Today we’d like to introduce you to Wes Crocket.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Mahogany Builders was founded in 2000 by Matt Lederer. Matt had a long career in technology project management when during a remodeling project on his own home it became clear that there was a lack of professionalism in Chicago’s remodeling industry. Matt decided that he could do better and set off to do so. He assembled a team of experienced carpenters and tradesmen and started doing jobs for family and friends. Business slowly grew up to the 2008 downturn where we were lucky to keep afloat when many other contractors went out of business.
I found Mahogany Builders in 2011 while completing my Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Matt was like many owners in his position, wearing every hat there was to wear and he needed help if the business was to grow. Matt took a chance on me and let me in the door. From there it was a matter of setting this business up to grow and turning it into a business where Matt could enjoy the perks of ownership while no longer having to worry about the day to day minutiae.
Matt gave me the freedom to specialize roles like the design, sales, and project management rather than having one person execute those all. We brought on an incredibly talented sales manager in Patrick Motherway who helped us double our business since 2013. Not only did we double our business but we went upmarket and started working on very high-end projects in high rises along Chicago’s lakeshore. This became our niche.
Relieving Matt of these responsibilities has allowed him and I to focus on what is our pride and joy: our proprietary construction management software. Around 2013 while shopping for a do-it-all construction management software program we found that there none that fit the way out business works. Seeing that gap, we set out to design our own. We are a small outfit with 8 employees but we now have a fully functional end to end CM software platform that manages our entire business. And we made it from scratch.
We snicker that we are a technology company that incidentally does remodeling. The truth is we are very good at both. We have bar-none the finest team of professionals doing what we do in the Chicago area. I know this because assembling this team was my most important contribution to our growth. The strength of our team and our standards of professionalism are not found in this industry. It is the culture that binds us.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Of course, it has not always been a smooth road.
Like every business 2008 was a significant shock to the system. We were lucky that even though we experienced a slowdown we were structured and insulated in such a way that helped us endure.
Currently, our biggest obstacle is the search for talented tradesmen. Our industry disproportionally relies on immigrant labor and in the Chicago area most laborers are either Hispanic or Polish. There is pressure on our labor pool from a number of different sides, including that 1) we are creating a culture in this country that is inhospitable to immigrants, and 2) schools don’t teach the trades anymore and students aren’t interested. In 7 years we will be talking about a huge labor drought because the tradesmen we have are going to move out or age out and there is no large group of young tradesmen waiting to take their place.
Nobody in our industry has much of a solution.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Mahogany Builders story. Tell us more about the business.
Mahogany Builders is a Chicago area General Contractor specializing in high-end kitchen and bathroom remodeling as well as custom cabinetry.
We have the finest team of tradesmen and project managers to be found in the Chicago area. They are the most talented finish carpenters, tile setters, and cabinetry installers around. Our model is one of complete transparency with a focus on doing the job the right way; the way we would expect it done in our own homes. This starts with our estimating process which gives a complete breakdown of the time and cost associated with every functional area we will touch.
Our project managers act as our clients’ concierge, ushering them through the remodeling process in such a way as to minimize the impact the project has on our clients’ lives. The PM is in charge of the budget and timeline and is the main point of contact bridging the gap between the client and the construction team. The project manager role helps us deliver a high-quality experience commensurate with our clients’ expectations and with our place in the market.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I would like to think we’ve made our own luck.
We’ve worked our butts off to get to this point. We’ve had to be scrappy and creative what we have has come to us because of this team’s love for and commitment to this company. Everyone here treats this place like it is ours and there is no greater compliment to be paid.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3823 N Southport
Chicago, IL 60613 - Website: www.mahoganybuilders.com
- Phone: 7737550055
- Email: info@mahoganybuilders.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mahoganybuilderschicago/
Image Credit:
Mike Kaskel, Adam Jablonski
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