A company’s success can come in many forms. It can be seen in the size and scale of an operation, the quality of its projects, or where it has come from. In the case of Modern Design Cabinetry, its success can be seen in all of the above. Founded in 1991, the company focuses on custom higher-end cabinetry across the private and commercial sectors. They work on a wide range of commercial projects such as eye clinics, dental offices, restaurants, law firms and many B2B high quantity projects, but currently around 80% of their work is residential.
Modern Design Cabinetry is a true success story. The company is multigenerational, with Founder Troy Eiden working alongside his wife Jo and their two sons, Ryan and Aaron. Their two daughters worked summers for the company as well. It started as a much smaller operation on the Eiden family farm back in 1991. He explained: “My dad and I built a 30 by 40 shed on the farm which was shared by my cabinet shop and his farm equipment. I started dating Jo at that time and she helped in the shop evenings and weekends.” It wasn’t long before the company started to experience success and growth. According to Eiden, “We had five employees when we were at the farm. In 2000, we bought the local lumberyard in downtown Cologne, which had three buildings. We started out in one of the buildings and rented out the other two. With the larger space, we were able to grow the company, hire more people and purchase more machinery.”
While the structures onsite may not have been used for the cabinet business initially, that certainly changed over time. The business expanded, taking up all the buildings onsite. An addition was completed in 2007 and four more additions since then. The building now measures 45,000 square feet, which is quite a difference from the building they started in at the farm that was 1,200 square feet!
In 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic, Troy and Jo purchased a building in the neighboring town of Norwood-Young America. It was the local grocery store, that had been vacant for years. Surprisingly, it made an ideal cabinet manufacturing facility since it is a large open building with the necessary power to run machinery. At the same time the Eidens opened a showroom in Rochester, MN. Rochester is located in southern Minnesota and is home to world-renowned Mayo Clinic. The clinic has a $5B, 6-year plan to expand and overhaul its flagship location, which will bring thousands of additional employees/people to the community. Eiden said, “We’re hoping to be able to help provide cabinets for the additional homes required for the influx of people.”
This level of success comes down to many factors. Dedication, hard work and customer focused processes. Ultimately, however, Modern Design Cabinetry has succeeded due to what the Eidens call the 3P’s – People, Process and Product. The first of which, People, is one of the most important things to the company. Jo explained: “Everyone in the industry knows the importance of having good employees, taking care of your employees and retaining your employees, which was a difficult thing through COVID – there was so much movement during COVID.”
The company started a leadership team approximately five years ago, which Jo said has been “key to pulling us together as a team.” She explained: “The leadership team consists of our department heads and their feedback and input has been instrumental in moving us forward and making better decisions rather than just making decisions ourselves. We’re implementing “Traction”, from the book by Gino Wickman, which gets involvement on every level.”
“The leadership team consists of our department heads and their feedback and input has been instrumental in moving us forward and making better decisions rather than just making decisions ourselves.”
The leadership team meets every week, and each department head also meets with their team every week. In these weekly huddles, we talk about our goals and issues and how we can solve them. Jo explained: “Everyone has input. It’s not just the leadership team, it’s everyone throughout the company. We all are encouraged to share our ideas, concerns and suggestions.”
Additionally, “People” includes the clients we’ve had the privilege of building cabinets for over the past 33 years. “We spend a lot of time with our clients helping them with the many details and decisions that need to be made when designing custom cabinets. Because of that, our clients are typically extremely happy in the end and do most of our marketing for us via word of mouth. We have been so blessed to have amazing clients who help spread the word about us.”
The next P is Process, with Jo explaining: “The feedback we get from our clients about our processes has reinforced our decision to spend a ton of time making our processes as streamlined as possible. It starts with our three on-staff designers, which isn’t typical for cabinet shops. Our designers meet clients at their home and also in our showroom, and ask a lot of questions to make sure they understand exactly what our clients want. They also give input and suggestions and guide them through the process. We’ve figured out over the years, that we need to share more information with our clients so they understand our process, the information we need from them and when we need it. Because of this, the project goes smoother and there is less confusion and frustration by all parties.
The final P is Product which is definitely an important aspect when running a business. As Jo explains, the company has built a strong reputation for excelling when it comes to its product offering. “We’re known in the industry as a high-quality company and we have had the opportunity to work on some very unique, amazing projects. High quality is not an option for us, it’s a requirement. You can’t compete in the high-end arena if you’re not top notch!”
With this in mind, it is no surprise that Troy describes the company as a “one-stop shop”, with everything being completed in-house by their employees – from drawing and engineering, all the way to finishing and installation. The team has worked on many successful projects and has the capability to complete work on complex projects that might intimidate others in the industry.
When asked what the key to success has been for the company, both Jo and Troy are immediate in their response, taking care of their employees and their clients. This dedication to having extremely happy clients and creating ideal working conditions for their team means that everyone reaps the rewards of being invested in the company’s success. This goes back to the 3 P’s. By ensuring that its people, processes and product are top-notch, everything else falls into place.
