Constructive lessons

Ben Smith's construction experience has equipped him for running Islands Mercantile in Kiawah Island with his wife, Avery.

Ben Smith, co-owner of Islands Mercantile in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, wasn’t always helping customers find mementos from their vacation. Before joining his wife Avery full-time with the store, he was managing $20 million to $35 million commercial construction projects.

That experience has been useful as he navigates his way through owning a retail store.
“You can apply a lot of my experience in construction to running a company,” he says.

Running a construction project is a lot like running a retail business, including putting a team together, accounting and building relationships with the various players: subcontractors, suppliers, owners and the banks, according to Smith.

“It’s the same here. In this business, if we didn’t have suppliers that worked with us, the banking relationships and the customer side, it would be hard to do business. There are a lot of similarities,” he says.
Running a retail store is a little bit easier for Ben. There are less moving parts, less variables and fewer people involved.

“We do have a lot of suppliers, but we know our suppliers and we have a lot of history with them,” he says.