Selling hand-built wood armoires can generate good revenue.
Everyone needs a good hobby. Some people knit. Other people carve. Woodworkers are a growing rarity these days, and the demand for quality hand-made furniture is growing. If you have developed the skills to build your own furniture, then you have already accomplished the hardest part of turning the skill into a business. One of the number one locations for quality wood furniture is the bedroom, so designing and building quality armoires and other bedroom furniture can generate some good revenue.
Instructions
1. Determine your monthly expenses. Evaluate the costs associated with the construction of a single piece. Determine how many you can manufacture in a month and multiply the per-piece cost by the total number of pieces you can build within a month. Remember, the costs of construction are materials and the various utilities that are used in the manufacturing process (water, electricity, and so forth), plus potential shipping charges, storage charges, or other expenses. The total cost is your monthly expense.
2. Establish your profit goals and set your minimum sale price. Standard profit goals are usually 5% to 20% over the cost of manufacturing. For example, if you spend $100 building an armoire and desire a 5% profit, your sale price will be $105. If you build 50 pieces a month, your monthly net profit after expenses will be $250. To establish your profit goal, work those numbers in reverse. Identify how much net profit you need per month (for example, $2,000), divide that by the number of pieces you can produce per month (2,000 / 50 = 40), and add that to the per-piece cost (40 +100 = $140). This is your base price.
3. Develop a portfolio. Take 8-x-10-inch pictures of different pieces you have developed and put them together into a single binder or portfolio. When selling or marketing your furniture, having a portfolio allows potential buyers to see the items and options available. Multiple pictures from different angles of each item are very helpful in displaying the piece.
4. Locate dealers within your region. Evaluate how far you are willing to travel for deliveries and locate all furniture and housing accessory dealers within that area. Using your portfolio, market the different styles and items you can sell to them. When selling to a middle-man like this, you usually won't sell for much more than your base price, if any higher at all. You may be able to negotiate a higher rate, but when selling through dealers rather than selling directly to the customer, your options for raising the base price are limited.
5. Advertise both locally and nationally using local resources and the internet. You can establish a website using a third-party web host or develop your own. Cost-wise, the cheapest and easiest method is to contact a third-party web host (you can locate numerous hosts by searching online) and have them develop a website for you that displays your portfolio and establishes options for buying the furnishings. Local resources include regional newspapers, which can be expensive; the phone book, which is an annual cost but more economical; and billboards, road signs, or even vehicle placards.
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