08-01-2022, 12:20 PM
(08-01-2022, 09:20 AM)rwe2156 Wrote: Appreciate that.
Retirement (whatever that is) is approaching or at least on the horizon for me.
I am a person who needs a purpose in life - a reason to wake up, if you will. And as long as my health is good, I will pursue something.
You can only build so much furniture for yourself!
I've got very good capabilities, shop wise, and I feel a reasonably advanced degree of talent, and I can do things like custom built ins, slap tops, etc.
Plus, I need to justify the new shop I want to build.
That all sounds pretty familiar, except the new shop build. It's pretty easy to develop a small-scale business. Start somewhere, anywhere. Word will spread without much effort if you do good work at a reasonable price. And I don't mean to imply cheap when I say reasonable. Far from it. If you do custom work you should be able to make good money at it, maybe not per hour because of equipment limitations, or whatever, but definitely for the job.
Beware the installed vanity jobs. I got real tired of those after half a dozen or so and don't do them anymore. But they got me started and led to other jobs so I'm not complaining. My ideal job today is a custom designed, stand-alone cabinet or piece of furniture. No custom finish matching and no installation. Whatever is new and challenging is what appeals to me. I did an oval window job last year just to learn how they were built. Now I'm looking for things that I can integrate with my CNC capabilities.
Well written quotes with clear payment requirements will go a long way in eliminating tire kickers and avoiding collection problems. I've had a couple of people decline my quote, and that's fine, it means I'm charging enough, and no one has ever stiffed me on payment. Collecting 40% up front has worked for me. And above all else, always provide a finish sample, preferably before building the piece but definitely before finishing it. People really don't care about your joinery, as long as it's clean and holds together, but they absolutely care about the finish.
John