Becoming a Professional Woodworker

With so many things to consider when you decide to sell your woodworking projects, I recommend keeping things simple and setting up a part-time, home-based operation. Selling your projects as a side business and not your main source of income takes the pressure off you as your new venture gets off the ground.

Starting (and even staying) part-time helps you avoid getting overwhelmed

Even if you manage your time well, I’ve found that researching, designing and building your first profitable projects takes way longer than expected. Once you have your first prototypes to show customers, landing those first few sales can be a time-consuming process as well.

With that in mind, it’s wise not to depend on your new business for your living expenses. When I first started selling my woodworking, I used the extra funds to upgrade my workshop. The few hundred dollars a month I brought in didn’t cover my rent but it did allow me buy some tools and shop fixtures.

Give yourself time to grow by minimizing expenses
If you own your own place, working from a home-based shop is a no-brainer for keeping expenses to a minimum when you’re launching your business. I recommend spending a weekend ruthlessly cleaning out all the junk in your existing workshop and treating yourself to a couple new rows of shop lights.

For a couple hundred bucks and a trip to the dump, I bet you’ll have enough free space to get your first customer projects out the door without building or renting additional shop space.

With a part-time woodworking business, you can also be more selective about the projects you take on and how many hours you’re willing to work each week. During my first year, I took on several difficult projects that ate up a lot more time than I’d anticipated. If I had jumped in full-time during that first year, I probably would have been forced to shut down the business.

Of course, a part-time operation will have you working around your day job responsibilities but that’s much less stressful than trying to cover all your expenses with shop projects – especially when you’re just starting out.