226: How a Thousand Dollar Business Grew to a Million Dollar Empire (Steve Kinder of Loftwall)

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Background on Steve Kinder of Loftwall:

Steven Kinder is the Founder of Loftwall, Co-Founder of GoodWork, and Owner of 1808. He is a design entrepreneur who has always had an infatuation with spaces. He’s focused on the design of new flexible, dynamic environments for people to bring big ideas and be better together.

Not intimidated by the potential of a blank slate, Steve wants to create space where people can shape their own experience. As an industrial designer, he has designed award winning furniture, products and event environments for small, medium & Fortune 500 companies. He has been an active leader of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Dallas Chapter since 2012. EO is a peer-to-peer network that helps transform the lives of those who help transform the world.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

  • [1:00] Steven Kinder offers a brief explanation of what his company, Loftwall, is all about.
  • [3:49] Growing up in Dallas, Steven had a passion for creative arts. He went to a design school in Providence, Rhode Island.
  • [5:57] After design school, Steven got his first job through fellow alumni from his school.
  • [8:30] Being an exhibit designer as his first job was exciting for Steven.
  • [15:27] Steven’s second job in a design consulting firm was focused more on designing and he learned a lot from the experience.
  • [17:14] The rich boss, poor boss mentality or model is one of the biggest things Steven learned from working in a design consulting firm.
  • [20:31] In 2004, Steven started his own side business selling his own products on eBay. It eventually became his full-time business.
  • [24:18] The side business was BannerStandsToGo.com
  • [27:19] As his business grew, Steven got a small showroom office space and hired his first employee.
  • [30:39] Steven talks about how the idea for the initial product of Loftwall came about.
  • [38:25] Investing in commercial real estate gave Steven the idea to make a showroom for Loftwall.
  • [39:46] Steven explains why he chose to buy the building instead of opting for the lease.
  • [42:31] The first couple of years were slow for Loftwall until Steven stumbled upon the contract furniture industry.
  • [45:40] Being a designer in his previous job, it was easier for Steven to source the materials he needed for Loftwall.
  • [47:13] Steven discusses why his products are made locally instead of having it manufactured in China or other parts of the world.
  • [53:01] Having seen the opportunity of the shared workspace business, Steven bought a building in 2014 to start his new business venture, GoodCoWorking.co
  • [56:47] Today, Steven has more free time to go back to grad school. He also realizes that he prefers starting a business or project rather than running it for a long time.
  • [1:01:05] Since he had that achiever mindset, Steven started Loftwall to get to the next level of his entrepreneurial career.
  • [1:04:20] According to Steven, you don’t need a lot of money to start a business. He also offers some valuable tips and advice for entrepreneurs and new business owners.
  • [1:06:25] The hardest part Steven had to overcome was thinking that he knew everything.

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Fabulous 4 Questions:

  1. 📖📚 Favorite Books? Daily Stoic by George Tanner, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, Traction by Gino Wickman, Built to Last by Jim Collins, Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferris
  2. 🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Spongebob Toaster
  3. 🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Slack, Adobe Cloud, Netsuite
  4. 💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Finding great people

Key Point from the Interview:

  • “I knew I had confidence in the business, I had confidence in my abilities, over the last previous 5 years that I had taken something that literally cost me a thousand dollars to start a business and turned it into a million-dollar business in 5 years.”

Resources Mentioned:

 

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