Contributor
Good looking kid. Put him in sales department !Originally Posted by Andrew Hughes
I got a new woodworker this week. But I had to let him go all he wanted to do is eat popsicles and complain the jointer was too tall.
I even gave him a stool to stand on.
Contributor
That’s actually a good idea, I should bring when I go out on bids.
Maybe I’ll land more jobs.
Then I can get that boy in a proper daycare I’m tired of watching spongebob
Aj
Contributor
At trade shows some companies have a booth tart. I did the top craft show years back in Toronto. If someone came in with a puppy or a baby my booth was packed and you could not move. havent done those shows in a long time but if I went back id have a booth tart with a baby who had a puppy.
Guest
Three minutes and change.
Contributor
God these threads just make my head spin. The entire thread is laced with $100/hr numbers but dingbats want to believe the 100/hr number is a fallacy or conspiracy to dissuade new entrants.
Do your math. Do your math on having a single employee. If you have a single employee and are not turning 100/hr out the door your out of business.
No one said you have to "ask" or "tell" your customers what your hourly rate is. Unless your in a royally luxurious position with regards to demand if your not pricing by the job you haven't read the first paragraph of any book on business.
Your hourly rate is an accounting number at the end of a job (or week or month). At that point your either doing honest accounting or your cooking the books.
This has all been archived so many times its nuts.
Contributor
Calling us names does not help your argument, is in very poor taste and in fact should not be allowed here.
"Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."
Contributor
No. I think that covers it.
Guest
Boom!!! Lol
Guest
I didn't know this was a safe space....
Contributor
Its not, we have machines that can cut your fingers off here. Er well some have one that doesnt, oh never mind.
Contributor
So now the overlords have decided to moderate out my response. You felt free to insinuate above that statements were getting "deep" which I think anyone knows what we would be deep in. You seem to feel the statements were so deep we wouldnt only need gum boots but rather hip boots because information was so deep and assumingly odorous.
Yet the term dingbat as opposed to insinuating that people in the profession are arbitrarily putting out enough "stinky" information that you'd require hip boots is somehow offputting?
The overlords will have at it yet again...
Contributor
To the OP Eric, Can you survive in a custom woodwork business? sure, just like you can survive playing Russian roulette. But why would you try?
If you like woodworking, that's called a hobby.
If you like making money, that's a business, and there are a lot easier businesses to make money.
Just like some can survive Russian roulette, there are those the survive in custom woodworking, they are the special ones, that have all of the right ingredients: knowledge, skill, discipline, marketing skills, market niche, contacts, equipment, facility, location, right time, right place, and the ability to find a steady flow of paying customers. etc......
So the question that you have to ask yourself is...are you feeling lucky today.....
If you have a job working for someone else, you work 40 hours, you get paid for 40 hours.
You open your own shop, you work 40 hours, at least 20 of those wont be chargeable, doing other business stuff; meeting with customers, doing quotes, marketing, setting up your shop, picking up supplies, cleaning your washroom, sharpening and cleaning up etc..... the list is endless. Don't forget customers from hell, and jobs from hell.
So on top of having to charge double what you got paid at your job you also have to pay for your shop, machinery, tools materials, supplies, insurance, utilities etc.. and job screw-ups and damages and broken machinery etc..
So based on that give me a quote for two custom made chairs similar to the photo, i can buy them for about $250 a piece, so i would buy them from you if you can do them cheaper and to my design.
Tracy-Wood-Dining-Arm-Mid-century-Style-Chair-4dd5ed50-a9ce-4c9d-9715-4bb3139494d5.jpg
Member
When i was in college, i worked for a successful cabinet maker in LA. He did amazing work, had about ten employees, and was always busy. But, he apparently got burnt out, sold his business and became a LA county Fireman. Ill never forget what he told me. He said he now had a state-funded pension, health care, and worked only 10 days a month.
What no one seems to ever mention in this conversation is pension? I wonder how many independent woodworkers are actually building a retirement portfolio for their future?
Guest
Haha, right!?
Guest
I currently own one rental property that my cabinet shop leases from me. In a few years I'm going to put up another building to lease out. If I survive that, I'm going to probably buy more space in another town.
Money is the easy part if you have a mildly successful business to leap off of.
Cabinet/wood shops aren't worth anything as a business. Equipment will pull 25% of it's replacement value at auction, (or less). All you're left with is the real estate so you better be doing something smart to prepare for the future.
Posting Permissions
