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COVER
STORY
YOUTH IS SERVED
with plans for a new and larger shop down the
road, he’s still just getting started.
Motivated and driven
Willard grew up in Diamond Bar, Calif., and took four
years of shop classes at Diamond Bar High School in
order to avoid the alternate requirement of taking a foreign language. He excelled at woodworking, and even
earned a cash award through the local Rotary Club because of his achievements. He put the money toward
business management courses at a community college.
From the time he was 15, Willard worked in a handful
of small shops during his summers off from school.
The shop that had the biggest influence on Willard
was Carl and Sons in Anaheim, Calif. It was a momand-pop business that had been around for a long time
and served all of Southern California. He rose to the
position of lead shop supervisor by the age of 18,
overseeing all projects and installations. He knew he
would someday run his own shop and wanted to be as
prepared as he could be.
John Willard has been building cabinets since he was 15 and his cabinetry
and millwork shop in California is an up-and-comer
BY JENNIFER HICKS /
S T A F F
W R I T E R
J
ohn Willard started in the woodworking industry at a young age and is relentlessly
working his way to the top. He is the owner
of Willard Woodworks, located in Norco,
Calif., about an hour east of Los Angeles. He
has been building cabinets since he was 15
and used his self-acquired skills to establish his custom
woodworking business at the ripe age of 21. He may
have been a bold entrepreneur, but his early clients
were wary of his abilities.
“I’d knock on their door, and they’d want to see
this little guy that’s balding, who’s got a belly, who’s
got nubs for fingers and leather for hands,” says
Willard, 40. “I still get that sometimes … but it’s getting better.”
Willard has since gained volumes of experience that
has reflected positively on his reputation, and he now
spends less time convincing clients he’s worthy. He
and his three employees are busy producing custom
cabinetry and millwork for clients in the Greater Los
Angeles and Southern California areas, in styles that
complement the Mediterranean-style homes widespread in that part of the state.
Willard now grosses an average of $500,000,
which has been a steady figure for the last three
years. A master at business networking, he exercises efficient marketing techniques such as investing
in his Web site to show off his capabilities. And
“It was so important that the
quality was good when I was
first starting out. I have a real
problem with anybody being
unhappy about my work.”
— John Willard
“The majority of what I learned, I learned working
for myself. I was 21 when I started my own business. I
was confident,” says Willard. “At the time, I thought I
knew a lot about what I was doing. As I look back on
it about how much more I know now, I say I don’t
think I knew much then, but I knew enough to sustain a lower end of the kitchen cabinet market.”
A one-man operation, Willard worked directly for
homeowners. Requests for commissions came
through solicitations and referrals.
“I found the door-to-door flyer thing didn’t work
very well, but I got involved with some business networking groups. I think the networking part of my
business with other subcontractors and real estate
agents and interior designers, has contributed to my
longevity.”
Willard soon hired one part-time helper to accommodate his increased workflow, which involved about
one kitchen every couple months, as well as several
mantles and entertainment centers in between.
“I used to do all of the interior finish, interior doors,
crown and base molding; whatever I could get my
hands on at the time. I wouldn’t turn down any work,
even if it was just a $500 job, because it would often
lead to bigger jobs.”
JOHN WILLARD
Owner of: Willard Woodworks
Location: Norco, Calif.
Shop size: 2,500 sq. ft.
Employees: 3
Annual Gross: $500,000
About: Willard Woodworks specializes in
cabinetry and millwork, and has completed
entire custom home projects, from the cabinetry to the countertops, coffered ceilings,
wainscot wall paneling, arched cased openings
and many other built-ins for plasma or flatscreen televisions, bookcases for libraries,
dens and studies, as well as custom bars.
PHOTO: TIM RUE/REDUX PLUS
continued on next page
Quotable: “Bigger is not always better.”
28
www.woodshopnews.com
WOODSHOP NEWS August 2009
(From top) Willard Woodworks produced this game
room, featuring distressed alder with raised panel
wainscoted walls and coffered ceilings with stamped
copper ceiling tiles; Willard worked with a designer,
Henry West Designs of Laguna Hills, Calif., to produce
this French country kitchen; this arched cased opening to a game room emphasizes Willard Woodworks’
use of curves to correlate with the architectural style
of the Mediterranean homes it often works in.
August 2009
WOODSHOP NEWS
www.woodshopnews.com
29
clients a premium price with everything included and it can be scaled
back from there. He has recently been
working in higher-end neighborhoods
with celebrity-type residents, but has
not yet made that connection with
their designers or publicists. He
hopes that will happen one day.
“As far as my future plans go, there
are a lot of major league athletes out
here that live just minutes away and I
hope to be working on some of their
10,000- to 12,000-sq.-ft. homes.
things would get. In the past, the small
recessions didn’t affect my clients; they
always had the money. But they started
to become cautious about spending.”
To guard against future downturns,
Willard pays an outside designer to
maintain his Web site and has a professional photographer on speed dial to
keep his portfolio up to date.
“The Web site is high maintenance
and it’s something I find a lot of shops
aren’t doing, but I don’t know why. I’m
the quintessential little guy, but the dif-
ference is I’m the little guy that has a
big appearance — that’s what I try to
shoot for. I appear on the Web site as a
bigger company, and I don’t have a
problem with someone thinking I’m a
bigger company.”
Willard says his long-term goal is to purchase a new building in the next 10 years
and have his twin sons involved in the
business. He’d also like to experiment
with nested-based CNC manufacturing.
“I don’t want to have any more employees. I just want to get the work
A ‘low-stress’ shop
(From left) This home office/study features recessed wainscot wall paneling and built-in desk cabinetry in alder; an entertainment center done in maple with dark
walnut stain and charcoal glaze for a waterfront home in Newport Beach, Calif.
WILLARD from previous page
Willard admits to some rookie mistakes, especially with pricing. He was
savvy enough to factor in his time and
materials, plus the costs to pay for his
helper and overhead, and an anticipated
profit. But he didn’t know where he
stood against the competition.
“The hardest part of my business early
on was selling somebody on me doing
the work and me being such a young
age. I looked a lot younger than 21. It
was hard to convince people to trust
me with doing their kitchen or fireplace
mantle. At the time, I was already six
years into it but they still didn’t have
the confidence in me that I needed.”
Eventually, Willard discovered his
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30
most effective sales approach was to
show how much knowledge he had
about a particular project. So if he was
going to be building a mantle, he’d
bring samples, mocked-up profiles and
moldings to show the client.
Reaching the next level
Willard’s repertoire now includes entire custom homes, from the flooring to
the cabinets and countertops, entertainment centers for large projection televisions and flat-screen TVs, bookcases for
libraries, dens and studies, as well as custom bars. But it didn’t happen overnight,
and the company went through several
fluctuations before it was well defined.
At his first shop in La Habra, Calif.,
Willard hired additional employees to
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handle the volume of orders. But quali- then you mark it up with tools like
ty-control issues forced him to down- chains with nuts and bolts screwed to
size quickly.
the end. We whip the cabinetry with
“It was so important that the quality the tools to give it a nice beat-up look.
was good when I was first starting We also make wormholes with wooden
out,” says Willard. “I have a real prob- hammers with screws and nails sticking
lem with anybody being unhappy out of them.”
about my work.”
The shop gets few calls for contempoWillard acquired new contacts such as rary work. It’s pretty much Tuscan or
interior decorators and designers through nothin’.
the homeowners with whom he was
“The Orange County area is a real
working. He’s maintained those relationships for years now.
“The referrals I get
are really good referrals, and as long as I
give them a price
that’s not completely
off the scale, we generally get the job. Then I
do my part to ensure
the job is top-notch.”
At 26, Willard
bought a house in
Diamond Bar, Calif.,
and moved his shop
to a detached garage
on the property. His
reputation for quality
and fair pricing began
to skyrocket and that
led to more lucrative
jobs. He bounced
back and forth from
one to two employees during the next
six years.
Currently, Willard
serves about 50 to 60
This office features a coffered ceiling Willard Woodworks
clients per year, all did in alder with walnut stain and stamped copper ceiling
within a 60-mile radius tiles. The cabinetry is not Willard’s work.
of his shop in Norco.
“Because we work in Orange County, beach-influenced area because everyso many of the new homes are built in body is either living by the water, has a
the Tuscan or Mediterranean style. The view of the ocean, or they’re a maxiwoods are dark and a distressed finish is mum of 30 minutes away. So you don’t
called for.
get people that want lacquer finishes or
“You get into making a really nice a real modern style.”
cabinet, sanding it all the way down,
When quoting a job, Willard gives
www.woodshopnews.com
WOODSHOP NEWS August 2009
done quicker and do better quality. Better quality is No. 1. I don’t shoot for having more clients. I would just like to be
able to do better jobs, more technical
jobs. I want to do the technical jobs that
no one else will do. I’d rather be able to
do a job where I can charge a little more
for it. I like the jobs that are challenges
because it makes us a better shop.” n
Contact: Willard Woodworks. Tel:
951-279-8268. www.willardwood
works.com
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Willard built his current 2,500-sq.-ft.
shop from the ground up. He has about
$100,000 invested in tools and machinery, along with two trucks and two trailers for delivery and installs.
“I don’t have a real glamorous tool
list. I have tools that work well in a
small shop. I’m all for buying a tool that
makes your life easy.”
The inventory includes a Robland
E300 sliding table saw with dado and
scoring capabilities, Laguna 16” ResawMaster bandsaw, Blum hinge boring machine, Virutex EB25 hot-air edgebander,
and Lobo 18” undercut saw.
About 90 percent of the wood used
at Willard Woodworks is alder, which
can be finished to resemble walnut
and cherry. One of Willard’s specialties
is finishing.
Willard incorporates Blum hardware
into doors and drawers for automated
openings. One of the recent trends he’s
noticed is the microwave drawer,
where you hit a button and the drawer
pops out and you drop your plate into
it. He also sees clients wanting to visually show their appliances for a commercial look, whereas they used to prefer
to have them concealed. But it goes
back and forth.
Willard has found that three full-time
employees work best when the shop is
busy. “I like to get a job all the way
done before starting a new one. In a
small shop, things get too hectic with
multiple jobs going at once. Three guys
in the shop and me doing the installs
works best for us.
“I run a pretty low-stress shop and I
don’t hold a grudge when mistakes are
made. I find it’s best to just move on
and keep things positive so that the
morale doesn’t suffer.”
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Hoping to expand
Willard admits that the impact of the
recession caught him off guard. “I
didn’t think it was going to go in the direction it was going to go so quickly.
Early 2008 started a little slow, but we
really picked up steam through the year
and ended up right on target with what
we did in 2006 and 2007.”
But in early 2009, Willard Woodworks
suddenly had no backlog. He’s back to
having two to three months of future
work, but it was another lesson learned.
“I wasn’t prepared for how slow
August 2009
WOODSHOP NEWS
www.woodshopnews.com
31