Harvey Homes and Interiors

 

Harvey Homes and Interiors @harveyhomesandinteriors is owned and was started by Jeff Harvey back in 2010. The company has gained a lot of traction on social media with almost 24,000 followers on instagram.

Jeff has done a great job on posting excellent content online, but his great work doesn’t stop there. His business has been very successful and that didn’t happen overnight or without any long days or hard work put in.

A bit about Jeff before we continue on his business journey. Jeff is a builder, a developer, a Red Seal Carpenter, a business owner and a Father and Husband.

When Jeff started Harvey Homes and Interiors, it started as a framing and general contracting business. Since then, his business venture has grown to four companies - framing, project management, housing rentals and real estate development. Jeff is the sole owner of three of those companies and is a 50/50 partner in Rougemount Development Inc. their development company.

Jeff has always been interested in the trades, but his original thoughts of owning a business was not in the carpentry field. At a young age, Jeff actually wanted to be a chef and own his own restaurant. These dreams eventually subsided (or so I think) and he pursued an apprenticeship in carpentry instead. He had a great employer during his apprenticeship, who would eventually give him job references when he started his own company.

It was destiny that Jeff would own his own business one day, Jeff was brought up by entrepreneurs, so it seemed like the obvious choice for him. That being said, he wasn’t in for a comfortable, easy ride. Like all business owners, Jeff had his share of challenges too. Jeff was divorced before the age of 30. Although this was a difficult time in his life, the business still had to run. He had clients relying on him as well as employees. The business during this time gave him a place and purpose to push through a difficult stage of his life. He realized it was bigger than him and provided for others. In addition to this challenge, he faced employee turnover, as well as inflation of wages, materials, fuel, etc. One other big challenge that he faced as did most businesses was the pandemic. As we know, if it wasn’t ‘essential’ it was put on hold for a brief time.

“It’s not all blue skies and sunshine, but there are a lot of benefits to running a business” was something that Jeff had said. As much as we see the positive side to running a successful business (ie. the flex-time, the vacations, the nice vehicle, etc.) we don’t see everything that goes into that. The flex-time was earned, and honestly isn’t really flex-time. Nobody sees the hours worked in the middle of the night, just the hours missed during the day for an appointment or needing to go to sports practice or games for their kids.

The challenges are the only thing a business faces, they also get a chance to enjoy accomplishments. One of Jeff’s proudest accomplishments as a business owner is watching his employees be able to buy houses and start families. Like he mentioned, the business is bigger than him and provides for others.

Harvey Homes and Interiors offers a great experience to their employees. His crew are all red seal designates or enrolled in the Ontario Apprenticeship Program. He teaches the best practices in the industry and as a result they get the opportunity to work on great projects.

One last quote from Jeff - 

“Progression is the profession and I will not retire”.

Check out Harvey Homes and Interiors on their socials as well as their website harveyhomesandinteriors.com