How To Start Your Woodworking Business

1 Structure your woodworking business. Select a business structure with help from a Certified Public Accountant familiar with small production or service businesses. Meet with a commercial insurance agent with similar experience, and a powerful liability background. Visit your city or county clerk's office for a business license, and select if additional permits are necessary. Finally, ask your state Department of Revenue if you'll need to pay sales tax on your woodworking products.

2 Select your woodworking shop location. Select a location obtainable from major highways, and with sufficient maneuvering room for giant equipment delivery trucks. Confirm that the shop can be well secured against potential equipment theft. Before you finalize a lease, consult along with your city's zoning department to make positive that zoning regulations permit a woodworking business at that location. Get written zoning approval before you proceed further.

3 Select your woodworking product line. Woodworking products include furniture, decorative pieces and architectural parts such as fire mantels. You can also perform production woodworking for furniture manufacturers or other sizable companies. Realistically examine your available space, woodworking skills and production capabilities. Identify markets with unfilled demand, such as a backlog of bookshelves for a popular furniture style. Select a product line that offers current income and nice expansion potential.

4 Order your equipment and materials. List the equipment and supplies necessary for startup of your woodworking business. Think about the scope of your operation when you buy equipment. In the event you plan to make only smaller parts, for example, a smaller table saw takes up less space and is likely less expensive. Shop around for the best prices and manufacturers' specials. Used woodworking equipment presents a nice value if it's been well maintained. Woodweb features a woodworking machinery exchange continually updated with listings by private individuals and businesses. Each listing features a description, picture and seller location.

5 Design your woodworking shop layout. Your woodworking business will function more smoothly in the event you carefully design your shop layout. Proven Woodworking recommends that you position similar-purposed equipment together. Group table saws and planers to cut wood to the length and thickness necessary for finish work. Station your drill press, band saw and router table together to promote a more efficient finish work technique. Finally, plan your shop on paper first. Draw a floor plan to scale, and place paper "equipment" around the shop as planned. Assess your plan's efficiency before moving your actual woodworking equipment in to position.

6 Hire qualified woodworking staff. One time you have established your product line, choose the categories of woodworkers you need. For example, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that some woodworkers perform plenty of tasks that range from raw wood processing to done cabinet assembly. Conversely, other woodworkers are more specialized, performing a small number of tasks regularly. If your shop utilizes computer-controlled machinery, woodworkers who can operate this complex equipment are assets to your business.