Woodworker's Journal 1985-9-4, страница 12

. . , kept in the old-fashioned way — Build this rustic vegetable bin — a warm and useful addition to your country kitchen. A

Enclosed is $3.00 (U.S. funds). Please send me your May/June I9S4 issue conlaining the Vegetable Bin plans.

Name Slrwt City _

State/Zip_

THE WOODWORKER'S JOURNAL P.O. Do* 1629. New MtHont CT 1*7% U.S.A

STOP THE

WIND

Find out how Conservation Trees can help you. For your free brochure, write: Conservation Trees, The National Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410.

Workshop Income

Selecting the Right Project for Production

So you've decided that it's time to realize a little profit from your woodworking hobby. Sure, you've probably sold things from time to time, but how about getting into a real production situation, making 10, 20, or more of a single item for retail sale? Great idea! But now comes the big question; What to make?

All the information we've gathered points to the fact that a small-scale woodworking business simply cannot compete on a production basis with large factories. For this reason you should direct your efforts toward a limited production mode, making something that is different and unique. The most successful small woodworking businesses are those that fill a particular need, have a product with strong individual or regional appeal, and offer this "right" product at the right price.

The temptation to make big profits from the sale of big-ticket items may be great, but unless you are in an unusual situation with a ready-made market willing to pay for these items, your best bet is to concentrate your efforts on small, low-cost items with a broad potential market.

There are three important elements to consider in determining what an ideal production-for-profit project will be: Cost, time, and marketability.

Very basically, your product must be reasonably easy to make in a fixed period of time and for a limited amount of money. It must be well-suited to construction and assembly with repetitive production operations, and as a rule, should not require extensive handwork, sanding, or finishing. After figuring in material, production, overhead, and related costs, the product should be marketable at a reasonable price. This final selling price must include a fair profit for yourself. Our research indicates that an ideal price range is from S6 to $15. You must sell on the retail level since, as noted earlier, a small woodworking shop cannot hope to compete on a cost-per-unit basis with a factory production operation.

Finding the right product, one with that special appeal, is no easy task. Yet, from reader response to projects that have appeared in The Woodworker's Journal over the years, we have a fairly good idea of which projects will be most successful. The Clamdigger's Basket featured on page 44 should be a winner. It meets all the established criteria, including low material cost, adaptability to limited-run production, ease of construction and assembly, and minimal sanding, finishing, and handwork. We think that this project will have strong appeal since a similar clam basket, published in our old newsprint days (and therefore no longer available in back issue), is near the top of the list of all-time favorite production projects that have appeared in The Woodworker's Journal. Our only reservation is that perhaps this project may be more popular here in New England than in the Midwest or South, for instance.

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We publish two weeks before the beginning of the month shown on the cover. Thus, the May/June issue is published on the 15th of April, etc.

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The Woodworker's Journal