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I'm in the process of crafting a profitable custom table business. I'm relying solely on organic advertising through Facebook, which gains me about one table a month, which is all I can build with a full time job and kids at this point.
It's very profitable, and will probably get better once I start using paid advertising.
But then I need to worry about hitting critical mass that will allow me to quit my day job.
Chicken and egg thing here.
My average price now is about $3,500. My two year goal is a $10k average price.
Dunno whether that helps, but my advice is to go big or stay home. The money is in big, custom stuff.
Semper fi,
Brad
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(02-11-2024, 09:58 AM)®smpr_fi_mac® Wrote: I'm in the process of crafting a profitable custom table business. I'm relying solely on organic advertising through Facebook, which gains me about one table a month, which is all I can build with a full time job and kids at this point.
It's very profitable, and will probably get better once I start using paid advertising.
But then I need to worry about hitting critical mass that will allow me to quit my day job.
Chicken and egg thing here.
My average price now is about $3,500. My two year goal is a $10k average price.
Dunno whether that helps, but my advice is to go big or stay home. The money is in big, custom stuff.
I tend to agree with you on this. And you have to have the skill to pull it off. From what I've seen of your work here, you definitely have that skill!
Ray
(formerly "WxMan")
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(02-09-2024, 02:09 PM)nosoup4u Wrote: I'm not looking to make a living doing it, I'll have social security and other investment money, but I would like to have something to spend some time doing and at least break even on.
Can you make good money woodworking. Yes. But its a full time business. I do, but its a 60+ hr a week commitment.
You're retired. I'd suggest making what YOU want to make, and if its something you can post on social media to sell, great. Otherwise enjoy your retirement and don't worry about making $$$, because that will lead into making more money, paying more taxes, time deadlines, and a full time business.
Once Favre hangs it up though, it years of cellar dwelling for the Pack. (Geoff 12-18-07)
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"Dunno whether that helps, but my advice is to go big or stay home. The money is in big, custom stuff."
Do you ship any of your items, or just local sales?
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(02-11-2024, 03:41 PM)lincmercguy Wrote: "Dunno whether that helps, but my advice is to go big or stay home. The money is in big, custom stuff."
Do you ship any of your items, or just local sales?
I concentrate on local, in the DC region, but have shipped to Louisiana, will ship a table in the coming weeks to Nebraska, and have a probable order coming from Texas soon.
It's expensive to ship big tables!
Semper fi,
Brad
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(02-11-2024, 02:37 PM)packerguy® Wrote: Can you make good money woodworking. Yes. But its a full time business. I do, but its a 60+ hr a week commitment.
You're retired. I'd suggest making what YOU want to make, and if its something you can post on social media to sell, great. Otherwise enjoy your retirement and don't worry about making $$$, because that will lead into making more money, paying more taxes, time deadlines, and a full time business.
This is my plan! Woodworking is an enjoyable hobby for me so I plan on keeping it that way when I retire in 3 or 4 years.
Frank
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Thanks to everyone who replied! I have had people, upon seeing my projects say, "you could sell those". I've always been very skeptical about that, but I wanted to see if there was something that I was missing. Someone mentioned large tables, and coincidentally a farm house table I built for my daughter is one of the things that gets mentioned the most.
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(02-12-2024, 12:33 PM)nosoup4u Wrote: Thanks to everyone who replied! I have had people, upon seeing my projects say, "you could sell those". I've always been very skeptical about that, but I wanted to see if there was something that I was missing. Someone mentioned large tables, and coincidentally a farm house table I built for my daughter is one of the things that gets mentioned the most.
I would evaluate the "sincerity" of those comments by looking at the pieces in the homes and offices of those who make the comments. Do they have custom furniture, built-ins, and other pieces in their homes? If they have big box store furniture, rocking chairs they bought at Cracker Barrel, or loads of IKEA mid-century modern stuff, then I suggest they're more in the "being polite" mode than being sincere about the compliments.
Ray
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(02-12-2024, 12:33 PM)nosoup4u Wrote: Thanks to everyone who replied! I have had people, upon seeing my projects say, "you could sell those".
Everyone is an expert.
I had a guy to my shop this weekend for a tour. 2 or 3 times he said "you should do it like this" or "you know what would work". I guess at the end of the day I am the guy with a shop making 14k urns a year, and he has "ideas".
Like I said, unless you want another full time job, enjoy your retirement and if someone wants something you enjoyed making, cool.
Once Favre hangs it up though, it years of cellar dwelling for the Pack. (Geoff 12-18-07)
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(02-12-2024, 04:54 PM)R Clark Wrote: I would evaluate the "sincerity" of those comments by looking at the pieces in the homes and offices of those who make the comments. Do they have custom furniture, built-ins, and other pieces in their homes? If they have big box store furniture, rocking chairs they bought at Cracker Barrel, or loads of IKEA mid-century modern stuff, then I suggest they're more in the "being polite" mode than being sincere about the compliments.
Probably more true than not, but you don't have to spend a lot of money or invest a lot of time to test the waters. I never spent money out of my own pocket. First, I did work for another guy. When I moved on to my own stuff, down payments always covered the cost of materials, plus. So now it's just about your time. How much is your time worth in retirement? Zero, if you don't have another way to make money. You may decide that you'd rather go fishing or play golf than spend time on woodworking. Fine, do that. But if you decide you'd like to make some money rather than spend it, whatever you make beyond the cost of your materials is profit.
Unless you like craft shows, never build anything and then try to sell it. That's a road to disappointment. You need to find people who need a problem solved and provide the solution to their problem. If you can do that, you won't have to compete for the business, nor worry about imported stuff because if that could solve the customer's problem they wouldn't need you, and every job will be profitable. Whether or not you think the profit justifies the time it took you to make it is for you to decide.
John
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