Can U Make Money Starting A Wood Working Shop

Why I Don't Offering Woodworking Business Advice

Article - May 2, 2014

I periodically receive emails from aspiring woodworkers who are looking to start a new woodworking business. Nearly of them say something like,

"I see y'all've been successful in your business and I as well am looking to start building furniture for a living. Do yous have tips or advice for someone only starting out? I really don't like my current job and I'm hoping to make a career out of something I love."

I always feel a bit awkward as I break the news to them: I practice not make my living as a professional woodworker. You can read my Nigh and FAQ pages if you lot'd like more details on my personal situation, but my business is 100% online. Every dollar I make comes from videos, books, dvds, advertising, sponsorship, and instruction engagements. The merely client projects I have on these days are the ones I actually Desire to accept on. So in that location's a bit of a misconception about what I do that leads folks to believe I run a successful custom furniture business. The uncomplicated reality is I don't.

In the past, I did run a custom article of furniture concern. Information technology was called Marc's Wood Creations (because that simply rolls off the tongue) and I would build anything a client wanted. The cool projects were very few and far between equally most folks simply wanted odd-sized/inexpensive cabinets. None of these jobs paid well and I kept my doors open past taking on refinishing work, working office time in a refinishing shop, and collaborating with another local woodworker on larger commercial projects. In the stop, most of my jobs would net me about $10/hr if I was lucky. At one betoken, I even had to detect a 9-5 job just to make ends come across until the woodworking business picked upwardly again.

I eventually made enough coin to satisfy the portion of the bills Nicole couldn't handle. At this point, I had already established a relationship with my mentor David Marks and we collaborated on a niggling side business organisation selling veneer cut-offs and walnut burl bowl blanks sourced from Northern California. I as well taught woodworking classes to locals in my shop for a while. In spite of working my butt off, I was just barely getting by.

In an effort to boost concern, I came up with the idea to get-go filming my projects. The goal was to show clients just how much work went into their furniture so that mayhap I could start charging what I felt my fourth dimension was worth. That was back in 2006 and at the time, there wasn't much in the style of woodworking video content online. In fact, The Wood Whisperer was officially the first woodworking video podcast. Credit goes to my buddy Matt Vanderlist for being the start audio podcast hence his nickname "The Woodworking Podfather." Much to my surprise, my videos were proving more attractive to woodworkers than they were to clients. In fact, the clients didn't seem to intendance. So inside a few months of launching my get-go video, I came to realize my future was in online education and not furniture product.

This is why I experience I am in admittedly NO position to dispense communication to people who are looking to start a woodworking business. I tin can certainly share my personal experiences in hopes that you'll be able to glean something from information technology, but I volition never be able to tell y'all what works and what doesn't. Non to mention, there are then many variables to consider: your store, your skill, your target marketplace, your competitive edge (if you have one), your family, your motivation, your business concern acumen, and the viability of your products, just to name a few.

There is actually one small piece of advice I tin give you, assuming y'all're coming at this every bit a career change. In fact, about inquiries I receive are but that: a person who's not happy in their current job and they're looking to turn their passion into dollars. For this person, I recommend doing what I did when I started out: concord downwards a solid job while building the business on the side. My day job served as something of an insurance policy and it wasn't until I had more work than I could handle on nights and weekends that I took the plunge and quit the corporate globe. While this method doesn't provide yous with any real guarantees, it will give you lot at least some additional confidence that you're making the right decision. Furthermore, you can utilise your steady paycheck to purchase the tools and other things you might need for your business to run smoothly.

What if you can't drum upwardly enough business to fill your nights and weekends with piece of work? You go on your day job! Depending on your life situation and tolerance for risk, y'all might be willing to have a adventure. But don't exist foolish almost information technology. If information technology isn't a feasible business, your honey for the craft won't save you and it certainly won't pay the bills. For many, woodworking as a hobby while receiving a steady paycheck IS the best-example scenario.

Part of the problem here is that folks tend to make assumptions about me and my swain bloggers and podcasters. Whether you know it or not, the vast majority of people producing content online are holding twenty-four hours jobs in completely carve up fields. Their writing/videos are a hobby almost as much every bit woodworking is. Some of them are able to derive a second income from their efforts and the whole thing supports their woodworking. But very few of them are professional person woodworkers who make a living solely by producing furniture and goods for other people. These folks do exist and some of them weblog about their adventures, but most of them are too decorated working long hours to have the time to document their efforts online. Why do you think some of the biggest names in woodworking outset their ain schools and regularly produce books and DVDs? Considering teaching people how to woodwork is generally easier and more than anticipated (many times more profitable) than doing the woodworking yourself.

By example, hither's a small sampling of woodworkers I know personally who are making a living as professionals. Observe that almost of them accept links to their blogs which are either minimal, unpopulated, or expressionless. Dorset Custom Furniture is probably the one exception and how Dan has enough time to write such nifty blog posts while running a successful woodworking business organization, I'll never know.

Dorset Custom Furniture – Dan and his family craft amazing stand-alone pieces and congenital-ins on a scale virtually of us can only dream of!
KALA Studios – Kaleo is an old friend of the show who builds his unique furiniture designs in the DC surface area.
CK Valenti Designs – Chris is a Phoenix-area local who crafts amazing designs in both forest and metal.
R Jones Woodworks – Another Phoenix area local, Ron'due south bread and butter is CNC piece of work. He's the guy that makes all of the templates and push sticks we sell in our store.

Of form I'grand not recommending that people leave their blogs empty, quite the opposite in fact. If you want to talk about how adept content marketing can be for your business, that's a discussion I'thou willing to have. My point is simply that running your own business is a potentially all-consuming endeavour. Should yous succeed, your biggest challenge won't exist how to fit all the work in, it'll be how to make time for the other of import things in life similar family unit, friends, and *gulp* vacation!

Ultimately, I would hate for someone to make any career decisions based on my or whatsoever other online personality'southward perceived success. Running a woodworking business concern is a tremendous amount of work and has all of the aforementioned challenges found in whatever other business. Just because you love the bailiwick affair doesn't mean you lot'll automatically know how to design a successful business effectually it. The work may hold a deeper meaning for YOU but at the end of the solar day, you're making a widget and selling a widget. To do that successfully you need good old fashioned business know-how, decision, and even a little luck. So I approximate that'southward some other piece of communication: treat your business like a business organization. Take some business courses. Learn what information technology means to exist a business owner well earlier you are one.

While virtually of this article is intended to be a splash of common cold water for some, I should be articulate that I'g not being negative for kicks. I'm just trying to exist painfully realistic and honest. I'one thousand also trying to make sure folks sympathize the reason why I won't dish out "pearls of wisdom" whenever asked. It certainly isn't because I'chiliad hoarding all of the expert ideas for myself. A smart person knows what they know. A wise person knows what they don't know and isn't afraid to admit it.

Then what about our up-and-comers looking to make a career in woodworking? First and foremost, larn to enquire for communication from the right people! Speak to career counselors, local successful business owners, and have some concern courses. You lot'd be surprised how little woodworking is involved in starting and running a successful woodworking business concern. Of course the woodworking knowledge is essential as well, but it'due south actually the easiest part of the game (in my opinion).

So to sum up: I went to school for biology, started to get my MBA, became a woodworker, and at present I'grand essentially a dancing monkey on YouTube. What the heck do I know about running a successful woodworking business organization?!

The Procedure is the Project
Getting Started in Blacksmithing

We use cookies on our website to give y'all the near relevant experience past remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking "Accept", you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.

Source: https://thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/why-i-dont-offer-woodworking-business-advice/

Posted by: sharpslosicessir.blogspot.com