A couple months back I was fortunate to be able to participate in a solid surface certification program put on by a local hardwood supplier.   As with any trade seminar many of my fellow cabinet and furniture makers turned out for a great day of networking and education.  Being a small one man shop I felt somewhat out of place in an arena of companies that have multiple teams to do what I do myself.   As the day progressed I soon realized, amongst many other reasons, why I am a one man shop and don’t have a sales team, fabrication team and installation team.  Why you might ask? 

There seems to be a certain satisfaction I get from working with a client from the beginning to the end.  A certain lack of communication that tends to happen when layers of management is part of the process.  Something that not only gets lost though the various plethora of people you deal with at a larger company but the problems associated as well.   Maybe a detail the salesmen didn’t tell the craftsmen, something the craftsmen didn’t tell the installer, a process the installer didn’t tell the client.    Probably one of the best experiences I have been fortunate to have is commissioning a small local company to build an offroad car.  While most likley more expensive the most, the end result was pure satisfaction and a grin from ear to ear!  Proof that less can really be more:)

I currently subscribe to various woodworking trade publications geared both large and small shops.  An article that caught me eye recently came from Wood Digest.  Although this is a publication geared toward extremely large shops I think the basic principles apply much the same way to our one man shows.  One principle in particular is cash flow.

Stated simply cash flow is the amount of cash received and paid by a business within defined period of time.  So you say how does this affect me?  Well something I learned early was I couldn’t live on big projects alone.  Sure a $5,000 conference table is a great commission but if I can’t turn it around and get paid it really does my business no good.

With that in mind I thought I would touch on a couple ideas within the article and from personal experience.

Take the small jobs - Like I mentioned earlier large commissions are great but don’t let all the small jobs get away.  A quick furniture repair job or refinish project can put a quick couple of bucks in your pocket and those couple of bucks may pay the phone bill or buy a new saw blade:)  Here’s a chance to get paid once a week and once a month.

30/30/30/10 - Try a different pay schedule?  Rather than the old 50% up front and remainder on completion look for 30% upfront, 30% as a progress payment and 30% due upon completion.  What about the other 10% you ask?  Well require that 30 days upon completion.  This will allow you the opportunity to touch base with your client and make sure they are as happy then as they where upon delivery.

Offer discounts to get paid quickly - Now who won’t take that 10% discount for early payment?  Think of it this way, you get paid now VS a month from now and hopefully there may be some interest you won’t have to pay!

Use other people’s money - Know your suppliers billing cycle.   Can you put off purchasing 10 sheets of plywood today if tomorrow the new billing cycle starts and you get an additional 45 days to pay? 

RJ

Like most woodworkers trying to market our passion we often get frustrated trying to sell a product and/or service.  Other than by word of mouth, we try venues like the internet, Ebay, Craigslist and craft shows but rarely to a great degree of success.  Why?  To be honest my only thought is that we are not targeting the correct demographic.  It’s like trying to sell a car at a truck store, people will buy it but at a ridicules price and at the end of the day it ends up costing us money:(  

Just the other day I came across Etsy.com.  It appears that the site has been around for awhile but what makes Etsy different is that they cater to those of us looking to buy and sell handmade, unique items.  A quick look around confirms that the prices are more in line with actual costs and the audience are those who aren’t looking for a bargain but quality and something unique. 

Setting up shop couldn’t be easier.  Registration is pretty typical, contact info, log-in, password, etc and the only additional item needed to sell is a valid credit card.  A paypal account is suggested as well.  Fees don’t seem too high with a 20 cent insertion fee per item and 3.5% of the sale.  Once you are signed up you are provided a store front with your user name keep this in mind when you set up your account. 

 With this in mind I decided to give it a try myself.  Check me out at rjoneswoodworks.etsy.com

We’ll see how it goes and I will keep you all posted.

Veterans get Help

I am fortunate enough to receive a copy of the Phoenix Business Journal each week via my day job.  Now I don’t read the journal front to back but there is most always an article or topic I find helpful and/or interesting.  This week is no exception.

Being a veteran myself, I found a short article on the Patriot Loan Initiative interesting to say the least.  The initiative was introduced about 8 months ago by the US Small Business Association in efforts to aid veteran business owners with resources and capital to either start a new business or help grow an existing business.  For more information I have add a link below.

Patriot Loan Initiative