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The first year is in the books

I got my business license one year ago yesterday.  That is the day I use to keep track of ‘business time’.  Yesterday was my first anniversary.

I’ve learned so much, both from the business side of things and also on the woodworking side of things.

Hand chopping mortises in white oak is an exercise in patience.  Also, white oak chips smell like fine whiskey.  Or is it that fine whiskey smells like white oak chips?

-I think I know how much custom is valued.  I’m going to charge accordingly in year 2.

-When I build something that goes into a customer’s home, I need to be very careful about what I call the ‘interface’.  How is this piece that I’m building going to fit onto/into/around the pre-existing structure/mount/furniture?  How my piece fits with what is already there is the hardest part of ‘custom building’.  I’ve gotten so much better at that…planning and measuring and making my piece fit with what is already there.  I learned that lesson from repeated trips back to the jobsite…

-I need to build a ‘travel box’, a toolbox that I can grab and throw in the vehicle and take to the jobsite.  I can’t tell you how many times I got to the job site and forgot the battery charger, or the right drill bit, or the left handed monkey wrench.

-I’m more than just a woodworker.  I’m getting decent as a leatherworker also.  To me, leatherworking and woodworking go hand in hand.  What use is a sofa frame if it isn’t upholstered?  Furniture making and woodworking are synonymous, and I see upholstery as an extension of woodworking.  I’m looking at a chair right now that is disassembled.  It needs a new seat.  I’ve cut out the seat blank from some plywood, and I’ve got upholstery foam.  I’m deciding if I want to use leather as the seat cover or a cheaper fabric.  If I use leather, I know that I won’t be able to sell the chair for what the leather costs.  If I use fabric, I may be able to sell the chair for the cost of the fabric and foam.  And I found the chair on the side of the road!  The cost of making the chair was free to me!

-Such is the quandary I find myself in….I’ve found that people often don’t understand what goes into making things.  I mean, everything comes from Wal-Mart, and by extension, China, right?  You go to the nearest big box, plunk down your dollars,and walk out with a chair/table/dresser drawers.  But very few people understand that there is a difference between solid wood and sawdust mixed with glue and pressed into a shape and coated with a paper that mimics grain.  Fewer still understand why solid, hand-made goods cost more than particle board crap.

-I love creating.  I love the look on the clients face when the light switch is flipped and a lighting fixture that I built and wired and mounted lights up.  Or watching the client rub her hands over the smooth oak table, relishing the texture and character of the wood.  I take immense pride, joy, and satisfaction from taking a client’s sometimes nebulous idea and turning it into reality.

I’m grateful for all of the clients that I’ve had this year.  I hope that I’ve met and exceeded expectations.  I look forward to building solid, multi-generational, functional and beautiful things for many more people in 2018.


Yours in custom creations,