Finally, we became a lumber store specializing in unused materials.

The excitement of having the deck installed on my home transformed my relationship with the lumber company.

The website renewal project was underway, but in parallel with it a project to sell unused materials began.

However, initially Monosus did not act as the main sales entity, but rather provided consulting support for lumber companies' unused timber sales projects.

The "limits" felt during the Stockyards Tour

To support the unused wood sales project, the first thing I did was to take all of my acquaintances in the architecture and design fields to the stockyards of lumber companies. It was easy to invite them because they were not the kind of creators who would consider whether or not to use building materials or lumber just because they were friends.

I wanted people who say that good is good and honestly judge that what cannot be used is unusable to see the charm of unused wood. I felt that unused Western Red Cedar had that much charm, and more than anything, I fell in love with it myself, so I have no hesitation in recommending it to others.

I didn't think of this as sales, so I continued to casually talk to people I met who seemed to like trees.

The architects and designers I actually showed around the stockyards, my friends and acquaintances, were pleased and even thanked me.

A wide variety of people come to the Stockyards Tour.

I also visited the huge stockyard at Tokyo Lumber Terminal.

Some of the architects who visited the stockyards have actually used unused materials in their projects, and some university professors have even returned with their students.

On the other hand, there were some areas where we felt there were limitations.

As architects and designers began to use Western Red Cedar in interesting and attractive ways in their projects, their work was being featured in architectural magazines and other publications, and the public relations benefits were beginning to be reaped. While this did promote Western Red Cedar, it was rare for it to be mentioned as an unused material.

Fundamentally, however, this alone is not necessarily sufficient in terms of building a market for unused materials.

A wooden deck made with plenty of 2x2 short pieces. Deadstock lumber piled up in a stockyard was put to great use in an architect's project.

I want to start my own unused materials sales business.

So we started talking about building an e-commerce site to sell unused materials, but as we started to draw up plans, we quickly began to feel the limitations of being involved in the project as a consultant.

When it comes to an EC site, you can't just publish it and be done with it. You'll need to keep adding reading content, and you'll need to continually develop new product plans and campaigns.

If we were to propose all of these ideas and also create the content to post on the web, it was clear that the bill to the timber company would end up being quite large.

Of course, there would be no problem if the sales were commensurate with that amount, but an e-commerce site selling unused materials that is launched in the absence of an established market is not likely to break even so quickly.

Even though it was a project that we brought to ourselves, I began to feel uncomfortable about receiving fees for production, let alone consulting.

There are also circumstances on the lumber company's side. Lumber companies are optimized for logistics functions such as procuring lumber from overseas, processing, storing and selecting it appropriately, and finally arranging for delivery to the construction site. Of course, they have PR and product planning functions, but because their systems are not extensive, they are unable to sell unused lumber.

If Monosus continued to be involved in a consulting role, the unused timber sales project itself would not move forward, and in order to avoid this, if Monosus were to take on all content production and marketing functions, the cost burden on the timber company would be too great.

Well, that was the situation.

Once I understood the situation, it didn't take me long to make a decision.

"Now I'm going to start my own business selling unused materials."

My interest in wood and the possibilities I felt for unused wood had reached a point where I could no longer stop. Another thing, looking back at it now, I think the biggest motivation was that "I don't want someone else to do something that looks so fun."

"Lin-san, you want to do it anyway, right?"

So, the only thing I could think about was to start a business selling unused materials in my own company. If that were to happen, I would have to give a long and drawn-out explanation at a meeting of the company's executives.

“Well, we have a client who is a lumber company, and they have some unused wood…”

While I was going on and on about this, the other two executives said,

"Lin-san, you want to do it anyway, right?"

"Just one word. You can see right through it (laughs).

"However, please make sure to create a proper business plan and a return on investment plan."

"Yes, I understand..."

Having secured agreement within the company (although I'm not sure if I can call it that), I immediately approached the lumber company asking if I could start a business selling unused timber, with Monosus as the main distributor.

That's how my unused materials sales business was born.
So, I finally decided to become a lumber dealer, but the first thing I did was not to create an e-commerce site (to be continued).