Importance Of Effective Marketing Strategies For A Wood Marketing Company
Steve Larosiliere
April 24, 2024
This episode is brought to you by Jobber – getjobber.com/ethan
“Chris always complains, like nobody knows how to work anymore. And so when we get an employee, and they come in, they’re having to learn woodwork from Chris Earle. They come in, and they’re so excited, and then they’re like, “Why do I have to sand all day?”
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 Chris and Amber Earl, co-owners of the Los Angeles, California-based furniture company Earl Home. Chris and Amber have grown their company to be both large and small simultaneously, with Chris as the shop side and Amber running the business side.
They’ve expanded their company by leaps and bounds every year. But even though they continue to grow, by working smarter, not harder, and locally outsourcing the main building elements of their pieces, they’ve been able to keep their company lean, helping them deal with fluctuations of the furniture market.
Follow along as they talk about working with outside manufacturing, the complex parts of shipping, office work, employee hiring, how they both manage co-ownership, and much more.
“My dad was handy while I was growing up. He was one of those jack of all trades guys, you know, so I was always the one tagging along right behind him wanting to figure out how things worked and what he was fixing, whether that was doing some plumbing project or framing or a new little thing for the house.
I grew up overseas in Papua, New Guinea. Over there, you kind of had what you could maintain or what you could make. You couldn’t just go run down the store and buy a new one, so there was definitely a big emphasis on figuring out how to keep something running or make something work based on the materials we had on hand.
When I graduated from high school, I ended up back stateside in California, and I was interested in pursuing a kind of art direction. I went into studio art initially, but I pretty quickly realized that even something like the medium that sculpture afforded me was hands-on, but I love that utilitarian aspect of furniture. So for me, that kind of quickly became like a perfect melding of form and function.”
Compared to a purely artistic medium, Chris loves the idea of building something that is sculptural by nature but will also be used daily by a family or community. He started by making furniture on the side for himself and learned the trade by signing up for college classes, more for access to a shop than the syllabus itself.
Soon after, Chris got interested in pursuing furniture as a means of income, and he had the opportunity to apprentice under Steve Ritson of Alderley Edge. Throughout the early 2000s, Chris made furniture as his side hustle, taking commissions from people while working a day job.
Chris and Amber met in 2009, while Chris was still doing furniture on the side, but when they got married a few years later, he decided it was time to throw himself entirely into that industry. He realized that if he didn’t jump in, he would never do it. Initially, he created a line of furniture to put out into the world, and then he and Amber built that into a small business through trade shows and interior designers in Los Angeles.
The most important thing for Chris was Amber joining the business. Generally speaking, Chris is happy to spend his time in the woodshop, and sales are a secondary concern for him. So when Amber started running the business, it turned into a real company for them and propelled them to where they are today.
“I always was building stuff just under my own name for a long time. It wasn’t, you know, any official company name. I initially set up just a DBA so that I could file some taxes and stuff like that, so it was very much a word-of-mouth business.
As far as a more legitimate and proper business, that all happened when Amber came on board. When she came on, she started getting the ship into order, handling all of our books, and reaching out to interior designers, stores, and online platforms.
It didn’t make sense for the business to be called Chris Earl anymore because she was an integral part of that. And that’s when we chose to call our company Earl. Earl.com wasn’t available, so we put “-Home” in there, literally just for the website. So the company is Earl, and our website is Earl-Home.”
Amber explains that the addition of the word “home” helps with online searches. The name Earl has too many uses to allow for effective search results, so adding “home” makes it easy for people to find them.
Having the name of their business share their name has, in Chris’ words, “kept them honest.” Every piece they make goes through their hands at one point or another, which does create some limits as there are only so many hours in the day. However, this method has also allowed Chris and Amber to legitimately say that they are the ones making furniture for their customers.
“We have had to send multiple things back. Just now, we picked up a round of our dance bed from our guy that helps us manufacture it, and we had to send a couple of headboards back because we weren’t happy with the posts and how they were turned.
Chris’s attention to detail and how he wants things done is very specific, and he doesn’t compromise on quality control. So when we get those pieces, we check them over, and then we finish seeing them before they get any finish applied.
When he’s checking them over and sanding them if there’s any sort of imperfection or anything that is compromising the design, the quality, or the functionality of the piece, we send it back, and we have a new one made.
That usually affects the lead time, but I know anytime I’ve emailed a client and said, “You know what, we were finishing up your piece, and there’s just something that’s not perfect on it, and we want it to be perfect for you.” I’m sure they’re disappointed, but we always get a positive response. Because no one wants to pay a decent amount of money and not be happy with what they’re receiving.”
Amber notes that another frustrating element of running a business like this is the challenge of finding hard working good employees. Often they get an employee who is excited to learn woodworking from Chris. However, they don’t understand the amount of time and effort spent on sanding, packaging, and the other work that is less glamorous but extremely necessary.
Thanks to the great division of labor that Chris and Amber have with their business, they each have significant experience in every part of running a business. For those looking to start a furniture business or develop one, Chris advises always to focus on the work. He suggests always staying away from being derivative and being willing to evolve as you go along. But above all, be proud of your creations and how they are received.
On the business side of things, Amber advises prospective owners to start small with a laser focus. She notes that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, and you can specialize and become known for one particular area. Lastly, she points out the importance of putting yourself out there and personally relating to your clients. Take constructive criticism while being proud of your work without getting defensive, and don’t take yourself too seriously.
Website: https://earl-home.com
Instagram: @earl_home
