Two Brothers Start a Chainsawmill Business with Karl Taylor Wood
A LITTLE ABOUT KARL TAYLOR WOOD
Karl Taylor wood is owned by Justin Steinburg and is Located in Abbotsford, an hour from Vancouver, British Columbia. They offer people kiln dried slabs. Drying the slabs takes 6-8 weeks, which they later sell the rough slabs. No sanding or finishing is done on them but just sold as is. In addition to that, they also do coffee tables, headboards, and are currently starting on table projects.
HOW JUSTIN GOT STARTED IN THE BUSINESS
A year and a half ago, Justin did a couple of projects for his local church and thought it would be fun and interesting if he would make his own wood to use for projects. He spent some time researching and later on they got the saws and started cutting wood, drying it, and started on some projects.
TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH
The research he did, in the beginning, made him realize there was a market for what he was making. It was then that he decided to just get into the business with his brother. They would cut and dry stuff and later put ads on craigslist but there was no response for a couple of months. However, they did not lose hope and it so happened that they suddenly blew up. People started emailing and texting asking about prices and that’s when the business really picked up.
RUNNING THE BUSINESS AND FUTURE PLANS
Working as a graphic designer for his church, Justin is involved in the business for only 3 days a week. Similarly, his brother, who is his business partner, works during the evening hours and on Saturdays. This has been the biggest challenge for them because no one is fully available for the business. In spite of that, they recently launched their website which hopefully will take the business to the other level and make it grow. For Justin, though, it’s quite challenging for him to do the sales. He feels he’s a more behind the scenes person but it’s mandatory for him to do the sales since his brother is mostly absent.
Being the artsy person, he grows his skills in different ways by doing online researching and asking knowledgeable people questions, but most of it has truly been trial and error. In future, they’re hoping to sell more furniture, and make their own wood which would definitely be money saving.
Website: KarlTaylorWood.com
Instagram: @karltaylorwood
Facebook: @karltaylorwood