Slow and steady

Nathan Goldston started Acacia Grove, a small cabinet shop in Lancaster, Pa., in 2021 with a plan to grow without accumulating debt, hire subs instead of employees, and outsource to keep up with the work schedule. So far, so good.

“I’m debt free as a business,” he says. “It’s what I’ve always done. I’m not borrowing money to buy equipment because it’s important for me to be debtq-free. That’s not to say people who take a $100,000 loan out for their CNC can’t be successful, it’s just how I approach things. At the beginning I was outsourcing everything, but I’ve slowly incorporated more equipment and been able to do more things in-house.

“I’ve got a network of subs that will come here and do work with me. From 2016 to 2019, I have had anywhere from two to six subs at any given time working for me. From 2019 on, it’s been one to three guys working for me.”

While Goldston aspires to have a bigger shop with several full-time employees, slow and steady is his motto. He has eight young children with his wife Amy, which makes a work/life balance a major priority.

Goldston grew up in Stevenson, Tenn. and attended Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, a private Baptist university where he received an undergraduate degree in bible and pastoral studies. There, he met Amy, who was studying for her nursing degree. They married in 2004 and moved to her hometown of Lancaster.

“My first goal was to council missionaries overseas and be a therapist/counselor. I went to seminary right after we got married and eventually transferred to Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia for a master’s degree in clinical psychology.”

Goldston graduated in 2009, the same year he and Amy welcomed their first child, and instead pursued vocational opportunities that would keep him close to home and provide a decent paycheck. He quickly became hooked on woodworking.

“The first year was rough figuring out what I wanted to do,” he says. “I worked with a friend at a before/after school program with elementary school kids and started working with wood. After that, a contractor friend at our church asked for help with some flooding up in Allentown. It paid $35/hour and I thought I’d hit the jackpot. One thing led to another, and he asked me to stay.”

The contractor friend had plenty of work to keep Goldston busy, provided he got his HIC license. In 2011, he was officially Goldston Contracting.

“I started roofing and doing general carpentry, then started getting my own jobs doing porches, decks, and additions,” says Goldston, who gained his skills by learning on the jobsite.

“I can figure things out. I’m not that efficient when I first do something. So, the first cabinet I built probably took me 20 hours and somebody else would take them two, so there’s a learning curve there. But I talked to people and learned on the jobs.” 

After several years, he began to specialize in trim and started marketing to builders and designers.

“In 2016, I changed from general construction/remodeling to supplying and installing trim for builders and designers in Philly and Baltimore. I hired trim subs and learned from them.

“My first big trim job I did in Philly I lost like $10,000 to $15,000. But I made sure I learned from it and paid all my guys. It took me a few months to catch up with that, but now I know what I’m doing and have much better direction.”

By 2019, Goldston got his first big cabinetry job from a Baltimore builder with whom he’d worked previously. From there, he made high-end residential cabinetry his primary market.

“That was the push I’d been wanting,” says Goldston. “I researched designers and architects in the areas I wanted to work at and reached out to them and tried to set up appointments and meetings. It took a year or two sometimes to get in. I’d look online, make cold calls, and try to stop by places and introduce myself.”

His jobs are generally within an hour-and-a-half drive, mostly within the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and Baltimore. Some out-of-state work has come in as well, including a job in Knoxville, Tenn.

In May 2021, he changed the company name to Acacia Grove and invested in a website (acaciagrovecabinetry.com) and new logo. The name Acacia is special to him, as it has biblical ties and is also the name of his second daughter.

Goldston operates out of a 1,200-sq.-ft. shop space annexed to the basement and garage of his home. He has basic machinery and equipment to do general cutting, sanding, assembly and finishing, and outsources CNC work and components.

“I will outsource as much as I need to. Last summer I got two big kitchen jobs that were about $250,000 worth of work and there’s no way I could have made either one of them completely in a reasonable timeframe with outsourcing.”

Goldston says he’s eyeing a panel saw or SawStop table saw for his next purchase.

“I have a shop that does CNC cutting in Elizabethtown, a couple of shops to make all the drawer boxes, another for all doors and drawer fronts. There’s another shop that can help with some of the fabrication or finishing, if I need it.”

Goldston, 43, has a three- to four-month backlog and is looking for more subs to keep up with the workflow. He has hired a part-time office manager and is seeking an offsite draftsman as well as a finisher. He’s looking into a larger shop.

“My goal is to grow in volume, and when I have the funds, get a shop space and have five or six employees. I would love to have a shop space as soon as I can, but even to move what I have now to an outside space would be around $30,000 to run ductwork and electrical and set up a spray booth, so I’ll stay here until I can do that.”

Goldston’s children range in age from two months to 14 years and include six girls and two boys. Naturally, the large family requires a lot of attention and helps him keep time management in check.

“It can be overwhelming. It’s not easy. It’s something [Amy and I] felt called to though, and it’s a good thing. It’s helped me limit the hours I work. I averaged 48 hours a week last year over 50 weeks, rarely on Saturdays, hardly every on Sundays.”

Goldston joined the Cabinet Makers Association three years ago and says he enjoys bouncing ideas off colleagues who want to help. He says things are still new and navigating the woodworking business is not an easy feat, but his faith, his progress, and help from mentors have all given him confidence moving forward.

“If there’s anything good that comes about with my company, it doesn’t go to my credit, it’s God — he’s blessing me with anything good going on. It’s not like I went to trade school and have this perfect resume. This is a great fit. I love it. I enjoy it and look forward to growing.”

• Oliver 6" jointer with a helical head • Jet 650 dust collector • Milwaukee 12" miter saw• Graco Merkur and FinishPro spray guns • Castle TSM-12 pocket cutter • DeWalt table saw • Festool TS 55 track saw; Domino, 1400 router & CT26 vacuum with a Dust Deputy cyclone • Mirka vacuum with 5" & 3" x 4" sanders • Cutech planer with a helical head.

Originally published in the June 2024 issue of Woodshop News.