All Kidding Aside with Kyle Kidwell of Kidwell Fabrications

“Making a high-quality product or a piece of furniture is not enough. You need more than that to have a sustainable business. That’s kind of like a minimum. I don’t mean that to sound deflating. It’s more just like being realistic about what it would take to have longevity.”

• Kyle Kidwell

Welcome to Building a Furniture Brand with Ethan Abramson, the show that talks about the business behind the furniture business. In this episode, Ethan sits down with Kyle Kidwell, owner of the Portland, Maine-based furniture company Kidwell Fabrications.

During his two decades of building, Kyle has found a way to stand out from the crowd. With his furniture collection of signature pieces and a custom portfolio filled with overjoyed clients, he and his company have made a name for themselves over the years.

Starting in the world of carpentry, Kyle refined his skills in furniture making and business to build the company that we see today. Follow along as he and Ethan talk about finding your space in the industry, how to replicate your pieces but still keep their soul, why interior designers can be your best friends, and much more.

From his Earliest Memories

“There are key memories I can think of as a kid that I always kind of come back to. There’s a stool I made for my mom when I was six or seven. It was just some boards in the garage that didn’t need to be cut or at least not according to me, and I had a hammer and nails, and I just kind of smashed it together and gave it to my mom. I was super proud, and she was super proud.”

• Kyle Kidwell

While the stool was one of Kyle’s first memories, his woodworking history only grew as he got older. Around the age of eleven or twelve, he got into skateboarding and built obstacles for himself to ride around.

Later, when Kyle attended college, he started to get into carpentry in earnest, teaching him the skills that he would later use in furniture making. He wound up making several beds for himself in college, along with small projects for friends and family. After graduating, a friend asked Kyle if he would be interested in forming a partnership, so they went into business together.

Kyle credits this experience in particular as allowing him to become self-employed for the first time and learn about clients, pricing, and bidding. In the years that followed, he kept tools set up in his garage and continued making furniture here and there. He looks back at most of those pieces as being poorer quality now, but they were a formative part of his growth as a maker.

After moving to New York, initially to pursue music, Kyle moved between several other jobs. During that time, Kyle found that the studio furniture in the client’s apartments made a strong impression. During this time, he discovered that he didn’t care for being on job sites and wanted to spend time in the shop, which guided his journey from that point.

Keeping a Busy Schedule for Growth

“One thing I would say is, I don’t have a big ego about what my work should be. If there’s nothing for me to do, then I’ll do anything. Especially early on in my first year, I did some carpentry for a client who would pay me by the hour, and I totally remodeled his kitchen. 

I reached an agreement with my wife because I was jumping from being an employee at a furniture shop and the stability that comes with that. We had our second kid on the way, so I picked a hell of a time to jump out. I basically told her and myself that I’d do whatever it takes to stay busy. So the carpentry has always been a big parachute for me. I feel like if I ever had to make bread, I can find a way to earn money.”

• Kyle Kidwell

One of the essential skills that Kyle has developed in his own business is how to transfer his ideas from concept to reality quickly. He learned this during his time as an employee at other shops, and it has allowed him to get many of his projects to a point where they are sellable quickly. This focus has allowed Kyle to always have customers’ eyes on his work through his website and social media.

Another strategy that he picked up from his time working as a furniture shop employee was to develop relationships with interior designers. This tactic has allowed Kyle to stay busy with consistent work, showcase what he can do, and create sustainable long-term relationships beneficial to both sides.

Learning from the Best

“I think one thing that anyone has to have is a very strong work ethic. There is no substitute for putting in the time and investing your money, your resources, and all your energy into making something happen. That can manifest in infinite ways, what that looks like, but if you don’t have that sort of baseline daily drive to make progress, I think it’s a really difficult path. 

I feel like that is how you get stuck, or you can lose years, just plotting and planning and not trying to execute and just put in the energy. To me, it is the starting point. I think for anybody to see the progress; you have to have drive, you have to have a strong work ethic, you have to be willing to work any day of the week, seven days a week. 

I’m not saying that’s where I’m at now, but there are these periods of time where you’ve got to grind. For furniture makers, in particular, we happened to choose a profession that’s expensive to get into. I would argue that you really can’t make furniture without some basic machines like a joiner, planer, table saw, or a bandsaw, and it all costs money.”

• Kyle Kidwell

Kyle adds that while many machines are vital to the furniture-making process, you need to have the drive to get those money-making machines in the first place. He explains that you need to take on projects and work, and while it may not be glamorous or even really related to furniture initially, you have to start somewhere to make it to the next steps.

Especially now, he believes that you need a decent website. Any person who has never heard of you will punch your name into a computer, and they need to be able to get some idea of who you are and what you’re doing. Kyle rounds off his advice by saying that there are so many different things you need to do, but as long as you maintain the consistent drive and energy to keep going, you will achieve the results you’re looking for.

Website: http://www.kidwellfabrications.com

Instagram: @kidwellfabrications

This episode is brought to you by Jobber – getjobber.com/ethan