Until the Great Recession, Doug Ford had enjoyed a pretty smooth ride. Like many custom builders of his generation, his career path mapped the upward trajectory of the industry as a whole. “For the first 10 years it was myself and one or two others,” Ford, 57, recalls. “It was all woodwork: furniture and cabinetry.” Enthusiastic clients drew him into larger projects and, eventually, to building custom homes. In the posh environs of Santa Barbara, Calif., that was a sweet gig. “Over the past 20 years,” he reports, “the company was on a steady growth path—until the last couple of years.” The latter period upended the comforting certainty that high-end construction was recession proof, and Ford found his mettle as a businessman tested as never before. When storm clouds first loomed on the horizon, Ford recalls, “We went into a mode of cutting anything expensive and seeing if we could hang on for a year, or whatever it would be. But then we realized that this may be the new normal for a while.” Foreseeing a shrinking market, he set three primary goals: “Cut costs, market as hard as we can, and turn a profit—do more than survive.” Facing a 30-percent drop in revenue, Ford reduced his payroll by one-third. Those who remain, he says, “are working harder with less resources,” including the boss. “It’s tough to get clients off the sidelines, so I’m working much harder for a sale than I ever did.”
But while the market presents challenges, Ford says it also has some positive benefits and notes a “synergy between what happened economically and the green building movement.” He also thinks the current economic state has brought his employees closer together. To bolster morale, he maintains open lines of communication. “What we’re doing and why, what’s ahead—we try to make the goings-on as transparent as possible,” he explains. Ford also offers a steadying vision of the future. For the company’s clientele, he observes, choosing to build is “a confidence issue, not a resource issue.” So the company has one additional goal: “To be poised to ramp back up when the time comes. And I believe it will; it’s just a question of when.”
D.D. Ford Construction, Santa Barbara, Calif.
www.ddford.com
Type of business: Custom builder
Years in business: 30
Employees: 48
2009 volume: $16 million
2009 starts: 8
