Wild Wood Bros
Hamish Wood, one half of the Wild Wood Bros, shares the story of how he and his brother, Alastair (known as Woody) launched and grew their woodworking business, now based in Comrie, Perthshire.
Getting Started
The Wild Wood Bros began nearly ten years ago, when Hamish left his sales job in Dundee to go and help out Woody, then based in Islay and doing various projects from a small garage workshop. Hamish explains:
"Woody had the woodworking experience and artistic flair to allow us to take on projects and I had some experience related to business due to the previous sales job. Combining these allowed us to get up and running and bring in some business.
“Woody made a few connections that allowed us to source local timber and set up a bigger workshop in the Comrie area. The locally sourced timber became a unique selling point for us.”
The Enterprise Journey
Hamish and Woody now have several part-time staff working with them, and have found this to be a great asset to their business. In fact, Hamish identified not looking to recruit sooner as something he wishes he’d done differently. "Since bringing others onboard, we have been able to take on bigger projects and do more work. It really was a game changer for us in terms of what we could achieve.
“I can see us in the future with a few more staff. I think it adds to the business tremendously.”
In terms of their biggest achievements, Hamish mentions the skills they’ve both learned along the way — and also the building of a huge treehouse as an entertaining for one client: “The end result was totally awesome!"
Support Along the Way
Hamish says: "We have had help from family, friends and customers who have been very supportive and helped us massively.
“A couple of individuals have become have been key to what we have created. One of them continues to teach us so much in all things wood-related. The other mentors us on the business side. We are and continue to be very lucky that way.
“We’ve also had lots of marketing help from Perthshire Artisans—part of GrowBiz—which I would recommend to any designers/artists or craftspeople.”
Of the more core business support services from GrowBiz, Hamish admits that he couldn’t see where they would fit with their business at first. But then: "We took someone on to help with marketing and it turns out that GrowBiz has been a huge help to her. This has allowed us to focus more time on the creative and business side.”
Looking to the Future
The Wild Wood Bros plan to keep on growing. “I’d like to see our business continue to be successful and grow a bit more into something that is sustainable,” says Hamish. “I would love to see us utilising more local resources and become a well known name locally.”
They also have some climate action goals in place: "Our long term plan is to heat our workshop using wood waste generated by projects. We’re already in a really well insulated workspace, which makes a difference.”
Finally, Hamish passes on some advice for anyone else looking to start up their own business: “Find something that makes you want to get up in the morning and that you feel excited about.
“Also, understand that your time is your most valuable asset. You need to work out what it is worth.
“I’d also say switching off from work can be a challenge. You tend to live and breathe your business so it can be tough to know when to take a break.”
Find out more about the Wild Wood Bros on their website here: www.wildwoodbros.com
