Business Spotlight: Bolin Truss and Supply Inc.

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Skip Barnes knows building materials. The co-owner of Bolin Truss and Supply Inc., with his wife Michele Risdal-Barnes, has been around construction and building materials all of his life. |ret||ret||tab|

Barnes runs the day-to-day operation of the business while his wife handles the administrative part, including accounts payable/received, and she is involved in any major decision concerning the business, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Barnes knew for some time that he wanted to go into business for himself, but he wasn't sure whether to start a new business or purchase an existing one.|ret||ret||tab|

His choice was made last year when Randall Bolin, then owner and founder of Bolin Truss and Supply, decided to sell. Barnes found out the business was for sale through Business Brokers Unlimited. |ret||ret||tab|

"I found an owner who had grown a very successful business and had gotten it to a certain level. He was happy where (his business) was, and he wanted to go into semi-retirement," Barnes said.|ret||ret||tab|

So, on Nov. 12, 2002, Barnes and his wife bought Bolin Truss and Supply Inc. for more than $600,000 and were finally living their entrepreneurial dream. At the time, the company manufactured roof and floor trusses, distributed building materials, and metal roofs and siding. It also sold animal feed and hardware.|ret||ret||tab|

Barnes recently sold the feed portion of the business and, while customers can still purchase hardware at the business on Old Highway 160, hardware sales make up less than 1 percent of the company's sales.|ret||ret||tab|

The opening of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the area put the brakes on the hardware portion of the business, Barnes said. |ret||ret||tab|

Another change Barnes and his wife made after purchasing the business was to adjust the pricing structure "to be more aggressive on the commercial end of the business," Barnes said.|ret||ret||tab|

People buy trusses for several reasons, Barnes said. For one, trusses made by the company are engineered and can have engineered seals, he said. Commercial projects and multi-family housing units are required to have engineered seals, according to Barnes, and require engineered sealed drawings of roof components. |ret||ret||tab|

Another reason for purchasing trusses, he said, is the ease of installation. There's no cutting and figuring angles, he said. " You just hang them on your walls." The company also can apply specific loading to the trusses it manufactures. "We have the engineering behind our trusses," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Business is good, according to Barnes. The company is running about 15 percent ahead of last year in sales. "We're on track to do about $1,500,000 this year," he said. The business did $1.3 million last year. The company has 11 full-time employees and one part-time employee.|ret||ret||tab|

Barnes attributes that growth to a strong building market. "Construction in this part of the country has always been strong," he said, "and it's staying strong, and it is allowing for some growth." The largest growth is in apartments and single-family housing, Barnes said.|ret||ret||tab|

Bolin Truss and Supply benefits from the fact that there are few truss companies in the area, he said. The company gets a lot of its business from Branson. While housing construction a few years ago included a large number of condominium projects, today it consists largely of upscale single-family homes.|ret||ret||tab|

Bolin Truss and Supply does about 95 percent of the its business in a 50-mile radius of Reeds Spring, Barnes said.|ret||ret||tab|

A few of the projects Bolin Truss and Supply has provided roof trusses for include the addition to CoxHealth Clinic in Nixa, and apartment buildings developed by Sam Coryell at Kansas Expressway and Sunshine Street.|ret||ret||tab|

Barnes eventually would like to expand what his company offers to include more specialized building materials. "We don't have any particular projects in mind," he said. "We're just keeping our eyes and ears open for something that might be a good opportunity."|ret||ret||tab|

The company might also someday add the installation of trusses to the products and services it offers, he said. Barnes is also not ruling out purchasing or starting another location, "if I can find the right fit" he said.|ret||ret||tab|

"We're going to grow some more," he said. "I'm not out to conquer the world, but I would like to get a little bigger." |ret||ret||tab|

But the most important factor in being successful, he said, is how a business owner treats his or her customers and employees. "Whether I'm dealing with someone who wants to spend $500 or $50,000," Barnes said, "everybody deserves to be treated with respect."|ret||ret||tab|

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