July 2022

10 Tips To Grow Your Woodworking Business

It’s been a long time coming, and it’s finally here—my top 10 tips to grow your woodworking business! I’ve been in the business for nearly a decade, and I figured it’s time to share some of my industry secrets. Wanna find out how I built my successful woodworking business from scratch? You can find out by watching the full video on my Youtube channel.

John Malecki’s Tips to Grow Your Woodworking Business

Find out how I got my woodworking business off the ground with these 10 Tips to Grow Your Woodworking Business

Social media is a big part of marketing my woodworking business.

I'm thankful to serve my local community’s woodworking needs, but I wouldn’t be where I am without following these steps—let's take a look at what I’ve learned over the years building my woodworking business.

1. Pick a Niche in Your Local Area

Before you can start finding success, you need to find a specialty you like that fills a niche in your community. For me, it was reclaimed wood and building industrial-style furniture. Now, I work mostly with live edge wood and epoxy.

2. Think of Your Business as a Business, Not a Hobby

Spend time working on the business itself, not just the woodworking aspect of your shop. As a rule, you should spend more time on the business than in the business.

3. Find Ways to Add More Value to Your Customer Experience

When I create large-scale custom pieces, I often throw in a smaller project made out of the same materials to add value to the transaction. A custom cutting board made out of leftover project wood is a great example of adding value to a project. It adds that special touch to the finished product for the client.

4. Invest in Yourself

I invested in coaching to help me build my business up to where it is today. Even though getting help might be expensive—trust me—it works out in the long run!

Over the last 9 years, I’ve been able to develop a course to help you invest in yourself and keep learning no matter where you are in your woodworking business. The course is called Craft to Career and you can try it for 40% off right now by following this link! Discount available until June 1, 2022!

5. Get on Social Media

We hear about social media all the time, but it is definitely one of the major keys to unlocking your woodworking business’s full potential. By showcasing my work on social media, I can support my custom business just by getting the word out about the different custom pieces I create in the Dream Shop.

6. Learn How to Properly Price Your Products

Pricing your products is not an exact science. However, when pricing your products, you need to make sure you are covering all overhead costs, labor, and materials. For more information about pricing, check out my Craft to Career pricing guide!

7. Prioritize Quality Over Quantity

If you are trying to start a business, you will want to prioritize larger projects over smaller ones. Smaller projects are fine, but they often take more work and will yield fewer returns than larger projects. For example, you can sell one large table for $10,000 instead of selling $100 cutting boards for $100 each. By using high-quality materials for larger projects, you can further establish yourself as a high-end woodworking business.

8. Network With Your Local Workshops

You never know when you may need some help or advice from one of your fellow local woodworkers. To grow your business and establish connections, forget about the competition and build lasting relationships with your local woodworking—and metalworking—community.

9. Diversify Your Income

To grow your woodworking business, you need to capitalize on all of the skills you have. That means anywhere you can lend a bit of expertise, you should be making money. If you have a background in consultation, design, or other industry knowledge, you can start diversifying your income. You can also take a look at your tools and determine if there are other ways that you could be making money by offering up your shop for auxiliary woodworking services.

10. Be Authentically Yourself

It might sound clichéd, but you need to do what you love. If you aren’t doing what you love every day, people will be able to tell. So, if you know that starting a woodworking business is your calling, then this is your sign to go for it!

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If you have more questions about starting a woodworking business, then I definitely recommend checking out my Craft to Career course which covers everything you need to know to get your woodworking business off the ground. I’ll see yinz for the next project! Stay squirrely!!

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