Dusty
Established Member
Heres my 2p worth , 8 years ago I fell ill and transferring my skills to a small home workshop . I started making chopping boards and other small ideas . It took off primarily to selling on Ebay , within a month I was struggling to keep up with orders . I was literaly eating sleeping and living chopping boards . I would make them in batches , somewhere around 30 a week . I was also selling at local events , not brick a brack church events but the more "arty" scene . It became obsesive to make and sell .
After a few months I actually sat down and thought it through . Luckily my partner had a reasonable salary to support this . I was bringing in around £400 a week after tax and costs . Sounds great but .....I was working 50 plus hours a week and it began to get monotonous aswell as bordering daft .In early 2010 came the flood of chopping boards being made from off cut worktops . with this my sales literaly diminished , I quickly jumped on the bandwagon , I was buying three lengths of 4m oak stave worktop and was cutting them into boards , clean them up , radius corners bla bla , and sold them for £30 . making 15 quid profit each . Before long , the soul of what I was trying to achieve was defeated .I became a slave to the workshop and I literaly became a robot production line .
I slowly returned to good health and with that returned to my normal work . I now work on "bespoke" works and made to order . Every day is different and has constant challenges , but that is the fun .
All I would say is be thorough with your costings . I still work from home in a workshop and have a meter fitted to it so I can be precise with my electric consumption and bill appropriately . Things like a pot of glue , sanding paper , the odd screw or nail , lick of paint , filters for your mask , the list is endless , and that is why good book keeping is important . Yes the inland revenue will want their blood , but more importantly , you want to know what items are cost and what you are making . Go and check ebay or etsy for similar items for costings , but dont use them to set your prices . If you see and item that is a bit rough round the edges or poorly designed , make yours better and price accordingly . Emphasise the quality of the timber used and how it is hand made , but be careful not to go to far as marketing is fine line of promoting and force feeding an ideology . People want to know it is hand made with care .
Dont let this put you off , go for it , but be realistic , it can be a great additional income . but remember if an email or call comes in , you have to deal with it , even on a sunday ( within reason ) . As a side note , it may be worth visiting local joineries and offering them beer tokens for their offcuts as many are not too concerned about using every last piece as the time taken to search for it often outweighs the value of new timber . And this may be of use to you if you are making smaller pieces .
good luck Sam
After a few months I actually sat down and thought it through . Luckily my partner had a reasonable salary to support this . I was bringing in around £400 a week after tax and costs . Sounds great but .....I was working 50 plus hours a week and it began to get monotonous aswell as bordering daft .In early 2010 came the flood of chopping boards being made from off cut worktops . with this my sales literaly diminished , I quickly jumped on the bandwagon , I was buying three lengths of 4m oak stave worktop and was cutting them into boards , clean them up , radius corners bla bla , and sold them for £30 . making 15 quid profit each . Before long , the soul of what I was trying to achieve was defeated .I became a slave to the workshop and I literaly became a robot production line .
I slowly returned to good health and with that returned to my normal work . I now work on "bespoke" works and made to order . Every day is different and has constant challenges , but that is the fun .
All I would say is be thorough with your costings . I still work from home in a workshop and have a meter fitted to it so I can be precise with my electric consumption and bill appropriately . Things like a pot of glue , sanding paper , the odd screw or nail , lick of paint , filters for your mask , the list is endless , and that is why good book keeping is important . Yes the inland revenue will want their blood , but more importantly , you want to know what items are cost and what you are making . Go and check ebay or etsy for similar items for costings , but dont use them to set your prices . If you see and item that is a bit rough round the edges or poorly designed , make yours better and price accordingly . Emphasise the quality of the timber used and how it is hand made , but be careful not to go to far as marketing is fine line of promoting and force feeding an ideology . People want to know it is hand made with care .
Dont let this put you off , go for it , but be realistic , it can be a great additional income . but remember if an email or call comes in , you have to deal with it , even on a sunday ( within reason ) . As a side note , it may be worth visiting local joineries and offering them beer tokens for their offcuts as many are not too concerned about using every last piece as the time taken to search for it often outweighs the value of new timber . And this may be of use to you if you are making smaller pieces .
good luck Sam
