Starting a $1.2M/Year Shed Building Business

What does it take to start a shed build business? Anthony Taylor-Weber started his shed manufacturing company Outdoor Office out of his garage in 2019 and has already grown it into a 7-figure business. We’ll find out how in today’s interview.

This video is sponsored by Fiverr.

Anthony didn’t set out to have a career in the manufacturing industry. He worked in construction after college, leading him to start his first business as a home inspector. After a year of running the business from his kitchen table, he needed a dedicated space and started building a shed as an outdoor office. When his wife posted pictures of the shed to Instagram, his friends and family all wanted an Outdoor Office of their own, and he turned his idea into a business.

Today, we’ll find out what steps Anthony took to start Outdoor Office and grow it into a vibrant, thriving business. He’ll share his shed building process, how he designs the spaces, and where he sources the materials and contractors he uses to make it happen.

Outdoor Office didn’t even have a location yet when they first started. Anthony started the company out of his garage, expanding into a new space in 2020 to double their footprint. We’ll get his advice on the size of space that’s ideal for a shed building business, and how he keeps growing his revenue with a small staff of just 5 employees.

Resources:

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:47 Meeting The Owner
1:38 How To Prepare When You Scale
2:49 Scaling Into The Millions
3:33 You NEED These Skills
4:29 How To Get Your First Customer
5:28 The MUST-HAVE Equipment for Manufacturing
6:19 The Biggest Challenges
7:07 Touring the Outdoor Office
9:02 The Sales Before Advertising
10:00 The Importance of a Website
10:51 How To Save Time Bringing in a Higher Income
13:26 The Perks of Having a Unique Tool
14:42 Clever Exterior Design
16:04 The Project Process
17:32 The Key To Scaling Quickly
18:35 How To Stand Out Amongst Competitors
19:57 Finding The Perfect Location
21:07 Keeping Customers Happy
22:14 How Previous Experience Helped His Business
23:05 The Key To Finding Great Employees
24:09 The Biggest Challenge as a Leader
25:06 How He Was Able To Spend $0 on Advertising
26:08 Blitz Time with Anthony!
27:07 From Side Hustle To Full Time Job
28:17 Giving an Excellent Customer Experience
29:04 How Publishers Discovered Him
30:17 The Requirements To Start
31:23 Plans For The Future

#buildingashed #shedbuild #shed

[darioxbrow]

Keys I have taken away from this video
1)find the right people and place when you want to scale
2)create a brand that really represents you
3)automize the process. Make a website where your customers can spend time alone thinking about what they should buy and what they should not

[lloydosmondjr]

Hey from Nova Scotia Canada. I too am a home inspector in a struggling time who have been entertaining the thought of building sheds, and outbuildings such as Outdoor Office is doing. I found this very inspiring, as are all your videos. So thank you. I appreciate ya.

[robthewaywardwoodworker]

Great video. Always impressed with how transparent these people are. It's quite refreshing to see them share so much. I'm curious how he got his online builder program built, or is it an available resource that anyone could add to their website? Again, thanks for doing these. Cheers.

[Sgten]

I've got another year to become a qualified builder, this guys is an inspiration. So many good ideas! All the best

[zaidmohannad]

This is the best channel on youtube keep going bro 👌

[Dave-hcpp]

I’ve watched several of your videos and I think this was one of your best. I think the business is relatable for a lot of people, particularly trades people. I probably commented on another video but I wish this was around 30-40 years ago.

[dvanarsdell]

Thank you for sharing insight into a successful shed business. Anthony, I noticed in the showroom model, the location of the exterior wall sconces are not allowing the french doors to fully open. You could raise the sconces higher, or just do a single one centered over the doors.

[alancrookston]

Great Job Anthony. I’d love to work for a company like this.

[michaelshearer]

This is truly an amazing story for startup, and the timing was great!

[ClassicEJay]

Im a Cert 3 Carpentry student, i really love this video and Anthony you are a mentor.
I’d love to work with this company or get advice on how to start my own business like this.
My class mates would be my team.
Thanks so much Anthony for sharing your big ideas 💡 💯

[joeswafford]

I really appreciate your commitment to your employees and their financial and professional development. Too often, companies make a large percentage of their profit off of the excess value of their employee's labor. Paying your employees a thriving wage does multiple things. It allows you to hire from a larger pool of talented employees and to retain the employees you have. Great job at running a successful business!

[GIOVANNYGARCIAHOLGUIN]

i follow this channel from Colombia, it's really amazing and inspiring

[samreactiontv]

Pls make a video on pig farm management in winter, because in summer we know how to manage them but in winter it's not a easy job .

[lovera]

Wish you continuing success. Beautiful product.

[meanpicker]

Great interview! Awesome business model. They should approach their building assembly with a modular bolt-together design if they want to overcome that national shipping problem. It might also allow them to overcome local building code challenges (size requirements, stud and insulation depth, hurricane strapping, etc.). That website modeler is very cool and a great sales pre-qualifying tool.

[Bwahahahahahahahahahaha]

Great episode! What was used to create the shed builder tool on the website?

[prophetseven]

What is that Convention you where at called? Im a home do it yourselfer. Can not afford anything lol. But love to get ideas and see how people do things. Why I like your show. It shows me how things are done. How people think. Keep up the great Vidoes!

[Mstroup]

Love what your team is doing at UpFlip. Do you have any remote, service based businesses in your sights to interview? Maybe something like remote bookkeeper/ accountant, remote graphic designer, amazon affiliate marketing etc.

Thank you for your content!

[IAMSatisfied]

Thanks, Paul, this was a great interview. $1.2 million ÷ 26 units = $46, 154 avg. ea. It was stated that the $1.2 million was in "revenue", which would typically indicate net and not gross, but the way the conversation went they're meaning gross sales. $40k for a 120 sq. ft. office = $333/sq. ft. for premium materials and quality design & classy execution.

[thumpernats]

Amazing what you can do in the USA... I couldn't imagine doing this in Australia.