exciting and scary times ahead. update!

[David111s]

hi all!

haven't post on here that much not had a huge amount of time sadly.. :roll:

anyway after thinking researching and searching high and low i am finally setting up my own business! producing bespoke furniture and joinery.

i have a super workshop lined up down in west sussex! 720sqf comes with some machinery, wadkin mortiser wadkin pp dim saw wadkin overhead router, dominion bandsaw, cooksley spindle moulder. extraction, oh and a rather nice woodburning stove!
rents good and there should be some contract work coming from the company i'm renting from.

in additon the the machines already there i have reserved a used Sedgwick te2 tenoner and and new hammer a3 31 p/t (bargain)

i'm aiming to move in early next month so at the moment i'm busy sorting out finaces advetising somwere to live ect ect such alot to do however this has been my dream for a long long time and after a lot of bad luck this year in life things seem to finally be looking up!

so expect piccies of my new workshop coming soon!

also if anyone in west sussex area near brighton, burgess hill would be interested in renting bench space for hobby use ect feel free to pm me! as it would be nice to have someone else around to keep me sane!

anyway i'm in the middle of pricing up materials and new tools so id best get back to that! just had to post the excitement is killing me haha

Dave

 

[Woodmagnet]

Good luck with your new venture David. :wink:

 

[Raggy]

Good luck

 

[stewart]

Good luck, Dave. Look forward to seeing how you get on!

 

[BradNaylor]

Yeah, good luck mate.

In the current environment I suspect you're going to need it!

Couple of tips;

Keep your costs low. I mean LOW! Cut out everything that isn't absolutely essential.

Pitch your prices as high as possible. I don't know what your overheads are but you need to be charging a minimum of £200 per day for your labour even if you have negotiated a good rent. If the promised contract work doesn't pay at this level then don't do it. It will bankrupt you.

Don't spend money on advertising. Download a free website package such as Serif WebPlus SE and make a website. Then register it with Google Maps under as many classifications as you can. If my experience is anything to go by it will bring you all the business you can cope with - absolutely free!

Cheers
Dan

 

[MikeG.]

Dave,

the very best of luck to you.........and I am jealous as hell!! I hope it goes really well, and I hope you end up making stuff that you want to rather than just something to put bread on the table.

I am really intrigued by Dan's advice regarding advertising. If you get the chance, could you let us know what you do to generate business, and what works and doesn't work?

You must be so excited!!! (So excited you forgot where the shift key is!! )

Good luck again.

Mike

 

[maltrout512]

Dave

All the best. Sounds like the workshop is all set and ready. Nice to hear your coming to West Sussex. Great county as I live and work near Petworth. Look forward to updates.

 

[Vormulac]

Very good luck with your new venture!

 

[OPJ]

Very best of luck to you, Dave!

 

[custard]

Best of British Dave!

If you don't mind me asking, how much is the rent and does the rent include the machinery you listed?

 

[wizer]

Good Luck.

Have you read the rule of this forum that states: Members with new workshops who don't post pictures of the new workshops will be ceremoniously BANNED!!!!

 

[David111s]

Thanks for the good luck messages guys!


Dan, thanks for your advice very helpful and don't worry i'm going to be keeping my overheads as low as i can!

photos and updates to follow... once i move in!

Dave

 

[big soft moose]

Don't spend money on advertising. Download a free website package such as Serif WebPlus SE and make a website. Then register it with Google Maps under as many classifications as you can. If my experience is anything to go by it will bring you all the business you can cope with - absolutely free!

Cheers
Dan

good advice - but be aware that most of the cheaper serif apps dont run on vista opperating systems for that you need webplusX2 which you have to pay for, also if you dont have experience of web edditing it can be a bit daunting.

best bet is to use the kiss (keep it simple, stupid) principle - one font throughout , simple backgrounds , understated and proffesional - using lots of effects just makes it look like a school project.

The other thing about websites is that you do need good photos of your work etc - text only wont pull anyones plonker.

If you need advice on the web side feel free to pm me - my other freelance biz is as a photographer and i have lots of exp with the web side.

 

[Imperial]

Good luck from Me toooooooo

 

[Gill]

Best wishes for lots of happy days bringing the joy of woodwork to others.

Gill

 

[Ironballs]

Good luck and well done for living the dream

 

[dickm]

Good luck mate - you'll need it, but if it all works out, you'll be the envy of us all.

 

[Mcluma]

Good luck with it all

So you are in Burgess Hill he

I think you will do well, but don't rely to heavily on Burgess Hill itself for selling your bespoke furniture, the surrounding towns and villiges should do well

Like Keymer Ditchling, Hurstpierpoint, Haywards Heath

 

[David111s]

hey all, just thourght id give you all an update.

all my plans are f****d!!

had a call yesterday from the company i was going to be renting the workshop from, telling me its no longer available. didn't even give me a good explanation!!! :evil:

so i've had to ring up the bank and stop the loan, stop the advertising from going thru, ring up the people who had already placed orders with me.

i've still got the two machines on order, i don't know what to do about them as i know i wont be able to get them for that price again! plus other tools on order.

so its back to workshop searching YET again!!! :evil:

Dave

 

[TheTiddles]

Welcome to business! It happens to everyone, from lone traders to massive corporate entities, the only difference is scale. However, the next time it happens you'll see it coming! Hope you find a resolution soon,

Aidan