Bespoke furniture

[Jack92Jack]

Hi all,

My name is Jack and I'm new here.

My dad runs a small carpentry where they make products for building industry (timber frames etc).

In my spare time using leftovers I like to make my own stuff there with combination of traditional woodworking techniques and modern. For last few months I was crafting small pieces of furniture e.g. shelves, storage boxes etc which my friends really loved (I guess it was a lot to do with a fact I gave them away for free).

However I was thinking to take this further and create some sort of brand of unique furniture. I've done some research and there are niche markets potentials only problem I'm facing is how do I go about getting the products out there.

I'm completely clueless, to appreciate those products they would have to be seen in person, I was thinking of attending Furniture trade shows however based on initial google research they don't occur very often.

Any tips or hints are welcome!

Thanks,
Jack

 

[Mr D]

Who are your customers?
Figure that out and can figure out a way to get products in front of them.
Be specific.

 

[MOIC]

Etsy, Craft Fairs, Ideal Home, Furniture fair (NEC every January), Garden Centers (Sale or return), Local Market, Own Website . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Judging by some of the products that some of our customers put through I think you might be on to something.
Quality is the main thing and with that you can charge a decent price

 

[Socio South West]

The first thing to think about is your costings - You say at the moment you are relying on leftovers from your father's business: If you have to start buying materials, and probably higher quality (JQ) at that, this has to be allowed for in the pricing of your products.
Secondly, how much and how often can you produce? It's no good going to a trade fair and accepting a wholesale order for say 50 pieces if you aren't geared up to produce it.
Having said that, there are loads of people probably local to you who want a cupboard or bookshelves of a specific size built to fill a space.

Whatever you do, make it worth your while! Too many skilled craftsmen fail to get adequate reward from their work to maintain their tools and earn from their business.

My advice to you would be to keep it local and keep your marketing relatively low cost - Craft fairs are short and sharp and can be done for a few quid and in a day, whereas a Trade Show is generally a large commitment both in time and finance.
It's also amazing how well social media can work for you if you can get a few people to recommend your work on local Facebook groups, so get yourself a Facebook page with some good photos of your work, and join several of the local groups and see what comes in.

 

[billmccallum1957]

Getting the product in front of the customer is key, but as with many start-ups it's likely that you wont have a decent budget for marketing.

One option is to hire some space in a large shopping centre. I did this many years ago for exactly this kind of business. We had a mix of stock products (oak & mahogany fire surrounds, shelving units and cabinets - all in solid wood, no chipboard or MDF) and we did made to measure stuff high a higher price point.

Each of the bespoke products had a brass plate with "Hand crafted by Xylograph Furniture Design for [customers name] in [year]" We sold bespoke mahogany hi-fi units for £500 in the 1980's, may not sound a lot, but the 80's in Middlesbrough it was a huge price tag.

Getting the branding right was a key element, I stumbled on the business name by reading a dictionary.

 

[Mr D]

With high quality wood products its also worth pushing sustainability these days - stuff that can last centuries rather than cheaper inferior products you have to replace in a decade.

 

[Jack92Jack]

Wow guys thanks so much for replies, I will add some missing info:
-I can use my dad's existing suppliers to buy materials from (at discount)
-I've got an access to all tools required to make it this work as well as small storage area, only downside is that I can only work in evenings or when place is not busy

I've got few ideas for unique products and already calculated some basic costs (except my time).

Sales
In terms of sales, I was thinking about creating website on which it would show location where products could be found (e.g. local furniture shops) however I'm not sure how to approach those shops (this model is used by competitors from what I've seen). Should I offer to sell those products or just try to put them there and the owner will receive commission from each sale?

Promoting the business
Website + adwords + social media as well as trade fairs and other selling sites

Products
Strong focus on uniqueness while making the products exceptionally durable and long lasting. I've seen some furniture makers offering a life time warranty on their products and this is something I want to pursue because then it would really highlight the quality of craftsmanship which I'm sure I could achieve

Price range
Price range of products I'm aiming for would be between £400-£1000 depending on the actual product

Thank you so much guys!
-Jack

 

[Mr D]

Commission - the shop will be charging more than items cost to buy. Maybe a multiple.
I sell stuff online using 2.5 times wholesale price for a guide, a shop I know selling the same products uses 4 times wholesale price as a minimum.

 

[MOIC]

Offering products which use FSC certified wood is important these days.

 

[A.Friend]

Hi Jack, you have been given amazing advice above, try keep their advice and refer to it multiple times, as these people here are very informative & helpful

Imo You state you can only currently work evenings

You was thinking of going to furniture shops etc

Are you going be just unique or manufacturing?

A local furniture shop might want multiple of the exact same item, and then when customers want sales items, they will want cheaper prices etc

If your part time, then for now everything is unique, so it might be a good idea to go with that...

Make unique styled furniture, that only one person can own, many people love that and want things no one else has and they pay more for it

Your time and craftsmanship is valuable, theres a lot of factories knocking out day to day white goods or the usual items, many want unique & unusual,

Many countries make standard items, ikea etc, but carpentry these days, is becoming kinda rare and many people want that speciality

Also you could try making things for stately homes or unique items for celebrities etc & other higher class purchasers

Your items could become a famous name & highly sought after, if your quality & style is amazing.

If everything you make is unique, then be unique, be your brand.

 

[Awinner2]

Keep your marketing outlay lowkey. Ebay, Facebook Market Place, join your local FB group and show your wares on there. A low-cost way to test the market before making a heavy investment.

 

[Jack92Jack]

Wow that's so much for all your help and advice guys, I think I've got an idea how to begin my adventure now. Wish you all the best, Merry Christmas and happy new year!

 

[Noah]

Not directly relevant, because the Mouseman started and prospered in very different times, but here's an example of a very successful bespoke wood furniture business.

 

[Woody19]

Hi Jack
Coming to this thread a little late here but I have started and built a high end furniture business from scratch over the last 3-4 years and can offer some experienced start up advice here.

I recommend considering the low cost option of listing on Etsy first, and gradually building your website, social media presence, brand identity, trade contacts and furniture store outlets as you go. A website is costly and time consuming, as is the marketing and SEO optimisation you'll need to do to get found by people searching for the things you're making.

Things to be aware of with Etsy (that they don't tell you):
- Start with low priced items - smaller things and anything where you think you can generate lots of sales, even if you're not making much money at the beginning. High priced items only sell if you have a really good trading history. This is because the way Etsy's search algorithm works means you'll end up on the last page if you start out with a combination of high prices + no history + not a lot of products, so nobody will find and buy your high quality items. The tactic here is to create a virtuous circle that's all about generating sales to get higher rankings, which leads to more people finding your products to more sales etc... then you can put your prices up once you've built up your credibility- maybe 30-50 sales depending on the price point. I constantly battle with the competition from newcomers setting prices so low that they can't be making any money at all, but I have to respect that it works if you want to get traction at the start.

- Etsy's biggest customer base is in the US, so if you do decide to get on there plan early to work out how you'll ship things internationally, as this is where a lot of your business will come from on Etsy. You'd be surprised how many Americans will buy large, heavy solid wood furniture from the UK. Nobody believes me until I show them the figures but around 50% of my sales of custom furniture go to the U.S! Try Transglobalexpress for shipping, and invest in packaging so that there's absolutely no risk of damage whatsoever.

- List lots of things, as often as you can. Start with at least 20 items spanning a couple of categories so that you get found when people search for similar items. List something new at least twice a week if you can and read ALL the recommendations and tutorials about tags, attributes, description content to make sure you're filling in as much detail as possible, again, so you can get found.

- Make sure your photography is clean, against a white background and cropped so that it looks good in the thumbnail previews.

- It might take 3-6 months for your store to start getting good numbers of sales; it takes time for the Etsy algorithm to "trust" you, and during that time make sure you give excellent service, ask customers to leave (good) reviews, and before you know it something will kick in and your Etsy listings will start to get more visibility, your views will climb, and hopefully this sales will roll in.

There's few insider secrets for now.. best of luck with it all!