I have no knowledge of the economy in the area where you live, but there are
a LOT of people will to pay a LOT for truly wonderful, custom
furniture/cabinetry.

I have a buddy that decided to take the plunge from being a highly
successful computer engineer (i.e. making $100K+ per year salary) to being a
full-time woodworker for hire. His net income (the amount he pays himself,
not the amount the business get's) is abour $140K. This is only his 4th
year of doing this and he has work booke with 6-9 month waits, and people
don't mind.

I'm no pro - far from it. But I've done the odd job for money here and
there, and made a fair bit on those jobs. And they weren't anything
special, to say the least.

I think what a lot of woodworkers forget when they try to sell their work is
that they have to target a specific market segment, clearly define their
"ideal customer" and then SELL to those people. They can't make a
museum-quality armoire that took them 500 hours to make, and then HOPE they
find someone with $25K to spend. They need to find the customer FIRST. And
if they can't? They need to change their business model and either make
something else, or search harder for those customers.

You hit it on the head, Andy, in one respect. The people that will go and
buy stuff at IKEA are NOT the one's you will sell to (and, I might add,
aren't the ones you WANT to sell to). The money is there to be made, you
just have to get your message out to the right people: marketing is key.

I don't know anything about Tom Watson's business model, but if you ever
looked at his website and the things he made when he was a pro
cabinetmaker - I bet you will get an idea of how that kind of business
works. And then look at Tom Plamann. 'Nuf said.

Sucks that it isn't just about being really skilled at making furniture, but
alas.

Mike


"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 22:23:47 -0700, charlie b
wrote:

My woodworking goal is to be able to develop the knowledge,
skills and abilities necessary to design, build and finish
furniture I can't afford to buy.

Being skint and nailing 2x4s together will achieve that much.


I seem to have got to the point where I can make furniture that no-one
can afford. In a world where Ikea will sell you a perfectly functional
table, how many people are there left who are prepared to pay for
anything better than MDF ?

I can make the stuff, and I've got any number of people who want it. But
as for _paying_ a sensible rate for hand-work (which is inevitably
slower and more skilled than factory, even for modest quality) then
where's the market gone? Who _wants_ a table they can leave to their
grandchildren, when the current fashion is to paint it pink because
that's what Changing Rooms told you to do this week, then throw it away
the week after.

I can see a future not too far away, where the only people with really
good _new_ furniture are those who are building it themselves, or being
given it as gifts from the makers. Quality just isn't part of commerce
these days.