Any advice for making some money from woodworking?

[Gary S]

Good afternoon all,

My wife's just had a baby and has given up work and I'm not likely to get a promotion any time soon, so I'd love to be able to make some extra money through woodworking.

It's a big hobby of mine and something I would like to do instead of my day job (much more job satisfaction!) but I couldn't just give up my current job and GO FOR IT because I don't think the mortgage company would be too chuffed if I couldn't pay the mortgage...

So, my question is do any other people here make a reasonable second income from woodworking? Do any of you have good suggestions for things to make / ways to go about getting customers etc?

The things I have thought of already are:

- Placing an ad in the local A5 "Local Trader" type booklet for making radiator covers. I could make custom sized covers, perhaps specialising in childrens rooms (customise with names, favourite characters etc). Could probably sell them for about £125 each finished and fitted and if my shop was set up correctly it wouldn't take me too long to build them.

- Making some solid oak furniture (I've got a tree seasoning in my back garden...!) such as lamp tables, coffee tables and try selling them on ebay. Not sure how much they would go for but I could give it a go and see what people would be prepared to pay - from what I've seen quite simple, contemporary designs are going for reasonable sums of money and they are generally imported stuff. Some solid English oak hand crafted furniture would probably go down well, but with ebay you're never quite sure how successful it would be and I do feel it might 'devalue' the product a bit.

Any other thoughts / experiences / suggestions from you all?!

Cheers

Gary

 

[Adam]

Any other thoughts / experiences / suggestions from you all?! Cheers Gary

Write some magazine articles on the things you are building. Take good work-in-progress shots, and it'll pay for some additional tools/odd holiday etc.

Plenty of people on here have dipped there toe in - Steve Maskery, Philly, Tony..... the list is endless actually - I'll stop now in case I miss someone important and they take offense! - this forum must be keeping the projects section of most magazines alive!

Adam

 

[Gary S]

Write some magazine articles on the things you are building. Take good work-in-progress shots, and it'll pay for some additional tools/odd holiday etc.Adam

Adam,

Like the sound of that, but what's the best process to approach the magazines (approach them WITH an article or approach them ABOUT writing an article), and what mags are best to go for (are there good / bad ones to approach).

What approximate sum of money would they pay for articles then - are you talking a few hundred quid? If so that's much more than I thought it would be!

Cheers

Gary

 

[wizer]

Gary for your first article I would advise you write something up and then approach a magazine.

I think the articles get edited quite heavily by the mag after you have written them

As for making money as a sideline, it's been discussed at length before and I think the best advice is not to expect too much. Build for friends, family, colleagues, etc. Build a good word of mouth rep.

 

[Gary S]

I think the best advice is not to expect too much.

Absolutely - whilst I'd love to do it full time I realise that's not likely to be an option! Anything that supplements my income and helps to minimise of my wife's maternity leave will be very welcome!!

 

[Adam]

I'd contact them first - see what they say. They have preferences for photos - how to set them up - for lighting - how you are positioned in them - type of camera format etc. Or they may send someone out to you.

I'd suggest Andy King as a good starting point. Hes a nice chap and will give you all the in-depth information you need.

Adam

 

[Anonymous]

Gary

just contact one of the editors in a mag that appears to have proejcts at the level you intend to write. if your projects are aimed at.
Mark Ramuz is a good first contact although he can be hard to get hold of and doesn't answer emails too quickly

 

[Gary S]

Thanks for the advice, guys - I'll certainly give it a go.

Cheers

Gary

 

[Scrit]

Gary

Remember if you do make money from it you'll need to carry both product liability insurance and also (if you install) personal liability insurance. Not to have insurance could be a big headache if anything goes wrong

Scrit

 

[Gary S]

Gary

Remember if you do make money from it you'll need to carry both product liability insurance and also (if you install) personal liability insurance. Not to have insurance could be a big headache if anything goes wrong

Scrit

As ever from you, Scrit, a very sound piece of advice (if that sounds sarcastic it honestly isn't meant to!).

It wasn't something I'd thought about - but is definitely something I would have to do if I was selling and installing rad covers in peoples homes. Any guidance on what it might cost and the best places to get it from (or is that a "how long is a piece of string" type question...!).

Cheers

Gary

 

[ByronBlack]

How about selling that Oak of yours?

A serious suggestion though - Make some solid oak lamp tables, like the ones made from railway sleepers, these always go for good money on ebay and extremely easy to make.. just a big ol'lump of wood with some chamfering on the edges - or butt joint 4 pieces into a rectangular box and fill with something heavy, add a top and your done.

You could do fireplaces - much cheaper to make than buying from someone like B&Q (I'm doing one for my dear old mum).

Garden gates etc.. Can be made out of softwood as they get painted/stained - very quick to make a picket style gate and you could flog them quite cheaply and still make a profit.

Kitchen fitting? You could make up the cabinets and install..

Park benches - can sell to pubs, restuarants, hotels, parks, etc etc..

 

[Freetochat]

Wasn't a shop planned down your way for items to be displayed and sold on behalf of the maker. I don't know how far that idea was carried forward?

 

[Gary S]

How about selling that Oak of yours?

Been there, tried that, got slammed!! :lol:

A serious suggestion though ... snip

Some great suggestions there, particularly the lamp tables. Something that's quite quick to build, relatively simple and VERY saleable would be great.

Picnic tables for pubs / restaurants is a great idea too.

Plenty for me to think about there...

Cheers

Gary

 

[Steve Maskery]

Gary

1 Forget it.

2 OK, you'd like a longer, more constructive answer, would you?

To make money from woodwork, you do not have to be a good woodworker (although, of course, it does help somewhat!) but you DO have to be a businessman.

Doing a proper business plan for a venture is scary - I've done many, which is why I don't have a proper business, but I live in hope.

By all means write up your articles. Any of the mags will send you guidelines if you ask, they always want new blood. You'll need a decent camera and you'll also have to learn how to light your workshop. It's not always easy when cameras do all the exposure stuff for you. Windows are a pain and can wreck an otherwise nice photo.

You'll not get rich by writing. You might get £80 per page, you might get more, you might get less. The less they have to edit it the more bargaining power you have. Yes they do edit. Hard. Articles have to be made to fit a space.

You'll also have to provide drawings. You'll spend lots of time getting it right, then it'll get put through a fax machine, all your carefully colour-coded information will be erased and a ghost of your work will appear, people will say "I don't understand that" and it will have your name on it.

My woodwork has NEVER made a profit of any kind. But it doesn't cost me anything either, so I see it having a hobby that is cost neutral. It means that if I need a new machine then there is the money there to buy it. Routine things like sharpening all come out of the woody pot. Doing this video has meant that the pot has taken something of a hit in the last 8 months or so, but essentially when I need woody money it has been there. I'm much less prolific now than I was a couple of years ago, so maybe that is going to change now that there is no backlog of my work to publish, but it's been a good few years.

As for making and selling, just remember that making something is the easy bit, selling it for a decent profit, ah, now there's the challenge.

Of course, if you want to make kitchens, then that is one area where people are prepared to spend sensible amounts of money (they won't buy oak but they will happily buy chipboard), but for me, there are only so many boxes one can make and stay sane.

There have been several threads on here about how much to charge for work, so we'll not do that again, but my advice is, keep it as a hobby, sell what you can, write about it all, and expect nothing in return. Then every penny will be a welcome bonus.

Cheers
Sanguine Steve

 

[Scrit]

Any guidance on what it might cost and the best places to get it from (or is that a "how long is a piece of string" type question...!).

£1million public liability should be a ton or less. Product liability is more down to inclusion in a complete package

Byron, much as I admire your enthusiasm I'd point out that a number of your suggestions are impracticable. Fire places normally go hand in hand with installation - and that requires the appropriate certification to install them. And I'd forget about trying to sell to pubs and restaurants - if you look around a lot of thes items they buy are from the Far East or are made in large volumes at minimal cost - been there, done that - unless you can find a small local restaurant who want and are willing to pay for something bespoke you have little chance of cracking the market. Similarly kitchens are a market where installation and planning ara a part of the package - a difficult market to crack.

As for making and selling, just remember that making something is the easy bit, selling it for a decent profit, ah, now there's the challenge.

Spot on! Doing stuff for friends and family is all very well. Doing it to pay, well....... But there is something to be said for looking at what stuff can't be had locally and yet people want - stuff which is easy to make, but doesn't get you into installing (and the liability thing) - oh, like rabbit hutches, dog kennels, garden gates, made-to-measure window boxes, etc. Look around in your vicinity and you may see what I mean

Scrit

 

[Gary S]

Gary
To make money from woodwork, you do not have to be a good woodworker (although, of course, it does help somewhat!) but you DO have to be a businessman.

Maybe my Accounting and Finance degree will come in handy then :wink:

I'm actually a management accountant by trade so the 'business plan' side of thing wouldn't really scare me, but since it can't be my business I'll certainly adopt the approach that it IS a hobby and IF I can make any money out of it then it's a bonus.

Having said that I won't know unless I try - nobody is just going to give me money for spending time in my workshop! I'll see where I go with the magazine route and see what work I can make and sell locally - starting off with friends of friends and seeing where that takes me.

I don't expect to retire off the income - if it supports my woody habit then that's fine by me!

"You don't fail until you stop trying" - I heard that on Grand Designs a few weeks back and thought that was a pretty good motto to work to in many aspects of life.

Cheers

Gary

 

[Steve Maskery]

Maybe my Accounting and Finance degree will come in handy then :wink:

It certainly will! That's the best start you could have.

And the rest of your attitude is right, too. And I hope that doesn't sound patronizing, it's not meant to.

Very best wishes.
Steve

 

[Chris Knight]

My local garden centre has stuff you could put together with a chainsaw and a nail gun - bird feeders etc and they are asking silly prices, £50-60 for some of them and I reckon that you could knock out 20 a day without breaking sweat. Of course they probably only pay a fiver for them!

 

[Steve Maskery]

Of course they probably only pay a fiver for them!

And that is the problem in a nutshell.

S

 

[Alf]

I seem to recall a tale in the the tail end of GWW some years back from the once-prolific Tony/Anthony/A.R. Evans (I have a strong recollection that he was published under at least three names in one issue once upon a time...) Anyway, he got a nice little earner going making mock-tudor birdhouses. Apparently he went round possible outlets with a car full of his wares and tried to get them to take some. If they were reluctant he'd suggest just leaving one and see how it went. Then he'd send his wife in who'd fall over the thing with cries of delight, could she buy half a dozen etc? Cue 'phone call from eager shop owner wishing to buy a load there and then. I'm absolutely not suggesting such duplicity (and to be honest I was a little surprised at the time that it got published) but you might have to get a bit "pro-active"...

As far as articles are concerned, if you have any pride in your ability to write, forget it. Editors seem largely incapable of reading so it's so many pearls before swine. The more I hear of the article business the more it seems everyone loses out; writer and reader. The things we'll all do for money. Heigh ho. If it wasn't for the lousy exchange rate at the moment I'd suggest Lee Valley's newsletter as another possible place to submit stuff - anyone with a garden-related project would probably be popular, judging by what their editor said to me a couple of months ago. All my outdoor projects seem to self-destruct, so I wasn't able to oblige. :lol:

Cheers, Alf