Thread: Making a buck from your woodwork?

Originally Posted by Albert

Dom, I have loosely toyed the idea of quitting my daytime job and go into making furniture full time but it was almost instant No, my woodwork sidey is only a part time thing for me and probably will stay as is. I spend maybe 50 hours per week in my work shop when I am busy, and 10 hours when I am not busy.

Recently I am spending less time in production, more time in managing the part timer (recruit/training...etc) and sale side of things, as Spyro pointed out, people who buys stuff from you are not just buying a product, they are buying the experience/feeling.

The guy who I bought my SCM sander from runs a well known furniture maker business, he charges something like $2000 for a cabinet, similar thing can be bought for $200. so, there you go.

Hi Albert,

So to be clear, you have a day-job but also run a woodworking business part-time, including running a part-timer to support this? Has that been going fairly well?

Yes, 100% agree with the "selling the whole experience and yourself" side of things. I remember listening to an interview with someone that mentioned he always cut some aromatic timber just before a customer came into his woodshop to create an immersive woodworking experience / charm. Value is very much a subjective thing that isn't rational or logical a lot of the time but is often emotional.

I often wonder how enjoyable woodworking would be with the added pressure and reduced freedom that could result if things don't go that smoothly or you back yourself into the corner of making things that you really don't enjoy making or that aren't challenging etc.

I'll keep dreaming / setting myself up and working on my skills and hold-out in my day-job as long as I can!

Cheers,

Dom

Fine furniture of good quality sells well in good times. As soon as there is a down turn in the economy, a pending election, a fall in the stock market or a war brewing and the orders dry up real quick. After 50 years in the trade I've seen them all. A good maker requires back orders to carry him over these periods. Someone flogging stuff at markets has to cop what comes market by market.
The comment has been made that there is plenty of money out there. Well this may be so but its mainly borrowed money. Not earnings. Not the family nest egg. Not superannuation. Yes, folks are buying cars they cant afford, houses they cant afford, boats, caravans, pedegree dogs etc etc. Is it sustainable? Not bloody likely. Not once the cheap money dries up. And it will. To hang your shingle out in times such as this would not be easy. To start a manufacturing business from scratch at anytime is not easy. It took me five years to build up a strong,regular clientele base to a level where I could make the same money as I made as a Company executive. Now factor in the costs of setting up and stocking the business. Oh hang on, we are not supposed to factor in costs. Well you do this at your own peril. Meanwhile, working as a Company executive there are no costs, your car is supplied and your fuel is paid for. Your salary is contractual and, provided you can handle the stress, you haven't got a worry in the world. Would I do the same thing again? Bloody oath but not now.

Originally Posted by DomAU

Hi Albert,

So to be clear, you have a day-job but also run a woodworking business part-time, including running a part-timer to support this? Has that been going fairly well?

Yes, 100% agree with the "selling the whole experience and yourself" side of things. I remember listening to an interview with someone that mentioned he always cut some aromatic timber just before a customer came into his woodshop to create an immersive woodworking experience / charm. Value is very much a subjective thing that isn't rational or logical a lot of the time but is often emotional.

I often wonder how enjoyable woodworking would be with the added pressure and reduced freedom that could result if things don't go that smoothly or you back yourself into the corner of making things that you really don't enjoy making or that aren't challenging etc.

I'll keep dreaming / setting myself up and working on my skills and hold-out in my day-job as long as I can!

Cheers,

Dom

I think there are other ways that you can make money easier and faster than wood working, I do it because I enjoy making stuff, I have no other hobbies, I havent really made a lot of money to have significant impact to my everyday life, still got mortgages to pay and cant buy whatever I feel like.
Money made from wood working are just reinvested for better machines to improve the efficiency and safety, sometimes I wonder if its worth the time at all, cos after taxes and all cost associated(the extra step to make your customer feel special) it seems I am working for free.

I started making boxes about 5 years ago just for the fun of it but then i was urged to do markets and set up a website, get an ABN and after a few years my fun hobby come small business was sustaining itself and i had dreams of going full time, but i had a decent full time job and had been with the company for 20 years, so i had benefits and just couldn't make the leap.

At the end of March last year i was made redundant so now i had my wish and by coincidence box sales took off and cash flow was healthy but obviously costs were increasing as well and like any small business i had to start looking for savings on materials and hardware but i was not making enough to live on and my fixed personal costs per week were coming direct from savings and any profits from box sales paid for fuel and lifes simple pleasures.

Fast forward to the present and nothing has changed and this month total sales are around $20. People always told me my prices were to low so i have raised them to try and at least incorporate an hourly rate but in that there is the question of, do i want to be busy selling reasonably priced boxes in volume? or do i want to sell a few high priced boxes per month?

Now that i have the bug i would find it very hard and even demoralising to have to go back to working for someone else so i am determined to push on and have taken on the role of distributor for Constantia Organic Finishes. Its not easy trying to get a relatively new product accepted into the market place but we are gaining a little traction and i believe this coming year will see us with acceptable market share.

Weekend markets are very difficult to predict and i have learned that the majority of people go to markets with a small amount of disposable cash to have breakfast, buy some veggies and annoy stall holders with questions and hollow promises of "i'll send you an email with the details". The current times are particularly bad for marketers like myself and in the 6 markets i have done since September last year i have made $122 in profit, and by profit i mean market fees against sales, this does not take into account fuel, coffee, food etc........ you do the math.

So to sum up, i believe in my experience there are two ways to make it as a profitable woodworker.

1. You must know the overall market and choose what segment you want to place yourself within after diligent market research, get set up to service that segment and be ready to go before you hand in your resignation. If your payout is relatively small you will need back up funds, quite a bit, and an understanding spouse.

2. My way, the hard way.

Social media is an absolute must and don't be led to believe it is not. Facebook and instagram must play a part in everyday business and you need to be posting content every day.

Originally Posted by Spyro

Has anyone tried to make a teardrop caravan?
...




.....

?????

Way back in the 1950's all caravans were tear drops. Wooden frames, plywood skin...

Not sure if that massive "hatch back" is crazy or brilliant - that is for the market to sort out. It does trump a slide out BBQ.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

?????

Way back in the 1950's all caravans were tear drops. Wooden frames, plywood skin...

Not sure if that massive "hatch back" is crazy or brilliant - that is for the market to sort out. It does trump a slide out BBQ.

Yep that's exactly right, apparently this design hails from right after WWII when there was a lot of "war material" leftover and people used it to build things like this. And they loved it because it could be towed by pretty much anything, even some motorcycles. Then people moved to bigger and bigger cars, the caravans followed and the little teardrop became obsolete. And now with smaller cars in vogue again it's seeing a resurgence, maybe not so much in AU yet because of the typical AU lag. Probably needs the last falcons and commodores to die first :P

But elsewhere people have started to make some really pretty ones.

Originally Posted by Spiro

... , apparently this design hails from right after WWII when there was a lot of "war material" leftover and people used it to build things like this. And they loved it because it could be towed by pretty much anything ...

Most that I remember were towed by FX or FJ Holdens, plus an occasional Ford Zephyr or Customline. Falcons had not yet been invented, and those awful Ford Prefects and Standard Eights and Tens couldn't hack it.

But those tear drops are seriously cute.

Re the caravans...while they may look good and you may have all the skills to make them, and there may be a good market, remember, the job's not finished until the paperwork's done.

Originally Posted by Spyro

But elsewhere people have started to make some really pretty ones.

They certainly have!

when I was a wee little tacker my dad & pop built a tear drop van in our back yard, seriously the most beautiful I ever saw or slept in.
45 years later I am back in NZ showing my beloved country to wifey, trundling along the road I spy this odd shaped thing in back yard of a house middle of nowhere south Island. Haul on the brakes, go back have a yak with the old owners who remembered buying from my pop, took a heap of photos, cried over it again and 2 nights later had the camera stolen, but was returning to Aus next morning

thanks for memories.

Our laser cutting/engraving business earns a dollar or two but we are planning to build something similar to the following on a single horse float chassis. THAT will attract business, but its a big bloody outlay and I doubt we will ever see this thing paid off from sale of items profit.

Originally Posted by AlexS

Re the caravans...while they may look good and you may have all the skills to make them, and there may be a good market, remember, the job's not finished until the paperwork's done.

BOOOOOOOOOOOO

(no, you're absolutely right, you have to get the damn thing registered as well. I remember I had a look for VIC and it didn't seem terribly hard or unreasonable, they mainly want to make sure it won't fall apart and kill somebody which is fair enough)

I have built a bunch of trailers, hydraulic tip trailers and off road camper trailers, getting them registered is pretty easy here in SA.

Cheers Andrew

This was an informative thread until it got hacked with caravans.

true but whats new about that, most threads do,

whooooa bring it back Nelson , stop the hijacking