Will Sampson muses about how difficult it is to maintain a family business in today’s economy. His guest is Nick Stoltzfus, president of Keystone Wood Specialties, a manufacturer of wood products for cabinetry in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Nick recently took over management of the company from his late father and founder of Keystone, Sam Stoltzfus.
This episode of the Woodworking Network podcast was sponsored by Wood Pro Expo Florida. It’s really easy for woodworkers to stay stuck inside, focused on their shops and production. But over the last couple of years, the pandemic has forced them to be even more isolated than usual. Now it’s time to get out of the shop and resume life in the outside world, especially when it’s a chance to network with your woodworking business peers. That opportunity is coming April 12-14 in West Palm Beach, Florida, as the Wood Pro Expo joins with the Closets Conference and Expo to offer an unparalleled opportunity to boost your business with intelligence on techniques, tools, and technology. Let’s get face to face again. Learn more at WoodProExpoFlorida.com. See you there.
Woodworking Network is a home for professional woodworkers, presenting technology, supplies, education, inspiration, and community, from small business entrepreneurs to corporate managers at large automated plants.
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Intro music courtesy of Anthony Monson.
Intro:
Welcome to the fourth season of the Woodworking Network Podcast and a new episode. Join us as we explore the business of woodworking big and small and what it takes to succeed. I’m Will Sampson.
Today’s episode is sponsored by WoodProExpoFlorida. Today our guest is Nick Stoltzfus, president of Keystone Wood Specialties, talking about taking over management of his company from his father the late Sam Stoltzfus, who founded it. But first I want to talk about:
What happened to the family business?
People talk often about the so-called American Dream, which is typically defined as having reliable employment so you can be able to buy a home and live in relative comfort to raise a family. But for some, there’s another version, which I’ll call the American Business Dream.
The American Business Dream was founded on the entrepreneurial spirit that helped create and grow this country. The idea was you could surpass the promise of the original American Dream by starting a successful business rather than just going to work for someone. The business dream was to create a business that prospered so well that successive generations of your family could take it over and run it, so they, too, could achieve the American Business Dream.
Of course, lots can get in the way of achieving that dream. It’s not easy starting a business and making it successful. Getting past the first five or 10 years of any new business is an achievement all by itself, much less thinking about keeping it viable and profitable for generations to come. Fast changing technology and ever morphing customer whims make it even harder. Will the products you created to start the company still be in demand for generations to come? Will you be able to adapt with new products under the umbrella of a multi-generational business?
Today, it seems the modern American Business Dream is more about creating a company based on a new “disruptive” product that decimates some pre-existing industry. Then grow your company as fast as possible, take it public, cash out, and hand it over to new managers that have no relation to you or your family. Finally, it’s on to early retirement or the next business challenge. Call it the Get Rich Quick Modern American Business Dream.
Still, I regularly run across successful multi-generational business stories in the woodworking industry, and I just love to share them. It’s a joy to see and hear the pride of a business founder who has successfully turned the company over to his or her offspring, who in turn dream of building up the company for their progeny. And the new generation exudes admiration for what their parents accomplished as the younger folks face challenges of their own.
It’s not easy. Friction between generations, changing customer demands, and a growing list of just garden variety business challenges like cash flow all conspire to defeat the dream of a multigenerational business. I’ve read that businesses transferred from father to daughter often work better because Dad will listen to his daughter but feel challenged by a son. A new generation might be in better touch with new customers that the founder generation doesn’t understand. And the ever present, “This is the way we’ve always done it,” fights more progress. But when it works, a successful family business is a joy to behold.
Once upon a time, I entertained that dream, too. But I learned how difficult it can be, and I also learned that a parent can’t be in control of their offsprings’ dreams. Often as not, the kids’ versions of the great American Dream is quite different than Mom and Dad’s.
So, I celebrate not only the success of healthy family businesses, but also the joy of seeing each successive new generation succeed on its own terms.
I want to get to our interview with Nick Stoltzfus, but first, let’s pause for a word from our sponsor:
It’s really easy for woodworkers to stay stuck inside, focused on their shops and production. But over the last couple of years, the pandemic has forced them to be even more isolated than usual. Now it’s time to get out of the shop and resume life in the outside world, especially when it’s a chance to network with your woodworking business peers. That opportunity is coming April 12-14 in West Palm Beach, Florida, as the Wood Pro Expo joins with the Closets Conference and Expo to offer an unparalleled opportunity to boost your business with intelligence on techniques, tools, and technology. Let’s get face to face again. Learn more at WoodProExpoFlorida.com. See you there.
Now let’s get to our interview with Nick Stoltzfus. Note that this interview was recorded live at the WoodProExpo in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and some of the audio is not exactly studio quality.