5 Tips on How To Start a Woodworking Business

When we were planning this video, we made a massive list of tips, some of which deserve to be on this list. There is really only some much time in these videos and this blog, so we have had to leave out so many other good tips. If you like this topic and want to learn more, then please comment below or on the video letting us know! Here's a link to how we got started if you are interested in that too! Now, let's hop into 5 Tips on How To Start a Woodworking Business

Tip 1 - Do work for almost FREE at first to build a portfolio

When you are getting started, one of the most challenging parts is getting your first big clients. You are probably thinking that you should build up a small portfolio before approaching the big guys, but you would be wrong. This can be a massive mistake because in my experience clients typically hangout with people of similar interests and status. You will get referred if you do quality work and most importantly stay under budget and on time. So, If you can find a way to get one big client, do good work, then more big clients will follow. These big clients could be business owners, real estate agencies, and wealthy individuals. Typically this area will produce the most income for a one or two-man team woodshop. The way you skip to the front of the line is by offering you work at a heavily discounted rate. Think of this as paying for advertising with your labor. Tell the client straight up that you are just starting out and need to build your portfolio up. You will build something they want at just the cost of materials. We did this multiple times for a local coffee shop in our town. The coffee shop attracted many of the people we were targeting and they didn’t have a big budget for custom furniture or display. It was a Win-Win. We started by offering the shop to make things at cost and eventually made a few more things at a small profit. The point was never to make money from these builds because honestly, we probably would’ve never gotten them to say yes to our full rate. This did, however, put our work in prime real estate in front of hundreds of potential clients daily. We are friends with many of the employees and spend a good amount of time in the shop. Whenever someone asks where they got something or compliments a serving tray, they are typically responded to with a mention of Woodbrew. This has genuinely made us tens of thousands of dollars. Lululemon was looking for a location for a pop-up store and sent two people to our town scouting it out. They passed through the coffee shop and asked who they had build their display backdrop… and that was us. A few weeks later we got a DM asking us to build out the Lululemon pop up store. This works. 

Tip 2 - Build relationships within your community

This brings us to the second tip. Build your personal brand within the community. Make this a priority. People need to know who you are and constantly hear your name. This doesn’t mean show up to every function or introduce yourself to every person you meet. I mean getting to know the community first and then slowing injecting yourself. This doesn’t happen overnight, but if successful, people will recommend you and want to help you. So how do you do this? Plan on working in a public space like a coffee shop on days you have computer work. Get there early and observe people. You will find other people working or talking about things you enjoy. When appropriate, introduce yourself to them. Many times this will lead to exposure to a larger group of similar minded people. These groups can help get your name out, build your personal brand, be a great place to bounce ideas around and provide the social interaction we all need. I struggle with this big time. Molly and I are introverts, but more business and good ideas have come from people we’ve met than anything else. Lastly, don’t preach to people, instead enter a conversation with a genuine question. People don’t like people telling them how they should think.

Tip 3 - Buy Used Equipment and invest in your business

Don’t hesitate to invest in your business. We spent roughly 80% of our income the first two years of business just reinvesting back into the business. Purchasing tools, software, advertising, contracted labor, and education will all pay dividends in your efficiency and ultimately success. At some point, you will need to create a budget to maximize profit, but when starting out, just focus on reinvesting. The best way to do this is by purchasing used tools and upgrading them as you go along. Tools retain value, so use them, sell them, and upgrade as you go. In the same way that it’s wise to buy a used car, the same goes for tools. There are exceptions of course, but this is a great way to get started. At some point buying new tools will become easily justifiable and that’s a great place to get to. You can look for used tools on Facebook marketplace, craigslist, yard sales, and even on Amazon under the renewed section. I purchased my Mac Book pro through this at a fraction of the normal cost. I will link it below.

Tip 4 - Build Self Confidence

In order to do some of these other tips and to have the motivation to get through tough times, you need to develop self-confidence. For many people, this is the toughest part of starting a business. This doesn’t mean you need to be a head honcho boss that’s great at public speaking and wears obnoxiously high heels to insinuate their dominance. It means believing in yourself no matter what anyone else says. If someone is telling you that it won’t work or that it needs to be done a specific way, chances are they heard it on a YouTube channel and have never successfully implemented it themselves. Look at the people giving you advice and ask yourself if your ultimate goal is to end up just like them. Absorb feedback sure, but don’t change your path just because some gut said to go this way. In order to build self-confidence, you need to overcome adversity or set a goal and achieve it. This takes discipline. You only need the feeling once though. Make a commitment to yourself that you will achieve a small goal. Don’t tell anyone that goal and just make it happen. It could be anything. Something as simple as losing 5 or 10 pounds. Seriously something just super simple. If you think there is something holding you back, then you just have the wrong mindset. If you are young or have a disadvantage, use this to your advantage. Napoleon Hill talks about this in his book Think and Grow Rich. His son was a deaf-mute but became a highly successful salesman through using his disposition to his advantage. Whenever you are doing something unique and are disadvantaged for whatever reason, know that people will see your success not as pity, but as ahh inspiring. USE this to your advantage and don’t let it define you. My distinct disadvantage was being extremely young with little experience in a profession dominated by successful middle-aged men. I was often overlooked on a construction site or not taken seriously when pitching a proposal. Whenever I delivered on something, I was praised though. “Look at that kid, he designed and built the entire front counter” Followed usually by “Wow, I wish I had that much drive as a kid. I was too busy partying with friends”. This will get people fired up to help you succeed. We all love a good underdog story. Don’t be ashamed of exploiting your disadvantages, be proud of it. 

Tip 5 - Invest in yourself

If I had to give one piece of advice to anyone, it would be to constantly invest in yourself. This means building good habits, creating routines, sorting out your finances, traveling to see new things, and most importantly never stop learning new things. 

Your health is so important and will directly influence your well being, motivation, and success. You don’t have to run a marathon or anything, but committing to 15 min of cardio three days a week would be a great start. Find something that you’ve always wanted to do and go for it. Maybe that’s running a 5k, doing a sprint triathlon, bench pressing 135lbs (That’s one 45lb plate on each side), or waking up at 6:00 am daily. Whatever the goal is set one and work towards achieving it. You will need a process though. For instance, running a 5k if you can’t currently run a mile is a huge step. That huge step will make you compare yourself to something you can’t currently do. The comparison trap will end up making you abandon your goal. Instead set the main goal and forget about it. Find a training plan online for training for a 5k. It will likely be a 6-8 week program that involves running only 3-4 days a week and walking when you need to. This is your process. Forget about the goal and work the process. The small achievements within the process will fuel you to eventually achieving the main goal. For me, I am setting a goal today to run a 5k in under 20min. I was training consistently before the pandemic but recently have been a bit of a slob. I am actually in the worst shape I’ve been in for probably 2 years. It’s time to change that. Molly has decided to join me in the goal and go for running her first 5k. Up until now, Molly has only been able to run 2 miles without stopping and has dreamed of running a full 5k. She too is in pretty poor shape compared to last year and is on a mission to change that. If you’d like to join us in the pursuit of the first time 5k or PR we’ve created a group on Discord. Use this link to join the group. We can hold each other accountable and succeed together. We will be there to answer any questions you have and to root you along. The process will take 6 weeks and we encourage you to join. 

This mythology of forgetting about your big goals and focusing on the process comes from Jeff Hayden’s book The Motivation Myth and in my opinion, is a must-read. If you into reading, check out the audiobook on Audible. You can use this link to get two free books (https://amzn.to/2Zi1ECq). Not sponsored, but I used someone's Audible link years ago to get two free books and have since paid for a membership and enjoy the platform immensely. I tend to listen to books anytime I'm in the car, on my bike, or for 30min before bed. I tell Alexa to set a sleep timer, and she turns off in 30min. It's an excellent habit to form. I recommend Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill for the second book. These books mesh well together back to back. Start with The Motivation Myth because it's shorter. 

One last thing, investing in education like online courses, reading books, podcasts, and watching YouTube videos about what you want to learn. Never stop furthering your education or learning something new. I’m currently taking a Skillshare course on how to type because I never learned how to properly. This seems silly and above me, but Is a foundational skill that has the potential to make me a far more productive person even if I look silly learning it. Not sponsored, but you can use this link and get 2 free months of Skillshare. This is an outstanding platform that I pay for and use almost daily.