Work hard, play hard
The young partners running Dogtooth Log & Timber Products aren’t afraid to work weekends if need be. But then don’t come looking for them on a sunny mid-winter Tuesday – they’ll be out playing in the mountains.
By: Scott Jamieson
Log home builder Mike Burns says there’s no shortage of work in the booming resort area around Golden, BC for skilled log home and furniture builders like he and his partners Dave Burns (brother) and Sean Murray. With the growing Kicking Horse Ski Resort just outside town, and investment flowing in from Alberta’s nearby oil country, staying busy is not the problem, as the young Nova Scotia native explains.
“With the resort just up the hill, the work is always there. We can get as much or as little of the work from the resort development as we want, so it’s good to know it’s there. But right now, we have our work lined up until the end of the year, so the key is keeping control of where we want the company to go in the long-term.”
The company is Dogtooth Log & Timber Products, a four-year-old enterprise specializing in smaller timber homes and an array of log furniture and accent pieces. Burns and his crew know a little about the importance of choosing their jobs with care. Their first major project was to build the Kicking Horse River Lodge (KHRL), a striking log building in Golden catering to skiers and boarders looking for an alternative to the pricey slope-side resorts or chain hotels on the highway (see box on page 21). Mike is a part owner of KHRL, which opened its doors in July 2005. Sitting in its Bugaboo Café over a cup of the region’s finest coffee, he says he is pleased with how the project turned out. Still, the road was longer than planned, and proved to be a financial strain on the young company that no one is keen to repeat.
“When we started the lodge project, we didn’t think it’d be as long or expensive as it was, so it was a learning experience. It took 16 loads of logs and almost three years to complete, and we had to take an eight-month break in the middle to do other, smaller projects, generate some cash and finish it.”
Yet finish they did, and in the “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” category, it taught the partners some key lessons about managing scale, cash flow and project turnover. As a result, today’s Dogtooth team follows a few basic rules of business to keep the company on track with its founders’ original goals.
Small is beautiful
First off is sticking to jobs that the company can control, rather than the other way around.
“Right now we’re focusing on jobs in the $300,000 and under category, which around here is pretty rare,” Mike explains of the company’s current clientele. “There are few companies playing in this scale, so it gives us a little niche, and one that suits us fine. This was a stretch for us financially,” he says, waving his hand around the expansive common room of the KHRL. “Now we’re doing more secure, faster turn-around jobs, spanning four to six months at most.”
He adds that by focusing on such homes, their current clients are mostly building their week-end or vacation homes, and so have the equity and patience to be able to do it right.
“They generally know what they want, and have the time and money to do it, which is perfect for a young company like ours. There is much less risk, and everything can be planned properly, including scheduling jobs so we can bring in the people we want for different parts of the project.”
It also allows the young Dogtooth team to build the business as they see fit, with little outside pressure from banks, financial backers or others. And the demand for this size of timber vacation home is considerable, Mike insists.
“We are already booked with three homes for 2006,” he told CWP back in early February. “With staggered starts, and all the inside work, that will keep us busy right to the end of the year, at just the right pace.”
All inside jobs
The smaller jobs also let Dogtooth implement another lesson learned from the KHRL project – doing as much as possible themselves.
“We specialize now in doing foundation to furniture. With the exception of plumbing, electricity and gyp rock, we do it all, even the detail work, like tiling and landscaping. With almost no sub-contracting, we’re more accountable, there’s no finger pointing, and we can maintain the warmth of the timber frame. We had a great group of carpenters for this lodge, and one thing I really learnt from doing this (KHRL) was the importance of integration between the log building and the carpenters – There’s a lot of grey area that’s tough to bridge unless you’re involved from the start, and thinking about it from early on, and we are.”
Today the company is made up of three integrated operations - a custom- cutting sawmill; a log furniture workshop; and the full-service timber frame home building operation. Each can operate independently, with the first two handling a range of custom work, such as “one of” bar tops and mantles, staircases, and custom furniture pieces. On the home-building jobs however, the three work together to get the job done from foundation to roof and furniture, allowing a level of design integration and customization that would be difficult otherwise.
As an added bonus, it also keeps crew members fresh, challenged and happy, another key element in Dogtooth’s business plan.
“We can rotate the guys through a wide range of jobs, from the sawmill and furniture shop to building, which keeps everyone fresh. Our guys are mostly young, and they are very keen on this side of the business, as we give them the chance to learn everything from the ground up. We keep things fun, make everyone comfortable, and so far we haven’t had anyone leave.”
Mike adds that it all goes back to remembering why they all came to Golden in the first place - extraordinary backcountry skiing and boarding.
“Like us, our guys can work anywhere they want – there’s such demand in the trades. But we came here to play in the mountains – Dave and I from Nova Scotia, Sean from High River, AB – and so did all of our crew. So basically, if there’s more than 10 cm of fresh snow, or even better, a bluebird day (blue sky), my brother’s the first one leading the charge up the trails, and that’s how it has to be. We’ll all work week-ends if need be to meet deadlines, but it’s important to be flexible on a sunny Tuesday as well.”
With a balanced business plan in hand, and the company finances in good shape, Mike is confident that their future in Golden is bright. A future in Golden fits this transplanted Maritimer just right.
“People here are really friendly and open,” he says as we head back into town in his well-worn pick up. “They are people who work hard, and don’t mind if you’re dirty from working hard. It’s the kind of town where if you do what you say you’re going to do, on time and properly, you’ll gain respect in a hurry and there’ll be good opportunity for you. We’ve certainly found that, so it has been an ideal place to start up, build strong relationships, and learn a lot about the trade from some of the best. There are a lot of innovative builders in town now, doing some rare things with the massive timber and rock we have here, and we’re just excited to be a part of it.
