PAVERART Growth Story: 22 Years & Just Getting Started

I'm fairly self-aware of my quirks, especially in what I believe is a business NECESSITY:

Get stronger. As fast as possible. With that, I know a couple of things about my approach:

I have a hard time saying NO.

• My default is always, "let's figure it out!" I know this is somewhat unusual because I observe raised eyebrows and the occasional "Are you out of your mind?"

I embrace chaos.

• I expect it, and sometimes I am accused of creating it.

I like to think of this approach as an "igniter" or "catalyst" for positive change. But the truth is, many people resist change, for one simple reason: IT is hard. Uncomfortable. Many can't operate in a growth world.

Every year, it seems business gets harder and harder. Pressures from every angle. Getting better and the resulting growth is a must-do if the goal is to do more than survive.

Example: A 1.5-minute video on a cleanup project of our new space.....taking on a life of its own:

You're either growing, or you're dying.

A hard-core truth I've believed in more and more for 20+ years.

There's a strange twist to this:

• Every person says they want to earn more.

• Every business owner says they want growth.

But saying it and doing what it takes?

Two entirely different planets.

Take the PAVERART Story, where we have been and where we hope to be:

15 Years of Survival Mode

• One major piece of equipment

• 2 business, PAVERART & Engraving. Evil cousins at odds with each other.

• A core, small team of 2-3 people

• One building

• The weekly goal: Make payroll and live to fight another day.

Surviving the first 15 years was winning. It took talent, grit, commitment, and a one-of-a-kind product does not hurt. Plus a little luck, there's always luck.

When I joined PAVERART in 2018, we had 1 of the original 3 founding team members, Mike. We partnered immediately to see if we could answer one basic question:

Can PAVERART become a business that does more than simply hang on? So we started making some changes.

We stopped outsourcing our story.

• We were paying hefty monthly fees for website management and all that went with it. Small business owners need to do everything possible to own all things marketing. We brought that in-house and committed to telling the world about who we are and why we exist.

We doubled production capacity.

• Adding another CNC machine was enough to double! But there was no space for it without knocking down walls, rebuilding them, etc. Hard project, but we said yes.

Then we TRIPLED our production capacity.

• The old machines were breaking down. So we purchased a brand new one, expensive and hard to justify at the time.

Then we added a second location, across the street.

• Now we could separate our twin/evil cousins, engraving and PAVERART. IF they could stop fighting, there was a chance they could learn to coexist, and maybe love each other one day.

Then a THIRD space opened up this year, and a little luck showed up. We said yes again.

• We had a VERY large job, a 55' intersection Compass for the Village of Lake Zurich, Illinois.  This project would consume 3 months+ and be worked on in the new space just acquired.

• This presented an opportunity to solve some electrical capacity issues, a major project requiring utility companies, engineers, and town permitting, which took months while the team was building this intersection design. By the time the design was close to being complete the bigger electrical issues could be solved, allowing for all our machinery to operate simultaneously. Luck/fortunate timing of a major job provided breathing room and took pressure off.

PAVERART 55' Diameter Lake Zurich Compass/Intersection Medallion

Enter Dominic: A New Era of Storytelling

With Dominic coming on board full-time after working 5+ summers and supporting us throughout the school years, we had new, experienced energy that now owned our storytelling efforts. I debate in my head whether his technical chops (Adobe Certified) are more important than the summers spent doing nearly every job, starting with cleaning toilet bowls.

You can probably guess which one matters more.....old school indeed.

Enter Short-form video. Our formula?

A dash of facts, sass and entertainment. Not taking ourselves too seriously but being DEAD SERIOUS about our product, team and belief that small business in the USA absolutely matters. Here's one of the first videos shot about this project and a visit to our first love/project in Wildwood NJ. It fires us up for the significance, but also the proof that towns across AMERICA still make mistakes and prove that "cheap becomes expensive."

Growth doesn't require genius, but it DOES require Saying Yes, and that has consequences.

I wish I could say that the past 5 years and the remarkable growth we have been fortunate to achieve were all part of some brilliant master plan, great insights, or remarkable skill. That would be a bold-faced lie.

• We said yes to key moments in time when opportunities to take big steps forward (or not) presented themselves.

• We had a core team that may have wanted to reject change (change is hard, right?), but did not. Not all came on board and were capable or willing to grow. Growth creates casualties.

• We believed we had (and HAVE) a story and track record worth sharing, and invested in that. Every investment of one $ is a $ that does not go into pockets TODAY, in hopes of a better tomorrow.

One day, we received a phone call from News 12 NJ. One of our videos caught their attention, and they asked if we'd like to be featured on their MADE IN NJ feature series.

That was humbling.

Rewarding.

Here's that short segment.

PAVERART Made In NJ- News 12 NJ Feature

22 Years in and we are just getting started!

Growth isn't easy.

The chaos that rides along with growth isn't comfortable.

The ingredients to GROWTH, I would imagine hold for every business.

• Tons of commitment. Sacrifice of TODAY's $'s very likely.

• A great team, committed to getting better.

• Risk-taking and betting on yourself.

• Sharing your journey in new and interesting ways.

And luck. There is always luck.

The PAVERART Showroom