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One man’s trash is one other man’s treasure—or on this case, one lady’s future. Practically 12 years in the past, Meg Piercy discovered a discarded dresser in an alley behind her Chicago dwelling. She efficiently refurbished it and bought it on Craigslist—an opportunity encounter that began her on a path to changing into the co-founder (alongside together with her husband, Joe) and CEO of MegMade, a model that’s turn into the gold normal in furnishings restoration.
The enterprise was simply furnishings at first, however over the previous 12 years, MegMade has added extra to its choices. The Piercys now have a manufacturing facility, a warehouse and two storefronts, with extra to return within the subsequent yr, and an estimated 20,000 restored furnishings beneath their belts.
The secrets and techniques to her success? Meg swears by these three guidelines:
Don’t be jealous of any person else’s in a single day success.If there’s an issue, have an open-door coverage and work by it collectively.Getting cash doesn’t equal pleasure and success. (“Even when Joe and I had nothing, we had one another,” Piercy says.)
SUCCESS: I learn about your origin story. However even earlier than that, what did you and your husband do for a dwelling?
Meg Piercy: My husband Joe opened a shoe retailer within the Chicago suburbs, and I labored for a not-for-profit referred to as By The Hand, which helps youngsters in Chicago’s highest-risk neighborhoods. After which on the facet, Joe was additionally flipping homes.
S: Let’s return to the dresser that began all of it—how did that occur?
MP: We have been dwelling on the North Facet of Chicago, and we discovered the dresser within the alley behind our home. It was a yellow maple one with wooden knobs. Our plan was simply to promote it and use the cash to purchase a brand new one. So, we introduced it inside and painted it. At the moment, we didn’t really feel like we even had the cash to purchase good paint. So we purchased a kind of further cans—a miscolored tint—from Residence Depot and added plaster of Paris. We painted a stripe down the center and added brass knobs. We put it on Craigslist, and actually in 12 minutes, we had an electronic mail saying, “I wish to purchase this.” We made $80.
S: Have been you instantly hooked?
MP: Sure. We put a tarp in our front room, and we might watch TV whereas we painted. It was therapeutic. It was an escape. It was inventive. We have been utilizing our fingers. My mother at all times mentioned, “Don’t flip your interest into your occupation. Hold it as a interest.” However we took this interest and turned it right into a full-blown occupation.
S: Certainly you couldn’t discover furnishings in alleys daily. How did you supply your whole items?
MP: We actually did discover great things within the alleys—like Baker, Henredon. Then, my husband turned mates with the rubbish males. He’d inform them to name him in the event that they noticed something. I feel he has 40 garbagemen in his telephone as “(First Identify) Rubbish Man.” We additionally bought to know native thrift outlets and resale shops.
S: Chicago flats are usually not precisely spacious. The place have been you conserving stock?
MP: We had one lengthy hallway, and we might match six dressers in it. Individuals would come over to purchase one thing, and Joe would say, “Meg made that. Meg made our dresser. Meg made our espresso desk.” That’s the place the title got here from, and that’s what we referred to as ourselves on Craigslist.
S: When did you pivot from figuring out of your own home?
MP: After we have been too massive for our condo, we rented our subsequent door neighbor’s storage, and we began promoting out of his storage. And this was nonetheless all performed by hand. We employed some assist: my cousin, together with college students from the Moody Bible Institute. Then, we signed a lease for our first 700-square-foot retailer. We thought, “What if we will’t do that?” However we outgrew that retailer in six weeks.
S: Sooner or later, you should have realized you wanted to delegate. Was that arduous?
MP: It was. However one in every of our mentors instructed me, “You want to have the ability to spend 80% of the time on your corporation and 20% in your corporation”—that means I wanted to be spending solely 20% of my time portray and 80% on advertising. I prefer to get my fingers soiled—rather more than taking a look at Excel spreadsheets—however that’s not going to develop your corporation.
S: Did you might have anybody attempt to purchase the enterprise out from beneath you?
MP: We did, however we by no means took on an investor. We’ve been scared to tackle traders and that stress of rising too quick. Now we have a small however mighty workforce. We pay our folks effectively as a result of we’re hiring people who find themselves very succesful.
S: Was your HGTV present Renovation Goldmine sort of just like bringing on an investor?
MP: In a approach, it was. We did eight one-hour episodes. It gave us a lot extra credibility than we already had. We would think about doing one other present sooner or later, however we’ve realized that what we wish to make is a legacy. We wish to give one thing to our youngsters to develop. And it’s this enterprise. It’s not a TV present.
S: Your preliminary enterprise was merely discovering one thing somebody discarded and making it lovely once more. However now you do customized items. How a lot of every do you do?
MP: About 30% of what we do are the items somebody already owns. We’ve rescued quite a lot of DIYs gone unsuitable. Or it could be one thing that appears actually dangerous however means one thing to that shopper. Individuals belief us to provide one thing new life. However the majority of what we do is our personal items [that we’ve found]—and it’s not simply portray anymore. Our upholstery enterprise is rising, our lighting enterprise is rising, and we’ve moved into doing high-end lacquers. All of that has allowed us to change from being centered on promoting one piece at a time to promoting complete rooms at a time. That has utterly reworked our enterprise. Our annual income is over $2 million. In simply the final three months, we’ve doubled the earlier yr’s income for these three months.
S: How do you go about conserving that sense of goal as profitable because the enterprise itself?
MP: We’re nonetheless simply as passionate concerning the earlier than and after. And our goal is a lot greater than MegMade. We actually use what we make right here, and we give a lot of it away to assist different organizations which can be doing worthy work.
S: With a husband-wife enterprise and three sons at dwelling, how do you each depart work at work?
MP: Our system is to get dwelling within the night, have dinner, spend time collectively, put the children to mattress at 8 p.m.—after which we will return to work. These are protected hours. Our youngsters solely have one childhood, so we’re not going to mess it up. My mother at all times instructed me, “It’s simpler to lift a very good man than to repair a damaged one.”
This text initially appeared within the November/December situation of SUCCESS journal. Photograph by ©JGP/Courtesy of MegMade.
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