Thread: What skills/attributes are needed to be a successful self employed woodworker?

A willingness to work exceedingly long hours for low pay.

Efficiency.

I'd probably put those two traits above actual 'woodworking skill'.

Speaking from a client's perspective, an ability to meet the deadlines you assign yourself, or to call ahead of time and let them know that you will need extra time and why. Nothing more irritating than people who fail to deliver - and nothing worse for your word-of-mouth reputation.

Also, an ability to realistically assess how long a particular project will take to complete.

A capacity for dealing with idiots without offending them.

"But I can buy a solid wood dining table at Harvey Norman for $299......why does yours cost $2200??".......just about sums it up.

Keep the woodworking as a hobby if you want to enjoy it IMHO. No harm in making the odd piece on commission, but I wouldn't even consider trying to make a living at it.

Like a lot of small businesses.....

When you first start out, get four big handfulls of marbles and put them in your mouth. Each time you sell an item, remove one marble. When you have lost all your marbles, you'll know you have the right atributes .

I'm a farmer and I no longer have any marbles......or water for that matter.

Have a good Chrtistmas.

oz

ozhunter - re. water, I think that's about to change over the next week.....lol

Agricultural weather forecasts and commodity prices

In fact, I'd be moving to higher ground if I were you

Hopefully good falls all round over the next couple of weeks, and a green and merry Xmas to all !!

Mr Brush....may I call you Basil

We can only hope, but us farmers are known for whinging, so I hope there's no lightning or severe storms that will burn what grass is left or wash it all away and fill the dams up with silt and crap again.

Seriously, some rain would be good.

Here's to some good rain around the end of February and a very merry Xmas to everyone.

oz

I think all this advice is correct. Setup costs are pretty steep and the market is more than competitive in the chipboard and finger jointed, "guess what wood this is" market.
So you are left with the traditional craft market where you have to produce a quality piece of furniture, and need a quality price to survive. So by all means try, but dont give up your day job.

A lot of it is marketing and image......seeing this thread reminded me of Dattner Furniture (now no longer with us).

They made solid timber furniture from mostly recycled timbers (e.g. redgum), very nice pieces too, but you were looking at several thousand dollars for a fairly small table.

Their advertising made much mention of 'craftsmen', 'traditional techniques', etc. They used to take out large ads in the national papers, always black and white, with photos of an old white-haired guy in a leather apron peering closely at a detail on a table top over his half-moon glasses....

In reality they just had the biggest and best automated machines they could get. Almost "put raw timber in one end, finished table comes out the other" sort of stuff. The old guy in the advertisments presumably just used to press the big red "START" button on the machine.....lol.

Sometimes thing are not what they seem. Almost always in fact.......

ozhunter - if you haven't built an ark yet, you've left it too late !! At least dig out your gummies, and keep them close to hand. All the best for Xmas and a Happy New 2010.

Dattner was an excellent example of selling the sizzle, not the steak. But one thing he had was an area where he could move walls so customers could see how a table the size they were considering fitted in their sized room.

You need a recognisable style, a product range that fits the niche you want to be in, efficiency, ability to deal with customers an and independent income.

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

Their advertising made much mention of 'craftsmen', 'traditional techniques', etc. They used to take out large ads in the national papers, always black and white, with photos of an old white-haired guy in a leather apron peering closely at a detail on a table top over his half-moon glasses....

In reality they just had the biggest and best automated machines they could get. Almost "put raw timber in one end, finished table comes out the other" sort of stuff. The old guy in the advertisments presumably just used to press the big red "START" button on the machine.....lol.

One old manufacturer that shall not be named used their grizzled janitor in their advertising.

Forget about skills & equipment, if you lack them you can buy them on this forum by the hour. Find the market first then ask the question.

Don't mean to be harsh but when my family migrated here 30 years ago my father was a skilled jeweller having had previous clients in Greece & Turkey's "A List" he was disgusted to see the general disrespect for and lack of appreciation for skilled craftsmanship - in the spirit of what Mr Brush was saying the amount of times he got the startled remark of "but I can buy a diamond ring from Goldmark for $1000 why should I pay $6000 for yours"

Look around most homes and if I may be so cheeky possibly even your own - how much custom made exotic hardwood furniture do you see? It's in proportion to how many fine cabintery shops you see - I only know of 1

I would agree with the others, I only do commission work on my own terms and if they have to ask the price, then they can't afford it. I only take a commission based on what interests me as a challenge or artistic design and yes I still keep my day job. I often say at work I'm only here to earn money to pay for the next slab to work on.

SB

On a small scale the odd commission is about all you can do the hours spent making it will not be recovered in dollars, to make a real living from furniture you need to either mass produce or take on large commercial commissions/fit outs.

I live just down the road from Sturt School for Wood, who run full-time courses in furniture design and manufacture. Every year they turn out a new bunch of starry-eyed graduates who think customers will beat a path to their door to have fine furniture made.......its all a bit sad really.

If you have the skills, there's probably a better living to be made from restoration. Several furniture makers in our area have been reduced to taking mostly restoration work to keep the wolves from the door, with only the odd commission for new furniture coming along.

Those "money no object" clients who appreciate and are prepared to pay for high quality handmade one-off pieces are few and far between.