Building a Third Generation Family Business Through Service and Innovation with Jake Stotter of Fenceworks 5-13-26

Great companies aren't built on average talent and private equity backed high growth businesses the right operator changes everything onward headhunting partners with founders operators and investors to build elite finance strategy and operations teams from early hires to exit ready leadership we deliver the talent that drives outcomes if you are scaling or transacting go onward visit onwardheadhunting.com or find us on LinkedIn to learn more this is scott becker with the becker business in the becker private equity podcast today we're thrilled to be visiting with a brilliant leader who's literally third generation of a really well-known business in the Chicago area and and probably naturally for all that I know but but I know it for being a a a paragon of great service and excellence in the greater Chicago area we're talking to they with Jake stider Jake's at with fence works is one of the leaders there literally third generation we're always known and we see it on the billboards known as the guy on 41 Jake take a moment and tell us about yourself in about the business yeah absolutely scott again thank you for having me today so Jake stider yes third generation here at fence works we also go by the guy on 41 we used to be on route 41 in Highland Park Illinois for god knows these five decades started the business in 1967 by my grandfather Stan Asher and been serving the Chicago land area predominantly the North Shore suburbs and north part of northern neighborhoods of the city started off as strictly a fence company residentially and since the mid 90s have expanded to basketball hoops playgrounds and trampolines and then full service so from consultation to a sale of the product and also providing the service for the installation all the way through to repairs and anything you need for the lifetime of the product so yeah been around for a long time and and love what we do and take a second on an area where it seems like again people are staying in their houses for a long time they're doing things to improve them what what are sort of the things that you're watching what are the big trench and we're watching in the world and business that you folks are in it's a great question so I would say that consumers have become extremely good at sensing whether a company is generally cares or whether they're just you know optimizing for transactions you know local trust truly matters so I think when families are considering home improvement projects whether it's the privacy and aesthetic and security and curb appeal with offense or they have young children and looking to provide some fun in a safe environment for their kids whether that's with a playground basketball or trampoline now with the internet and the the great impact that has had to local businesses we you know as a local family business really strive to separate ourselves compared to many of the private equity backed companies or franchises and so forth and being that true local options that families can count on and not dealing with the call center so we have found that families truly enjoy you know staying local and not working with you know more of the faceless options that may be through that internet search so really grateful for that. So Jake you guys have had this incredible reputation in area we used you a long time ago your your company on a on a fence project this goes back probably a decade plus but but great work great service fantastic talk about where the growth is today where is the growth it is fence is still a big part of the business is it other stuff how do you break it down into the things that you folks do and where the growth and exciting areas or they're all exciting but where is where where does it break down? Sure I you know I would say fence has been steady but still growing since 1967 it's definitely been been steady and I think now families you know with the access to social media and other forms of marketing when we were on Route 41 you know we were had a lot of traffic now we're in Northbrook and a bit of an industrial park so relying on you know not just our accounts and referrals and reputation but the other new means of advertising especially with social media and Google you know that has not only stayed steady but growing as families once they find out a company is whether it's private equity back there it's just some guy working out of his garage not insured having someone with the reputation we do has keeping us or keeping our business in the fence side not only steady but growing as family more families locally find out about us but I would say you know from a growth perspective I'm really excited I I spearhead our playground basketball hoops and trampoline departments and I will say right if you have young kids there's a high probability that you'll want one of three or possibly all three during the lifespan you know or the childhood of their their children so families now being able to come into a showroom in Northbrook and you know dealing with you know when you come in you're not dealing with some random sales rep you're dealing with myself here and having that personality behind it and not dealing with a call center there's been a lot of growth with that families are struggling with you know tons of research and online and with AI you can get really hung up on a deep rabbit hole of searching so what our family does is we take that all out so we do all the research and every year evaluate our suppliers to make sure we have the best in class for all three of our basketball hoops playgrounds and trampolines in a wide range of budgets and features and different sizes so that the matter of the size of your backyard your kids needs or space you really have you know everything at your fingertips and let us do all that around work for you so been a lot of growth you know products have evolved there's from no maintenance vinyl playgrounds that require no maintenance or upkeep to you know in-ground basketball hoops that are adjustable so even the youngest kids can start playing faster and even trampolines have come a long way since you know when I was a kid I'm 30 now you know trampolines have become much safer as well but still providing that fun in the backyard so a lot of growth and really excited for the future and bringing this not just for the last 60 years but 60 more years ahead or more so I'm really excited for that really amazing and what is you study business you're doing a ton to help maintain the strength and grow the brand of the guy on 41 fence works remarkable talk a bit about I mean this must have been talked a lot in about in your family over the years there's a couple fantastic consumer oriented business yours and then the one I think of regularly that have done this incredible job over generations of maintaining that quality really taking care of customers what is the strategy or the or the to make it work over three generations of family it's so often that that happens to particularly in today's fast-moving world what are some of the concepts that you think about that have made this work so well over such a prolonged period of time sure yeah I would say showing up right in service at the end of the day you are your reputation carries right and people talk especially in the Chicago land area you know we we're not a national company we focus on that Chicago land area exclusively so with that being said you know treating everyone like family right everyone in our family business whether it's my dad my uncle my grandfather my grandmother myself you know everyone in our family at some point has been through fence works but that is now who was currently on staff here but I would just say you know consistency and transparency and the ability to to show up right a lot of companies out there whether you're you know on the online space at least you're dealing with call centers you're dealing with just being a number in the system so just consistently showing up following up and living through the work that you're promising and knowing that we're not going anywhere right if you need something you text me you call me right down the street right in your backyard so at the end of the day it just comes down to consistency and following through on what you're promising and families that gets around right and that's what builds a reputation I feel like over the years is this consistent service showing up and following through on what you promise and showing up really is the start of all of it what was the dinner table like in a family that's in the third generation of a business a great business what's there a lot of family conversation about we don't take it for granted we work at it every day you know it how did that how did that go and how did those values get instilled in the second generation the third generation to keep on doing remarkable work and remarkable service sure so if I need enough down 30 but once I since I graduated from Miami University Farmer School business I I wanted to not go into the family business right away right so I started out actually in consulting in the digital product space mobile apps websites and that really gave me a foundation of the digital side of things and as a longstanding family business I didn't want to come in here and you know change everything you know if it ain't broke don't fix it is the saying that was constantly reminded to me but ultimately if it can be improved right there are certain expectations you know internally operations wise but also customer expectations how quotes are delivered communication style you know people aren't emailing as much they prefer text it's a bit more convenient so ultimately now this is my third year third year in the family business and ultimately trying there's a lot of low-hanging fruit and things that can be from a process perspective improved just to keep up with the times and meet customer expectations and again being a family business we don't want to lose our ethos or the narrative that You know, we could implement AI and chat bots and all those things, but maybe make us more efficient. But ultimately, we don't want to sacrifice the level of care and personality that brings. And that starts with when you call on and you're talking to me or my grandma or someone else in the family all the way to installation and knowing actually who's showing up to your house. It's not some random third party national installation service. So from start to finish, we want to provide that family value. But at the table, I think the hardest thing, especially in a family business is, you know, separating what the term is church and state. You know, so during the business hours of 9 to 5, it's my boss and outside of 9 to 5, it's my grandfather and my father and my uncle or my grandma, right? So really, it's important in a family business, especially in multi generations to separate those lines and ensure that, you know, nothing bleeds out, you know, outside the confines of the office. But it's hard, especially in a family business, we love what we do. So I can't tell you that we're perfect or that not every dinner table conversation doesn't talk about business. It's part of our lives. It doesn't feel like work, even though my prior experience was in consulting on digital products. Now I'm consulting families and it feels very natural and organic for me, because I got to grow up with all the products that we have. And now being able to help other families bring those memories to their yard or spaces really special, so very natural for us. Fantastic and talk for a second about the digital strategy, the whole world is moved so much to digital, plus you're a very in person reputation place from the area. How do you inject the next level of technology, digital marketing, digital touch, and how do you look at ROI and those things, any thoughts or pieces of advice for people? Sure. Yeah, I would say social media, you know, that's kind of especially Instagram in particular has been my favorite. I feel like there's a way to very organically reach a lot of people that are interested in. And of course, there's ads that you can target based on persona or interest and age demographics and so forth to really ensure the right people are seeing your stuff. But my favorite stuff is I'll be at a site visit, I'll be in Highland Park or Dearfielder or Glenview or may have you Glenco and I'll be at someone's house and I'll be measuring the backyard to figure out what playground makes the most sense for them and just bringing people into that experience and showing some personality and so forth. Really, I feel like let's people feel, hey, that's Jake, you know, I talked to him last week and now he's in someone's yard, like that seems like me, right, very relatable. So I find Instagram nowadays, it's free, right, to, you know, turn the camera around and show what you're working on. So I think there's a lot of organic and low cost or to no cost ways to reach a lot of people and get the word out there and showing the great work you're, you're doing. But of course there are, you know, other types of, you know, digital advertisements and the one thing that we try to really, you know, go away from is. I would say from an advertising perspective, a lot of companies, the big box stores and the franchises will, you know, do big cross outs, like, you know, this used to be $10,000 and now it's five and reality, you know, consumers are smarter these days. So we really try to try, stray away from the big box mentalities of trying to, you know, entice, you know, individuals to say that, you know, certain products used to be way more expensive than they were. But at the end of the day, you know, a lot of consumers like to feel like they're getting a deal or a sale and what we do here is we say, look, we work very hard to, you know, work over our suppliers and so forth to come up with the, you know, fair cost and value of our services. And so that they can feel that any time they call they're getting, you know, the best price and it's reflected not only in the quality of the product, but the service we provide from start to start to finish. Now on the fence side, I would say there are a lot of companies and I'll go back to the private equity back to the franchise models where, you know, it's, it's quantity over quality. And, you know, a lot of companies may say, oh, yeah, how much linear footage do you have on your, your fence project and based on just a number or a satellite image, they'll be able to give them a price and what we found that to do in our history of, you know, since 1967, we have never given ball parks or, you know, quotes over the phone, we require a site visit. So we go to every home that we provide quotes to and analyze the property, foot by foot to, you know, really analyze, you know, the terrain and the different, maybe possible barriers that are in play and that's not only to provide the ultimate best price, but to ensure that the project is going to have, you know, minimal to no hiccups. So again, to give prices over the phone or try to just get quantity over quality not only hurts the consumer, but hurts us as a business and ultimately we want to find and provide the best and most accurate service. So the moral of a whole entire, you know, rant there was, you know, not only quality over quantity, but ensuring that, you know, sometimes going the extra mile and not cutting corners will provide the best outcome for our customers and our families that we work with. I love that and take a second, what are you most focused on and excited about is we go through that second half of 2026, what are you most focused on excited about. Sure, you know, it's tough to pick, you know, one thing, but ultimately, you know, our, our business being, you know, products are going outside, it's, there's some seasonality to it, right? I would say, you know, March through end of May is our busiest time. And if you think about it, right, you know, if you're getting a play set, for example, you get in the start of March, you get all of spring, all of summer and the fall and then come winter, even though the products are meant to be and allowed to be used in the winter months, people are traveling, people want to be inside a bit more. So there is definitely some seasonality to our business. There's no question about that. But ultimately, I mean, each day I come into works, God, it doesn't feel like work. But ultimately, I'm very grateful for the foundation that my grandfather, my uncle, my family has built, you know, since 1967 and every day is a new challenge. There's no day that's ever the same. But, you know, every day there's something that I feel like we could do better or improve on our scale. But, and again, there's been opportunities to add more, you know, products or services to our offerings and, you know, never say never. But we're not trying to become a large sporting goods store or outdoor product space. We want to be very specialized in what we do. So each day when I'm excited about and what I'm looking forward to the rest of the year is, you know, taking back the learnings we've had from the projects from just not just this year, but the three years I've been involved with and just find ways to improve, you know, processes and. And I think there are some technologies that I'm interested in in leveraging, you know, in the AI space a bit, but ultimately I don't want to lose our touch. So I think that's the toughest challenges leveraging the technologies and so forth that are available us to available to us today, but not losing our, I said it again, our ethos and the narrative that we've created that, you know, we're not cutting corners, we are just going to leverage, you know, what we can. But not lose, you know, the essence of what we do, which is very personalized and customized, but there are some cool things I'm exploring, but short answers, you know, tomorrow's another day and sure I'll find something new each day to get better at and scale. It's fantastic and you're really in that that that beautiful business that's a mix of short of technology, sure that everything online in AI, but also really hands on tangible business where people love what they really get from you, you could see it, you could feel it, you could use it and it's not perfect sweet spot because you can't determine by AI. You really still need people to do this stuff and to work through it and to figure out what you want to do it and everything else, is that a fair statement very fair, you know, I think one example is from designing a place up for a customer, I do have a 3d, you know, rendering per se software that would allow me to give a very close to depiction of what that actual set may look like in their. Restructed the yards right so that is something that you know a call center or some of our competitors per se don't have the ban with nor the capabilities or desire to do so you know families thinking they have to fit inside a box or. A system that you know is built to be mass produced that's something we're really against so that's back to a great example of leveraging technology but not losing sight of the customization of personalization that we can offer so. Yeah, with all that said there are some technologies and so forth that we can can utilize but it's not a discount per se to you know the personalization that we want to offer in the standard that we that we have. What a Jake what a fantastic pleasure to visit with you we've been long term fans I've never had a chance to interview somebody from fence works from the starter group of your family what a great pleasure and remarkable what you're doing thank you so much for joining us today on the back of private equity in the background business podcast just fantastic thank you very much. Thank you for having me Scott really appreciate it.