How A Woodworking Shop Starts Matters

Everyone dreams of being their own boss especially with a home based business. A hobbyist wanting his woodworking shop to become his primary job is often a thought of novelty.

While taking the steps to make this a reality it is easy to make mistakes.

Here I hope to help you avoid a few common initial missteps. If you are planning this for yourself or looking to setup a woodworking shop, this may be worth your time.

I am not a conventional carpenter but rather a wood artist. So know up front that the challenges I face have exceeded the typical endeavor.

The best transitions happen in time. In other words do not quit your day job. Yet there are ways to speed the process along while not stressing yourself out.

Do Not Go Into Debt For A Woodworking Shop

Woodworking often begins as a hobby. As you become more serious with your trade it is imperative to avoid debt if at all possible.

Yes I do understand that real machines cost money. A solid table saw can run anywhere between 2k to 4k usd.

Adding a burden to your pocket does not help the stress factor. If anything it will take away from your best work as you feel pushed to produce.

There is a learning curve that takes place along two paths at the same time.

The first curve is your work itself. You will be limited to what you can do by the equipment you have. Start with the basic wood carving tools.

This is not a bad thing for a startup woodworking shop. Perfect the basics in wood carving and learn to get creative. The end products become much better.

Secondly is the business curve. It takes time to grow this aspect of your woodworking shop just the same as it does your work.

It can take years to discover how to make what you have truly profitable.

During this time the stress and strain to your pocket should be minimized. Save for what you need then get it. In the meantime keep mastering the basics.

Decide The Quality Of Your Work To Reflect Your Woodworking Shop

If you do not rush into things then this will take a natural evolution as well. Rushing can cause serious issues in this department.

If you take a look online and find the many craft like products floating around it can become easy to see who rushed, and who didn’t.

The problem is we want what we want, and then we want it now. People begin to think that price matters and to be competitive you do more work for less.

In the end your product suffers and you are another widget shop. Nevertheless there are woodworking projects that can sell quick if done well.

Once you begin down a path you have chosen perfecting your craft, learn how to price your work.

If you are as serious about making high quality as I am, I have news for you. Believe it or not the quality of your work does not determine success.

If you have any doubts to this principle just walk into Walmart. I would call what they sell anything but quality. Yet they do know marketing.

My goal at this very moment is to dispel any myths you have about feeling pressure to compete with cheap prices. Getting noticed as an artist or craftsman is not tied to your quality.

Marketing is a whole other universe of education. For a new woodworking shop you will depend heavily at first upon your local community.

While you may be a woodworker it would do you well to take a sneak peak at some of my other articles tailored for artists. The same principles apply here.

You must choose what kind of woodworker you wish to become.

Will you focus on quality designs or fast paced mass production? Allow me to give a little more insight in this arena of thought.

Why Most Woodworking Shops Fail, And Fail Quickly

Allow me to put this simply and this is a principle I also share with artists. You cannot, nor will you ever, be able to keep up with a mass production.

So why compete with them? If you can understand why so many fail this then requires you to define your scope in what you can do.

You are starting a woodworking shop most likely out of your home. You are not building a factory.

So it is imperative to recognize the scope of your production capability. By default you are virtually forced into choosing to make quality designs.

There is a lot more behind the reasons why who I call makers fail so quickly. Yet at its core this is among the top five as they try to mass produce.

When You Invest In Your Woodworking Shop Do It The Right Way

If you need a new saw, get the best after you have saved for it. For a hobbyist I would say get what you need.

Yet you are looking to go beyond the hobbyist woodworking shop. Your tools are your lifeline. Don’t cheap out.

Certainly there is always a budget. Also the best does not always equal the most expensive. It also does not mean that it must be new equipment.

Nevertheless there is a clear difference between a quality saw and what you find at the home improvement store. Whatever you invest in it needs to last near your lifetime in service.

Do this any other way and you end up paying not just twice, but also more.

A New Woodworking Shop Should Stay Away From Advertising

Yes I said stay away from advertising, at least for now. When you startup a new woodworking shop there is no way you can compete with the big budgets.

After the advertising is over you will either often break even or lose.

You may be curious then, how you manage to get your services in front of people? Depend upon local community, events, services, and making new friends. Serve others first.

The initial reaction for everyone new is often to focus on social media more than they should. Social media is a tool, not your marketing platform.

To put it simply, that place is where the masses huddle and you become lost in the noise. Legitimately question how far you need to go, or if you need social media.

Everyone who is advertising typically does so via social media of some kind. It is a place where everyone is screaming to be noticed and no one is listening.

Then there are those other platforms for home shops that are equally as horrible like etsy.

What Should You Do To Succeed As A Woodworking Shop?

It is easy for me to tell you what doesn’t work. For me to tell you what does work actually requires answers from the only person that knows them. That person is you.

What are you good at? Are you sociable in town having friends?

If not can you learn to smile and say hello? Do you have technical skills for a web platform?

If you do not can you learn them? Your success really depends on you, not an add.

People want to take a journey of a thousand miles and turn it into one big leap forward. Life simply does not work this way.

That is why earlier I stated to not quit your day job.

It is here we also run into another of the top five reasons why those who rush too quick and become makers fail.

The reality of what a business really is they do not know or understand. Few people have ever run a successful business before to know what it really takes.

Step 1 For A Woodworking Shop : Get To Know Local People

I will give some tips to help along the path. As I said before it would do you well to dig into what I share with artists on this blog in past posts.

Nevertheless allow me to tailor this next concept for woodworkers.

Historically woodworking shops succeed in local environments more than anywhere else. To do this requires two key elements.

You need to make a better product first. Then secondly you need to meet and greet people letting them know what you do.

There is a whole community which surrounds you that as a hobbyist you most likely already know.

If you are unfortunate like me and happen to be in the flea market capital of the world it can get tough. Here you need to reach beyond your borders.

Local events, farmers markets, locally owned shops in town area all places to start. Yet if you really want to make an impression… fix some problems for people for free.

Do not be afraid of good public relations. Dedicate your work to the community in helping people and I promise you that people will notice.

Step 2 For A Woodworking Shop : Get Technical Skills

The bane of most older woodworkers is that they can barely use a cell phone much less the internet. You must have these skills today especially within those tougher local markets.

It really is not an option.

Twenty years ago no one ever thought about going much beyond their given radius of about a 2 hour drive. Today more people reach out to me from places on a completely different sea board than my hometown.

It is now a very different world.

Artists are more accustomed to this than the traditional woodworker and many have fared better. Yet I do wish to make one thing clear in what I am telling you.

I am not telling you to just get a website.

You must understand that you need to learn how to market online. Otherwise a website is nothing more than a glorified business card.

How to accomplish this I have shared a little with artists, but many things I keep to myself for obvious reasons. It is an education you must acquire.

Step 3 For A Woodworking Shop : Tailor Your Woodworking Skills

A jack of all trades becomes a master of none. This is true in woodworking as well.

Have your niche that makes you the thing you wish to push in front of people. Yet do not end there.

As I tell artists it is also important to keep innovating and pushing yourself to that next level. In time you will have multiple niches that you prefer to put out to the world.

Certainly being wood guys we have our local things we keep locally. Few people want to ship a 600 lb table across the country.

The moment you begin to expand your base it will be built on the experience and expertise of your past craftsmanship. The evolution of what you do next will become natural.

Often that next thing you do is a result of solving a problem. Let it develop naturally.

There Is No Instant Gratification For A Woodworking Shop

If factory workers across the nation complain about the loss of jobs due to production overseas they should take a look at us woodworkers. Many of the old trade skills are lost to history.

For those of us who still know them we are forced to use tools like a cnc to remain competitive.

Starting a home based woodworking shop is no small matter. It is impossible to have instant gratification.

If you are involved in some kind of general carpentry it does make life easier. Even having custom cabinetry as an offering gives some relief.

Yet within wood art the market can become tough and it does so quickly. There will be challenges that you will face in what you want to do vs what others need done in work.

Bridging The Gap Of A New Woodworking Shop : Your Work Vs Others Needs

Personally I love wood art. That is my woodworking. I can do other things but I prefer to not do them.

If I do those other things it may depend on how hungry I have been. I know you understand that picture quite well.

To bridge the gap and move into a sphere where you are able to do the work you prefer requires some thought and planning. It really goes back to that marketing aspect I discussed earlier.

If I had to depend upon local needs alone, I would not be here now.

The key is learning your business, knowing where the work is, and how to get in front of it.

Your business involves more than lumber and saws. Marketing is everything but marketing is a lot more than advertising. Also please do not say social media is marketing.

For the moment if you wish to get rid of the day job it is possible. Tailor some of your work for areas where you hold less interest, but for others needs.

In other words you need to be able to solve other peoples problems.

It at least will put you in your own shop working from home. Do what is necessary to take the small steps which lead you to the bigger ones.

If that is possible then bridging the gap becomes a little easier. I will admit that trying to develop a real business part time is not ideal.

It is in fact one of the most difficult things you can do. A job and life takes so much time away from you that nothing is left to really invest.

Through this process do not give up. It is a journey and not a destination. Once you reach the next level there is always that next step.