Today’s episode is Part II of our interview with Roger Duffy, owner of F&F Machine Products.
In Part I we touched on Roger’s natural entrepreneurial instinct and how he loves to push himself to get out of his comfort zone.
In this episode, we’re delving further into Roger’s business adventures and philosophies.
He believes in a theory he calls the “Goldfish Bowl Syndrome,” which he observed in the growth of his own business. He says a business can be like a little goldfish in a small fish bowl that gets transferred to a large aquarium and quadruples in size when it has space to reach its full potential.
If you haven’t heard Part I (Episode 210) yet, I suggest you go back and listen to it before you go any further.
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Interview HighlightsWhen Roger started working at F&F, before he bought out the company’s owner, the shop was in a 5,000-square-foot building with a handful of Brown & Sharpe screw machines. Roger built up the customer base and filled the shop with 32 Brown & Sharpes.
As time went on, the company became more diversified and took on higher precision work. He had to purchase more equipment—modern, high precision machines like CNC slant bed lathes, CNC Swiss, and CNC mills.
More machines necessitated a new larger building. First he considered putting up a 7,500-square-foot building, but he was advised to go larger. In the end, he decided to construct a 20,000-square-foot building. He doubled his number of machines and then doubled again the following year.
Roger likened his business to a little goldfish in a small bowl. When he gave himself room to grow in a larger building, his business flourished like a goldfish that becomes a carp after it is placed in an aquarium. Later on, he bought more properties including a 40,000-square-foot building, which he quickly filled as well.
Before he became the boss, Roger was on the floor at F&F setting up machines. He says he was really good at the job and liked being on the floor, but he got bored doing one thing too long. Running F&F Machining like a real business was the next challenge he had been itching for.
Roger says he was inspired by the business approach of Andrew Carnegie. He says that Carnegie didn’t make his fortune by being an expert on steel. He made his fortune because he was great at finding and organizing other people who were experts on steel.
Roger reduced his time on the floor. He hired talented people and took the time to train them. He learned to delegate responsibilities and experimented to find the right roles at the company for employees.
Ironically, he still refers to business ownership as “buying a job” because it requires such immense work and responsibility. He cautions against romanticizing “being your own boss.”
I questioned him about the “owning a job” statement. If he had scaled his business and learned to delegate, hadn’t the business matured beyond the stage of “owning a job?”
After a brief pause, Roger agreed that F&F could function without him–at least for a period of time. It’s just that he loves his business. He loves the challenges of growing it. He loves trying new types of work and new types of machines, and nobody is going to care about his business the way he will.
He can’t NOT take it home with him. He wouldn’t want it to be any other way.
Question: What have you done to grow your company over the years?
Innovating New Attachments for Screw Machines, with Elliott May—EP 143
Ghosted by a Customer, What Do You Do?—EP 215
How to Prevent Fires in Your Machine Tools with Mike Campo-EP 98
Leaving your Father’s Manufacturing Company and then Founding Your Own, with Howard Sheldon-EP 214
The Benefits of a Manufacturing Business Sharing Financials with its Employees, with Reid Leland-EP 132
Supplying Medical Parts Directly to Hospitals, with Thadd Mellott-EP 213
How to Market a Manufacturing Business by Becoming a Thought Leader, with Joe Sullivan-EP 137
How to Turn a Business Failure Into an Opportunity—Seeking Serendipity EP 211
How Do You Manage Employees When a Company is Acquired? With Jennifer Fondrevay—EP 175
Growing a Thriving Shop by Creating Chaos and then Organizing it, Roger Duffy (Part I)-EP 210
Change, Fear, and Screw Machines–EP 209
Becoming the Machining Doctor, with Erez Speiser- EP 208
3D Printing Houses With Robots, Jonathan Ladouceur-EP 48
Precision Machining Class in Session, with Jerod Dailey-EP 207
Selling Real Cow Bone to Machine Bone Screws! With Mary and Jim Rickert -EP 105
Hard Lessons We Learned in the Machining World in 2023–EP 206
Manufacturing in Israel, With Patrice Zamor–EP 45
Meeting People Project: My Fellow Treasure Hunter, Steve–EP 205
Making Your Manufacturing Company Salable, With Damon Pistulka-EP 204
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