We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brandon Thurman . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brandon below.
Brandon , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.
If I started over today, I would have picked a specialty craft and specialized in that craft first before trying to do it all. There is a lot under the woodworking umbrella, from cabinetry to fine woodworking to custom furniture to carpentry, etc. I was so obsessed with woodworking in the beginning that I wanted to be able to do it all immediately. It requires a lot of tools and alot of shop space to be able to do it all. I bought a lot of tools that I now no longer need, I used them once or twice and now they’re collecting dust. My specialty craft now is cutting boards and charcuterie boards, that craft takes a few specialty tools, but nowhere near the amount of tools as the other crafts require. I wasted a lot of money on tools that I didn’t need in the beginning.
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?
Here at Trinity Craftsman, we are a husband and wife duo. Brandon is the craftsman and Hailey is the brains. We started Trinity Craftsman in 2019 when Brandon felt called to change his career path. Brandon’s previous career required him to travel, but his dream was to be able to stay at home with his family while doing something he loved. Trinity Craftsman was born. We specialize in making food safe wood products like cutting boards and charcuterie boards. All of our products are made using high quality hardwoods. Some of the common wood species we use are black walnut, hard maple, curly maple, ambrosia maple, mahogany, cherry, hickory, and African padauk. Everything is handmade by Brandon in Winnie, TX. Our goal at Trinity Craftsman is to create products that stand the test of time and can be passed down to the next generation.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The main way we sell our products outside of selling wholesale to other businesses is by becoming vendors at local markets. The best source of new clients for me has simply been from attending as many different markets as possible. We are based in Winnie, TX. We don’t have a lot going on in Winnie but we have a lot going on on both sides of us. We have the Golden Triangle to the east of us and we have Houston to the west of us. Attending markets in both of those areas has been huge for us.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson I’ve had to unlearn was when to say no to a potential client. As a human in general, I’m not much of a people pleaser, I’m usually able to set boundaries and tell people no without much issue if I need to. But as a business owner, I was the opposite when I first started. I didn’t want to tell someone that I wasn’t able to do something. I thought I had to say yes to everyone in order to be successful. I took on se jobs that I took a loss on and I quickly learned that my business would fail if I said yes to every person. Some jobs I’m able to do and make a profit. Other jobs, it’s simply not possible. I’ve learned what jobs those are now and how to say no.
Contact Info:
- Website: Trinitycraftsmantx.com
- Instagram: Trinitycraftsman
- Facebook: Trinity Craftsman