Recap: Starting a wood products manufacturing business. This is my
third progress report. See www.sonomaproducts.com for samples of work.
This years plan is to try and do $5-10k in sales via Art and Craft
shows.

Craft Show: I attended my first "Juried" Fine Art and Craft Show.
It was a 2 day event in the downtown streets of a local upscale
community (Danville, CA). I had just under $1,000 in sales over the two
days. Note: More than 70% of the business was via Visa\Mastercard. I'm
really glad I got setup for that.

What Sold:
Plant Stands http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Household/PF-Slim-PS.htm
Wine Racks http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Culinary/WR-Cherry.htm
Bird Houses
Night Stand/Cabinets
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Furniture/PF-CS-SC.htm
End Tables http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Furniture/JL-ET-WO.htm

I like to have a few full sized furniture pieces in the booth, along
with stuff more likely to sell in a craft fair environment. It helps to
grab attention and it can't hurt if they sell. Well, this being the
first real legitimate show I've done I had lots of serious lookers at
the higher end stuff. My biggest single sale was a pair of Mission Oak
End Tables for $125 each. Material cost is about $50. Took about 12
hours to build and finish the pair. So I'm making about $10 an hour.
I think I could build 4 pairs in about 20 hours.

My other big seller was the little faux finished nightstand sized
cabinets. I bang them out of cheap Pine and do a sanded paint finish or
crackle finish. I use antique (repro) glass knobs and have a big
selection of colors they can choose from. People really like that and
having them sitting out glittering in the sun was a bit of a draw too.
I sold the cabinets for $65 each. Material cost is about $18. I built
and finished 8 of them in 12 hours. I'm making about $30 an hour. I
think I've nearly maxed the productivity on these although I could
enhance finish time if I was spraying the paint vs. brushing.

I had sold at least one of these little cabinets at the two previous
places I setup to sell and at this (legit) show I sold 5 of them.

These faux painted cabinets weren't my first choice of what to build
and sell. I prefer the hand finished hardwood items but this is
what's selling, so I'll do more of that for now. The Mission Oak
really draws too. I could never compete with China in a commercial
wholesale venture but I think the plan I have to offer Mission Oak kits
might be a niche that will work.

Next big show isn't until late August but I may try some Adirondack
chairs in a roadside stand in the local wine country on weekends.

BW

On 21 Jun 2005 20:25:31 -0700, "SonomaProducts.com"
wrote:


.... snip
I like to have a few full sized furniture pieces in the booth, along
with stuff more likely to sell in a craft fair environment. It helps to
grab attention and it can't hurt if they sell. Well, this being the
first real legitimate show I've done I had lots of serious lookers at
the higher end stuff. My biggest single sale was a pair of Mission Oak
End Tables for $125 each. Material cost is about $50. Took about 12
hours to build and finish the pair. So I'm making about $10 an hour.
I think I could build 4 pairs in about 20 hours.

.... snip

Next big show isn't until late August but I may try some Adirondack
chairs in a roadside stand in the local wine country on weekends.

BW

BW,

Thanks for sharing. As someone looking at doing something like
this in future retirement (many years away, I'm afraid), sharing your
experience is quite informative.

Good luck in August, keep us informed of how things are going.




+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

It's interesting what sells isn't it? When it comes time to figure your
hourly take don't forget to include the time it takes to sell the product.
Good Luck, JG

"SonomaProducts.com" wrote:

Recap: Starting a wood products manufacturing business. This is my
third progress report. See www.sonomaproducts.com for samples of work.
This years plan is to try and do $5-10k in sales via Art and Craft
shows.

Craft Show: I attended my first "Juried" Fine Art and Craft Show.
It was a 2 day event in the downtown streets of a local upscale
community (Danville, CA). I had just under $1,000 in sales over the two
days. Note: More than 70% of the business was via Visa\Mastercard. I'm
really glad I got setup for that.

What Sold:
Plant Stands http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Household/PF-Slim-PS.htm
Wine Racks http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Culinary/WR-Cherry.htm
Bird Houses
Night Stand/Cabinets
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Furniture/PF-CS-SC.htm
End Tables http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Furniture/JL-ET-WO.htm

I like to have a few full sized furniture pieces in the booth, along
with stuff more likely to sell in a craft fair environment. It helps to
grab attention and it can't hurt if they sell. Well, this being the
first real legitimate show I've done I had lots of serious lookers at
the higher end stuff. My biggest single sale was a pair of Mission Oak
End Tables for $125 each. Material cost is about $50. Took about 12
hours to build and finish the pair. So I'm making about $10 an hour.
I think I could build 4 pairs in about 20 hours.

My other big seller was the little faux finished nightstand sized
cabinets. I bang them out of cheap Pine and do a sanded paint finish or
crackle finish. I use antique (repro) glass knobs and have a big
selection of colors they can choose from. People really like that and
having them sitting out glittering in the sun was a bit of a draw too.
I sold the cabinets for $65 each. Material cost is about $18. I built
and finished 8 of them in 12 hours. I'm making about $30 an hour. I
think I've nearly maxed the productivity on these although I could
enhance finish time if I was spraying the paint vs. brushing.

I had sold at least one of these little cabinets at the two previous
places I setup to sell and at this (legit) show I sold 5 of them.

These faux painted cabinets weren't my first choice of what to build
and sell. I prefer the hand finished hardwood items but this is
what's selling, so I'll do more of that for now. The Mission Oak
really draws too. I could never compete with China in a commercial
wholesale venture but I think the plan I have to offer Mission Oak kits
might be a niche that will work.

Next big show isn't until late August but I may try some Adirondack
chairs in a roadside stand in the local wine country on weekends.

BW

SonomaProducts.com says...

These faux painted cabinets weren't my first choice of what to build
and sell. I prefer the hand finished hardwood items but this is
what's selling, so I'll do more of that for now. The Mission Oak
really draws too. I could never compete with China in a commercial
wholesale venture but I think the plan I have to offer Mission Oak kits
might be a niche that will work.

Next big show isn't until late August but I may try some Adirondack
chairs in a roadside stand in the local wine country on weekends.

BW

Your reports are very interesting. I would guess most of us have toyed
with the idea of trying to make some money woodworking, but its a
crowded field and most people want to pay Wal-Mart prices for
everything, even when they would be better served by a better quality
product. And I guess if all it took was a workshop and $10,000 worth of
tools to make a comfortable living, everybody would be doing it. My
sister has a craft store and I'm making some shelves to sell there. I'm
looking at about $10/hour return at best unless I can find something to
make that is cheap, easy and gets a decent price. As you know, you can
have any number of hours of labor in something, but it is only worth
what somebody is willing to pay for it. The factory made ones (probably
Chinese) that she can buy from her catalogs are small, thin and have a
finish that will probably rub off in your hands, but they usually tack
on one of those CNC made made carvings or other cheap tricks to jazz
them up. She also advised me that most people seem to want painted
items right now, especially with faux aging (yuck). I'm surprised you
can do eight of those little cabinets in 12 hours. The soles of your
shoes must have been smoking. I doubt I could have done half that many.

"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message
ups.com...

Recap: Starting a wood products manufacturing business. This is my
third progress report. See www.sonomaproducts.com for samples of work.
This years plan is to try and do $5-10k in sales via Art and Craft
shows.

Your website looks great. What I notice is that the photos with a piece of
furniture in a room setting give it a professional feel. The nicer the
surroundings are, the more it adds to the perception of quality of the
furniture. Little stuff like a rug that looks like it was just unrolled for
the photo can distract the viewer from that perception.

Nice work.

"SonomaProducts.com" writes:


Craft Show: I attended my first "Juried" Fine Art and Craft Show.
It was a 2 day event in the downtown streets of a local upscale
community (Danville, CA). I had just under $1,000 in sales over the two
days. Note: More than 70% of the business was via Visa\Mastercard. I'm
really glad I got setup for that.

If you aren't doing it today, I would highly suggest a cellular based
credit card terminal to electronically authorize cards. This will stop
the use of fraudulent or stolen card numbers (As long as the theft has
already been reported.). An alternative would be to use a laptop with
credit card software and a cellular modem.

If you use credit card slips and deposit them at the bank, you will be out
your money if a stolen or fraudulent card number is used.

I don't know many people frequent art shows with bad credit cards, but it
seems to happen everywhere.

Brian Elfert

SonomaProducts.com wrote:

I like to have a few full sized furniture pieces in the booth, along
with stuff more likely to sell in a craft fair environment. It helps
to grab attention and it can't hurt if they sell. Well, this being the
first real legitimate show I've done I had lots of serious lookers at
the higher end stuff.

May I make a suggestion? Assuming you would want to make same, display
a piece of *really* high end stuff. Something well into 4 figures or
more. Maybe a knock your eyes out executive desk. Display a price tag
on it and a nicely done hand out sheet explaining that such items are
custom made to specs and begin at $X.00.

Now, you aren't likely to actually sell it at such a show but it lets
people know you are capable of other things. And all kinds of people
attend those shows...even those who base their personal image on how
much they spend for something. Like a custom made desk.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Thanks for the suggestion. I do take the slips at the show and process
them at home later. Currently, my CC payment processor has an automated
800 number that provides approval using numeric input of CC number,
expiration date and amount. If I use this it covers me. I had intended
to use it for anything over $100 but felt comfortable enough with the
two folks that exceeded that amount. Probably not the wisest move on my
part but I will be carfeul not to take too much risk.

My hope is to only do the shows this year as a stepping stone to bigger
things; so I didn't invest $800-$1,000 to get a wireless CC
processor.If I start getting burned I'll re-evaluate the decision. I
really don't like being the retailer. It's not easy enough to scale it
up and it's sort of a pain. So hopefully I'll transition to wholesale
as per the business plan.

BW

I'm thinking the same thing. I have a Cherry sofa table with an
integrated wine rack that, once assembled and finished, will be about a
$900 piece. I'll probaby use that as a piece to draw in the clients.
That being said, I am not targeting to go into the custom build type
business. However, this calendar year, I will take anything that can
put sales through business. I'm trying to build up some history so the
banks will give me serious consideration once I go for funding the next
phase.

FYI, I have had at least a dozen people (probably more) take my card
and swear they would contact me with some variation of a custom
request. The few who's numbers I took are non-responsive when I call
and the rest have never followed up. So I wouldn't bank on this as a
very viable model without some serious sales follow-up; which is why I
am going a different direction. I'd rathet sell to business that are
buying on a regualar basis and get them to buy from me too.

BW

Good point.

In my current business mode, selling retail, I am just doing it to put
sales on the books. I want to sell $10k this year, even if it costs me
$15k to do it. Beinag the retailer is really kind of painful. I have
only had a little experience with it via eBay and a few shows but I can
already tell I don't like it.

I'm lucky to be able to get 1x12x8' Pine at an OK price and it really
helps in the production. I work in a commercial cabinet shop so I have
lots o' production tools and I design all the work out of the pieces
wherever I can.

The only glue up is for the tops that are 13-14 inches wide so. The
cabinet sides are 11" so I just trim a 1/4" of the material and I'm
done. I use some pocket screws to build the box and have a commercial
pocket hole machine; real fast. I shoot nails in some parts too.The
front of the cabinets are a face frame and the back is a frame and
panel. Front screwed on with pocket screws from inside and the back is
shot on with nails. Some units have a drawer like hole at the top but I
don't make any drawers, just leave it as an opening in the face. I add
a complete bottom to the drawer opening so it is esentially a cubby
hole type arrangement. Loose shelf bottom and cubby bottom all
essentially the same piece of wood.

I do have 100% focus while I produce. The shop is mostly empty of other
souls while I work so I can maximize my production. For instance I pull
an assembly table right up to the TS, stack up all the cabs and doors
right there too as I fit the inset doors into the cabinets. It's
amazing how fast I can run through the units and trim the doors to fit
when things are so convienient.

SonomaProducts.com says...

I do have 100% focus while I produce. The shop is mostly empty of other
souls while I work so I can maximize my production. For instance I pull
an assembly table right up to the TS, stack up all the cabs and doors
right there too as I fit the inset doors into the cabinets. It's
amazing how fast I can run through the units and trim the doors to fit
when things are so convienient.

Things become a lot easier when everything isn't one of a kind.
Starting to think about selling things made me start to appreciate that
it would never be worth my time if I tried to make everything a unique
masterpiece. That's OK if you are making things for yourself or family,
but you cant do that if you plan to sell for a sane price. That may be
obvious to most people, but I actually thought it might be worthwhile to
do a different design every day. Now I'm learning the reality is that
it has to become a routine, dull and repetitive job to be productive
enough to bring the price down to what people want to pay. I doubt that
I'll ever be as productive as you are. I'm not that motivated. But it
seems if you can find enough of a market to make $30/hr, that would be
as good as most day jobs, even if you did have to buy your own insurance
and retirement plan.

SonomaProducts.com wrote:

FYI, I have had at least a dozen people (probably more) take my card
and swear they would contact me with some variation of a custom
request. The few who's numbers I took are non-responsive when I call
and the rest have never followed up. So I wouldn't bank on this as a
very viable model without some serious sales follow-up;

I wouldn't either...every business needs bread & butter work. The high
end stuff is just gravy (for a while, at least). Just keep in mind that
in good times and bad there are people who are eager to spend money for
something they perceive as superior but in bad times, low end,
discretionary purchases dry up.

As far as follow up goes, I have mixed feelings: it *can* provide sales
but generally it is better to plant an idea in a number of minds; that
idea will disappear from most but in a few - a very few - it will stay
there and fester until the person just can't live without the product.
If it didn't, Rolls Royce would have gone belly up decades ago

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On 22 Jun 2005 13:10:10 -0700, "SonomaProducts.com"
wrote:

FYI, I have had at least a dozen people (probably more) take my card
and swear they would contact me with some variation of a custom
request. The few who's numbers I took are non-responsive when I call
and the rest have never followed up. So I wouldn't bank on this as a
very viable model without some serious sales follow-up; which is why I
am going a different direction. I'd rathet sell to business that are
buying on a regualar basis and get them to buy from me too.

I recently put some stuff on up on ebay and I had one woman contact me
about a custom order, and she'd tracked down my webpage even though I
hadn't quite gotten my act together yet and put a link to it from ebay
(I assume she checked the links for my pictures and got it from
there). At any rate, I ended up with a $100 order, and she offered
some opinions on what specifically she didn't like about other designs
which was just as valuable to me at this point as the order. So they
are out there, and they're very worthwhile finding. I didn't hear
from her until a week after the listings had ended either.


-Leuf

Thu, Jun 23, 2005, 1:19am (EDT-1)
(Hax=A0Planx) spaketh:
Things become a lot easier when everything isn't one of a kind. Starting
to think about selling things made me start to appreciate that it would
never be worth my time if I tried to make everything a unique
masterpiece. That's OK if you are making things for yourself or family,
but you cant do that if you plan to sell for a sane price. That may be
obvious to most people, but I actually thought it might be worthwhile to
do a different design every day. Now I'm learning the reality is that it
has to become a routine, dull and repetitive job to be productive enough
to bring the price down to what people want to pay. snip

Just checking on my last thread, and saw this. Some time ago read
about a guy and his wife making kaleidoscopes for a living. They do
make some one-of-a-kind that are pretty pricey - but few of those appeal
to me, as far as looks go - but they apparently sell all they make, for
some pretty good prices. BUT, that's only part of it. For about 3
months, they pump out mass-produced versions, all identical. Don't
recall how many they make, but it's a bunch, and if I recall right, they
go (or went at that time) at around $30 each. They cut identical
pieces, maybe 100 at a time, then another piece, until they get all the
pieces done for a batch. They then assemble and finish them, then start
over. For 3 months. Then they (or he) spend the other 9 months
designing and constructing pricey one-of-a-kind pieces for collectors -
and sell all those. The mass-produced version covers their income, so
the others are basically gravy. Personally, I would think that 3 months
of intensive repeitive work would really get old very fast. On the
other hand, knowing you'd only be doing it for 3 months, and then be
able to basically goof-off the rest of the year, would probably make it
very bearable. Now, all you have to do is find something that sells
well, and consistently. I wouldn't give up my day job right away.

There's a guy around here that appears in town every once in
awhile, on Saturdays, with a pickup truck loaded with birdhouses, and
sells them out of his truck. Last I checked he was pricing at around
$25-30 each, and, as far as I know, sells them all.



JOAT
Reality is not mandatory, it's just an option.