Woodworking Business Question

[Just Dave]

Does anyone have any articles\books about logicaly setting up a side home based wood shop for business?

[Myxylplyk]

Before seeking out any other advice. Put your planned equipment/tool list together including prices. Estimate about 6 months of lumber inventory and it's costs. (Maple,cherry, walnut, oak, quartersawn, figured and clear) Then call you insurance agent and ask about commercial insurance rates to protect all this investment. Be sitting down when he calls back with the price.

You homeowner's insurance will not cover the business.

Good luck,

Myx

[john moorhead]

Dave -

There are several titles, depending on the nature of the woodworking biz you're considering.

The Woodworkers Guide to Pricing Your work has a range of types of work for you to get a feel for things. Go to Amazon.com and type in "Woodworking Business" in book search and you'll find a wealth of titles.

I've collected quite a library over the years and while no one book has all the answers, they all have good points to take to heart.

Hope this helps, and good luck! What kind of kindling do you make?

[Charlie Self]

Just Dave asks:

A friend of mine, Kenn Oberrecht, wrote such a book some time ago for...jeez...had to go look at my book for them. Globe Pequot. I don't know who owns Globe now, but you might try googling them.

But I just checked and the book isn't listed any more. Try Amazon, though. How To Operate A Home Based Crafts Business, IIRC.

Charlie Self If God had wanted me to touch my toes he would have put them higher on my body.

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

For a part-time business? Six months of lumber? Heck why not buy Tom Plamann's huge lathe, just in case he needs it?

He's right about the insurance, your home owners insurance will not cover business equipment. However, you can purchase a rider with a large deductible to cover a major catastrophe, and you should have liability insurance, which you'll need to work on a customer prem. You'll probably have to self insure for smaller losses. Since your shop is in your home, there's probably less of a chance of having the shop cleaned out by thieves, compared to an industrial location. In case of a fire, you'd have to meet the large deductible.

One thing to consider is zoning. You can probably do what you want, as long as you're not making excessive noise, hanging a sign, having customers visit the shop, or getting a lot of deliveries.

Talk to a local lawyer and accountant about getting set up as an LLC and for sales / local / federal taxes, and maybe getting set up with Quick Books or Peachtree to keep the books easy. The accountant will probably suggest the same book keeping software he uses so that you can bring the books to him at tax time. If you are simply looking to make a few pieces of furniture or install some built-ins on a part time basis, you _can_ do it legally and make a profit. Lots of people do this every day.

Barry