Going out on your own

[Monk]

Yea I totally get that, and I ain't a salesman at all. So I have a company who are willing to show and sell my pieces and I would give them a percentage of my profit. I hope it'll work out as I can't afford to pay rent in my workshop and have a showroom. Thanks again for all your comments, will take everything on board

 

[doctor Bob]

Yea I totally get that, and I ain't a salesman at all. So I have a company who are willing to show and sell my pieces and I would give them a percentage of my profit. I hope it'll work out as I can't afford to pay rent in my workshop and have a showroom. Thanks again for all your comments, will take everything on board

Try it first before jacking in your job, the above is a pipe dream, the reality of what they sell may be very different from your expectations. I say this as I have tried this route very unsuccessfully.

 

[wolfey]

Hello Monk,

"i'm new here"..... Best advice I can give to going out there and building a successful joinery shop is to first look at yourself " your good and bad points as a person or better put skills and traits! then decide what your joinery company will produce. In short a term's " WHO AM I !! and WHAT DO WE DO !! And STICK to it.

This should be an honest representation of you and what you want your business to be, if it fails then business is not for you.
I was told this at the age of 19 and have now been in business 15 years (34 now) straight off the apprenticeship.
I had no business knowledge and my skill set was of an apprentice (also went to special needs lessons and was only allowed on the apprenticeship if I agreed to extra evening classes.
15 years on our second warehouse is about to have the footings poured and will be used just to hold our hardwood and sheet stock, I have gone from a 500sqft barn and now have machines that would not fit in that space. (this is far from a brag so please don't see it as) It has been a huge learning curve and has not been easy at many times but at the end of the day if you get the " WHO AM I ! and "WHAT DO WE DO!! correct then at least you wont spend your life wondering what if!! If you don't know who you are and what you want to do EXACTLY then don't do it.
The out come if all goes well is that " as I have done " stepped back and full in love with woodworking again hence deciding to join this forum! I have lurked here for many years and you guys have helped me grow my company many times from the advice you give and you don't even realise so THANK YOU MEMBERS and maybe I will now have time to join in and advise where I can but more so continue to learn from you lot. Best Wolfey

 

[Roughcut]

What sort of mistake are happening in the company you work for at the moment?
-most small businesses run reactively always doing what is most urgent not what is most important.

Unless you are in the driving seat you wont be able to appreciate the difficulty of standing back from the the day to day running and making long term plans.

If you have a flexible boss, maybe he would let you do some private work? -you will then start to understand dealing with customers and getting paid.

These days the issue of personal liability is not straight forward. The standard advise is to become a limited company. In theory, wise, but in practice banks and landlords will nearly always require personal guarantees. Identify your personal liability is likely to be and assess whether you are still happy with the risk.

Running a business is not for everybody, if you can handle the stress it can be hugely rewarding. You will never watch the clock again.....only to worry there isnt enough time left in the day!

Smiled at that sentence Robin.
So very true!

 

[Monk]

Problems that occur in my job are way too frequent , the main problem is just not being orgaised. Like no materials for a day or two so he has lads standing around doing nothing and everyone wants to work. Fittings taking 3/4 days when they should take 1/2 max. Units not fitting happens a lot as wrong site measurements have been given. I take pride in my work and do the best I can but when units come back and have to be altered you get sick of it.

It's a big step to go out on your own and of coarse is a massive risk but if I don't do it I think I'll always wonder what if. I love what I do and would never change it for the world. I've gotten a lot of contacts since I started off 15 years ago so just feel like I'm in s good position.

 

[Logger]

I have had my own business for about a year and it is hard work but also very rewarding. I agree with all the comments about being prepared. I am fortunate that previously, i was an operations director for a recruitment business so i treated setting up this business with the same attention to detail as when i ran that company. My feeling is that many who fail do so because they do not run their business professionally. For example, i have recently got work, not because i was the cheapest, but because i sent quotes when i promised and other businesses had to be chased for quotes. This comes from the customers who say if they have to chase quotes, how can they be certain jobs will be done on time.

I always deliver what i promise, and never promise something that is unrealistic. My old boss used to say of bad businesses:

"promise the dream, deliver the nightmare" and that is often what companies do. If something is not achievable, don't promise it just to get the work.

Although it is hard, i get so much work from word of mouth and that is because of the way i look after customers. That does not mean i take this for granted and still have a marketing plan i follow.

I think that if you have the organisational skills and determination to succeed, you can do it. It won't be easy but it is a fantastic feeling to be able to go into work and say i have done all this.

Best of luck

Nicm

 

[tomatwark]

Yea I totally get that, and I ain't a salesman at all. So I have a company who are willing to show and sell my pieces and I would give them a percentage of my profit. I hope it'll work out as I can't afford to pay rent in my workshop and have a showroom. Thanks again for all your comments, will take everything on board

Try it first before jacking in your job, the above is a pipe dream, the reality of what they sell may be very different from your expectations. I say this as I have tried this route very unsuccessfully.

I have tried this as well and it does not work, especially with something like kitchens as you will have to do the design work, manufacture and installation and the retailer will take the glory or leave you to sort any problems even if they are not or your making.

If you are intending of working on your own, you should be able to have a small display in your office in the corner of the workshop, it does not need to be big.

If you try to go to big to fast you will end up being very stressed, having to employ staff to get through the work and probably making mistakes like not measuring things properly, forgetting to order materials so your staff are fire fighting or standing around with nothing to do.

Does this sound something like the firm you are working for?

The old saying not running before you can walk springs to mind.

You will make mistakes or bad judgements we all do the thing is to learn from them.

 

[Monk]

My workshop is 80 m2 so it's too small to have a display. I really thought I was onto a winner with having my product in a show room. After taking everyone's advice in I think the best thing to do is stay where I am and get my own kitchen made and into the show room and see how things go from there. It'll cost me a few quid but I'll get some feedback from it and fingers crossed get a few orders in and take things from there

 

[doctor Bob]

Have a real good look at what other bespoke kitchen companies are doing, things evolve very quickly in the industry. Mark wilkinson, Smallbone, tom Howley are trend setters, follow the trends and keep up, otherwise it can look very dated and twee.
Don't be scared of change, in a few years you will look back at how you used to make stuff and realise how much you learn by going on your own.

Good luck with it, it can be a lot of fun most of the time. Financially if it goes well it's a no brainer.

 

[tomatwark]

80sq metres is a good size, which is about 850 sq feet, I started off in about that with a tiny office and display, I had a knee hole at the end of the run to sit at so I could make calls.

So it is possible.

The trick is to keep your work space tidy and only try to work on one job at a time.

Bob is right that you need to keep up with the trends and see what the likes of Mark Wilkinson is doing, the thing I would add however is look at your local market as well, as some trends can take about 6 months to a year to filter out from the South and you don't want to put in a display that the locals won't want yet, as you then find it harder to sell.

We are still getting asked for design details that have pretty much gone out of fashion further south.

If you don't try you may regret it later, but if you do you can always go back to employment, you have trade no matter what happens.