Woodworking as a Business
Today I figured I would talk about what life has been like the past month or so for me running a small and brand-new custom woodworking business.
First off, everyone knows that the economy has slowed down considerably, and may or may not be nearing a recession. The good thing for me is that I began this business after the economy had already slowed down, so I don’t know what business was like, or could have been like a couple of years ago. I say that is a good thing for two reasons. The first reason is hopefully a number of larger operations will have moved on to other areas in the industry that I do not meddle in, or will have shut down, thereby shrinking the number of competitors I have to compete against. The second reason is that, even in a tighter economy, if I can develop and grow a loyal client base and make a living, then once the economy picks back up again I should be golden.
So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the first month of operation was spent cold calling and introducing myself to a myriad of interior designers and remodeling contractors, and building a custom coffee table for a local furniture competition. The next three and a half months, mid-April through July, was spent quoting, designing, and building six projects. I was so busy in fact that I had no time to continue to market my company or product, and the month of August has shown that.
Things have been slow around the J. Alexander shop. It can get very frustrating to be a brand new business and have such huge shifts in demand. One month I quote and am awarded three projects and two months later I am scrambling for business.
There is a silver lining on the clouds though. I was talking to my wife the other day about some of the stress and frustrations lately and she really helped me put everything into perspective and show me that everything is not doom and gloom. The lack of work has given me a chance to design some new marketing material (brochure, web site, and business card), and contact dozens of new wholesale accounts around the state. I have also had enough money in the business savings, given my prior workload, to continue to pay myself for the past month. I also do have seven quotes out to customers, and when I stop to think about it, if three of them are confirmed in the next week or so, which is actually a very high possibility, I will be stressing out because I have too much work.
It can be difficult, when running a business, especially a start-up, not to live in the moment and let your emotions dictate your mood. My wife and I learned all about that running our own bookstore/coffeehouse. You have to look at the entire month, maybe even an entire quarter, to get a feel for how business is going, rather than looking at each individual day or week.
So, wish me and my liitle shop luck, and I will continue to keep everyone posted.