Cutting Board Business

[Bob Varney]

I think this guy (MTMWOOD) is Russian and has web site sells all over the globe.

Bob

[Matt Day]

I have to disagree with the comparisons. My wife is a physician and sees different cases everyday; they are all different. My BIL and SIL are lawyers.

Making cutting boards is 5 basic things (milling, Ripping, gluing, planing/sanding, and finishing) that occur and over with the only difference being how you arrange the sticks of wood and the type of wood. To me, that would get mind numbingly boring.

But you're right in that that is pretty much the way the craft fair scene must work. You have a few items that you make and sell, over and over. If I were you and went that direction, I'd use it as a means to capture the high end clients and try to get that better paying custom business.

[Kent Adams]

I have to disagree with the comparisons. My wife is a physician and sees different cases everyday; they are all different. My BIL and SIL are lawyers.

Making cutting boards is 5 basic things (milling, Ripping, gluing, planing/sanding, and finishing) that occur and over with the only difference being how you arrange the sticks of wood and the type of wood. To me, that would get mind numbingly boring.

But you're right in that that is pretty much the way the craft fair scene must work. You have a few items that you make and sell, over and over. If I were you and went that direction, I'd use it as a means to capture the high end clients and try to get that better paying custom business.

Agree the high end might be the best way to go.

[Dave Cav]

My mom and dad did the craft fair thing for a few years after he retired. This was in the '90s and they were making, for lack of a better term "rustic Americana" stuff from boxes up to shelves and small cabinets. They were modestly successful, but craft shows eat up an ENORMOUS amount of time for not a lot of return; if he had not been retired first from the military and then from teaching, there's no way he could have done it. Finally after a few years he just started wholesaling all of his stock to a few stores that specialized in that sort of thing and and made what sold.

And as far as Etsy is concerned, there are a LOT of people selling cutting boards there.

With regards to end grain cutting boards, a wide belt sander is really the way you need to go if you are after any kind of serious production.

I'm a shop teacher. We make a ton of cutting boards and clipboards (the clipboards are just a cutting board that has been resawn into two or three blanks). Everyone is very impressed with them, but no one is knocking my door down for us to make custom boards. They're very happy if we give them one, though.

[peter Joseph]

Threadjack aside....

You do have to see if there is a market for what you want to produce at the pricepoint you want to sell at. The primary reason small businesses fail is due to a lack of consideration to the aforementioned question. Years back, at the height of the cigar craze, I was making and selling as many humidors as I could produce via craft fairs (in wealthy areas). It was only for fun and as the demand took a nosedive, so did my interest in continuing to make humidors.

When it comes to cutting boards, most people could care less if its finely crafted from beautiful stock, or a piece of bamboo. Even then, I've made several myself and always grab the composite board for chopping bc it can go in the dishwasher and is easier to thoroughly clean. I think you're looking for people to tell you this is a good idea, however, I personally do not think it is. Sorry. Talk to people about what they want and you'll be sure to get some direction. My non-woodworking business is in a very highly saturated area and outperforms all of my competitors. The niche I fill was extracted by talking to consumers in the area to see what they want and werent able to find.
Good luck

[Kent Adams]

Peter, how would you go about discovering what people want? What methods have you used to discover an unfilled need in the market?

[John A langley]

Kent I have a cabinet shop behind my house I'm getting to the age where I don't want to build Full set of kitchens anymore I don't want to give up working I enjoying it ,My son has a mortgage company He came to me and asked me to make some breadboards that he could give to his clients so I made 30 now he wants 40 more . I know I fell into this my point is there are hidden markets out there The upside for me is I have all the equipment to do this efficiently, i've watched all of MTM videos and he makes very interesting boards yes he is Russian and sales all over the world he glues a spoil board on the end of his end grain boards and cuts it off after he runs it through the planer

[Don Jarvie]

How about making a few items and sell them at a Christmas Bazaar this year and see how you do.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Go over to NC Woodworker, and contact "Boardsmith." He recently closed his cutting board business. He could tell you the pitfalls, and joys, as he's "been there, done it".

[Kent Adams]

Thanks Bruce, will do!!!

[Kent Adams]

Bruce, I couldn't find his posts via the search there. Can you PM?

[Kent Adams]

Thanks John for that incite. That is an area I have also thought about.

[Jim Finn]

If you're just selling boxes, why would someone ask you about a cutting board or are you selling a number of different items and boxes just happen to be one? Also, what is the range in cost for the booths at the shows you attend?

I make and sell many items but over 1/2 of my sales are in $20 boxes. I also sell intarsia, wall hung stars, crosses, walking sticks, toys and wall plaques. Most have images or lettering inlaid into them. Prices range from $125- $5. I find it hard to sell anything that costs over $25. I found out what sells by offering many items at a price I like and see what works. I started making toys and $125 trunks and tried making small cedar boxes with the cut-offs from them. I no longer make the trunks and sell over 300 boxes a year. I think the reason I was asked if I made cutting boards is because of the variety of wooden items I do make. The cost of the booths I use range from $15 to $60. There are some for over $350 but I do not do those sales. I have done a few $500 orders for custom stuff but just a few.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Bruce, I couldn't find his posts via the search there. Can you PM?

Go over to NC Woodworker and in upper right corner, enter the word Boardsmith. This will get you to a thread that is either about him, or by him. From there you can send him a PM. You may have to join to use PM function, but dues are great- You have to live, be from, work or plan to in NC or one of the surrounding states.

[Ted Reischl]

Here is an example of your competition:

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/shop/...type=gnav&N=51

You can rest assured that anyone looking to buy a wooden cutting board in the price ranges being discussed is going to know about places like W-S. And that is where the challenge starts.

People LIKE to buy from high end stores if they have the money.
They FEEL good walking out the door with that W-S shopping bag in their fists. It is like an advertisement "I just bought high end cooking gear. . ." AKA "conspicuous consumption".
They LIKE the idea that if they have any problems they can walk into that store and receive excellent customer service.
Having a brand on that board like "Boos" makes a statement in their kitchen to their friends "look at me".

So, you had better start thinking about what would make YOUR cutting boards more desirable since Boos, et al are not going to go away anytime soon if ever.

When you get into a price point like that for a kitchen item, being $10 cheaper won't make a difference because people buying higher end items are not price sensitive. If they were, they would be buying plastic boards for 1/10 the price.

Which brings up a point, having a wooden cutting board is not a must have item. In fact, most of the cooking shows will eventually mention how plastic boards are so much safer because they can be cleaned in a dishwasher. And yes, I am aware of studies that indicate that is not true, but it does not matter to the consumer if they heard Alton Brown say so, he is an expert, you are nothing more than a woodworker trying to sell a product.

Frankly, making wooden cutting boards would be one of the last things I would consider marketing, if ever.