Thread: Rethinking an idea

Sounds good. here are some things to think about.

Standards of work?
Insurance... product liability, who holds the policy?
What if I charge more then the guy the suburb across the way will i still get work?
Hours and Hours and hours of to-ing and fro-ing between clinets and woodies (staff) fee's will need to be high!
Some interesting problems to solve but i think at it's core, this could be a good idea?

Good luck

Don't want to lower the tone or hose down such enthusiasm, but there is an alternative meaning to 'woody' that might cause some problems down the track with that business name . . .

Another potential problem is going to be with nosey government organisations, particularly Workcover or other OH&S organisations Once you set up your shed as a 'place of business', making items for payment, you have all sorts of standards to comply with - the first one I can think of is that you will have to pay $10-20 (not sure what the current rate is) on EVERY plug in appliance & extension cord every 6(?) months to have them certified as 'electrically safe' - in theory even the electric kettle could be included, but usually isn't.

That plus compulsory 'workers comp.' insurance that you as owner can't claim on is one reason that small businesses are disappearing.

Originally Posted by Lumber Bunker

Sounds good. here are some things to think about.

Standards of work?
Insurance... product liability, who holds the policy?
What if I charge more then the guy the suburb across the way will i still get work?
Hours and Hours and hours of to-ing and fro-ing between clients and woodies (staff) fee's will need to be high!
Some interesting problems to solve but i think at it's core, this could be a good idea?

Good luck

Standards of work: Well I think that if you're being paid to make something then you should make it to the best of your ability. A high standard should be standard.

Insurance: ? You'll have to explain that to me

What if I charge more then the guy the suburb across the way will i still get work? Depends on why you're charging more. If you're making better stuff than the other guy then you might get it. Depending on customer taste. If you're charging unrealistic prices then the answer is obvious.

Staff fees: As in HAW's cut? To-ing and Fro-ing about what?

WH&S: Pain in the neck they are Can any law types point me in the right direction?

All the OH&S garbage can be negated by simple non compliance assuming that the maker is willing to forgo the security compliance and insurance provide. I know I do !
And non compliance does not negate your ability to claim business expenses as tax deductions nor does it exclude you from obtaining business insurance or building/workshop insurance!
The only real limit is you have to work alone. A bonus for a curmudgeon like me and an even bigger bonus for anyone not required to work with me!!

I think It is a great idea but people & government being what they are will demand compliance to all sorts of things adding expense upon complexity untill it is so painful to operate that those involved will simply give up or give in to to them and eventually corrupting the idea into something like "Jims Woodworkers" or some other rip off franchise crap like that.

Sorry for being negative I really do think it a great idea I just doubt it will work out though I would be interested if it did.


Ross

If there is a problem with the piece and the customer is not happy, who wares the cost? HAW or the contractor?

Will HAW be liable if the contractor just don't want to fix it or is a cowboy?

Funky,

Dont let em sh$T in ya shed.... What you are offering is bespoke manufacturing, all of the contracts etc can be drawn up quite easily. You biggest problem will be getting enuff woodies to work at the quality levels you establish. I suggest that the woodies pay to get the leads of you, no more than that. I see it as a workable business.

One rule of business is that there must be no dead weight, your skill must be in marketing and putting a brand in front of the public. The woodies will want enuff leads, the clients want quality and a consistent pricing model. They are your challenges.

I love the name, dare I say it "funky" and edgy. I deal with a scaffolding company that has "erections" in its name, works for them...

Funky good ideas need a start

Look at such as Manpower or

Hire a Hubby the later started with retirees who had heaps of knowladge and time on their hands

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

Funky,

Dont let em sh$T in ya shed.... What you are offering is bespoke manufacturing, all of the contracts etc can be drawn up quite easily. You biggest problem will be getting enuff woodies to work at the quality levels you establish. I suggest that the woodies pay to get the leads of you, no more than that. I see it as a workable business.

One rule of business is that there must be no dead weight, your skill must be in marketing and putting a brand in front of the public. The woodies will want enuff leads, the clients want quality and a consistent pricing model. They are your challenges.

I love the name, dare I say it "funky" and edgy. I deal with a scaffolding company that has "erections" in its name, works for them...

Ok but do the contractors pay for a lead of a qualified lead? Big difference! A number of the franchises of this type supply leads based on your geographical location and you pay for the lead if it leads to work or not. This might work with mowing lawns but you know how few people go ahead with major furniture projects once they find out the real costs involved.

BTW I was not ????ing in anybodys shed mearly pointing out some potential problems and indeed offering solutions to others.

Ross

Your chance of success are slim, but not impossible.

Here are a few things you'd need to address:

* Hosting. Where will you host your site, and at what cost?
* Development. Who will develop your site, and at what cost?
* Marketing. How will you reach your customers, both woodworkers and buyers? Marketing a niche website costs big money.
* Monetisation. How will you charge?
* Payments. How will people pay?

To start a site like this won't cost anything less than $10,000, and may well add another zero. At fifteen I doubt that you're ready.

Hi FunckyC,

Most business is about assessing risk. You have a concept, you have begun to gather information to help assess the risk. You're on the way to developing a business plan. All this will tell you if you are on to a winner I guess.

Seems like a marketing business to me. Keep researching I say and wish you all the best no matter the outcome. Thumbs up for having a go I reckon.

Oh yes. Not sure I am off the mark but,... After hearing about some unfortunate choices parents have made for their children of late I could see a posible unhelpful twist with the name. Hint: Pronunciation.

SWMBO says: What are you doing Dearest?
Dearest says: Just looking at this new HAW site I have found on the internet, reckon I will give it a go Hun.

Cheers,
Pops

Just thought I'd clarify something from my previous post.

When I said "at fifteen, I doubt that you're ready", that wasn't meant as a put-down based on age. There is certainly nothing wrong with trying to get something off the ground, and I can think of a few instances of people who have made successful IT-based businesses at your age.

My concerns were around the costs and effort you'll incur in a web site of this type, and the limited likelihood of being able to fund/resource the work.

Your biggest barrier is going to be marketing. What you should think about is that this is a business-to-consumer broking service - the toughest type of internet service to get off the ground. That means you have a pool of businesses (your woodworkers) and a vast market of consumers (your buyers). You can attract woodworkers through a site like this, but how will you attract buyers? That is where you'll need a LOT of money to get the site to the front of their mind.

At a minimum you'd need to buy relatively expensive search engine keywords (ie, "woodwork","furniture","custom","bespoke", etc.). Then you'd probably need to advertise somewhere like home renovation or furnishing magazines - high end, because you're looking for people who want something more than Ikea or Freedom Furniture - which means a magazine like Vogue, for example, and they are EXPENSIVE.

The easy internet sites are for geeks. Viral marketing works well when geeks talk to geeks, or where there is an extremely strong network of consumers, such as in the case of new mothers looking for online support and advice. You don't have either of those situations in your proposal.

Even if you got woodworkers and customers, you'll then run into the human problems of managing such a site. If you direct work to specific woodworkers, how will you handle the situation of two competitors in the one town? If you don't put it to both you'll get allegations of favouritism, and if you DO put it to both you'll degenerate into an auction, driving down prices to the point you only have wood-butchers on the site. And THEN you'll spend all your time explaining to customers why their work is late and crap.

I hope you understand that I'm not being negative about your initiative and motives, I'm just concerned by the huge barriers in your path.

Ron.

Originally Posted by Ron Dunn

Even if you got woodworkers and customers, you'll then run into the human problems of managing such a site. If you direct work to specific woodworkers, how will you handle the situation of two competitors in the one town? If you don't put it to both you'll get allegations of favouritism, and if you DO put it to both you'll degenerate into an auction, driving down prices to the point you only have wood-butchers on the site. And THEN you'll spend all your time explaining to customers why their work is late and crap.

Ron.

The customer chooses the maker the other woodworker would have no knowledge of it

Rethink:

How about the site serves as sort of yellow pages. The customer finds a maker they like and contacts them. Hire A Woodworker doesn't do any of the to-ing and fro-ing

How 'bout that?

Like the yellow pages....
You mean like this