We were wondering if anyone has any advice on expanding the milling end of the business. We have put out flyers and advertised some, and would rather mill than do construction. I've been involved in several startup operations. There are three keys to being successful. You need markets, capital and you need to be to have a dependable log source.
Most failures come from the inability to locate sufficient logs at reasonable prices.
Capital will be needed to get your mill equipment to where it can produce at a decent rate. If milling costs are high, it will be hard to pass that down the line when your competition can produce material more cheaply. Markets will depend on the type of operation you have. It may be hard to expand a hobby mill into a full-blown business if you are trying to cater to the local market. Most large mills cater to wholesalers, which means they have to move volume.