We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Steven Humble. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Steven below.

Steven, appreciate you joining us today. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed

Prior to the 2008 housing crisis we were doing well and thought we had it made in the shade. When house building halted we had to layoff almost the entire staff and still we nearly lost everything. But that experience shaped the way we did business moving forward and really paved the way for the much greater success we’ve experienced since in 2 major ways: 1. During the emotionally-draining hard times, the stress I felt was literally crippling. My greatest consolation and comfort at that time was the knowledge that I had always been fair and ethical to my customers. I might loose my livelihood but I will still have my integrity. I believe that in the time that has elapsed, our brand has been continually bolstered by our commitment to integrity, and I count that as a secret to our success.
2. The lean times forced me to change the way that I monitor the company’s cash flow. Since then we constantly maintain accurate cashflow predictions, and we now maintain healthy company nest egg which is a great emotional comfort. A few years ago we had a unique opportunity to purchase a much larger building, and we were only able to take advantage of that opportunity because we had that nest egg for a down payment. We leveraged the extra space to bring more subcontract work in-house, and that has had a tremendous impact on profitability.

Steven, 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?

I grew up as the son of a pilot in the US air force. In 2003 I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University. After working in aerospace for Boeing Aircraft I went on to design home automation computers and medical devices before starting my own company at the age of 26. My company (Creative Home Engineering) specializes in the design and fabrication of motorized hidden passageways and covert high-security vault doors. In the last 18 years we’ve designed and built thousands of secret passageways for high-profile business executives, heads-of-state, celebrities, pro-athletes, and ordinary security-minded home owners all around the globe.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

On one occasion during the company’s infancy we received a very large order for 8 secret doors from a very intimidating Russian client. During the site consultation other contractors warned me that the client was difficult to work for and borderline abusive. When the secret doors were completed we freighted them to the client’s home and were in the process of unpacking them when the home owner arrived, took one glance at the products, and loudly exclaimed (in a thick Russian accent) “I’m not putting any of this sh*t in my house.” I immediately began to panic because if the client refused to accept the doors then my company would be financially ruined. At that point a very kind general contractor who I will forever remain grateful to said “Why don’t you just let them put a couple of them in and see what they look like?”. The homeowner reluctantly agreed. Over the next several days the homeowner observed our team working tirelessly, late into the night in order to make sure that our secret door’s were incredible. I could tell that the client noticed and respected the extra effort my team was going to, and by the 3rd day his attitude and demeanor had changed dramatically. In the end he accepted all the doors and even became a repeat customer a few years later.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

While still in college I interned for company that made jet engines, and I witnessed what a morale-killer it was when executives at the company instructed engineers to design engines that would not last as long so that the product could be more financially lucrative. I decided then and there that if I ever had my own business I would only make the best and highest quality products that I could. Only after being in business for many years have I begun to fully realize how important my reputation has been in sustaining and growing our business. The unique, custom nature of our business means that we have thousands of opportunities to cut corners, and clients are constantly pressuring us to lower our prices or risk loosing their business, so there are times when it has been tempting to acquiesce to those pressures. But because of the jet engine experience I always resisted those temptations, and instead have the confidence to declare to the customer that I won’t make a 2nd rate product for them, and if that’s what they needed then they should find a different supplier. In the end clients always respected my philosophy. Moreover, because of the philosophy I am immensely proud of the products we’ve built over the years, and that pride makes the work we do much more enjoyable and fulfilling.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hiddenpassageway.com/ www.hiddendoorstore.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/creativehomeengineering
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/HiddenPassageways

Image Credits
Creative Home Engineering