Andrew Barbaro was working a dead-end job as a property
inspector when his wife asked him to create a cat and dog barrier from extra
lumber. Little did he know that the project would change his career trajectory
dramatically.
A former metal fabricator, Barbaro, of Philadelphia,
had always loved building things. The gate he created was no exception. With
encouragement from his wife, Jessica, Barbaro launched an Etsy shop and began
selling gates, as well as other items made from wood.
“It immediately started selling,” he said. “I just said
‘yes’ to everything. I wanted the challenge.”
Seven years later, Andrew has sold more than 4,000
gates, in addition to barn doors, the signature item of his Feasterville-based
business, Lumber Lovin.
After hustling with the woodworking side gig for a few
years, Andrew was able to take it full-time about four years ago.
“It’s been a big rollercoaster,” he said. “Big drops
lead to bigger ups.”
Calling his basement workshop his “lair of despair,”
Andrew struggled early on to meet ever-increasing demands for new orders by
himself. At times he had 75 to 85 orders in the cue. Hiring an employee was
inevitable, but he was not sure how to go about it.
He sought advice from SCORE Bucks County. After working
with his first mentor to determine how best to onboard employees, Andrew began
mentoring in February with Yenting Liu.
“He’s helped me scale through different marketing
strategies,” Andrew said of their work starting his website, as well as making
headway on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. With the bulk of his orders coming
from California and Texas, Andrew and Liu are working to find more local
customers.
“I have enjoyed very much seeing him turn every
discussion into real business experiments,” Liu said of Andrew. “While
great ideas do matter, execution is the only way to success. Get hands dirty,
learn from mistakes, fine-tune, and evolve. Just like how every Lumber Lovin
product was made, Andrew also shows his craftmanship when growing
this business.”
Andrew has come a long way since his wife’s coaxing to list
his first product. He’s created barn doors for author and podcaster Jenna Kutcher, had his doors featured in multi-million-dollar homes in
California and has doors in designers’ showhouses in Newtown. Andrew has added
two full-time employees and hopes to add more with the upcoming launch of his
website.
“I try to always create a family-like dynamic here with my
employees,” he said. It helps that his first employee, Chris Smith, is his
brother-in-law.
“He’s been a Godsend,” Andrew said of Smith. “He has the same
mindset as me and is meticulous about how things are finished.”
In addition to pushing him to make the leap, Jessica has
transitioned her full-time NICU nursing job to part-time to serve as Lumber
Lovin’s secretary and chief financial officer.
“My wife has been the rock on which this stands upon,” Andrew
said. “She’s supported me 100 percent of the way.”
Similarly, SCORE Bucks County mentors are available
throughout the life of a business to lend support and guidance.
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more
than 11 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE
provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000
new and growing small businesses.?With more than 70 members across Bucks
and Eastern Montgomery counties, SCORE Bucks?County?provides over
4,300 free mentoring services annually to local small
business owners through one-on-one counseling and small business
seminars. To stay up to date on news and happenings, join SCORE Bucks
County’s email list. Text SCOREBUCKS to 22828.
