Thread: Rethinking an idea

Along with many of the other ideas out there, one of the things you may want to consider is to determine exactly what market you want to aim at initially. So far as "woodies" are concerned, there are obviously a lot of different options. For example, you could be helping DIYers do stuff, be referring people who hand-craft furniture (high-end stuff), kitchen builders, rennovators, general odd-jobs people, restorers and any number of other categories.

Part of determining the answer to that question will be to find out:
1) what you are interested in/know the most about;
2) what you think there is a good solid market for, so far as referrals go.

I'm thinking anywhere from high end furniture to tool handles. Anything that can be classified as real woodwork. I could define that as: Anything made from solid timber (except for the occasional necessary bit of ply) to the highest degree of workmanship.
Tables, chairs, cabinets, boxes, bowls, pens, tools even. All classify.

As for QC, hippothetically speaking the woodies would have to have a quality inspection by a selected inspector. That would mean there would need to be at least one inspector in each state.
Pain in the Royal Behind!

Ideas?

I'm open to discuss this over the phone if someone has any brilliant brainwaves. PM me

Here's another idea for yer FunkyC

Dont bother with the public sell directly to the wholesalers/shops with a mass produced product like high quality dinning chairs.

A dedicated group of part/full time woodies who band together to make a single product 100+ units at a time, each member would make a separate part(s) then one or two to assemble then others to pack/transport the product, you could organise the sales and logistics of it.

This way each woodie could set up(jigs/tooling)pacifically for each part and bang them out at a good pace and price.

Logistically this would be a nightmare, but for the right person who's got their head screwed on it would be possible.

Originally Posted by funkychicken

A while back I had an idea to start a business called "Hire a Woody" (HAW)

Basically, If someone wants, say, a table, then they call up Hire a Woody or go to the HAW website. From there they find a woody close by who's able to make the table and they see some work of there's on the site. HAW contacts that woody and asks if they want the order. The woody says "yea", so HAW calls the customer back and says, "They say 'yea'"
Customer discusses specifications, preferences with the woody and the woody sets about making the table.
The woody eventually completes the table and the customer receives it. The woody gets paid and HAW takes a small fee to keep the business running.

Whaddya?

I reckon I could run the whole shebang, apparently I have a knack for organising things.

I'm open to discuss it at tomorrows GTG

Cheeeeries,
Funky C

I like this idea. There are many people that want custom created furniture but don't know how to go about making it themselves. Of course there are places were you can get these custom furniture pieces made for you but they are so expensive.

If you could do it cheaper, provide excellent customer care to get referrals, the business will flourish. So I say, go for it!!

I don't know about the name 'woody' though....

Originally Posted by Harry72

Here's another idea for yer FunkyC

Dont bother with the public sell directly to the wholesalers/shops with a mass produced product like high quality dinning chairs.

A dedicated group of part/full time woodies who band together to make a single product 100+ units at a time, each member would make a separate part(s) then one or two to assemble then others to pack/transport the product, you could organise the sales and logistics of it.

This way each woodie could set up(jigs/tooling)pacifically for each part and bang them out at a good pace and price.

Logistically this would be a nightmare, but for the right person who's got their head screwed on it would be possible.

Hmm don't think that'd work. It has the smell of slavery/sweatshops

Originally Posted by funkychicken

Hmm don't think that'd work. It has the smell of slavery/sweatshops

Im with you on that one comrade!
A bit too sheltered workshop for my liking!

I see it working more like a referral system or Craftsman Database with the service provider taking a flat fee or % of each commission.


Ross

G'day feathered one from the wilds of Estonia!
Great to see that the trip to the cold of Poomyland didn't dull your thinking.

Some folk make things happen while others watch them happen.

Negative thoughts are not a recipe for success. Surround yourself with positive thinking people and remember, most people achieve what they set out to do. Its just that some people dont' set out to do very much. I set out to do various things in my life, I wanted to become a spraypainter and I did and while doing that became a property developer and owned my own businesses and succeeded in all I set out to do. Sucess is only governed by your own ambitions and desire to succeed.

I wonder how many people thought that Tim Berners Lee was wasting his time and thought it would never work when he invented the World Wide Web.

Okay here goes:

Hire a woodworker will be a referral service from the public to woodworkers. For a monthly fee woodworkers can have there details and pictures of their work on the site.
If a client wants eg. A jewellery box made for them, they go onto Hire A Woodworker.com and in the search box enter what they want (via selecting a field eg. Turning, Boxmaking, Large Furniture etc.) or by entering their location. They get a list of woodworkers and see examples of their work. They choose a maker and take down their details. They then contact them and things proceed on normally from there.

If the client can't fnd what they're looking for then they call up Hire a Woodworker and we try to find a woodworker that can make what they want.

For the first two months (until HireaWoody.com is up and running and orders are coming in) advertising is free. If a woodworker isn't in it for the dosh but just to help people then they can advertise for free. Ie. If a customer wants a chisel handle made and someone says that they'd be happy to do it free of charge. May or may not work.

Advertising costs won't be much. Just enough to pay the website maker, host and the receptionist. If a big company wants to advertise then they'll get charged more than the weekender working out of their garage. Commision may be a better way to charge.

A woodworker will only be able to advertise if their work is up to high standard. They will need to submit pictures that show that before they can advertise. If the location is suitable then a QC officer will swing around and inspect their work.


I'm probably forgetting some stuff but that'll do for now. Any tweaks need to be made?

Tweak: don't mix freebies with charged work. You say may or may not work, my bet is that it does not.

Apart that, assuming that you have covered all the risk factors already pointed out to you, you need to do a back of an envelope calculation of what you need to invest and the break even point.

Getting the software development and the telephone work as capital in kind is handy. If the worse happens, you three can just put it down to work experience. The proper thing to do there is to work out at the beginning the value of each person's contribution, so there are no fights afterwards: $ per hour and no. of hours, to be paid later when (if) the venture makes any money.

What you need is the capacity to fund running costs and advertising for a couple of years at a loss and a business plan to establish at what point it would be better to cut and run than to stick it out.

As an example, let's say that amounts to $20,000 a year and your WW clients are prepared to pay, as a monthly fee or a commission, 3% of what they charge their clients. This means that in two years time your service must generate business in the order of around $1.5 million for you to pay ongoing expenses, recoup any initial shortfall and pay some of the hours mentioned before. If the average job is worth $5000 you need only organise 300 jobs in a year. If at the end of the first six months your service has not generated at least $300,000 it could be prudent to cut and run. If it has, at the end of the year you should have sufficient data to see whether to stick it out for another year. After two years, even if you sell for a peppercorn you can always put it in your CV that you run a viable business but you did not have the capital to develop it etc. etc. Good luck!

small monthly fee is way to go it means you have an income stream coming in plus you dont have to chase up transactions that dont happen.

Originally Posted by Gaza

small monthly fee is way to go it means you have an income stream coming in plus you dont have to chase up transactions that dont happen.

But see I'm trying to be fair to the woodworker Ie. If the person has advertised for two months and receive no orders then they might feel ripped off. Then again, I guess that's on of the risks of advertising.

I'll have to talk to a business minded person about the whole thing

Cheers fer yer ideas,
Funky C

Originally Posted by funkychicken

But see I'm trying to be fair to the woodworker Ie. If the person has advertised for two months and receive no orders then they might feel ripped off. Then again, I guess that's on of the risks of advertising.

I'll have to talk to a business minded person about the whole thing

Cheers fer yer ideas,
Funky C

think of your web page like a yellow pages for woodworking. yellow pages charges a few per year no matter how many calls you get you still pay.

google addwords also charges you for each person they take to your web page no matter if they buy anything.