I build furniture and cabinets as a second job. I stay busy about 11 months a year. Since I have a full time job and don’t need the shop $$ to pay my bills, and work 600+ hrs a year in my shop I usually welcome a little time off. I now have many irons in the fire, but no actual deposits from customers. I’ve got plenty of Christmas gifts to build so I’m still spending quite a bit of time in the shop.
My questions is..
For those of you out there making a living from your woodshop, has the declining economy effected your business, and if so, how much?
Thanks,
GRW
Replies
I've been dead in the water since mid-October. My business is ~75% referrals and ~25% from Craigslist posts. For the past five years, my Craigslist ads have always generated at least a couple of responses, but there has been zero response from last three ads.
The two vendors I use for materials and hardware have told me that they're spending most of their days trying to keep busy 'cause they aren't getting much business.
On the upside, I just finished a new cabinet for my contractor style TS, and tore the saw completely down for some much needed cleaning and maintenance. My only other "project" right now is building some artsy-craftsy Xmas gifts for SWMBO.
It's been a little slow for the past month or so, but it has allowed me time to do much needed improvements to my shop infrastructure.
I have a couple of large projects for the first quarter of next year so I haven't been to worried about it yet. Hopefully the doom and gloom will subside some before I work myself out of a job.
Lucky for me, I'm a one man show and I don't need a high volume of work to keep me busy.
Regards,
Matt
http://www.oldgreenwoodworking.com
It's a little slow for me also but I blame it on the holidays coming up. I normally have work until the end of November and shut down until mid march to do much needed maintenance, inventory, taxes and design work for new projects. I have two projects for design, sofa table and chest of drawers, due in April. After that, it's any ones guess until after the holidays.
Sorry to hear it's slow for you all. Hope it picks up soon. Like I said earlier, I have irons in the fire. I basically turned away a project this week because I couldn't complete the project by Christmas. The customer still wants me to do the work, but now it will be built next year sometime. My other irons of the fire are kitchens cabinet projects. I should get one of those jobs. When I don't know. I have a couple of weeks worth of Christmas gifts to build. So the dust is still flying here for now.
I am also doing it part time, but I have been busier in the last month than during the summer. I am working on one project with two more waiting in line.
Jim
Great Jim.. I hope the work keeps coming your way. Share some pics of your work if you have time.
GRW:
I haven't noticed any slow down at all. We do custom work for mostly pretty well to do clients and we're booked up till mid summer with work. I know our hardwood supplier is seeing some slow down but everybody out here in the mountains seems to be busy.
Madison
Madison,
I hope this trend continues for you. My shop mostly services the upper middle class. I still have work now, but no backlog. This is only a part time gig for me, and I have irons in the fire. So I'm OK for now. But my fulltime employer is laying off by the hundreds now. It's a matter if time before my time is up there.
GRW:
Stay positive my friend! I've always found opportunity when others weren't looking so take a good look around and I'll bet you can find those opportunities as well!
Do you belong to your town's Chamber of Commerce? I've found this to be a great networking tool for my business. Doesn't always lead directly to a job but the folks I meet know people and those people know people.
Enjoy!
Madison
I'm in the Midwest, and cater to upper middle class homeowners, as well. For the first time since I've been in business, business is slow. I had two large cabinet jobs both get cancelled on me when the stock market took a nose dive off the 10th floor, and they have both told me that they are waiting until things get better.
I have many friends in the trades, and all that I have talked to are taking jobs that they wouldn't have even bid 4 or 5 years ago. They are complaining about too many 'days off', and the local pubs are full around 2:00 PM. It's never a good sign to drive by the local gin mill and see contractor trucks and vans parked there.
With two kids in college, I'm bidding remodeling jobs for the first time in 10 years, just to keep the $$ coming in. I finished a fireplace mantel for a customer yesterday, and when I deliver it tomorrow, I have no new irons in the fire or the first time in over 20 years.
Jeff
Edited 11/24/2008 1:30 pm ET by JeffHeath
Jeff,I hope things pick up for you soon. I have 1 in collage and a 2nd starting in 18 months or so. I have an idea what that can be like.Best of luck to you..
GRW, I have been in it for 20+ yrs with two slow downs,..but nothing as slow as it is at the time.I keep trying to look at the positive side of things..this will take some time but customers will start with projects again. So in the meantime clean out old wood ,old junk,work on shop roof etc.. but not producing the $ makes me nervous,so in the meantime after the repairs I will be building a spec piece to hopefully sell in time. Good Luck to all. rickk
Rickk,Good luck with the spec piece. That's a good idea. How will you market this work, gallery, web site, ect?
Hi GRW, I have a buddy with an old barn/store/shop with a high traffic count in a country setting.I have sold quite a bit thru his shop. But you never can tell how long the pc will set,sometimes its two weeks.. sometimes a year or more,and with this economy....well who knows. Did get a two part order yesterday thou. Later rickk
Great Rickk. Hope the orders keep coming in for you.
Bump
A very reliable client couple had planned to purchase a house for their son and wanted some extensive remodeling, but they haven't been heard from for about three weeks. Normally this is the time of year when jobs come in as people prepare for the holidays, but there is nothing in the offing at the moment. My last big job ended in early Septmeber.
Heartwould,Good luck with this slow period. Hope work comes your way soon. Are you advertising any, and if so, how?
When I first started I advertised in a small newspaper with little to no results. Nearly everything that I have had since then has been through referrals. The big job this past summer came through a general contractor who called a friend who gave the contractor my name and number. Work hasn't always been steady, but it has always been timely!
GRW & All ,
The declining economy has in general made for a much smaller pie slice or group of now spending clients to service .
I'm in So. Oregon about 1/3 or so retired 1/3 or so Blue collar service and the other third is health care and school systems .
The retired who got hit in the market just lost income per month , the Blue collars that want to refi and redo the kitchen and bathrooms are out of work in many cases .
I just completed a decent Cherry kitchen that I was on for 90 days , during that time another large job came my way but they wanted it sooner then I could , I referred a shop ,and another smaller one but no future starts or back log of 2 - 3 months as usual .
I called a few back that had needed small stuff while I was covered up and one many times client not only wants the dumb shelf in the laundry room but also a small Stickley like piece of furniture to hold a wide screen TV . A call or referral came yesterday for cabinets in a new house , so far only a conversation waiting for plans to be faxed . I promised to repair some chairs for a good client when I had time and a few others that will help keep the Wolves away another month or two .
Instead of advertising in a down market for those already established in business I would suggest calling by phone 4 or 6 clients that you did nice jobs for and ask them if all the work is still fine or does anything need your attention you would be happy to come out and take care of it . You just may find that they have been meaning to call you because they need a new humahamma .
Talk to other shops in your area , see whats up maybe when they know you do stairwells they will refer you .
Continue to do your best and treat your clients the way they deserve to be treated , now is no time to withhold professionalism .
dusty
Edited 11/26/2008 5:39 pm ET by oldusty
OldDusty,
Good thoughts. Thanks, and best of luck for future work.
Not good. I have been starting a business over the past few months and many interested parties have been scared away. The people who have bought my furniture love it and referrals are great. Still, I am not being kept busy. Thank goodness for the regular job still.
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sid
Sid,
Hope things pick up for you. The day job helps during startup I've learned. It's tough out there right now. I don't know how much longer I'll have my day job. Big cutbacks are in progress. Been there 24+ years. I may be a fulltime woodworker soon.
Dusty had some good ideas earlier in this thread. Check 'em out. And best of luck keeping busy.
GRW
Thanks. I left a horrible corporate management job that I despised. I had planned on doing the furniture thing full time but I found it much harder to start it than a business I had previously. Still, I have a day job I like now and that helps relieve the financial strain.Sid
This is far from over, in fact we are in a “dead cat bounce” right now, or a “W” shaped recovery just like 1982. None of the fundamentals are in place for recovery; in fact demand is still down worldwide. The Baltic Dry-goods Index (BDI) of shipping is still in the gutter and shows no signs of getting better. 2010-11 is going to be bad, very, very bad.
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