Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Scott Iler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Scott, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
Iler Woods is in a critical part of the business building journey. We have been in business for 2 1/2 years and continue to build our clientele. In addition to building clientele, we are expanding our collaborations. In the beginning, our followers were very excited to see what we could create with unique, one of a kind wood creations. We focused on the holidays to invite customers to enjoy rustic decor and reclaimed wood gifts.”
However, after the first year, we realized that this was just a seasonal time for our new business. At this juncture, we began to look at other small businesses whose products could compliment ours and vice versa. Erin said, “we spent time building relationships with like minded business owners focusing on handcrafted items of a high quality, leaving only a small carbon footprint on our planet.”
The most natural place to look for collaborations were companies who focused on charcuterie designing and grazing boards. This has led to great partnerships but more importantly personal connections that transcend business and create a sense of warmth and family. we are proud to have 4 solid collaborations with other local businesses.
We have had many twists and turns along the road. The first obstacle was using food safe stains and oil. Also, a continual process is to show potential customers why it’s better to shop with a small business rather than purchasing a similar item through a large corporation.
In truth there were some mistakes along the way- “In the beginning, we bought too much stock and orders were not coming in as frequently as we had hoped and much of the wood sat unused.”
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Iler Woods truly feels that home is not a place, it’s a feeling. Each item we curate aims to spark warmth in the heart.
So, the journey begins. “About five years ago, we contemplated moving out of Los Angeles with our two children to slow down the pace of life; but we came to realize that it isn’t the space where you live that will make this shift, it is the mindset you have. So, how do you find farm life in an urban environment? Iler Woods believes you can have both!
We feelinspired and compelled to simplify life during the 21st century. Our desire and need to get back to basics has been overwhelming in our hearts and minds for more than ten years.
As a couple who loves craftsmanship, we are creative thinkers who want to share our passion for life with our clients. However, we really didn’t know how to make this dream a reality until. . .
Two summers ago, a (now) friend, Kelry came to visit with her daughter and after talking for a couple of hours while our girls had a social distance play date (The Height of COVID19), she asked, “Did you know you are urban homesteaders?” we had no idea what that term meant.
As the girls played with the six baby chicks under the lemon tree, then went into the vegetable garden to pick tomatoes and Scott was building a twenty-foot pergola in our backyard dining area while Hannah (our eldest daughter) was washing basil to make a fresh pesto to accompany our dinner. “Our friend smiled and said, you belong in the MidWest.”
The next morning we received a text message and Kelry said, “Inspiration time – have you ever thought of starting a business?”.
From that moment, the inception of Iler Woods had begun. Little did we know that our friend was a talented web designer who offered her services free of charge with one caveat. . . to reimagine and build her backyard.
We were both in disbelief that someone would show such an act of kindness with nothing asked for in return. For the next month, we met almost daily to build the shell of Iler Woods.
We focused on our mission, our branding, our blog, and products for the online store, as well as services we were willing to provide. The goal for Iler Woods was to launch September 1st, 2020.
Mind you, we were teachers as well. So, we were preparing to teach via distance learning and launching a business simultaneously. This creative outlet became our therapy so to speak.
We quickly found out that the only way the outside world would know who we were was through personal engagement via online platforms. Hence, Erin launched the weekly blog first to allow people to get to know them. Currently, at the beginning of each month a new post is published with topics ranging from 21st-century mindset to urban homesteading, to parenthood, and simplifying life. Erin is the writer and the passion to write again had been gnawing at her for quite sometime. So allowing herself to write for an hour each week was like giving herself time at a day spa. Writing was the perfect area for her to focus on with the business.”
One month later we launched Iler Woodworks Shop. This was a huge task, it went from hobby to production. We had to decide what made our items unique from other businesses. I had to consider which items I was willing to make consistently, and which items would be seasonal. Our desire is to leave a very small footprint on the earth. Iler Woods has a beautiful line of products that are repurposed, upcycled, or reclaimed.
What was once a piece of wood from a barn in Wisconsin is reclaimed and repurposed into a nightstand and old pallets make beautiful walls or coffee tables. A farm table that’s missing several pieces or has broken parts is upcycled back to life. We will even use reclaimed square nails when it is appropriate. Iler Woods makes gorgeous products from new stock and we do our best to get wood from independent shops and see to it that we are using fair trade lumber. Since we consider so many things in building, we know for sure that each piece of art we produce is one of a kind. Colors and materials may vary slightly but the essence will be the same. We are committed to the earth and its preservation while giving our customers top-quality products.
On the website there are pictures featuring a variety of products. From holiday gift shopping to inspiration from the blog posts, to restoring furniture, and welcome home baskets for new neighbors, Iler Woods provides the personalization of products and if you have a vision for a creation, we can make it happen, I love custom built projects that many clients will propose..
When it comes to purchasing products and collaboration, this business team loves to shop and work with other small businesses. We try to buy from other local businesses as much as possible. It is not unusual for us to promote other small businesses and create giveaways. We truly want our fellow business owners to succeed and keep the American Dream a reality.”
The Iler Woods brand is more than a fancy catchphrase. At The core of our business we strive to meet the needs of our customers no matter the ask. When a customer purchases one of our products, they are getting a piece of who Scott and Erin are because we pour all of ourselves Into what we do. At Iler Woods, we’re helping to make our piece of the world a little brighter.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
The key to a new business, especially a small business is the quality of your products and having knowledge that one negative review from a customer has the potential to tank a business. With each product that sells, we know that it’s of the highest quality possible. If it’s not perfect, that product will not leave Scott’s workshop. On more than one occasion, I have remade a product more than three times because it did not meet my standards. We are building our reputation based on the quality of our products. We want to maintain and exceed the 5 star rating.
Another aspect is the personal connection that was built with our online presence. Since Iler Woods does not have a brick and mortar shop, we wanted people to feel welcome as a part of The Iler Woods family and see behind the scenes with projects, the process of making products, and even tips for woodworking throughout the year. It is crucial for people to feel connected to not only the product but the people behind the product.
The importance of reputation building and collaboration has recently paid off for us. As a small company or any company for that matter, it is exciting to work on larger projects that get the attention of the media. Iler Woods was given this opportunity when we were contacted by a company which we had worked with in the past. Silverlake socialite reached out to ask if we could make charcuterie boards for the Grammy Awards. From the moment we said yes it was a whirlwind of milling, cutting, sanding, rounding, and oiling. In the end, Ilerwoods made 125 charcuterie boards for the show in a very limited time. Having the opportunity to see our work on tv was inspiring and it helped us to understand how important relationships and collaboration are to the success of our business. Had we been unable to present a quality product to @silverlakesociolite on our first collaboration they would not have wanted to work with us again. No matter what we do, quality of relationships and products are important keys to our continued success.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
Iler Woods maintains a website that allows us to sell all of our products rather than using a third party platform. The reasoning for this is that it gives us direct control over every aspect of our products. Additionally, selling through a website brings our followers to the heart of our brand. We have customized our website to create a cozy experience like you are enjoying a cup of coffee, browsing at all of the unique items you would see in person at a local boutique store. The one con is there is a huge learning curve on how to create and maintain a website. However, once it is learned, it is indispensable. we also use instagram as a way to drive customers to our site which has been the most beneficial social media platform for our business and in some cases we will link a product in instagram to our website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ilerwoods.com
- Instagram: @ilerwoods
- Facebook: ilerwoods
- Other: email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Mina Boktor Kelry Kirschenmann