Pros and Cons of Woodworking Business | Stay A Side Hustle?

Explore our website now for premium CNC files, high-quality CNC bits, and top-grade wood - unleash your creativity today! - cicworkshop.com/
==========
Through my woodworking journey I've come to realize that owning a woodworking business is usually way more paperwork and way less woodworking. As much as I miss being a hobbyist making cool projects every weekend, being the CEO of a woodworking business also has its perks. Join me in today's video as I talk about the Pro's and Con's of owning a woodworking business.
Support the Chanel and Buy a Cooler! - friocoolers.com
My Favorite CNC Router Bit - amzn.to/3fiWnFA
Follow Cutting It Close on Social Media:
Facebook: / cicworkshop
Instagram: / cicworkshop
TikTok: / cicworkshop
About Cutting It Close:
Our goal is to help aspiring craftsmen do what they love for a living! We hope to share our knowledge in the woodworking field and CNC routering through training videos, CNC router techniques, unique projects, and practical applications.
TIMECODE:
0:00 - Intro
0:46 - Con #1
1:28 - Pro #1
2:07 - Con #2
3:00 - Pro #2
4:18 - Con #3
5:25 - Pro #3
6:06 - Con #4
7:32 - Pro #4
8:18 - Con #5
9:11 - Pro #5
10:06 - Outro

[@kelvinphillips3528]

Ryan, GREAT STUFF, AGAIN! I am a hobbyist and I have made more cutting boards than anything else and with that said, I want to engrave names into the boards, so is there a beginner level CNC that you would recommend? I am open to suggestions from fellow Cutting It Close subscribers too.

[@WanderingRobotStudio]

You can find great woodworking equipment at auctions of businesses going out of business. Also tertiary equipment like trucks, storage, etc.

[@scottbionicnerf8727]

Great video Brother. Truly insightful.... well, all your videos are really. Anyways, thanks for sharing.

[@patrickwright8805]

I really enjoy this down to earth talk about the business side, your enthusiasm is still present yet the way you talk about things is very mature. Thanks very much!

[@cutting-it-close]

I appreciate that!

[@CaptainYakima]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the business side of things. I've been slow-rolling starting my business for the last 9 months and I am at the point where I know I need to transition away from custom projects to production if I want to turn a profit. Also glad to see that you aren't endorsing products, except Frio coolers. :) Congrats on branching out!

[@cutting-it-close]

You can do it!

[@ryanmcadam1]

Can you do a video on sourcing? How you went from buying small batches at high cost to finding better sources and distributors for bulk material?

[@alexreid4131]

Thanks again Ryan. Loving all of this new format content from you. Keep on keepin' on and I have no doubt you will hit your BHAG (Big Hairy Ass Goal) of 100k subs by Jingle Bells time.

[@hammerholz]

Bro you are great! Big thanks from Germany😁😁

[@cutting-it-close]

You're welcome!

[@Meyerwoodworks]

The cost of equipment is something I did NOT anticipate, even as a SUPER small business (including upgrading electrical). It's also the cost of just doing business, paying for the accounting software, email, website, programs/software, shipping supplies, boxes, etc. etc. that the hobby guys just don't have. It's also difficult to learn that sales don't equal profit. It's REALLY hard to sell a product, it's even more difficult to sell a product and actually profit from it. I'm sliding more into CNC production, understanding that production is where the money is, it's not in one-off items (excluding cabinets/build-ins). There's also a mentality shift that I did not anticipate. If I'm in the shop, I better be making money, if not, I don't want to do it. Personal and family/friend projects go out the window, the equipment needs to run to make money. Hobby guys can let there equipment sit, businesses can't. If the equipment isn't working, it feels like a huge financial waste.

[@davidndahura7437]

The issue of about numbers to increase revenue hits me nice, the cruel part is woodworking is very expensive especially getting machines to achieve tasks. Thank you.

[@EmanuelQ3]

Great video. I don't think I'd be able to turn this hobby into an obligation like that even though I agree with the pros you stated. I'm just trying to make a little extra cash to live on.

[@matthewcleveland577]

This is pretty accurate. I no longer try and take on all the really custom stuff thats fun to build unless it's got an absurd price on it. Otherwise it's not profitable. You don't necessarily need to have all the equipment you've got to run a woodworking business, although if I could manage to move as much product as you seem to, I definitely would. Speaking of that, I know you started on Etsy, but where are your sales coming from now? I couldnt imagine having a shop with multiple employees and mainly selling on etsy. My CNC does definitely make everything more profitable. Ive been doing a lot (for me) of mdf cabinet doors for other cabinet shops. Its just me and make more than most people with a regular job. So its definitely possible to run a woodworking business without a 100k+ piece of equipment. But i guess I do have around 150-200k tied up in equipment total. Would definitely like a 100k+ cnc though lol. Probably in the next few years. Ive been doing woodwork three years full time, 5 years total. Just starting to make some real money this past year.

[@smgibv4393]

U spent 200k while making no profit at first? Rich uncle or what?

[@mattgibson6144]

As an Australian consumer who used to potter around working with wood many moons ago, I have to say in general woodworking as a craft/trade is in a sad state. I'm not interested (and neither are the majority of my friends) in buying a mass produced wooden item as it has no soul - everything is the same. But the downside of that is we often don't have as many wood based items in our homes as we'd like, as most woodworkers/carpenters have switched to production to pay the bills. So no beautiful, warm furniture pieces made of wood in most of our homes, but there is plenty of chopping boards, cheese boards and other smaller items of wood that you can purchase from market sellers who work on the small items but won't touch the big stuff for the time factor.

[@vernsteinbrecker3759]

Great video

[@cutting-it-close]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@philalliband4492]

Cannot find where I can purchase your products

[@HankHill757]

@cuttingitclose Do you make products from plastics (polycarbonate, Delrin, starboard, etc)? The machines you have can cut and shape various plastics. Expansion of product offerings!

[@Rovin6]

I am a long time viewer yet recent subscriber, you give great insights & advice, only critique is sometimes you gotta not get so excited & speak a little bit slower cause its alot of valuable info to take in a short period ... keep up the great content

[@smgibv4393]

You can rewind. You can set the speed slower. You can pause. Come on man...

[@robertmiles388]

Where is your building located at?

[@joecooper8527]

Don't know if I could handle the $100k price tag. I would need another building for all the new toys.

[@WrongTimeWatch]

I'd like to make a sell a few products to help supplement my day job.

[@stevedarlington6980]

Pattens for 3d machine

[@bigwillysgarage2301]

Man sounds like u need to build u a studio shop like a hobbyist shop on the grounds if you can do u can leave a project around until u got time u can say a R&D shop lol

[@Hackmudu]

I am from Kashmir i want to start business in USA i can inwest as well into ur company , i am having small construction business as well in india

[@user-xc8db7sy9e]

Why did you buy a CNC for $100,000’s instead of a bunch of smaller ones?

[@joecooper8527]

Space is required to operate safely and efficiently.

[@danneeriemer1933]

Based on the backdrop you have a lot of capital tied up in work in process. Interest in those products could drop in a heartbeat and you lose investment in material and labor.

[@leapnlarry]

Looks like you business has grown much bigger than April, but her channel is much bigger, she is the girl version of you, she benefits from being an attractive girl on youtube. Larry

[@pieceopye4046]

I click on your videos because they are topics or titles I don't see other talk about. I think you know your shit but gotta say I don't think your videos have enough energy in them. I want to listen but often feel like my mind doesn't concentrate. Maybe do things instead of sitting on a chair, like talk whilst doingbsome of the things in the sample videos you use. I hope you don't read that in a bitchy tone, to sum up, I find the topics interesting but my attention isn't kept throughout the video ngl.

[@martinsvensson6884]

You have a problem with focus. You need to work on that. Not him.

[@pieceopye4046]

@@martinsvensson6884 when?

[@martinsvensson6884]

When should he?

[@smgibv4393]

Dopamine issues. Look into it. If you can listen to this or sit and read a book you need to solve your issue.