Top of the Chain

with Shane Miller CEO OF AMERICAN WHOLESALE FENCEWORKS AND MOSSY OAK FENCE

Shane Miller is a busy guy. He is CEO of American Wholesale Fenceworks and Mossy Oak Fence, two independent fencing companies located in Florida that work in tandem. Upgrading his vendor reach, dealing with the national supply chain issues, and honoring his entrepreneurial spirit, all while increasing his profits, are just some of the tasks he’s managed lately.

HOW DO MOSSY OAK FENCE AND AMERICAN WHOLESALE FENCEWORKS OPERATE?

The two companies work together but are separate entities. We founded Mossy Oak Fence in 2008 and it’s going strong. We install all types of standard fences and gates, but it’s our custom work that sets us apart from the crowd. In 2018, I founded American Wholesale Fenceworks to have a dedicated team of experts focused on purchasing, inventory management, production and order fulfillment that would supply materials not only for Mossy Oak Fence, but many other fencing companies in Florida and around the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

WHAT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES DOES AMERICAN WHOLESALE FENCEWORKS PROVIDE?

Our product line is growing rapidly to include hard-to-find specialty items, but our core line consists of chain link wire, pipe and tubing, vinyl, and aluminum/steel products.

We weave our own wire and have full-service fabrication capabilities which include welding (gates, temp panels, etc.), vinyl fabrication, wood panels and custom routed wood posts and wood staining.

YOU MADE A FEW BOLD MOVES IN RECENT YEARS TO ENHANCE YOUR POSITION IN LIGHT OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES PLAGUING MANY INDUSTRIES. WHAT TACTICS DID YOU TAKE?

When COVID hit in March of 2020, like most companies, we had no idea what to expect. I called a collective meeting of both companies and told them we had no plans of shutting down even for one day. We would approach the challenge like every other challenge that we’re faced with and that is with faith and common sense. As it turned out, we had very few cases of COVID and sales went through the roof.

The supply chain issues were not a factor until our vinyl suppliers decided to put us on allocation. We felt restricted by these decisions to the point we needed to go out and find three more vendors to meet our demand.

Having five vendors for the same profiles was not easy to keep up with from an inventory standpoint but we refused to let our vendors put a governor on our growth. The result was we were dropped by the two primary vendors all together, we dropped a third vendor by our own choosing and are now working with two primary vendors again that can keep up with our demand.

HOW MUCH HAS YOUR BUSINESS INCREASED IN THE LAST YEAR?

We’ve increased the revenues of the business approximately 200% since COVID in early 2020. This increase has been the result of our commitment to expansion at a time when most companies are looking to contract or tread water.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT ANNUAL SALES AMOUNT?

Our current trajectory has us surpassing 50M in 2023.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT BEING THE OWNER OF THE COMPANY?

As a true entrepreneur at heart, I love to build things! It gives me a sense of purpose every day to wake up running and to see what else we can do as a team to move the company closer to achieving our goals.

I’ve also embraced the challenge of building people and helping them take steps towards being the next generation of leaders within our organization.

HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DO YOU HAVE?

We have approximately 150 between both companies.

WHAT VALUES GUIDE YOU IN YOUR DAILY ACTIVITIES?

As a faith-based business, our values come from God. I believe in doing the right thing in every circumstance and consistently modeling that for our team every day.

When my time in this industry is finished, I want to be remembered by those who worked with me, as well as our vendors and customers, not by how big or sucessful we might have been, but how positive my impact was on their lives.

HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED?

Dreams! I always have something bigger to chase after than where I currently am. When I achieve one, I set out to accomplish the next.

DID YOU HAVE A MENTOR?

As it relates to fencing, the late Marty Lott of American Landmark Fence was instrumental in developing my passion for this business. I don’t think he slept much in those days because he was always trying to figure out how to grow and expand. I loved that about him and have often wondered what it would be like to have the privilege of calling him for advice at this stage of my career.

As for my business acumen and leadership, I’ve read a lot of books and listened to a lot of audio recordings of great leaders from the past who have been extremely instrumental in my development over the years. A few favorites are the books Good to Great by Jim Collins, The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz and one of my all-time favorites, Zig Ziglar whose famous line at the end of each speech was, “You’ll always get what you want in life if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want.” I try to model that every day in all that I do.