- Here is the full video interview with Alex, the Shelf Dude himself!
- Here is the podcast audio version for all platforms
- Follow The Shelf Dude on IG
- The Shelf Dude’s Website and Shelf Build Plans
Think this idea can’t scale? I posted about this shelving idea back in August, and a week ago I got this email:
Hi Chris,
I've thought about sending this email now for 6 weeks, and as I'm going through my daily punch list, I figured it's best to do it now rather than carry it over to tomorrow!
This past August, I ran across your podcast when searching for small business podcasts. In June, I was unexpectedly let go from a consulting gig in which I replaced their legacy ERP system with a new, modern one. After just 1 month of being on the new system, the owner learned that her company was not doing as well as she thought it was. The legacy system had never been updated when they made changes to their executive reporting 4 years ago. The result was a 10% decrease in overall revenue projections, and a 15% decrease in gross profit margin. Immediately, 25% of the workforce, plus all consultants were let go.
As you can imagine, being let go without warning can be tricky. This past year, we saw a record number of job openings but a lower than expected job report almost each month from June until after the election. Many industry leaders point to the election and the potential additional spend or savings they may incur due to who won the election.
I worked side gigs, and helped my family all summer long, while job searching at the same time, but I kept coming up empty. I would go to interviews and make it all the way to the final round or the decision just to be told that they are "holding off" on any new hires until the end of the year. This left me soul-searching a bit to find out what I could do to bring in income for my family of 4.
In August, I listened to your episode with The Shelf Dude, and immediately thought that if I could offer an in-demand product like a tote storage rack, and that I could easily make with little investment and sell on a platform with a large audience, I might be able to hold out of the job search until next year.
I reside just north of Ann Arbor, MI. I live in a small town that borders the suburbs of Detroit to the east and the rural communities to the west. My market area is large, and I can get to about 60% of the population of MI in about an hour drive. This made it pretty simple for me to decide to replicate what The Shelf Dude was doing in Utah and apply it to my local area.
I launched right away in August, and grossed $3K. In September, that rose to $8k, and by October, I was at $10k and more. I perfected my processes, began producing small batches of shelves, and offered to purchase totes for my customers with my military discount at the big box stores. I managed to increase my gross profit margin from 39% to 58% in a matter of 90 days, taking the lessons I've learned from my 20 year career in Supply Chain Management and Project Management, and applying them to my small business, The Might Shelf Co.
Chris, this podcast literally saved our mortgage. My wife was super supportive of my taking a risk on starting this, as long as I had the small goal of paying our mortgage each month, she would take care of the rest.
Fast forward to today, I've started All-Pro Handyman Solutions. As it turns out, when you make deliveries of a big wooden shelving system to customers, many of them ask if you know how to fix other stuff. Side jobs of a handyman were offered to me, which led me to conduct market research on handyman companies, the industry, and where it's projected to go in the next 10 years (that's all I want to work before retiring). So, I took the most of November and December off from selling shelving units, and set about founding my handyman company. Web development, CRM integration, Leads integration, apparel, service listing offering, etc. Took me about 5 weeks with the Holidays sprinkled in, but I officially launched All-Pro Handyman Solutions last week.
Best decision ever. In the first 2 weeks of launch, I've booked nearly $9k of jobs, with an average gross profit of 52%. Plus, this is supposed to be the slow season. Work isn't supposed to pick up until early Spring. Given these projections, I'm looking at a possible 6-figure revenue in the first year!
And I owe all the credit to your podcast Chris. Thank you for doing this podcast. You have likely changed the lives of thousands of individuals. Mine being one of them. I thank you, my family thanks you, and many of my customers who depend on me to keep their homes in working order, thank you too.
Respectfully,
Walter Daigle
Owner and Chief Handyman
All-Pro Handyman Solutions