Salt Lake City is bustling on a Tuesday morning. People on the move, professionals rushing to make it into work on time. But from a distance, there is a calm view of the mountains, a back drop that Bob Stevens is all too familiar with. “When I was young, I would look out in curiosity and day dream of what the future would look like,” Stevens reflects. Deep down inside, I always knew woodworking and the Millwork industry was the right path for me. Stevens parents each worked 2 jobs for a long time, to make ends meet, it was that work ethic that shaped and molded him. Upon completing college in Denver, his journey took him into other directions. We hear it all the time, if you enjoy what you do, you will never work a day in your life, I was fortunate to find my calling, eventually, you find the space you enjoy and settle down there”
Reflecting on the 40 years of running his own business, Stevens noted, “Word of mouth was really my marketing and advertising. I don’t think I ever needed to market my business. It came naturally, and for that I am one of the lucky ones.” Luck may have played a role, but Stevens worked hard, never shied away from a challenge and above all, took care of his customers. “My only objective was listening closely to the customer, and ensuring I would not only meet their expectation, but exceed them.”
Life Decisions and a Chance Opportunity
Stevens always enjoyed the rush of adrenaline. “Growing up, my life revolved around playing football and watching Nascar on Sundays with my father and uncle. I enjoyed the thrill of how the races finished. It’s similar to woodworking, each small detail makes a big difference in the end product.” However, that part of his life would come later, as he had a goal to be an Accountant early on. “I enjoyed crunching numbers in high school, I figured I could make a career out of it.” After high school, Stevens enrolled in the local community college and earned his Associates Degree in Accounting, landing a job for a small firm in Salt Lake City.
“There is something about putting all of the pieces together, the details, and eventually seeing the end product, I felt I was working towards something meaningful”
Bob Stevens
The Path Changes
Moving to a new city, particularly a new state was challenging at first. “Back then, there were no cell phones or different means of technology, but I was fortunate, I met some great people that I still am close with today.” He would go on to work as an accountant for 2 more years but the motivation just wasn’t there.
“A lot of people at work would hang out at the bars after, but I preferred going home to dabble with woodworking, there is something about putting all of the pieces together, the details, and eventually seeing the end product, I felt I was working towards something meaningful,” Stevens recalls. Woodworking is still in demand, according to BLS.GOV, the field is expected to grow 8% by 2030. Just like the trades and artisans, there is a huge demand as the number of job openings exceed the number of applicants. “I used to tell my son, he could avoid taking out a big student loan and have a job that was steady if he too chose my field, he decided to pursue accounting ironically enough.” Stevens noted, his son is doing great in the accounting field and seems to enjoy the field more than he did.
As time went on, Stevens began to realize his hobby after work started to turn into a part time job. “At first, it was neighbors and friends who needed work done, especially on millwork and the finishing side.” And then, Stevens started doing work for local businesses who need extra help with work overflow. “One of the benefits of being a small business owner is, you work on your time and schedule, sure you have deadlines, but that is something you negotiate in the beginning.” Stevens felt that working on your own terms and doing business as well in that similar sentiment was better in the long run when it came to client relations. “There is a fine line between making a customer happy and being taken advantage of.”
For any business owner, the early stages come with growing pains. For Stevens, they didn’t feel that profound. “My main concern was, if I left my full-time accounting job, can I support myself early on in my business until things stabilized.”
Off and Running
Sometimes, the best decisions are made for us. Stevens started hearing murmurs about the accounting practice moving to Arizona. “I felt pretty settled after being in Salt Lake for a couple of years,” Stevens noted, “Once I received word that the move was happening, I decided to take the leap to start my own woodworking business and not look back.”
As we all know, business owners wear a lot of hats and tend to put out fires. However, Stevens business model was fairly simple, take on only the work he can do, sometimes along with an apprentice or a part time worker, and stick to that. “To me, one of the biggest challenges a business can face is growing too fast, I saw some of my friends and family struggle with fast growth over the years and running into financial challenges,” Stevens added.
“There is a fine line between making a customer happy and being taken advantage of.”
Stevens
Over time, Stevens built a solid system in place to streamline the work coming in even with a small staff. “Sure, I would sub-contract certain parts of the process, but I was always diligent in quality control,” Stevens said. His business would double in revenue within a year and steadily grow after that. He could have grown it more but felt his work/life balance was perfect and he was able to travel to many Nascar races on the weekends. “I lived for those moments, racing was different back then, I don’t want to compare eras, but it just felt different.” Stevens did add that he is still a huge fan and tries to attend at least 1 race during the Nascar season.
40 Years of Master Craftsmanship
Bob Stevens journey in his woodworking business seemed to fly by in a flash. In the early stages, it was about getting his system down, balancing between custom woodworking projects and those he would take on from his commercial clients. “I felt both segments of work were important, they balanced each other,” Stevens said.
Over time he was able to let his foot off the break and spent more time training apprentices. “It wasn’t just my passion for woodworking, but also being able to teach those after me, I take pride in being able to enable careers and for some, business owners in the woodworking industry.” Although the years may have slipped by too fast, Steven’s memories of catering to his customers over the years has not. “If I could pick my dream weekend, it would be to finish out a nice shelving unit project, then get ready to see race on a Sunday,’ Stevens said. Something tells us, that’s exactly what he will do next weekend.
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