Who are you?
Jeff Filipov, from Hamilton, MA. I have lived there with my family for 12 years and we bought a fixer upper and did most of the work ourselves. I was always into working with my hands and fixing things, and building with wood since I was about 8 years old.
What is your business?
Northshore Barn Doors, LLC. We source olde wood from barns, houses, buildings and sheds and repurpose it to create lovely interior barn doors!
Is there a story behind your business?
I was helping a friend in VT with some home projects and he knew I was savvy with tools and creative with projects. He asked if I could help him make a barn door. At the time I had some old wood from a 1700s house in my town which I had used to make floors for in my own home. I used it to create his door and once I put it up, all our friends from VT and those visiting from MA loved it. We have property in Stowe, VT where he is located and we have skied there for 25 years. I met my wife there. Many MA and VT friends became interested in doors and some had me create doors for their homes. Then their friends wanted them and so on. It was suggested to me by both a very good friend of mine and my brother that I should turn this into a business. This was in May of 2017 so by June I was up and running! I started doing these in my cellar and back yard and then moved to CiWorks in January, 2018!
What problem(s) are you/your business trying to help solve?
There are many. I am trying to manage pricing, inventory, parts, time, becoming an LLC, the website, tools and travel. I am trying to revamp my marketing and how I present myself and to whom. I joined BNI, Business networking International and am a member of the Beverly, MA chapter. This has been a helpful source for business development and getting in front of potential clients especially with referrals.
How is your company changing the world?
We recycle and reuse that which many toss in the trash but we turn it into something functional and beautiful. So we do a tiny part and it has caught on! Others have seen and now will see more on how that can and should be done with not just wood but everything! Now I see there are even competitors installing doors in my area and that just means this is hot. So it is getting bigger and that is a good thing in terms of both business for me and also in the mindset of what I try to do, which is to use everything and not waste! (but I think I do better work than they do, lol)!
Why do you like being a part of the bigger CI Works puzzle?
The collaboration. The friendly atmosphere. The acceptance of varied types of entities and businesses. The ease of access and openness. The ability to put a stamp on my company that I have a legitimate warehouse shop and it has a presence and a style that lends itself to what I do.