Founded in 1977 by Sharon and Robert Woods, the firm pioneered the design-build concept with architectural design and construction being performed by the same team. In 2008 Sharon’s sons, Rob and Shane, joined the company and now serve as second-generation owners, while Sharon has remained with the company to oversee design.

Listen in as Rob and Shane share the ins-and-outs of taking over and running a family business and how the two brothers have successfully been able to maintain a great working relationship over the years as they continue to scale the firm.

“We only seek what’s best for the company,” they say. “That’s always first and foremost on our mind. That will lead us to success.”

This translates into their focus on empowering both trade partners and clients and giving a voice to each party in the development of their respective builds.

Brought to you by Pella Windows & Doors

Topics Discussed: 

• Rob and Shane’s roles at Woods Design
• Negotiating and settling fee structures throughout the process
• Why Woods Design only does lump sum
• Woods Design’s requirements before breaking ground
• How Rob and Shane deal with disagreements at work
• Empowering partners and clients
• How costs are tracked as projects progress
• How Rob and Shane went about taking over the company
• Negotiating the buyout
• Keeping business, business; keeping family, family
• How Rob and Shane are preparing for their exit strategy
• How Rob and Shane found out about Builder 20
• What Rob and Shane do for fun

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Key Quotes from Episode:

• [Shane and I] each have our domains—our world. We don’t mess with the other one’s world. I don’t go to Shane and tell him which super to put here or which subcontractor to put there. And Shane’s not going to come to me and tell me how the contract should be. ~Rob
• It’s a process of respecting the supers, the project managers, or whoever is running the job. I respect that they know more than me. And I’m not going to tell them to do something [against their better judgement]. ~Shane
• We believe in empowering our employees and making sure that they have a stake in what we’re doing. We want them to make these decisions. Shane and I are not micromanagers. We’re not going to be out there over somebody’s shoulder. We believe in results. ~Rob
• The key is forecasting. You can have a ton of budgets and track them; but, you’ve got to look for patterns and forecast. That’s what helps you in the long run. ~Rob
• One of the trickiest parts is coming up with that buyout number. Construction is a really hard industry to put a number to a company. We don’t have many assets; we sub everything out. We have our goodwill; we have our reputation. And the person selling it to you is selling that reputation. ~Rob