Founders' Forum

How David Lopez Turned $500K Into $6.5M—During a Global Crisis

• Marc Bernstein / David Lopez • Episode 103

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In this episode, David Lopez, founder of DL Metal Design, shares his entrepreneurial journey, revealing how he turned challenges into opportunities. Co-hosted by Sam Maddula Pharm.D, this conversation highlights David’s path from a beamline operator to business owner.

David’s first business, a failed Quiznos franchise, became a $100K lesson that fueled his drive in the metal industry. Despite launching DL Metal Design in January 2020 amidst the pandemic, his lean startup model allowed him to thrive as industries recovered. By 2024, David projects $10-12 million in revenue, overcoming a 40% drop in 2023.

David’s proactive response to the downturn is a key moment in this discussion. Rather than panic, he used the opportunity to restructure his company, hire key personnel, and build a management system that could operate independently of his direct involvement.

Looking ahead, David envisions a $75-100 million diversified conglomerate. His strategy of balancing cash-flow positive units with his main company’s payment structure is key to his long-term vision.

Key Takeaways:

  • How David launched a steel business just before the pandemic—and why the timing worked in his favor
  • The hidden challenges of rapid growth and why working capital is everything in construction
  • Smart diversification strategies that balance risk and reward in uncertain economies
  • The real reason sales lagged after early success—and how he fixed it
  • Why a downturn can be the perfect time to restructure for future scale

Don’t miss David’s advice on trusting yourself and acting sooner! Listen to the full episode to learn how to make your next big move in business.


About David Lopez:

David Lopez is the founder of DL Metal Design and a seasoned leader in the steel industry since 1997. He started as a beamline operator and worked his way up, eventually managing teams responsible for over $400 million in revenue. With a career spanning executive roles and industry leadership, David deeply values the mentors who have shaped him along the way. Outside of work, he is passionate about coaching youth sports and enjoys hiking, biking, and traveling with his wife and kids. With a B.S. in Business Management from Northeastern University, David brings experience, leadership, and a love for teamwork to everything he does.


Connect:

Website dlmetaldesign.com

LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/dl-metal-design


This episode is brought to you by DL Metal Design; A Turnkey Steel and Glass Subcontractor You Can Trust. Visit dlmetaldesign.com to learn more.


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Announcer:

The following programming is sponsored by Marc J Bernstein. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of this station, its management or Peasley Media Group. Entrepreneur, founder, author and financial advisor, Marc Bernstein helps high-performing business owners turn their visions into reality. Through his innovative work and the Forward Focus Forums, Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that fuel their success. Founders Forum is a radio show and podcast where entrepreneurs share their journeys, revealing the lessons they've learned and the stories behind their success. Join Marc and his guests for a mix of inspiration, valuable insights and a little fun. Now let's dive in Good morning America.

Marc Bernstein:

How are you? I'm Marc Bernstein. This is Founders Forum and we're broadcasting today out of sunny southwest Florida on 103.9, b103.9, on HD2 radio and many other stations, and we're on Podcast USA many other stations and we're on Podcast USA, and we'll also be returning soon to WWDB, also part of Beasley Media Group in Philadelphia, in short order. So today our guest is David Lopez, and I'll introduce him more formally in a minute, and we also have Sam Maddula in the studio, because we often do two shows together. We're going to do two shows this morning with these two gentlemen, and so they'll both be in attendance for each other's show, so I'll sign in with both of them. Good morning, Sam, too.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D:

Morning. How are you?

Marc Bernstein:

Good morning Marc, good morning guys. So the topic of the day that I'm thinking about is abundance, and on the other show we're going to talk about abundance. But here we're going to talk about abundance, but here we're going to talk about, maybe, lack of, or people's feeling of constraint. Um, and you know one of the reasons I was thinking about this this morning? Because my wife sent me a little text about matcha tea, and I'm a drinker of matcha tea. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I drink it and I, you know I think it's got a lot of great health benefits. But I, um, she warned me that supply is getting short because in japan they're not drinking as much, they're drinking less matcha tea and other things from around the world, but world demand is getting getting very large and so the supplies are short. So she said you better stock up. You know it's not gonna be enough, and I thought it's like I'm feeling constrained about this, you know so. So I am going to stock up.

Announcer:

It's not going to be enough, and I thought I'm feeling constrained about this, so I am going to stock up.

Marc Bernstein:

But I think there's a lot of constraint around. One of the things is tariffs this whole issue of tariffs and taxes and things that are going to happen, and people feel that I think they're missing out on something, they're going to lose something or things are going to cost more, which is a constraint. So and you guys both have had businesses where I think you're could be affected by that kind of thinking I know you have to overcome it. So I just wanted to get your input, starting with you, David, about you know, abundance or lack thereof, and what you think about the tariff situation and perception of it.

David Lopez:

I think the tariffs overall. You know, like you said, you know the first thing they're going to do is, in my view, they're going to limit some competition, right? So you do put constraints on supply immediately because you know, as things get more expensive at least in my industry you know there's a lag between when you sell, you get awarded a project and when you're you get awarded a project and when you're actually building it, right. So for us, price changes have a have a major impact on the jobs that you bid six months ago or 12 months ago. Um, so prices for us are going to go up.

David Lopez:

Uh, supply overall will be limited. There's a plus on my side, though, because we have a little bit of the ability to pick different shapes in the steel industry. So if one is constrained, I can kind of shift somewhere else. So for us, the big concern is obviously going to be how high do prices go? If you're a company and you have 10 competitors and then tomorrow you have two competitors, you're going to raise your price because you can, right. So there's a little bit of that, but so far we haven't seen that. It's all time Right.

Marc Bernstein:

What I do like is you see some opportunity in what could come out of it as well, which is so you're looking at it. It's not just a one sided deal, correct?

David Lopez:

Be fearful, I think overall. You know our prices obviously go up with prices, so there's a little bit of a lag from the jobs we got awarded. But then, you know, when things stabilize we kind of gain some of that back. It's just understanding. You know you got to pay attention to futures, what's happening down the road, and at least in business you can't focus on what's happening today and then think that that's what's going to happen tomorrow. It's really foresight, uh, understanding what the markets did before and what they're going to do in the future.

Marc Bernstein:

Yep.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D:

Very good, Sam your thoughts you know, regarding abundance, I think people are hurting right now. You know, I just took an Uber here and I think it costs probably 25% more than it cost me in the past. And I think, when it comes to business, you know I've been through a down cycle before, like the 09, you know GF great financial crisis and I think what you can do is like hold tight, put your head down and work hard and try to ride the storm out. You know you just need to do more with less, and the best companies will survive and the ones that are not lean and mean, unfortunately, are going to go under. So it's kind of a stress test.

Marc Bernstein:

So what I got out of that? It's not what happens to you, it's what you do with it, exactly 100%. Very good, Thank you. So David Lopez is founder and president of DL Metal Design, DL Steel Services and Elevation Metals, Trust Building and LumaSky LLC. And he is out of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, which is, by the way, did you fly from Punta Gorda?

David Lopez:

I did not come to Punta Gorda. I went into St Pete from Allentown.

Marc Bernstein:

Oh, you did, Okay, from Allentown, because I fly from Allentown to Punta Gorda, which is very convenient for us anyway. So David is the founder of DL Metal Design and a seasoned leader in the steel industry since 1997. He started as a beam line operator and worked his way up I think that's really interesting eventually managing teams responsible for over 400 million dollars in revenue, with a career spanning executive roles and industry leadership. David values the mentors who shaped him along the way. Outside of work, he's passionate about coaching youth sports and enjoys hiking, biking, traveling with his wife and kids. He has a BS in business management from Northeastern University in Boston right, yep. And David brings experienced leadership and a love for teamwork to everything he does, so it's great to have you here this morning. Thank you very much, Marc, and so just tell me about your start, because I know you didn't start out like at the top of the heap, correct.

David Lopez:

You were a welder, if I'm not mistaken. So you know. I mean, if you go back to essentially the beginnings, I would say it's my parents kind of gave me that personality of hard work. I was the first generation to go to college and during one of those college breaks my brother, who was a Marine and then came out and became a welder, said hey, listen, why don't you come work with me on your breaks? You'll make more money, you'll learn a trade. So back in 1997, I did that, started as a beamline operator, and the owner of that company said hey, I want to take you through every aspect of this business. You know, I want to teach you how to weld and then go into shop operations, go into estimating and then eventually become a project manager.

Marc Bernstein:

You were fortunate to have that mentor.

David Lopez:

Yes.

Marc Bernstein:

And you mentioned that. That's one of the things that you're grateful about, and what happened from there? You were working for a couple of companies.

David Lopez:

So I worked. I became a project manager there about the age of 21, managing jobs somewhere in the $1 million to $2 million range, top end. Over time you get smarter. I was probably being underpaid. So in a little bit of research I then moved to Philadelphia, got a pretty quick raise, moving into that market and then became a PM for another firm. And in the midst of that there was a gentleman who worked for a general contractor we worked for who said, hey, I got a friend you know, comes from a long family business. They want to really get into the ornamental world. He needs a good project manager and estimator. You know, there's kind of starting this new division and I went and met that person over multiple meetings, that person over multiple meetings we came to an agreement and that's when I went into ornamental metals, which is kind of what my company does Correct?

David Lopez:

That's where the metal design part comes in, and over a span of about 11 years between me and the owner, we had about three or four support staff in that office. In 11 years we had 60. And I would say that was probably close to a $50 million business unit.

Marc Bernstein:

And you eventually left that company, correct.

David Lopez:

I did. You know, for many reasons. As you grow you get smarter. I think in the metal side of the world, the person that mentored me there was probably one of the smartest people when it comes to metal work that I've ever met. So you know the foundation he gave me there. Um, culturally we were not in the same world, for argument's sake, uh. So at that point, as you know, I got to a specific point in the company. I was a chief operating officer in my early thirties there and at some point decided, you know, we decided it was time to part ways and I went and left that company, and that's when you started your company.

Announcer:

It isn't.

David Lopez:

So I took a few months off, enjoyed my family and my kids, took a cruise. But you know I couldn't sit still for long. So I did find a job with another company. They were interested in getting into New York City. So they had never gone into the New York market, knew that I had spent quite a few years there. So I came into that company as the VP of New York markets to open up the New York market for them and then to open up the New York market for them and then. So after that we did open up New York. It's a very, very viable market for them. At this point. You know there's a point in your life where I always wanted to start businesses. To be honest with you, the first business I started was a Quiznos sub in Philadelphia, no kidding.

David Lopez:

And it was a $100,000 lesson on what not to do when you're starting a business.

Marc Bernstein:

That's some of the best education.

David Lopez:

It was a very yeah, it was very good education. So I always knew that I wanted to do that and I always talked about it. But I had a good executive job right. So you know, at that point I had started a family, I had kids. There's an expectation of what you are creating in that life, you know. So when I left that first company, I had an opportunity to say, okay, I'm going to start my own thing. But when this opportunity to open up the New York market came up, you know you have to weigh the options. You know the risk involved in starting your own business right you could lose everything versus, you know, a solid executive position to open up a market that you're very comfortable with. So I went that way with aspirations of you know being or having the opportunity to get to a certain level of that company and making certain types of money, or having the opportunity to get to a certain level of that company and making certain types of money. And that's why I went there.

Marc Bernstein:

Why did you eventually leave there?

David Lopez:

So I would say we were two to three years in with that company and I started my own design and engineering business and that was when DL Metal Design pretty much got created and, realistically, that's when the journey really took off.

Marc Bernstein:

And I guess you got busy enough that then you had to leave the other job to focus on DL Metal.

David Lopez:

There was a little back and forth with that company, but at the end of the day I finally went to my wife and said listen, you know, I think I want to do this and I want to do it right and I'm not going to do it small. And she said you're never going to be happy until you do it. I know it risks everything we've made over our life, but go.

Marc Bernstein:

You had wonderful support from your wife.

Marc Bernstein:

I did Nice. We were talking about relationships earlier because we're in a radio station with a morning show and they have a man panel on every morning to talk about relationships and Roger and I were joking around with him kind of, what side of the fence will you be on in support of marriage? I know you're a supporter. Yes, I know Sam's a supporter. I know I'm a supporter, roger. With that we're going to take a break.

Announcer:

We'll be back in a minute on Founders Forum even begins, saving time and avoiding errors. And with over 75 years of combined industry experience, we deliver craftsmanship and accountability that you can count on. Ready to elevate your next project? Contact DL Metal Design today at dlmetaldesign. com, and let's build something exceptional.

Marc Bernstein:

We're back on Founders Forum with David Lopez, our guest today, and Sam Maddula is in the studio. David, I know it wasn't necessarily a straight line of growth in your company. You had a few really good years and then I think it was 2023. You had challenges. Talk about that.

David Lopez:

Yeah. So you know, like I said before, you know we put it pretty much on the table, Right. So, to be honest with you, the first challenge was I left the company I was with in January of 2020. So, as we all know, the pandemic happened two months later, Right? So you know, the first thing or decision we had to make is this the right time? And the owner of the past company said, hey, listen, with the pandemic happening, if you decide you want to stay longer, that's fine. But in my head I said you know what it's the pandemic this year? It's going to be something next year. You know, I'm just going to do this.

David Lopez:

And it worked out to be very good for us because we had no overhead, right, we were just gearing up to get things going. So that six month span of getting ready, you know, we started to see industries start coming out of that pandemic shock and start moving again. So for us, we were kind of in a good spot. First year was a lot of setup. Like I said, by year two we went from, I would say, about half a million in revenue that first year, between actually doing work in October to January, to the next year, about two and a half million, that's phenomenal.

David Lopez:

And then the year after that, which would have been 22, we actually shot up to about six and a half million in revenue. But one of the issues with that is obviously scaling. So companies have to learn, and I knew this very early. Which helped us was, you know, working capital. For us, is extremely important. We're in an industry that lags behind payment versus services. So in the construction industry, you're doing work, you're financing that work until you get paid somewhere between 60 to 90 days later. So working capital is king. So for us, scaling was important, but it also meant you have to watch what you do. If you're profitable.

David Lopez:

There's one person that always looks for their cut, which is Uncle Sam, and you know that was one thing we always kept in mind as well how fast can we scale with our profits but make sure that we can still pay our bills on time and keep a good reputation? But what happened was we scaled rapidly, smartly, with money, but there was too many people wearing too many hats. So what happened was, when we got so busy, production took all of our focus and sales started dwindling. Because we weren't focusing on sales. And if you know that part of our industry, what you bid today you get in like six to 12 months. So if you stop two months here, guess what? You're going to have a two-month lag down the road.

David Lopez:

So we started seeing that. At the same time, inflation shot through the roof. Investors, even government projects, started to stall to see what was happening. Should we wait until this comes down? Because obviously the value of our money is nowhere near what it was when we started considering this project? So it was a compound effect of sales slowing because we were focused on production, inflation slowing investment. And then we saw essentially a dip, probably about 40% a dip in revenue. Well, when I saw that coming, I took that as an opportunity. I said this is perfect, right, we've done good for you know, three years, two and a half years. At that point I'm going to restructure the company. I can't be the sales guy and the senior pm um, because it's too much.

Marc Bernstein:

So, by the way, I believe you're still profitable that you're, even though we were, we still ended we 40% drop in revenue. We probably increased our labor costs by 30% and we're still profitable at the end of that year. That set you up for the coming year.

David Lopez:

Correct. So I took that 23 and I said, okay, focus has to go back to sales so we can continue to scale. But I'm going to take this downturn and we are going to clean the ship up so that we have the right people in the right place. So I hired a director of sales and estimating. I hired a project manager, senior PM. We started moving some internal people into higher positions and then filling their positions so we had this really core group of managers that could handle any department without me involved. So, in other words, if something happened to me for argument's sake before this restructuring, the only real answer would have been to wind the company down.

David Lopez:

Whereas today if something happens to me, we have that structure in place. The company can continue without me.

Marc Bernstein:

So when we last talked, I think you were on track for 2024 to do like triple what you did in 2022, I believe so right now.

David Lopez:

So we went down to about $3.5 million in 2023. $24 ended probably about $7.5 million and we're projected to be, closer to somewhere between $10 to $12 million company this year Excellent.

Marc Bernstein:

That's really great.

Marc Bernstein:

So I like to ask what strengths do you have to overcome challenges? One of the things I've seen the theme is your ability to pivot, both in 2020 again in 2022 23 anything else you would add to that? What kind of uh skills you've developed?

David Lopez:

I mean you. You can't say much about diversification, right? Because you know we're not focused in one niche industry. We have private clients and we have a lot of public clients, right? One thing you can always guarantee on a public job is that you're going to get paid. Private jobs tend to be a little more profitable, happen with a little less red tape. But you know, if we have a 2008, you know you're not getting paid. So we diversify that way. We also diversify what industry we're in, right? Certain industries actually shine when the economy depresses. A lot of people with a lot of money spend a lot of money when it's cheaper to get things. So that ornamental metal world actually starts ticking up when you see prices come down. So we try to stick to different markets so you can actually see that.

Marc Bernstein:

Sam, do you have a question for David?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D:

was just going to compliment him on the pivoting idea. That's pretty amazing. I didn't think about how, like you just said, certain things actually pivot upward when cost is cheaper. So when there's less people who have money, then you have other people who do have money on the sidelines that are going to pick up those ornamental works. That's pretty interesting to see.

Marc Bernstein:

David, you've had a pretty remarkable first five years in business. I would say um a lot of growth and I know you're a guy that looks forward. We talked about that earlier. If this were 10 years from today. So we're looking at it and it's almost april of uh 2035 and you're looking back on the last 10 years, what would have to happen in your life? I'll ask you I'll make it broad, yep, but business family, personally for that to look for that to be a successful 10 year period in your life.

David Lopez:

So I mean for me and my family, obviously, to see my kids, you know, excelling in whatever career they choose. For me as a businessman, you know, right now we're trying to position the company.

David Lopez:

So, we created multiple business units that are all complements of the main business. Some are immediate cash flow versus what we're in now. So I told you it's kind of a lagging company right. We work, we invest in the project. We don't get paid until 60, 90 days later. So I'm also looking at business units that complement that main company that are cash-based businesses. That means I build a product, you pay me, then I ship it. That immediate cash flow helps scale. The larger company itself brings in faster cash flow, in faster cash flow, and then we're trying to essentially do a conglomerate of companies under a holding company so that we are also better positioned for bank finance, right, Because that's the cheapest one.

Marc Bernstein:

These cash-based business units would be things like you would design products that would be sold online or on catalogs or whatever.

David Lopez:

So some to architects, some are going to be residential based so we can sell to you know. So some are business to business some will be um essentially business to customers, um, but all of all of them are essentially complements of the main company, and then we'll branch off these are products that you'd have an inventory, absolutely right, so then you'd be ready to ship out and get paid immediately I'm not a steel guy trying to start a steak shop, right, right.

David Lopez:

So the whole goal is take our expertise that we have now and build these additional businesses.

Marc Bernstein:

You're not going back in the Quiznos business no so that's great. Anything else you'd like to add to that 10-year vision? Anything else? You see, how many employees would you have in the company?

David Lopez:

So I mean, you know, my goals are huge. They change over time. So the current goal in 10 years is, you know, hopefully to be a company that's, you know, hitting that 75, 100 million revenue between all those companies and having them run independently with their own teams. Like I said, certain things are going to be beneficial in certain economies, others won't, but they'll all be able to support themselves and each other. So that's the goal right now is to make the most out of what we have, labor-wise, knowledge-wise, to start these other business units and then eventually, you know, fill those companies with additional people.

Marc Bernstein:

By the way, an interesting thing. So we talk about visions and we'll ask people one year, three year, 10 year? That's usually the choices. Yep, talk about visions and we'll ask people one year, three year, ten year? That's usually the choices yep, and it's interesting, you pick 10 because and you said it's going to change, it's going to change yes because things are changing so rapidly now it's.

Marc Bernstein:

It's almost hard to project three years today the way things are, you know, because every industry is changing so rapidly. Um, that it's that's interesting, but it's nice that you have. But I think you have a big vision, very big vision To fulfill. It's how you're going to get there. That's going to change.

David Lopez:

Correct? I don't think I feel very strongly. If you're not looking out that far, it's really tough to make smart decisions now for where you're going to get. We recently got approached by somebody who had a very big investor that was interested in manufacturing firms and I said well, I'm not interested in selling, but I'll talk to you about where I want to be 10 to 15 years down the road and maybe you can start getting me there now. He said well, that's great. A lot of businesses don't do that and at the end of the day they end up being worth a lot less because they didn't plan 10 years ahead of time.

Marc Bernstein:

So for me, it's where that's going they didn't plan 10 years ahead of time, so for me it's where that's going. Yes, it's very interesting, so you don't really know what that looks like in terms of employees.

David Lopez:

You haven't filled out all the details yet. I would say in 10 years, you know, I want to be a 200 to 300 employee count company All in the Lehigh Valley still keep it concentrated. Those other business units national I'm going to be selling all over the country Very interesting, that's great.

Marc Bernstein:

What do you foresee? Any challenges, Of course there's going to be challenges. Is there anything that you're seeing up front you have to think about?

David Lopez:

So I mean our core managers. We've been really good at creating that team. You know, as you get that big, you really have to continue finding those people you trust have. You know, as you get that big, you really have to continue finding those people you trust have the same vision as you. So culture, super important to us. You know, I'd rather have somebody with one year experience that culturally fits with us than somebody who's been in the industry 25 years but knows everything and it doesn't match us.

Marc Bernstein:

That's a continuing theme on the show how important company culture is. Absolutely, you have. We only have a minute or two left, Yep.

David Lopez:

If you could speak to your younger self, david, what advice would you give you, which I imagine might apply to your kids as well? I mean, I would say trust in yourself and do it sooner, like, in other words, I had that opportunity after I left that first company to do what I'm doing now, um, but I was a little worried about, you know, is it going to work? Can I do that? But you know stability and what I'm going to, you know have.

Marc Bernstein:

Is it going to work? Can I do that? But?

David Lopez:

you know stability and what I'm going to, you know, have for my family right. They were already used to a specific life and I wanted a good life for them. But uh, at the end of the day, trust in yourself. You know, study, do the work. If you're a hard worker, um, you know, don't waste time and there's a lot of opportunity out there. You know free money grants that people can get that I didn't really know about back then it's because I didn't take the time to look as hard as I do now. But uh, there's a lot of opportunity.

Marc Bernstein:

Don't wait, do it where there's a will. There's a way you got it out and do it. Got it?

David Lopez:

Great advice, uh, last question favorite book, I would say probably the biggest impact book on me, is good to great Um. You know a lot, of, a lot of leadership information came out of that book for me and it's kind of how I look at the way I culture my business right.

Marc Bernstein:

It's an amazing book. Started out as a good book, but became a great book.

Marc Bernstein:

Anyway, that's all the time we have today on Founders Forum, so it was wonderful having you here, David. I appreciate that you traveled down here from the Lehigh Valley to Florida for the show. You as well, Sam. Thank you both and thank you all for listening, and we look forward to seeing talking to you again. I don't know if we'll see you. You'll see us soon. We'll be on video soon, anyway, next week, and have a great week.

David Lopez:

Thanks for having me, Marc.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D:

Thank you for having me as a guest. Appreciate it, pleasure.

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