How to Turn Your Woodworking Hobby into a Successful Business
by Alian Software Collaborator
There comes a time in the life of every serious hobbyist when they start to dream of turning their passion into a way of making a living. After all, if you derive the greatest pleasure from taking raw pieces of wood and turning them into finished pieces that are not only functional but beautiful, why settle for the boring 9 to 5 in an office, factory, or store? However, it’s not as simple as just setting up a shop and waiting for the customers to arrive on your doorstep. Keep reading how to turn your woodworking hobby into a successful business and consider the following before you take the plunge.
Invest in Good Quality Tools
If you want to make handcrafted wood furniture or charcuterie boards, you need to start with the right tools. Buying good-quality hand and power tools, and keeping them I tip-top condition, will make all the difference in the final product. After all, one of the things your customers are buying is work that they can’t do at home with their weekend-warrior drills and saws. Professional-grade tools will help ensure that the finished piece is up to professional standards.
Work Efficiently
A century ago Henry Ford realized that creating an efficient assembly-line manufacturing process would save time and money, allowing him to revolutionize car manufacturing. You can do the same thing on a much smaller scale in your own workspace. Simply arranging your workstations in such a way that you can smoothly progress from one end to the other- if you’re making ten wall shelves, complete each step on all ten at once, and then move onto the next station rather than moving through the whole process ten separate times.
Be Original
Appeal to your customers by creating something that they can’t get anywhere else. Work up your own unique designs, and don’t then rest on your laurels for the next twenty years! There are always going to be copycats out there who will take your ideas and market similar pieces, and on top of that styles change. Keep abreast of the newest design trends and use them to refine your current designs and create new ones.
Market Effectively
You can have the most gorgeous handcrafted wood products out there, but if you don’t have a way of letting the world know they exist, you’re not going to make many sales. First, develop a marketing plan that will advertise your wares to the world. Rent a booth at craft shows or join a collective with a permanent retail space. Establish a website with up-to-date good-quality pictures of your work. And finally, consider opening a shop on an Internet marketplace- Artisan Born will showcase your work to a discerning customer base who are looking for quality work by skilled craftspeople! Keep an eye out on our blog for more tips, ideas, and inspiration!
