There’s nothing quite like the rewarding feeling of being able to make a living from your passion.
If you’ve been honing your woodworking abilities and creating pieces of which you’re proud, then why not shoot your shot?
With a big jump in the rate of new businesses being set up in the UK last year, you wouldn’t be alone in feeling the urge to make a go of it.
Here are a few things that you’ll need to consider in order to get going.
Consider Different Woodworking Business Ideas
If you are going to set up a woodworking business, first of all, you have to determine the type of your business.
There are different types of woodworking businesses, such as custom furniture businesses, craft businesses, cabinetry businesses, carpentry businesses, woodworking incubators, or businesses that focused on finishing work.
Once you will determine the type of your business, you can understand the demand for that particular product or service in your area and recognize the market competition.
Understand The Market
You’re almost certainly starting small – likely with no staff other than yourself – so you can’t expect to be able to do everything at once.
Your best bet is to identify a smaller niche in which you can make a name for yourself. Identifying the ideal target market for you is important to make your woodworking business successful.
Consider what might be a good specialization with which to market yourself, but inform that by researching what might be in demand both locally and globally.
For example, is there another, well-established crafter of tables near you? If so, you might be better off leaning into a different niche – bookcases, perhaps, or beds.
Create A Woodworking Business Plan
It is important to build a comprehensive plan for your woodworking business so that you can identify what you need to establish and run your business and organize all the activities.
You should also recognize the potential challenges that you might face to establish your business.
As a business owner, you will face plenty of obstacles from the community and any many other areas.
Having an effective plan will help you organize yourself and find out ways to overcome all the obstacles and challenges.
Prepare Your Workshop
When you know what products you’re going to be crafting and selling, it’s time to make sure that you have everything that you need to deliver on that promise.
You’ll likely already have many of the tools that you need but, if not, now’s the time to stock up on key pieces of equipment like glue guns, saws and vices – plus suitable storage for all of those things.
You’re going to be spending a lot of time here, so invest in a space that meets your needs; it’ll be worth it.
Figure Out Your Budget
Budgeting and finding funding sources are the two important financial components for setting up your own business.
You have to calculate all the costs for starting your business, including costs associated with licensing, for purchasing essential equipment and tools, liability insurance costs, daily operation costs, employee costs, taxes, and not to forget paying yourself.
Once you have calculated the total budget, now you have to identify all the funding sources.
When you clearly know from where you are going to get all the money., you can continue to set up your business.
Get The Paperwork Right
First of all, you have to pick a name for your business and register the domain name.
The exciting part of setting up your business is actually creating work of which you’re proud – but, of course, there are plenty of less exciting things that also need to be done if you’re taking it seriously.
There are legal obligations that come with setting up a woodworking company, like registering your company with the government and obtaining any relevant degrees of insurance.
It’s also important to draw up a fully costed business plan that will guide your investment and growth, realistically assessing what you can achieve.
Build AA Legal Structure For Your Business
When it comes to starting your own business, you have to focus on all the legalities and meet all the legal requirements.
Based on the nature of your business, you may have employees and be working at the client’s home.
You will be liable if anybody including your employees gets hurt during work. There are different ways you can build a legal structure for your business, such as sole proprietorship, limited liability company, partnership, and corporation.
In a sole proprietorship, the owner will solely be responsible for debt and other actions taken against the company.
In the case of a partnership, all the partner owners will be responsible for all the potential risks.
An LLC offers liability protection for the owner of a business when instantaneously providing pass-through taxation.
Many owners of woodworking businesses prefer to build their business as a limited liability corporation due to the sharp risk of workplace injury, property damage, and product liability.
Lastly, the corporation will offer you tax benefits and limited liability protection. You should also focus on obtaining licenses, tax forms, permits, and insurance for your business.
Assemble Materials
If you’re going to be upping your output by turning your hobby into a profession, you’ll need to identify a reliable supplier of raw materials.
Customers will expect to be buying items that don’t easily damage or break, so it’s important to be working with high-quality wood – not to mention the fact that it’ll make things easier for you to get on with your job, too.
Now, you have to find a location for your company, purchase equipment, tools, and materials, and implement the business system.
To maintain your business well, you should follow ethical and safety practices in your organization.
Lastly, you should have a pricing structure for your business. There’s plenty to do when setting up a new business but, if you’ve got the confidence to back yourself to make a success of it, then it’s worth the effort.
Putting in the work upfront is the best way to set yourself up for success.
