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Thread: Making a Living Woodworking

  1. #61
    The way I was able to have a woodworking career, and make a living at it was to build houses. Any time I had the extra time I built the cabinets. Got so I did most of the carpentry work on the entire job. I was very good at math, and could do an estimate of the cost of a house in a couple evenings, and never lost money on a job over the 25 years I did build jobs.

  2. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by John T Barker View Post
    Thanks for that. I don't think my situation was unique, to be honest. My employer, Irion Company Furnituremakers, made a very good living in this area making 18th century reproductions and antique restoration. Many of the people that left the company did well on their own, some very well. I found clients quickly, was used to talking to clients (I was lead salesman for Irion) and got more than a few high dollar pieces. I worked in a garage too and found that there were some advantages to a one man shop but many disadvantages as well.

    I think that part of the problem with this discussion is a lack of perspective. How many people here know what the OP can and wants to make? How many are willing to work for only $30-40,000 a year? How many have ever given pro ww a try? Giving advice about a subject you know little about and have never tried is easy but...not worth much.
    "Giving advice about a subject you know little about and have never tried is easy but...not worth much"

    Good luck with that one.
    smack.jpeg

  3. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by jack duren View Post
    "Giving advice about a subject you know little about and have never tried is easy but...not worth much"

    Good luck with that one.
    Since you are quoting me here I thought I would ask...what are you saying here please?

  4. #64
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    Just giving you a hard time. You'll find professional or not the masses will post. I often wonder if it's because they read it some where, a gut feeling or it makes them feel important..

    Making a living or dreaming of making a living as a woodworker seems to make everyone a pro on the subject.

  5. #65
    Be sure to watch this before quitting your day job; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBi4zroEj1w. If you do take the plunge, this one will help you to deal with your clients; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9hIXiM-yrY.

  6. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by jack duren View Post
    You'll find professional or not the masses will post.
    Right you are, and I did post. Any thread that asks for an opinion is always going to get a response from the masses. No actual knowledge or experience is required to express an opinion. I'm proof of that.
    Cody


    Logmaster LM-1 sawmill, 30 hp Kioti tractor w/ FEL, Stihl 290 chainsaw, 300 bf cap. Solar Kiln

  7. #67
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    I read a story of a Japanese blacksmith from the early 20th century who worked for his father. He put in a few hours for drinking money and didn't take the work too seriously until his father was hospitalized and he needed to earn a real living for his family.

    His approach; if a customer was paying $100 for a product he would deliver them a $300 product. In each and every instance he was turning a customer into a client and getting their business for life.

    Your work and the people who purchase it from you are your salesmen when you are not around. Either they're telling people not too bother or telling them to only deal with you.

    Walk onto a sales floor and you will see the difference between people who can make six figures and people who can barely make a living all doing the same job for the same hours.

    I've worked in sales for the past 8 years, my only requirement was pride in the products I sold, that enthusiasm would always carry over to the client. As a sole proprietor of a woodworking shop you will be a salesman who happens to woodwork, if you love the work and want them to have your best work then they see that.

    The talent of men like George Nakashima and Sam Maloof that no one talks about is their ability to sell. When you watch interviews with Maloof what did he talk about? He talks about his interesting client stories, times when he went over and above for his clients and how much he loves to woodwork....that is a salesman.
    Last edited by Brian Holcombe; 05-01-2016 at 10:32 AM.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  8. #68
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    I've never discounted advice I have received from a hobby woodworker here as most have experience from their day jobs that is more often then not valuable. Lots of accountants, lawyers, engineers, and other businessmen and women here whose input has been much appreciated. Even woodworking topics can often bring excellent advice from the novice woodworkers as they often have a unique perspective and varied level of expertise in broad areas of the craft. I have picked up a ton of excellent shop tricks from people who were asking questions that got me thinking about the way I have been doing things for a long time...mine were not necessarily the most innovative ways to go about certain tasks.

  9. #69
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Bridge View Post
    Is it possible to make a living woodworking out of my garage making small projects and selling them at flea markets or other places?

    I have a bandsaw, router table, planer, miter saw, table saw, spindle sander, drill press and an assortment of hand tools.

    I am tired or working for electrical contractors and would like to go into a new direction.
    You have the basic tools I suppose, but do you know how to use them efficiently in order to make profitable small projects enough to make a living now? I don't know but I doubt it, not because of you or your skills, but because small projects mean small $$ value and limited profit potential. Ie : lots of labor, probably expensive material = low margin -- low margin means you need high volume -- high volume means you have to work even more. I think this is a no win situation. You need to stress value and quality at a low volume. You need a niche that is unique and special in some way. You need customers with disposable income. You need time to develop no matter what. If you had asked if its possible to make a living doing woodworking, then the answer is certainly yes, given the above. Just get started, don't quit your day job, find a niche, aim for the high value market, and give things time to develop. Maybe in 5 years time if things go well you could be there

  10. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cody Colston View Post
    Right you are, and I did post. Any thread that asks for an opinion is always going to get a response from the masses. No actual knowledge or experience is required to express an opinion. I'm proof of that.
    It doesn't really matter. I work for a furniture company 40hrs a week but have my own shop to build the things that are interest to me. I worked full time out of my shop building cabinet for contractors for several years but got caught in the crash.

    It's been mentioned many times."Don't turn your hobby into a job" The job is fun at times but its still a job. What I do in my shop is always fun. But when i worked in my shop as a cabinet maker it wasn't always.

    I love woodworking. I love fishing and poker playing but the woodworking pays better...

  11. #71
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    Great thread. Love those youtube videos.

  12. #72
    I think the biggest problem here that Jack is pointing out, is the illusion that your gross income is remotely close to your take home. If you can turn a 10% margin you're doing pretty well. You want to take home $50k? You're going to have to net over $70 to pay the taxes. Let's be optimistic and say you have a 20% margin. You're going to have to bump three hundred and fifty thousand dollars out the door to get that $50k.
    Last edited by Martin Wasner; 05-02-2016 at 7:18 PM.

  13. #73
    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    Just get started, don't quit your day job, find a niche, aim for the high value market, and give things time to develop. Maybe in 5 years time if things go well you could be there
    This is good advise.

    What I would add, is that it can be very helpful to have a job in a related trade that feeds you side jobs, in a way that is mutually beneficial to you, the client, and your primary employer.
    Last edited by James W Glenn; 05-16-2016 at 7:56 PM.

  14. #74
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    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Wasner View Post
    I think the biggest problem here that Jack is pointing out, is the illusion that your gross income is remotely close to your take home. If you can turn a 10% margin you're doing pretty well. You want to take home $50k? You're going to have to net over $70 to pay the taxes. Let's be optimistic and say you have a 20% margin. You're going to have to bump three hundred and fifty thousand dollars out the door to get that $50k.

    I'm not saying this is wrong Martin, I'm just asking because to me it seems off? I don't own and business and never have.......but for the OP to make a living out of his garage expecting $50k a year or so he has to sell $350k in woodworking?

  15. #75
    Hmm, not exactly. If you have a 10% profit margin, then that doesn't necessarily mean that your profit is the only money you have that's take home. If you are turning a profit (at 10% or whatever %) then that's where your true "profit" is, but if you're doing the math right then part of the expense column is your actual labor. So you would be making _$/hr or day, week, etc at a certain labor rate included as part of your expenses. Now what that actually is depends on many factors and how much labor actually goes into what you're making/selling. It could be $5/hr when the math is all said and done....or more hopefully.

    What comes from Gross - (minus) Expenses is your actual profit. In many cases, some of profit that would go back into the business each year as "re-investing" so that you could still see some benefit from it, be able to write more stuff off taxes, and not have to pay taxes on all of your profit. Or that could be your vacation fund, or whatever because as a sole business owner, there isn't anybody giving you paid sick or vacation time that you accumulate at the end of the year.
    Last edited by Phillip Mitchell; 05-16-2016 at 9:47 PM.

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