The balancing act of compromise

A talented woodworker once joked with me saying "I've yet to figure out how to make money from woodworking". We chuckled about it, but beneath our toothy grins, and hearty laughs was the sting of truth. Keep in mind he said this to me being swamped with two dining tables, some end tables and a few other projects.  

Up to this point I always thought to myself "My process isn't efficient enough" or "that product is just bad for profit".  Although hearing it from someone much further on and experienced than me drove the stake that was just scratching the surface, all the way through my heart. How do I make money woodworking? 

A successful business is one that makes more than it spends. Simple theory... on its face. The dance of woodworking is quantifying that into a formula that works. One of the most beautiful aspects to the trade of woodworking is there's many ways to do the same thing and of course, wood. This natural material that is forever shrouded in secrecy. Everyone *knows* what wood is... that light brown material with the grain rings. Then that's it. The knowledge stops, because where would anyone actually learn anything about wood? The little known big secret is that although it's in every structure we build and around us everyday is many shapes and forms, it is extremely hard to make into furniture. 

Woodworking takes time... lots of it. That's not including mistakes, unforeseen delays and most importantly the expensive consumables that come along with the trade. Wood requires a lot of love, understanding and skill to build into high end pieces. 

If you're not one of the blessed woodworkers who can pull in $15k to $20k on a table, you're stuck playing with a sliding scale of cost vs build quality vs profit. Selling someone the idea that my table will last longer than them when the economy fluctuates so much is almost impossible. I really don't blame them either, life is short, dollars and cents count.

Most trades that make money tend to zero in on one specific product or task and optimize it to maximum efficiency. Every project as a woodworker is something fresh. Unless you're doing a production run, it's difficult to really optimize a build process. The better you are, the less the burden is, but even then it still carries. 

So where does that leave me? I have a couple of options. Simplify my builds at the cost of design, seek out more affordable consumables that save me time but aren't as good, and getting better. 

While that all seems daunting, I enjoy a good challenge. There's a beauty to creating your own path among the vines of a forest through your own ideas, skills and lessons.