I posted this on the Knots side, but this is probably of interest here also.
I received this email from a fellow cabinet maker and buddy in Chicago. He’s been on his own for over five years now and was super busy until six months ago when his well went dry. He did some beautiful work in those five years: http://www.ccicustomfurniture.com/
“Well guy,
As it stands right now, I need to shut down my shop and go work for someone. The deal fell through with me renting space from my refinisher friends. The owner owner said no deal.
So it looks like I’m going to just sell the materials I have “On Hand” and move the rest of the stuff to my home in (City), spraybooth and all.
It sucks, but I have no other choice since I can’t afford to keep my doors open and I’m tired of being in debt. I’m back to being 7 grand in the hole to my landlord and I can’t go much further before he himself kicks me out.
I’ll still keep in contact with ya and if things ever improve and I end up back in business, I’ll let ya know.
Take care and good luck”
Replies
Molten, that website shows some very nice pictures, but the marketing appeal of the site lacks pizzazz. I didn't feel the hook.
It's obvious that this talented tradesman doesn't have all the required business skills nor the luck. He should take heart in knowing that he's going broke after five years in the business and that most successful business moguls have went broke several times before they figured it all out.
My advice to him would have been to get a commissioned salesperson working as much as possible to sell his services and to mark up the sale enough to cover all those expenses. If he'd have done that when he was busy, he probably would still be busy.
blue
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Hey Blue,
I agree with you on your thinking, but I don't know all the details of how he did things. I'm going to let him settle down for a few weeks then pick his brain and see where he went wrong (and what we can do to avoid this situation).
On thing I've learned recently in the guerrilla marketing book that Mike Smith insisted every new contractor read: never, NEVER, EVER stop marketing! I'm thinking, just from past conversations, that's what happened.
Just took a quick look at his web site. The thing that stands out to me is Specialize. He does kitchens, bedrooms and furniture. Each one of those would be a business all by itself. With an unfocused marketing scattershot approach it is very difficult. (not saying that is what happened) But each category has competition. And is focused on thier market.
Little bit of everything is hard