Evolution of an Enterprise, Chapter 2: Changes

The weary entrepreneurs behind theworkshop 308 LLC only took a five-minute break from laying new floors when the clock struck midnight in the central time zone. It was New Year’s Eve, and 2006 gave way to 2007, which will be the first year for the architectural startup.

Michael Mardis, wife Natalie Mardis and business partner Jason Mitchell toasted the moment with cans of Miller Lite, and then got back to work.

The trio worked until 2 a.m., followed by a similar shift until 3 a.m. the next night. They put in the overtime in a push to be ready for the planned Jan. 2 opening, but as it turned out, opening day had been pushed to Jan. 8 as of press time.

Failed partnership

Theworkshop 308, 308 W. Commercial St., wasn’t the first business Mitchell and Mardis planned to open. The two nearly opened two businesses with fellow architect and college buddy Justin Hough.

Mitchell, Mardis and Hough met at Drury University in 1996. During their time at school, the three budding architects dreamed of starting a business together.

That dream almost materialized in April 2006 when Mitchell returned to his hometown of Springfield after more than three years of working for large architecture firms in Chicago. Mardis had already been back from South Carolina for four months.

After the old friends were reunited, the brainstorming began.

In a July interview with Springfield Business Journal, Hough, who owns space at 311 W. Commercial St., said they were opening two businesses: Outre Design Collaborative, an architecture firm, and Green Box, a retail outlet specializing in environmentally friendly building materials.

However, those never opened.

“We tried for six months to even get the ball rolling,” Mitchell said. “The three of us just decided that it was probably in everybody’s best interest to pursue other things.”

Outre Design Collaborative and Green Box were officially scrapped in September. Mitchell and Mardis had lunch in early October and decided to make a go of another business idea, theworkshop 308.

“Michael and I have been on the same page for a long time,” said Mitchell about the ease with which the two conceived theworkshop 308, a design studio for environmentally friendly and affordable houses and furniture.

“It was the obvious thing to do,” added Mardis.

Meanwhile, Hough and new business partner Lyle Foster have moved on with the Green Box retail concept, renamed Innoviro LLC.

“It’s great to see them hopefully pursuing something that they’re really happy with,” Hough said of Mardis’ and Mitchell’s new venture. “Ideally, we would’ve been a whole lot better off to pull it all together and set aside differences and make a go of it, because as a team, I think we would’ve really been able to be a lot more capable (and) more well-rounded.”

Soft opening

Theworkshop 308 may be opening, but it doesn’t have a polished look yet, and it likely won’t for a couple of months.

A shipment of light fixtures arrived on Jan. 3. Furniture was on order, and Mitchell expected it to arrive sometime around opening day.

The duo will spend much of their time in the coming weeks fine–tuning their office and their business plan.

The doors are opening, and numerous challenges lie ahead.[[In-content Ad]]