099: Custom Doors for IKEA Cabinets. How John McDonald built Semihandmade…

Background on John McDonald of Semihandmade:

John McDonald founded Semihandmade in 2011. The company makes doors that fit Ikea kitchens, bathrooms, closets, and media systems. A former aspiring screenwriter, McDonald started the company in a one-man shop in Duarte, CA. Today, it employs 75 spread over production shops in Southern California and design locations around the country. In 2017, 5000 projects shipped across the US and Canada, and revenue hit $10M. Projected revenue in 2018 is $13M.

Ikea is unique among cabinet retailers in the fact that when purchasing one of their kitchens, doors are optional. Homeowners comprise 80% of SH’s business, with the other 20% coming from Contractors, Architects and Designers. A typical customer buys the cabinet boxes and interior hardware such as drawers and hinges from Ikea, then comes to SH for the doors, drawer fronts, panels and trim ordered through an easy-to-use online shopping cart. Material choices include everything from paintable Shaker and MDF doors to colored thermofoils and real wood veneers. Upgrades include custom bookcases, decorative hardware, floating shelves and appliance panels.

Semihandmade has been named to Inc. Magazine’s fastest-growing private US companies list each of the last four years. The company will be moving into a 30,000 square-feet campus in Monrovia, CA in spring 2019.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[2:14] John McDonald is the owner of Semihandmade, which is an after-market company based in LA and they create doors that work with Ikea cabinet system.
[4:47] In his early years, John was a screenwriter and was waiting tables at night. He considers himself a good writer, but he did not succeed in this field.
[5:51] In his 30s, John started buying old furniture in antique shops and tried refurbishing them. This gave him the idea to try the woodworking business. He enrolled in a woodworking program and in his first week he cut off his fingers.
[8:56] In 2008, a random stranger told him to try making doors for Ikea cabinets. This was also the time when he had just gotten divorced and he moved into his own shop with his dog.
[11:17] John’s company gradually transitioned from full customization to incorporating Ikea.
[16:20] John calls it the American Idolization of entrepreneurship. This means that some people just build a company so they can sell it in the future.
[19:11] He compared the work involved between full customization and just making doors for Ikea cabinet system. The customization work is more exhaustive and difficult.
[22:30] A big part of how the company grew and became well-known is because of blogs and word-of-mouth.
[23:16] In 2013, John met a blogger/designer who helped him create brilliant door designs that people instantly loved. This was also a big part of the growth of the Semihandmade company.
[27:08] Shipping the materials can be very challenging for John. One mistake or miscalculation can damage the materials and cost the company a lot of money.
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[31:19] John considers his greatest strength to be relationship building. He is good at reaching out to people.
[36:10] John does not recommend going to business with your friends. It’s like opening a bar with your buddies, which can turn out to be the worst idea in the world.
[39:33] He emphasizes the importance of the people who surround you in your business and meeting other business owners. Learning from these people can be a tremendous help as your business grows.
[40:21] John hooked up with a mentoring group, which offers guidance and help to business owners. He recommends checking out this group named Birthing of Giants.
[46:30] His last advice to fellow entrepreneurs is to don’t give up even if you’re in your 30s and things are not working out for you. And according to John, his measure of success is having more time to spend with his 7 year old son.

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖📚 Favorite Book(s)? To Kill A Mockingbird/Outsiders by Harper Lee
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Anything Coffee-Related
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Not exactly tech savvy; I'm fortunate to have a lot of really smart friends in this and other industries that set me straight whenever I veer off course.
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Too many opportunities, which can lead to a lack of focus on my part.

Key Point from the Interview:

“Expect to fail. You’re not going to hit a home run every time, but that’s okay”

Resources Mentioned:

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