Introduction
Craig Dunn, Managing Partner at Carolina Office Solutions, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast to mark 25 years in business. Craig and his partner Ted Peterson started with $150 each and a few used chairs, and built a Charlotte company that resells and supplies office furniture, new and used.
Over a glass of bourbon, he talks about the beginnings, the recession, COVID, and what he has learned about slowing down, choosing the right customers and leaning on other business owners.
About the Episode
Craig grew up in Charlotte, played soccer, attended college at the Citadel and Appalachian State, and spent about a year traveling in Europe with Ted after graduating. The pair missed a boat in Greece and turned it into a metaphor for business: when an opportunity appears, ask whether you are about to miss the boat. Back in Charlotte they worked at a moving company, noticed the demand for used furniture and started buying chairs and storing them in mini warehouses.
He tells the story of the company's early growth, the delivery of furniture by borrowed pickup trucks, and the lunch that led him to Entrepreneurs' Organization. Then come the hard stretches: a recession in which prices fell by about three quarters, and COVID, which cut the team from 23 people to seven. Craig says the smaller team produced the company's best year and showed how much time he could win back.
Jack asks about strengths and weaknesses, and about the effect of AI on his industry. Craig also shares what he would take to a desert island and what it was like to learn from his EO peers.
Key Takeaways
- Start with what you have: two friends, $150 each and borrowed pickup trucks were enough to begin.
- Find your place in the market: Carolina Office Solutions blends new and used furniture and liquidates furniture for firms that are not competitors.
- Know who you are not: a growth plan that required 70 employees showed the partners what they did not want to build.
- Smaller can work: after COVID, seven people delivered the company's best year and bought the owner time.
- Trust your gut: projects taken for the money and against a first impression usually turn out not to be worth it.
- Learn from peers: forums and mastermind groups give owners honest experience without advice that tries to fix them.
- Prepare for AI: Craig says companies that use AI are the ones that will outcompete those that do not, and he is making time to learn it.
Highlights from the Conversation
Basically what we do is we blend new and used furniture to value engineer somebody's furniture so that they have the experience that somebody that spends a lot of money has.
Craig Dunn
We just spent the best money we've ever spent to figure out who we aren't.
Craig Dunn
My biggest strength is I can walk away from any deal.
Craig Dunn
Topics Discussed
- Starting a business with $150 and used furniture
- Bootstrapping with mini warehouses and borrowed trucks
- Recession pricing and difficult conversations with staff
- Planning growth and deciding who you do not want to be
- COVID, a smaller team and a record year
- Used furniture and how office layouts are changing
- Peer groups, accountability and reflective listening
- AI and the future of the industry
Why This Conversation Matters
Furniture is part of how a workplace works, and this episode shows how a long-running company thinks about reuse, cost and flexibility. Companies planning a new office can combine good design with a practical furniture plan, as in our interior architecture work for the BWM Office and the Collet Office. Craig's point about finding a position that fits who you are also applies to branding: a company grows more easily when it knows what it is and what it is not.
About the Guest
Craig Dunn is Managing Partner at Carolina Office Solutions, a Charlotte company that supplies new and used office furniture, which he co-owns with childhood friend Ted Peterson. He grew up in Charlotte, studied at the Citadel and Appalachian State, and has run the company for 25 years. He is also a member of the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO).
Connect with Craig Dunn on LinkedIn | Visit Carolina Office Solutions
