For the longest time woodworking has been a hobby, passion, and even a source of income for many people around the world. You too might spend hours in your workshop creating something beautiful, creative, and efficient piece of furniture for your home.
Now, some of you might do this as a hobby or this is more of something you do in the side. But, are looking to start a business doing something you love. Who wouldn’t love spending hours tinkering and doing something you truly love?
Well, now the question might arise whether this is a profitable business or not, well I am here to answer the question and provide all the information you would need.
Does Woodworking Provide a Stable Income?
If you are to start your own woodworking business then you have to evaluate whether this is a feasible option for you financially. Because you might leave your full-time job behind to start this work, so you wouldn’t want to spend hours behind something that isn’t going to pay your bills.
The answer to these questions is, yes it provides a stable and profitable income. If you work full-time then you will be able to make a good living with the products you sell. But there are few things you need to be mindful of here. In order to make a profit, you have to ensure that the things you make are actually good.
If the items you make are sub-par then you will not be able to price it very well, and the demand for your wooden creation isn’t going to be much. But if you are able to produce many average items at the same time, then the number of sales will make up for the lower price.
So, you have to evaluate what is your skill level in this task before you can estimate the amount of money you will be able to earn from this.
How Would You Have a Successful Woodworking Business?
You being the primary woodworker might at times have a very hard time standing out and being seen for the hard work, time, and dedication you put into making each item. So in order to be seen, you have to do a few things which will help you in your quest and help flourish the business.
- Try to Stand Out
The first thing you have to do is find a niche for yourself. You will be competing against mass manufacturers who sell their furniture at a comparatively low price point. They have the advantage as they have economies of scale, that is something you as a single producer will not have.
So, for people to actually see your product you need to make the designs stand out and speak for themselves. If they are different from the mass produces furniture then people are not going to put you side by side with to compare them. The different designs will also give the idea of exclusivity which they won’t get from mass-produced items.
Your product might even be a birdhouse, as long as there are people willing to buy the product you should try to make the product. Because quite frankly there aren’t many producers of bird and dog houses, if you can capture this market then you should be able to monazite your talents.
- Make Products That Have Demand
You might be an excellent woodworker and the products you create may look beautiful, but if they have no functionality then not many people are going to buy them. Say for example you make wooden decorative items to be hung up on the wall, they might be beautiful to look at, but in the age of minimalist lifestyle it might not appeal to a lot of people.
So, whatever you decide to make should be of use. If you make a chair, try to think of how people are going to use it rather than just focusing on who it will look. Because at the end of the day the chair’s main use it for sitting down, if it doesn’t feel good to sit on it then people will not want to buy it.
Along with that, you should try to analyze the demand of the local people. Every area, region, or country has its own style. If you make products that fit people in another part of the world, then it won’t work. In some places, you might see more demand for traditional furniture, whereas in other areas something more modern and minimal might be more in demand.
- Choose Profitable Products to Make
Your main aim behind starting your own business is to make a profit at the end of the month. Now, how are you going to make a profit? Well, you will have to be good at the task in hand and you have to make products from which you can actually end up making a profit.
Profit is essentially your revenue minus the cost. So, the way for you to increase profit would be by either reducing the cost or by increasing the revenue. How are you to increase your revenue? You would either want to increase the price of the products or sell a higher quantity of the product. So, you need to choose an item that is in demand.
But that’s not all, you should also think of making items that would lead to higher revenue but at a comparatively lower cost of production. For example, some items might be small and require less material, a nightstand for example. You will need less time to make it, less material, and would be able to make a profit out of it.
Bigger items might have a very high price point, but they will take you much longer to make and at the end of the day might not bring in the kind of return you want as the profit from each of the items is not as much.
You could also try to find items that have demand but not enough people are making it to fulfill everyone’s demand. This way you would be able to price it a little higher as customers are more likely to buy the item at a higher price if there is a shortage of supply.
For this, you need to do some research on the market and figure out where the gap lies. That is exactly the good you need to make a profit at the end of the accounting year.
- Reach the Customers
The customers are the most important to reach, they are the ones who will buy your products. And you need to be on the lookout for potential customers at all times, they will not only buy goods from you, but they will also spread positive word of mouth to others. And for a business that is just starting out, this is the best kind of advertisement, and it’s free.
There are different trade fares you could participate in and demonstrate your designs and talent to people. You would advertise your products online so more and more people can have access to the pictures of your product. This is how you would get more people to see your business.
- Create a Brand Image
Now, you are here to make a name for yourself and make money as well. So for that, you will need to create a brand image of you and the business. In today’s world brand is a very big factor, people spend thousands of dollars buying branded products, they spend the money even if the price is outrageous.
You would want the same thing for your business, right? For people to know the name and spend hundreds if not thousands on each of your items. And this brand value is going to come from the quality of goods your produce, the after-sale services provided, the unique designs, and of course some good amount of money spent on advertising.
Once you make a name for yourself in the locality you shouldn’t have much problem reaching out to people as the value of your work will speak for itself. And the brand value will help to add more to the price tag which people won’t even bat an eyelash to.
What Are the Problems You Might Face?
In all businesses, there will be some barriers and difficulties, and you will face them in this business as well.
- Mass Manufactures
As I have mentioned before, you will have to face problems because of mass manufacturers. They have many advantages that are working in their favor which you do not. They have machines that do all the work, so the labor cost is much lower. They are also able to reduce their costs as they have the advantage of buying in bulks at a lower price.
As you are a single person working on your business you won’t be able to use machinery to make the wooden item or have a lower cost because of the economics of scale. So, automatically your price will be higher.
- Suppliers
For any business finding the right suppliers is very important. This is going to determine the quality of your products and will also determine the final price of the product. Now, finding a good supplier is not the easiest task, so you might have to spend a long time before you find someone good.
- Reaching Customers
For your products to sell you need customers to see and buy them. So reaching these customers is a necessity. But in many cases, it is not the easiest of tasks. You could post ads online but they might not reach your target customers or might reach people who don’t have any use of your products.
You will need to try out different things to get the customer’s attention. In many situations, this might prove to be very difficult. Therefore, you have to keep at it till you see something which appeals to your target. You might have to spend a bit of money on trial and error, so be prepared for that.
However, if you are still unable to get much attention then you will have a lot of problems staying afloat and paying your bills every month.
- Independent Competition
You must know that you are not the only one who is in this business, there are many other like-minded people who are looking to start their own woodworking business. They are going to be your biggest competition as they will try to capture the same market you are.
They will have the same ideas and they too will want to stand out. Some of them might have better business strategies, designs, and products than you, if that is the case then they will take the customers from you. You would need a unique selling point if you want to be more appealing.
Is Woodworking a Profitable Business?
Yes, woodworking is a very profitable business indeed. But like all businesses, this too will require a lot of hard work and dedication before you see a lot of profit coming your way. You have to stay at the top of your game and take account of everything going on in the market.
But, most of all you have to stay focused on your work, if you make woodwork of the best quality with unique designs, your business is bound to take off. Therefore, you should set sight on your work and make sure you are the best at it.
For more help, you can visit the toolscue website. You will get a lot of information on this topic from there, so be sure to check it out.
Final Words
The economy will go up and down on its own accord, but people are going to buy necessary things such as furniture. So, if you really feel passionate about woodworking then, by all means, you should start your business.
