About Bill Major
Bill Major started his company, Live Edged Woodcraft. He worked as a United Church of Canada minister in several parts of Canada and retired in 2011 with his wife, Doris. They moved to their lake home, on the south shore of Lake Simcoe, in Central Ontario, Canada. He mingled with people all his life and wanted to try something different. He liked woodwork but had little experience in this field. He explored woodturning, looking at courses, equipment, and facilities needed, but did not pursue it.
A Wooden Placemat
In 2011, Doris and Bill purchased a Mennonite-built harvest table for their kitchen, which they had renovated. One day, Doris told Bill of a wooden placemat she had seen in a magazine, a cross-cut of a live edge log, showing all of the tree’s rings. She asked Bill if he could make anything like this. He contacted local sawmills, and one sawyer invited him to purchase live edge cherry oval end cuts, one half an inch thick, which could be made into placemats.
Bill accepted his invitation, purchased 12 pieces of half-inch woodcuts, and took them home to begin air-drying. A few cracked or warped in the process, but some survived. Bill had a small basement workshop and a table outside in good weather. Bill started to sand the surviving oval cherry pieces to 220 grit. He safely finished them for food.
Bill began extensive internet research and phoned some live-edge furniture companies. He tried several finishes but found few food-safe products. A company in British Columbia, Canada, recommended a hard wax, eco-friendly oil from Germany called Osmo. Bill purchased oil from a supplier in Ontario. However, few stores sold it in Canada, experimented with applying it, taught himself some effective methods, and finished the first six cherry placemats.
The New Harvest Table Business
They looked great on the new harvest table. Guests asked if they could buy some placemats; Bill bought more wood and made placemats for friends and family. Small local craft shows invited them to exhibit at their events, and more orders came in. Some people ordered sets of six, and one woman ordered eight. A hobby had started to become a business. Bill registered his business with the Canadian Federal government as a sole owner proprietorship. Bill and Doris had no plan or idea where their new business might lead them.
Production and Marketing
They began to be accepted at larger craft shows, and sales increased. They had a 12 ft. x 24 ft year-round fully insulted workshop built. Soon Doris suggested they start producing and marketing cheese boards cut on an oval, with small, medium, and large sizes. They researched food-grade treatments and used several coats of cold-pressed natural hemp seed oil from a local farm. They added two coats of a paste by heating natural beeswax from apiaries and mixing hemp seed oil after it was liquefied. This made their boards water-resistant. Live Edged Woodcraft includes a two-ounce tin of hemp seed oil/beeswax paste in every purchase price.
Good Seller Products
These products became good sellers. They kept going to larger shows and were accepted in the One of a Kind Artisanal Craft Show in Toronto, made up of 800 vendors, attracting over 200,000 visitors. They exhibited there for four years, often grossing over $5,000.00 per day. Three years ago, Bill and Doris launched a new product called grazing boards, a flat cut of hardwood from one foot to seven feet long. This decision followed what the live edge wood market was seeking to purchase.
Effects of Covid -19 on Business
In the spring of 2020, COVID-19 hit Canada, canceling all craft shows immediately. Private industry and various levels of government in Canada developed a consultation resource for small businesses called Digital Mainstreet. Its consultants helped Live Edged Woodcraft turn its business into an eCommerce store on a Shopify website. They had to learn overnight the meaning of the great COVID word – “pivot.”
Challenges of LiveEdge Woodcraft
Live Edged Woodcraft faces many business challenges. Shipping its products is costly and challenging because of their size and weight. One of their greatest marketing challenges is simulating an in-person artisanal experience for potential customers in an eCommerce context. Their wood products are meant to be seen, touched, and held for customers to appreciate their artistry and functional value for their homes. This is not possible over the internet.
Business Bounce Back
Again, Live Edged Woodcraft is using additional free government resources offered to small businesses in Ontario, Canada, in a program called “Business Bounce Back.” Their consultants are helping Live Edged Woodcraft shift its complete website to a more developed Shopify 2.0 program. This simulates more of an in-person shopping experience through an eCommerce platform.
Reduced Market
COVID has also greatly reduced its market. For two years, many Canadian families stopped entertaining friends and family and having larger gatherings in their homes, resulting in less demand for their products. Only as the COVID pandemic has begun to weaken have most people felt comfortable entertaining their family members. in recent years, they have been selling larger grazing boards to restaurants and catering companies. These businesses have less need for boards for bigger events because people have not been gathering in large numbers.
Business and Marketing Challange
The greatest business and marketing challenge of Live Edged Woodcraft is attracting people to their eCommerce website. They have tried Facebook and Google ads with limited success. They have not had a large budget for advertising. Social media consultants tell them they must continue their ad programs to convert more hits on their website into sales. Their e-commerce website is their only marketing source, but they are uncertain what type of internet advertising will give them the best conversion results.
The Growth of the Business
When they started their business over ten years ago, few people made live-edged products such as placemats, charcuterie boards, grazing boards, or live edge tables. , their area produced live edge wood products each year. Today, big lumber and home improvement chain stores sell live edge hardwood. This has increased the competition, increasing market demand.
Quality and Uniqueness of Products
Live Edged Woodcraft has continued to define its uniqueness in making artisanal, handmade, and different from its competitors’ products. Their customers report that each of Live Edge Wood Craft’s pieces is a work of art, while their competitors are just making “boards.” Bill and Doris often say they work out of love for their wood, products, and customers, taking great pains to provide the best quality they can in each piece of work. Nothing is mass-produced.
Customer Service
One of their main products is “customer service.” They replace any products that crack or warp under normal use by customers at no charge. They fill eCommerce orders and prepare for shipping the next day after receiving an order. They often communicate with their customers if they have any issues. Customer service is one of their highest values. Customers appreciate the care and concern they show them.
Business Innovation and Flexibility
Over the last ten years, Live Edged Woodcraft has learned much about starting and developing a small family business. They have been fortunate to anticipate trends by listening carefully to the needs and concerns expressed by their customers. They could modify their product lines and develop new approaches as customers began to ask for new types of live edge wood products. They have either kept ahead of the market curve or have moved quickly when they could sense their market was changing.
Live Edge Wood Craft Is passionate about their work
Live Edged Woodcraft has found that starting a new business and growing with it takes a lot of work. They have extensively used internet research and consultations with others in their field as they are self-taught. They have grown in business skills. Bill and Doris have not been afraid to make mistakes and learn from them. They risk, recognize, and admit their limitations. For example, they have made small coffee tables, benches, shelves, and hall tables but have referred requests for larger dining tables to other providers with more equipment and expertise in making larger units than their shop can handle. They have intentionally stayed small and artisanal and have resisted requests to become a much larger company.
They have resisted invitations to fulfill large orders. For example, they have been asked to produce 500 or more boards for corporate gifts. They have also been approached to become the sole producer for large companies. It’s important for them to re-affirm who they are often and not as a company. They know it can be seductive and affirming to take on a huge order that can take over the business and turn them into mass producers.
Evaluating Priorities
Doris has helped Bill say no to large requests coming their way. She is tough, determined, focused, and has a good sense of our potential and limitations as a small company. This is important for a small business. Live Edged Woodcraft has learned that the most important challenge of a small business is to sort out who you are, what you want to do and why, and what place your business will have in your life. No one else can declare your boundaries and how you want to develop your business. Self-employed people can work all the time, and their work can gradually become their whole life. Live Edged Woodcraft often re-evaluates its priorities and holds firmly onto what they agree fits them as a small business. This helps them say No and Yes to requests for orders and still get along well.
Roles
Bill and Doris have enjoyed their ten years of developing their small business. They are clear about their particular roles. Doris does administration, helps with shipping, and assists at some craft shows. Bill sources material for products, produce finished products and does most of the marketing and customer service work. These roles have developed over the years.
Author’s Take
Although it is hard to imagine them without the business, it does not take up their whole life. It has been an amazing journey as a couple, with the wood-making background to develop Live Edged Woodcraft responding to changing market opportunities. While it has been a lot of work, they have enjoyed growing and changing with their company. Bill and Doris wish people the best in their journey to develop or start a small business. They encourage others to use all the help they can find from others, to be humble, get to know themselves, and enjoy the ride as much as they have. Good luck!
MS, University of Latvia
I am deeply convinced that each patient needs a unique, individual approach. Therefore, I use different psychotherapy methods in my work. During my studies, I discovered an in-depth interest in people as a whole and the belief in the inseparability of mind and body, and the importance of emotional health in physical health. In my spare time, I enjoy reading (a big fan of thrillers) and going on hikes.
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