Starting a machine shop doesn't always begin with a perfectly laid business plan, a polished facility, or years of hands-on experience. Sometimes it starts in a garage, with curiosity, YouTube videos, and a willingness to figure things out one mistake at a time.
In this episode of MakingChips, we sit down with brothers James and Sean Cerven to talk about how they built their shop from the ground up during COVID. With backgrounds in mechanical engineering but almost no hands-on machining experience, they bought a small CNC, welded their own enclosure, and decided early on to take the business seriously, even when the operation itself was still small.
Their story is a candid look at starting early and learning fast. The Cerven brothers share how financing machines, running jobs out of a garage, hiring quality before machinists, and investing in systems ahead of schedule helped them survive the most fragile years of the business.
Along the way, we talk about learning through online communities, when advice helps and when it hurts, why gut instinct still matters even when mentors are involved, and how discipline, systems, and credibility can allow a very small team to punch far above its weight.
If you're thinking about starting a shop, already in the early stages of ownership, or curious how the next generation is approaching manufacturing, this conversation offers an honest, unfiltered look at what building a CNC business actually takes.
Segments
- (0:00) Kicking off the conversation and why this story stood out
- (2:00) Engineering backgrounds, COVID lockdowns, and buying the first CNC
- (3:33) Why they decided to turn machining into a business to fund tooling
- (6:10) Learning machining through YouTube, trial, error, and bad cuts
- (7:30) Why we love the SMW Autoblok catalog
- (8:00) Parents, neighbors, and running CNCs late at night
- (11:34) Early financial discipline and separating personal and business money
- (14:20) Exposure to entrepreneurship and learning through podcasts and peers
- (18:38) Finding first customers through friends and online communities
- (19:35) Building a machining-focused business community online
- (22:20) Scaling equipment and deciding when automation actually makes sense
- (25:54) Financing machines and managing growing monthly obligations
- (29:00) Why bookkeeping, accountants, and financial reviews mattered early
- (30:06) Factur: Market intelligence and targeting the right customers
- (34:39) Hire MFG Leaders ad: Hiring manufacturing leaders who actually fit
- (35:04) Working on the business versus in the business
- (40:16) Hiring quality before machinists and why it paid off
- (43:45) Investing early in systems and ERP to build credibility
- (52:03) Lessons learned from buying too small or cutting corners
- (54:18) Mistakes with customers, outsourcing, and trusting the wrong advice
- (58:40) Why founders can't outsource strategy or culture
- (1:01:40) Why you need to check out Buy the Numbers
- (1:02:38) Advice for young founders building their network
- (1:07:00) Where to connect with the Cerven brothers
- (1:08:00) Final reflections on starting early and thinking long-term
Resources mentioned on this episode
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