Custom millworks llc needs directions?

[Chris Alexander]

In my earlier plight to ask for help my tread was pulled, so I will attempt to re-post without selling anybody anything... my business, my equipment, but will ask all you kind co-conspirators in the wood working business... where IS the work? My business lived and died in Sacramento, California where there is absolutely no work available and has not been since December of 2008. The Economic Recovery will probable reach us here in late 2012, if we are lucky. Hence I am scouting for a new location to set up shop and work, either a partnership, (have complete shop will travel) or just information on where the need is and the wealth of work can be shared. Please get back with me Chris@custommillworksllc.com or 916-966-1160 and I promise I will not try to sell you anything... lol.

[Jeff Duncan]

You mean in this country? I haven't heard of anyone who's busy here, so I don't know where your going to go to find a healthy market, but good luck anyway.
JeffD

[Chris Alexander]

Yes hopefully in this country, I have heard Sioux Falls S.D. and Texas has some going ons... will investigate. thanks good luck to you too.

[Chris Alexander]

It seems you have the crystal ball and everything all figured out! Do you live in Sacramento, California? Have you walked a mile in my shoes, no? oh so your criticizms are vague and with out any merit to my plight. If I was a manufacturer of basket bottoms I would not be posting here, I would be sitting at home counting my millions according to your calculations.

Come to Sacramento, open your shop, and with 25 years of contacts get no business in 6 months while trying to keep a full fledged shop open and running. When I mean no business, I got one fire place mantel piece, repaired on kitchen table, and repaired a leg on a chair. Unfortunately I was forced to close my doors.

Now what I seek is before I open shop again, I want to be damn sure the work is there, other wise my shop can sit in storage for $ 135.00 a month. Ya dig.

Training we have had plenty, the Business Administration degree on my wall tells me that. Business, and pentyfulness of work is absent my dear boy. Come to Sacramento and take a look around you might get a rude awakening.

Its funny though, I did not hear a word on how well you are doing??? Does the pot call the kettle black? Or I guess your own advise does not apply here???
Wish you luck too... bro.

[Chris Alexander]

Also comming to this Forum to seek advise and information is the right place to be in my oppinion, you do not go to your mechanic to find out why your stomach hurts??? So why would I not come here to find out information about my business that is a WW shop??? If you have information you would like to contribute, please do, but being condecending about my plight does not add only subtracts, and show very poorly on your part. Its a shame that someone like you would waste your time belittleling a fellow wood worker. Get a life. (optional)

[Matt Meiser]

Sheesh--If you don't want suggestions then don't ask. He gave you some pretty good suggestions.

Watch the news--the economy is bad all over. You think its bad where you live, come to Michigan. Two of our 3 largest employers filed for bankruptcy this year. My previous boss is losing his house. A friend of ours declared bankruptcy this past week and walked away from their house. 4 of the 15 houses on my road have been in foreclosure in the past 2 years and 2 more right around the corner as well. The economy SUCKS. Its a terrible time to start a business selling non-necessities. If you want a winner, find a way top sell food at a price lower than anyone else.

Also, probably 95% of the members of this forum do this for fun.

[Chris Alexander]

Thanks Matt, it was the way he went about what he was saying, if you are down you don't need a kick in the head to add to your misery... every day here we have forclosures, job loss, furlows, cut backs. Is there an end??? Some say we have not hit bottom yet, others say there is no bottom its a ride all the way down to the obyss. I hear you about 95% do it for fun, but I have had very good and supportive calls from people who understand and have nice things to share rather than negative. We all need to keep our wits end, and hope. If that is all that we will have left, hope for better days. Take care. Chris.

[Paul B. Cresti]

I agree 100% he gave you some solid things to think about...you should just say thank you for your thoughts, after all you did ask for some ideas/help. The most important theme stated was rethink/adapt to the changing market. What we traditionally thought of as woodworking a few years ago may not work in the current environment anywhere.

I changed what I do and will continue to search for a new avenue that prooves fruitful in the business areana. It may be a new niche, a product of some sort or a product for someone else...who knows maybe I will take up knitting.

By the way my "regular job" these days...that is not going well either but thats life and I will continue to roll with the "punches"

[Matt Benton]

Mike may have been a *little* harsh on a point or two, but overall it was good advise.

All I'm hearing from you is bitterness. I think you just want someone to solve your problems.

If your BA degree encouraged you to open a WW business in the economic armpit of the country, you should sue the school you got it from. A BA degree isn't designed to help people succeed in business, it's designed to get you hired.

[Jim Becker]

Folks, this is a pretty emotional issue right now for a lot of folks who are in business and having difficulties or having to shut down. Do remember that it's not just "what" you say, but "how you say it".

Jim
SMC Moderator
------

With that little message out of the way, Chris, this is indeed a difficult time to be in any business, especially one that tends to cater to markets that are more "elective" in purchasing motivation. Custom furniture, incredible millwork and things like that, while still selling in some markets, are really taking the back-seat to basic needs. The point made about flexibility is really important right now, not just relative to geography, but also to product.

In some areas, homebuilding is starting to pick up again...slightly...and that brings opportunity for cabinetry and other built-in type needs, but probably more modest in scope for some period of time. There will be a lot of competition, too, as other craftsmen shift their own focus to "what's selling right now" from what they'd prefer to be doing.

You may want to correspond with Paul since he's been through some angst around having to change focus. Personally, it's discomforting to me that should my "regular career" go haywire, falling back on my shop to help pay the bills would be a very difficult task right now. I'm not envious of your situation and wish you well in overcoming the challenge.

BTW, if you have a specialty, either in type or work or skill, you may want to investigate working for others where that would bring an advantage to the business. That's what my neighbor did a few years ago, teaming up with another craftsman, and together, they've been able to sustain their business through this tough economy.

[jon reedy]

1. Mike was not harsh at all
2. The orginal poster is way out of line

[David Perata]

I'll have to agree with some of the guys in that you got some good advice and ideas. I was in your corner but I was kind of taken aback by your attitude to advice. I've always been told and have followed the rule to take advice and criticisms openly and learn from them.

I am from California and am presently living in the Midwest. I have not had a real call for painting and renovation in weeks. But I have taken the plunge to finally enter the high end furniture business with a design I've been working on for about five years.

It has been no picnic. The psychological, emotional & financial toll has been incredible, but if you really believe in what you are doing I believe you will succeeed ultimately.

Just read a biography of Walt Disney. There is no reason in the world why he should have succeeded after the set-backs and continual financial peril he was in for years and years. It wasn't until Disneyland that he finally gained financial solvency. But he always believed in what he was doing and strove for excellence at the cost of profits. It did pay off.

I think that success comes to those with persistance and a product that is unique. A hit song, a mood ring, Hula-Hoop, whatever. For you, design a wood working product that nobody else makes. I learned this a few years back by trying to market Shaker wall clocks. I made very nice clocks but realized that many varieties of Shaker wall clocks were availble on the net for much less than I could make them for. Many folks don't know the difference between quality craftsmanship and cheaper knock-offs, so you loose out when you are trying to compete with others who make the same thing at probably less retail cost.

You have to have a product that is unique and you have to have a market for it: people who can afford it.

I have a suspicison that folks who buy Sam Maloof chairs not only can afford them but will buy them simply because they like them and want one. In bad economic times you cannot sell to other people who cannot afford your goods. I have no market here. I have to aim at NY and Chicago and L.A. and other major centers. I have to take my product to them, and not wait till they come to me.

You have to create a buzz. You must get noticed. That takes a lot of PR, and you have to be able to do it yourself or get somebody who can do it for you. Get into magazines and special interest newsletters and such. On TV if you have an angle to what you sell.

I once wrote a book and got it published by a major NY publisher on one of their library imprints. Got a tiny advance and realized that they were not going to do any PR for me. The PR people there had no imagination whatsoever. One of them laughed when I said I'd get on the Studs Terkel radio show in Chicago. They just could not visualize how I would sell the topic.

Well, I rolled up my sleeves, got on the phone and booked my own book tours, radio & tv shows and even a cross-country railroad tour sponsored by Amtrak. And when we rolled into Chicago, we not only made the front page in color but also appeared on the Studs Terkel radio show!!

So, the sky is the limit for those who can think out of the box. But you are not going to get anywhere wasting time feeling down & out about your situation. Start brainstroming and come up with a way to succeed. You can do it. It's a lot of work, but I think it's what separates those who succeed from those who don't.

[Alex Shanku]

Unless I am mistaken (I didnt see the first deleted thread), the OP is asking ONLY where the work is, nothing more??!!

I cant help you there. The cabinet shops and few furniture shops around here are all slow/closed up.

Big furniture company (100 + employees) shut down and liquidated late last year.

Sorry to hear about your shop/business.

Alex

[Mike Heidrick]

I respect the mods and members here very much. My comments have been deleted to avoid other members reading them and being offended in "how I said" my advice.

Good luck to everyone.

[Steve Clardy]

Chris. This is really the wrong place looking for jobs/work.

Call you local SCORE affiliation. Should be one in or around your area.

[jack duren]

In my earlier plight to ask for help my tread was pulled, so I will attempt to re-post without selling anybody anything... my business, my equipment, but will ask all you kind co-conspirators in the wood working business... where IS the work? My business lived and died in Sacramento, California where there is absolutely no work available and has not been since December of 2008. The Economic Recovery will probable reach us here in late 2012, if we are lucky. Hence I am scouting for a new location to set up shop and work, either a partnership, (have complete shop will travel) or just information on where the need is and the wealth of work can be shared. Please get back with me Chris@custommillworksllc.com or 916-966-1160 and I promise I will not try to sell you anything... lol.

Tell you what I had to do after the economy fipped. I shut my residential shop down and went back into commercial work. I got lucky looking on craigslist and found a salary foremans job. I dont make the same money but it will help till things pick up.

Not exactly the answer your looking for but it may be your best answer till things clean up. My two car garage was my shop and I used a storage building to hold cabinets till installation. Gave up the storage and now have zero overhead.....Jack

[Peter Quinn]

Well, if you are making a list of places NOT to move your business, sort of a process of elimination, certainly don't move it to Connecticut. Or the Northeast in general. Things aren't dead here, but there are a lot of shops hanging on for their lives, and nobody can remember a time when things got this bad this fast. My boss is well capitalized, but a shop of 7 guys has basically been working on either in house projects or things for the bosses house for several months with little paying work, and every week I keep thinking this could be the one that brings the pink slips. My own side business has done no paying work for nearly a year, but I have no overhead, so all it costs me is a can of wax to keep the tables from rusting.

On the bright side there have been some bids going on, there is some movement. Not a good time to jump into this particular market though i can tell you. Good luck and stay positive.