We were lucky to catch up with Andrew Tormena recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Andrew thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

My company deals with all jobs from fireplace mantles to full commercial build outs and upfits. An industry standard that I see a lot is in kitchen cabinetry. Most cabinet kits that you get from big box stores or even more selective wholesale online sites only offer certain size cabinets. What they fail to realize is that there is always something that arises during a remodel. With out cabinets, we wait until all walls are framed out and have Sheetrock on them to come out and measure the exact space. This method will help maximize your cabinet and storage space which our customers love.

Another cabinet standard is to leave a slight space in between each cabinet. This creates a void in the cabinets which for one is unnecessary, but it also takes away from even more storage. A half of an inch may seem like very little space, but over the span of a kitchen it could amount to an extra cabinet!

Another industry standard that I see is in custom furniture. The longevity of your furniture is all in the bones. Everything these days is made from cheap glue chip or particle board and as this may keep cost low, it doesn’t allow for the furniture to last long. All of our pieces are made with 3/4” cabinet A grade plywood which allows for moisture and humidity to not affect the material. This also helps all of the joinery and seams to stand the test of time. With particle board, screws and nails will eventually stop gripping and the glue stops binding causing cracks or seams in your furniture making it fall apart more easily.

Andrew, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Andrew Tormena and I am the owner of Lifestyle Interiors and Design. I started the company about 2 years ago and have really expanded my craft as well as what we offer. Last time we spoke, I was primarily focusing on cabinetry and as I still do a great deal of that, I’m also in the process of creating my own furniture line. This is a huge deal for me because growing up I’ve always been into interior design and love that I get to work with new designers and create custom pieces for them. To me, your furniture selection is really a reflection of you and your style and I love creating things that my clients can’t go find in a store. Not to knock any of the bigger stores because there are some beautiful pieces out there but there’s just something cool about having a piece be custom made to how you want it and knowing you were a part of that process as a customer.

I like to keep full transparency with all clients and keep them updated in the process of their builds so that they really feel a part of it all and that’s just something you won’t get from shopping online.

The biggest problems that I find when working with clients is that people generally don’t know what looks good together and that’s where I thrive. As I said I’ve always loved interior design and I really try my best to keep up with all of the latest color and style trends to not only provide space management but also to know what pairs well together. Think of it like paring a fine wine to your entree. The wrong pairing will make the flavors work against each other but pair it right? Now you have something truly wonderful!

The thing that I am most proud of would have to be in me and my team’s ability to overcome any situation. We always do our best to keep an economical outcome to any problem and we never leave the job site until the client is completely happy with our work. Here at Lifestyle Interiors and Design, we truly pride ourselves in overcoming obstacles and making the remodeling process as painless as possible for our clients.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I actually started the business with very little capital. When I got to the place where I was mentally ready to start the business; and believe me you need to be mentally ready because owning a business is not for the faint of heart, my wife and I saved up for a few months to get my initial tools and pay for all of the startup costs. After that, I was just completing job by job building up capital for more tools to make labor costs go down. I was working my full time job from 6am-5pm and then doing builds and installs until 10:30/11:00pm at night for about 6 months and then I we took the leap and I decided to work the company full time and have not stopped since.

It all depends on the type of business you want to own and how much capital you need. The planning phase can really weed out the people who are serious about starting their own company and people who just wanted a hobby. That may sound harsh but it is so true. I love the planning fase and am always thinking of new business ideas for the future as well as looking for potential business partners along the way.

For those reading who want to either turn a hobby or a side hustle into a thriving business, my biggest suggestion would have to come from Dory in Finding Nemo: Just keep swimming. This may seem juvenile but it’s so true!! If you really just keep looking toward the future and keep swimming along and refusing to quit, there are no ends to what you can do.

As a Christian I’m always looking for ways to tell the lovely people around me about my story and how I truly feel that Christ was with me the entire time through my journey in this company. Even if you are a spiritual skeptic or don’t know how you feel about the whole “God” thing, prayer is a huge part of my daily objectives and no matter who you are, knowing that someone may be out there that can make your journey a little easier is worth a shot! Surrounding yourself with positive and supportive people who all are there for you and your journey in your new business venture is also extremely important. Without my wife being so supportive and believing in me I probably would have given up by now!

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

I started by entrepreneurial journey when I was 20 years old (A long time ago). I first bought a bread route in my area. To those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s the delivery guys for the bread and sweet snacks in grocery stores! We were the first ones up in the morning and the last vendors out of the stores because everyone needs their bread especially when it snows here in North Carolina!

A few years after buying the route, after tripling the original sales I sold the business back to the company that I was contracted through.

Two things I regret:
1) Not saving up for the taxes due at the point of sale.

It was a lot more than I thought it would be and took a lot of my profit from the sale

2) Not hiring a lawyer to read over all sale documentation.

Reading the fine print and knowing all sale jargon is hard to do with that’s not your forte. Lawyers are not cheap but I highly recommend them when selling a business and fun fact you can always ask the seller to accept terms of paying for your lawyer costs! It doesn’t hurt to ask and would have been very much worth it!!

Contact Info:

• Website: lifestyleinteriorsanddesign.com
• Instagram: Lifestyle.interiorsanddesign
• Facebook: Lifestyle Interiors and Design