Today we’d like to introduce you to John Crow.
Hi John, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been interested in wood and woodworking. As a child, I was always making crafts. As I grew older, I started building treehouses. My father was in the trade industry, so I had a seemingly endless supply of scrap wood to use off of job sites. Out of high school, I traveled and did maintenance work, but I was always drawn to woodworking. I started my first company doing home renovations. I was afforded the opportunity to build some custom pieces for some of my higher-end clients. During this same time, I was always searching out the best logs to get milled into lumber and slabs for future projects. After a few years of paying someone else to mill my logs, I decided to buy my own sawmill. I continued to do renovations, but started to take on mobile milling jobs for other people. I eventually had enough work milling that I thought it could be a sustainable business. My wife and I were married under a sycamore tree, so, I decided to name it “Sycamore Sawmill “. And the rest is history.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any business, there are challenges. There were many weeks that I thought I’d made a horrible mistake. It took a couple of years of grinding before I had built up enough clientele to stay afloat. With this type of business, equipment breakdown can be crippling. Every time you turn around, you need to buy a new piece of equipment in the wood industry it seems. And as with any business, it’s a struggle to find and keep good help.
As you know, we’re big fans of Sycamore Sawmill. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are unique in that we cut any species of wood you can imagine. A lot of mills cut all pine or all hardwood. We mill everything! We cut a lot of pine for barns, contractors, farms, and homeowners. We also mill a lot of maple, walnut, cherry, sycamore, poplar, etc. for woodworkers. We have the ability to mill over-sized logs that other mills cannot handle. We cut, kiln dry, and sell some of the best, most figured wood in the upstate. Because of that, all of our customers become repeat customers.
What matters most to you? Why?
Quality lumber and customer service-bottom line. If you provide a quality product at an affordable price and treat people with respect, you will have a customer for life. All you have is your reputation. As they say, “Bad news travels twice as fast as good news”.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Sycamore Sawmill
- Facebook: Sycamore Sawmill
