135. From Zero to a Running Machine Shop in Months: Gavin Giguere’s Startup Story

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Gavin Giguere went from zero to a running machine shop in a matter of months. A conversation with a childhood friend about wanting his own shop, an LLC filed two weeks later, then five weeks of gutting and renovating a building while two new machines landed on the floor. His first order shipped on time, and so has every order since.

What I wanted out of this conversation was the whole startup sequence, not the highlight reel. Gavin joined the NTMA before he had machines. He had five committed customers and letters of intent before he had machines. He ran an ERP from day one because he didn’t want to backtrack out of spreadsheets later. He wrote a quality manual and an employee handbook before he had a payroll to apply them to. Most first time owners build those systems after the pain shows up. Gavin built them first.

There’s a buying side to the story too. A Facebook Marketplace trip that was supposed to be one Bridgeport ended with eight machines, and the tooling and inspection gear in that deal has been worth more to him day to day than the iron. If you’re running a small shop, there’s a real lesson in there about what the stuff you’ve accumulated over the years is actually worth, and what happens to it if you never write it down.

The startup story doesn’t end when the doors open. Gavin would hire two people today if he could find them. He’s been at it for two months, on LinkedIn, on Indeed, with his partner helping, offering full benefits, and he’s already had a candidate accept an offer and then take a counter from their current employer. Meanwhile he’s running both machines himself, quoting at night and on Saturdays, and turning away work he can win but can’t produce. He thinks he could double revenue if he could staff up.

What’s Covered in this Episode

• (0:00) Gavin would hire two people today if he could find them
• (3:53) How the NTMA brought us together and why joining was Gavin’s first move
• (4:38) Picking trade school in eighth grade and getting the town to pay for it
• (6:27) Gavin’s career trajectory from running manual mills to Director of Operations and Business Development
• (15:53) Why you can’t sleep on the Hennig WorkFlow Automation System
• (16:44) How Gavin turns tooling reps and vendors into actual relationships
• (19:21) Launching a machine shop and buying his first two machines
• (23:37) Why we created (and why you should use) Hire MFG Leaders
• (24:06) Gutting the building and getting machines on the floor in five weeks
• (25:50) A Facebook Marketplace Bridgeport that turned into eight machines
• (26:48) Why the tooling and inspection gear beat the iron in that deal
• (28:30) The thousands of small shops that are worth nothing without their owner
• (30:20) Mike Payne’s lesson on itemizing every asset in your shop
• (32:02) Why we love SMW Autoblok workholding products
• (33:16) Building the Reign Manufacturing name in public on LinkedIn
• (36:29) Using AI for business planning, billing rates, and an employee handbook
• (37:57) Getting machines running, setting up automation, and fulfilling orders
• (41:24) Running an ERP from day one instead of spreadsheets
• (42:24) Splitting the day between running the business and running parts
• (45:24) Two months of recruiting, one counter offer, and still no hire
• (49:18) Turning away work and what a robot arm or two hires would unlock

Resources Mentioned

• Hennig Workflow Automation System
• Hire MFG Leaders
• SMW Autoblok
• Reign Manufacturing
• NTMA

Connect with Gavin Giguere

• Reign Manufacturing
• Connect on LinkedIn
• Gavin Giguere by email: gavin@reign-mfg.com