Hello everyone! I've been lurking here for quite some time, and haven't logged on in several months.
I'd really like to establish my own business, or at the very least, earn money on my own, for now.
After a lot of thinking and hesitation, I've decided woodworking will be my first real attempt at this. I have minimal experience in woodworking, but I think it' something I'll be able to pick up with practical experience.
Within the last few months, I've invested in a jigsaw, circular saw, a router table, and a belt sander. I made a basic sword and cut out some other small pieces for minor home improvement projects. I realize my current arsenal of tools isn't nearly enough to make things efficiently, which is why within the next week, I will buy a table saw and a thickness planer.
I've jotted down a few ideas of things I would make specifically to sell for profit, things that I don't think will take very long to cut and process into a batch of products. My current business model focuses on light, easy to handle goods for both the sake of time and shipping costs.
While I'm not against doing so, I would like to avoid producing and selling things such as wood carvings, reliefs, etc.. I may test the waters and sell a few at a later date, but I can't help but to think that part of the market is heavily saturated.
Instead, my plan is to sell practical, although well designed, products. Goods such as humidors (either custom made, blank and regal, or one designed to look like you stole it from Fidel Castro, for example), two-tone bottle openers (heard about a local guy on Instagram making hundreds of these, pricing at around $10-$15, and constantly selling out. I wouldn't steal his thunder on this, just putting the idea out there), custom jewelry boxes, things like that. But that's what I would sell as B2C.
As far as B2B goes, I noticed there are some local, independently owned cafes popping up all around my region. In order to expand my customer base, I mused the idea of making wooden napkin holders, possibly wooden mugs, but I'd like to look into the best method to protecting the mugs from coffee, water, and soap, vs. keeping them safe for customers to drink from. I could also build tables, chairs, perhaps a counter/bar.
Here's why I'm a bit hesitant to even jump into this:
Getting started with this will require nearly a total of $1100 in tools. I practiced very good money-saving habits over the last year, so this $1100 is not hurting me to the point where I can't live my life as I normally would. Still, $1100 is $1100.
Search the [HASHTAG]#Woodworking[/HASHTAG] hashtag on Instagram, you'll find ~1M posts...imagine just how many of these people are cranking out high quality goods for who knows how much? Am I just paranoid and needlessly worrying, or are there really an overwhelming amount of players in this industry? Can I actually compete with these people?
This probably isn't the right question to ask, but is this something I can turn into a fastlane? I've browsed different woodworking forums and I seldom find anything that answers that question. If anyone has experience in earning an income from woodworking, please enlighten me a bit.
Thank you for everyone who took the time to read this, I greatly appreciate this and any advice you have to give.
I'd really like to establish my own business, or at the very least, earn money on my own, for now.
After a lot of thinking and hesitation, I've decided woodworking will be my first real attempt at this. I have minimal experience in woodworking, but I think it' something I'll be able to pick up with practical experience.
Within the last few months, I've invested in a jigsaw, circular saw, a router table, and a belt sander. I made a basic sword and cut out some other small pieces for minor home improvement projects. I realize my current arsenal of tools isn't nearly enough to make things efficiently, which is why within the next week, I will buy a table saw and a thickness planer.
I've jotted down a few ideas of things I would make specifically to sell for profit, things that I don't think will take very long to cut and process into a batch of products. My current business model focuses on light, easy to handle goods for both the sake of time and shipping costs.
While I'm not against doing so, I would like to avoid producing and selling things such as wood carvings, reliefs, etc.. I may test the waters and sell a few at a later date, but I can't help but to think that part of the market is heavily saturated.
Instead, my plan is to sell practical, although well designed, products. Goods such as humidors (either custom made, blank and regal, or one designed to look like you stole it from Fidel Castro, for example), two-tone bottle openers (heard about a local guy on Instagram making hundreds of these, pricing at around $10-$15, and constantly selling out. I wouldn't steal his thunder on this, just putting the idea out there), custom jewelry boxes, things like that. But that's what I would sell as B2C.
As far as B2B goes, I noticed there are some local, independently owned cafes popping up all around my region. In order to expand my customer base, I mused the idea of making wooden napkin holders, possibly wooden mugs, but I'd like to look into the best method to protecting the mugs from coffee, water, and soap, vs. keeping them safe for customers to drink from. I could also build tables, chairs, perhaps a counter/bar.
Here's why I'm a bit hesitant to even jump into this:
Getting started with this will require nearly a total of $1100 in tools. I practiced very good money-saving habits over the last year, so this $1100 is not hurting me to the point where I can't live my life as I normally would. Still, $1100 is $1100.
Search the [HASHTAG]#Woodworking[/HASHTAG] hashtag on Instagram, you'll find ~1M posts...imagine just how many of these people are cranking out high quality goods for who knows how much? Am I just paranoid and needlessly worrying, or are there really an overwhelming amount of players in this industry? Can I actually compete with these people?
This probably isn't the right question to ask, but is this something I can turn into a fastlane? I've browsed different woodworking forums and I seldom find anything that answers that question. If anyone has experience in earning an income from woodworking, please enlighten me a bit.
Thank you for everyone who took the time to read this, I greatly appreciate this and any advice you have to give.
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