Entrepreneur interview

The entrepreneur I interviewed was a man named Chuck Simms, owner of Woodchuck’s Firewood, located in Gatlinburg, TN. He has been in business for around 22 years and has grown into not only a firewood provider, but he also provides lawn service and road plowing service.

As a young teenager, Chuck used to split wood for his preacher who would pay him for every bundle of wood. After doing this for a little while, other members of his church started asking for his services as well. Him only owning an axe, he soon had too much demand to keep up with and lacked the proper equipment to produce enough. He saved up his money earned and bought a hydraulic wood splitter from his first customer, the pastor. With the splitter, he was easily able to keep up with demand.

After doing this for a couple of years, he decided he wanted to turn his little side gig into an actual business. At around age 22, he became a licensed business added lawn care to his list of services. He started the lawn service similar to how he started splitting wood. He had one mower at first, but eventually saved up and increased his inventory to an entire trailer with everything your lawn would need. After a few years, he bought a big truck (Chevy 3500) and soon added snow plowing to his list of services.

His goal for the company is, oddly, to not grow any more than it already has. Being a part-time snowboard instructor on the side, he just wants the business to be profitable enough to supply his and his family’s needs. Today, he provides his services to many locals in the Gatlinburg area as well as many of the local businesses. His marketing plan was simple: word of mouth, business cards, and a sticker on his truck. He is content, and never will allow the company to grow beyond what he himself can handle. If he needs help, he will sub-contract but never hire any other employees. He does this because he does not want to deal with the liability nor does he trust anybody else to do the quality of work that he does himself.

He states that the reason his business is successful and will continue to succeed is because of two things: customer service and quality of service. Every customer is treated as a friend and guaranteed THE BEST work. Chuck has based his business of those two things since the start, and claims that has been his key to success because it keeps the customers coming back.

The reason he chose to become an entrepreneur is because he wanted to create his own job security and insurance security. Unlike most, he decided this at a very young age, and never did get a taste of the corporate world. Almost his whole life the only work he has ever known has been in his business and as a snowboard instructor; and that’s the way he likes it.