. But as every business owner knows, plans change, and the measure of your success isn’t how good the plan you started with was. It is how well you could adjust your plan to reach your goals still.

 

This is something that Nolan knows well, and he has managed these changes throughout his career. Adjusting his building practices, adjusting his pricing, adjusting his overall business plan, but even with all that, he is still heading towards the same end goal that he started with.

 

Follow along as they talk about the importance of community in the furniture industry, making your website more searchable online, why it is ok not to know all the answers, and much more.

 

 

 

 

Getting a Sense of Satisfaction

 

“To give you a little background, prior to woodworking, I worked in a local shipyard here in Newport News, where I worked on nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines. So a lot of my handiness and learning how to use tools, power tools, and things of that nature came from that industry. When I was working there, I was trying to get off my tools because I wanted to go into management and preserve my body and long-term retirement and all that good stuff. 

 

I got into management, and I quickly realized how bored I was. To get that sense of satisfaction or gratification that I got from working with my hands, I picked up some tools and started doing stuff around the house and for my church. From there, it kind of just kept on growing. Every time I did a project, I needed another tool, and it grew from there. 

 

At that point, my girlfriend, every time we had a holiday or a birthday or anything like that, and she asked what I wanted, it would just be another gift card to Home Depot or Lowe’s or a specific tool, and she just fueled that fire.”

 

• Nolan Thompson

 

Nolan started his business out, realizing that he needed something to showcase. His initial idea was to take the money from his day job and use it to fund the products he wanted to sell. 

 

Early on, Nolan realized that he needed to be specific with his woodworking intention. Woodworking is a vast field, and the more you specialize, the better your outcome will generally be. He selected tables as his focus and immediately built two or three tables for showcasing purposes only so that he could put together a website, Facebook, and Instagram page for advertisement.

 

 

 

 

What is My Work Worth?

 

“You can’t be afraid to give out a price that somebody’s going to say no to. You have to be able to give out what you’re worth or what you’re trying to make, whatever profit margin you try to get to, and accept no as no because eventually, you realize that not every customer is going to be a fit for you. Every dollar is not necessarily a good dollar. Sometimes you can hear it in a customer’s voice whether or not you really want to work with them. 

 

If they’re nitpicking or really specific, or even scatterbrained at the beginning of the process. That might be some flags out there saying, hey, ‘I need to make sure I price this accordingly.’ If I’m going to work with this person, and they want to have so much input into the situation, you’ve got to price accordingly for how you feel that it will affect your time and your management of the job. 

 

Just because you get that one job doesn’t mean they’re going to have another job right behind it. So if your first job goes way off schedule, and you can’t work multiple jobs, at the same time, you have to take into account how much money you’re going to lose by taking on the clients that want to be hands-on in every little detail.”

 

• Nolan Thompson

 

In keeping with the overall attitude of his work, Nolan is very straightforward when asking for reviews from customers. He asks because he knows that reviews are a major part of his business, and they will help him get more jobs in the future. But Nolan believes that asking for reviews shouldn’t be challenging in the furniture industry.

 

Most of the projects he does for clients take place over a 3-6 week period, and in that time, he’s building a relationship alongside a table. When he’s in his customer’s homes, Nolan likes to complement their taste, make them feel comfortable, and get to know them, so by the time he needs to ask for a review; they’re happy to do so.

 

 

 

 

Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions

 

There are innumerable paths to getting started in the furniture industry, but all of them begin with learning, asking questions, and trying new things. Nolan began by doing all of the above and taking the skills he had from his day job to create something new and wonderful for himself. He feels the best way to keep that going for other business owners is to pay it forward.

 

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the people that you see doing it. If they don’t want to answer your questions, or they don’t get back to you or whatnot, don’t be deterred. I’m always here, and I’m always an open book. If you message me, I’ll tell you what I know, and if I don’t know, I’ll let you know who I think knows it. 

 

When you’re trying to get your whereabouts, what it takes to start, what tools you need, and things of that nature, there is so much information and so many makers out there who are willing to help. You have to be willing to be persistent until one of us answers your question. None of us are perfect or masters of this or that; we’re all figuring it out as we go. 

 

There’s a thing that you’re going to realize when you become an entrepreneur is that your back is up against the wall. The moment you leave that comfortable job, your back is up against the wall all the time, and you don’t have a choice but to survive. While the momentum is flowing and things are thriving, you better push even harder because when things are not going as well, you need to have some type of nest egg cushion to fall back on. After all, it’s not always going to be money flowing, jobs flowing, turning down jobs and things of that nature.”

 

• Nolan Thompson

 

Website: https://www.nolanbuilt.com

 

Instagram: @nolanbuilt