278. Interview with Edgar Blazona - From a High School Dropout To Successful American Furniture Designer and 8-Figure Business Owner

In this episode, Susan Sly interviews Edgar Blazona, a serial entrepreneur and 8-figure furniture business success story. Edgar identified his passion for building furniture when he couldn’t afford furniture for his first apartment, so he built his own. Edgar knew he was born to be an entrepreneur, but he embraced his time in entry-level retail jobs to learn everything he could about business while making amazing connections. During his time in retail, he identified some opportunities that were not being met with customers looking for custom furniture. Doors continued to open for him because he constantly looked for opportunities to gain proximity to the people who could help him with his business. He learned the art of “give to get” where he focused on how he could offer value before asking for favours. With time, Edgar was able to get investors to provide him with the capital he needed to build his dream business, BenchMade Modern. In this interview, Edgar shares his advice for pitching a business to investors by using a phased roll-out to sharpen your skills and tighten your offer. Edgar believes in having a backup plan to help provide you with stability when building a business. It will allow you to mentally “bet the farm” in building the business of your dreams. There are highs and lows in being an entrepreneur and it takes a lot of focus to keep yourself balanced while riding the waves. He recommends you find a community of like-minded people to connect with to help you during your entrepreneurial journey!   Bio Edgar Blazona is a modernist American furniture designer and founder of wildly popular DTC sofa brand BenchMade Modern. A high school dropout, turned graffiti artist, turned serial entrepreneur, Edgar got his start in the furniture industry because of need: he was young and broke, and his first apartment didn’t have any furniture. Thus, he taught himself how to build some. Along with starting several (!) of his own companies, including Modular Dwellings – a prefab backyard shelter company, Edgar also sharpened his skills in the corporate world at Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. As he saw customers accustomed to waiting three months (and more!) for sofas and sectionals that realistically take only a few weeks to make, he realized there must be a better way and founded BenchMade Modern in 2015 to disrupt this norm. Connect with Edgar: Website https://benchmademodern.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/benchmademodern/ Twitter https://twitter.com/BenchMadeModern Twitter https://twitter.com/EdgarBlazona   Connect With Susan: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SusanSlyLive Instagram https://www.instagram.com/susansly/ Twitter https://twitter.com/Susan_sly LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/susansly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices