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Crafting furniture is one of those deeply satisfying trades that still has a lot of demand in the modern world. Everyone needs furniture, after all, and many are willing to spend extra to get those which fit their aesthetic and practical needs. If you have an eye for interior design and like to get hands-on with your work, then there could be a place for you in the furniture industry. But it won’t be handed to you. You have to reach out and take it, here’s how.
Finding your niche
We’re going to assume that you might have been making furniture for a while, whether for yourself or for friends, before you started a business. Making bespoke furniture on a small scale is simple, but scaling up to a real professional outfit takes a bit more focus than that. It takes market research to see what is already readily available and what niches haven’t yet been filled. It’s a good idea to look at the current trends in the furniture industry. For example, you might feel like your practical skills could apply well to creating home office furniture, or you might have the aesthetic style and knowledge of quality materials to enter the bespoke luxury market.
Choosing the best location for the business
Assuming that you don’t want to run two different locations, you’re going to have to think carefully about the location of your business. Size matters, particularly if you’re dealing both with retail and assembly sections of the business on one property. Curb appeal and visibility in a commercial space matters if you’re selling in-store. If you’re only selling online, you don’t have to think as much about that. But you always need to be aware of how your location fits in with the logistics of the business. Is it close to suppliers? Is it convenient to ship out from? You need to put real thought into the location of the business.
Know your suppliers
The supply chain plays a big role in choosing the location, as well as just about every other aspect of your business. You might be used to woodworking and furniture making as a hobby. When you start a business in the furniture industry, you need to start looking beyond the consumer options and start going to the suppliers who deal primarily with businesses. You’re going to need materials providers, tool providers, bonding adhesive suppliers and more. Get in touch with them not as a one-time customer but a potential long-term client. Those who provide in a business 2 business capacity tend to offer much better prices than those who provide to consumers. That’s just one key factor of finding the right suppliers instead of heading to your usual stores.
Budget like a boss
Your material supplies aren’t the only resources you need to be concerned with. To make sure you’re able to stay afloat and keep producing, you need to get up close and personal with your budget. You need to track income and plan your outgoing expenses. Determine what your fixed costs, like property costs and payroll, are. Then find out what your variable expenses are, from materials to marketing. You’re going to need to know when to pull the strings on these costs, reducing and increasing as you go on. This means knowing your demand, as well as the costs. For instance, you need to plan ahead with material supply so you’re not oversupplied and spending money storing goods that you’re not yet able to shift.
Establish a brand
Furniture is a lifestyle expenditure, no matter how practical or simple its purpose might be. To get good at selling it, you need to sell more than the furniture itself. You need to sell the value that it can add to the lives of your customers. This is what finding your brand is all about. Start with your niche, with what you prioritize on delivering above all the other businesses in the same market. Is it the quality of craftsmanship that makes you unique? Is it the bespoke nature? Is it providing a solution to a problem, as is the case with ergonomic seats and tables? You need to establish a brand and make it the core of your business’s message in order to succeed in the furniture industry.
Get online
That message is going to be in the marketing for your business, in its signage and its decorative design. But nowadays, it also needs to go online. The virtual world can’t be ignored any longer by business owners. You need a site. It needs to fit the visual style and the voice of your brand. Your web presence has to be accessible, too. Be careful you’re not overloading your site with too much text on pages and ensure that the important details, like getting in contact with you, are never too difficult to reach. A site’s primary service is in converting customers. If you’re using ecommerce options, then it’s even more important to make it as intuitive as it can be. Confusing navigation makes it more and more likely with each click that a customer will simply change their mind on their purchase.
Market with confidence
With your website sorted, you need to start spreading that brand far and wide. You need to show exactly what you can do. Take pictures of your lineup of products and spread them on social media. Highlight offers and new arrivals to the store or new aspects of the service you offer. Whatever you do that has value to the customer, shout to the world about it. Consider, too, getting into content marketing. For instance, you can do décor advice pieces that incorporate your own creations in helping consumers build the look for the home they want or create a home office that improves their working productivity. Know your customer and what they’re after, then make sure your message appeals to helping them achieve it.
Keep your business running as smoothly as possible by learning how to manage your resources on a professional level. Think logistics, think money, and think supply. Then it’s all about figuring out how to sell what you make. This guide should get you well on your way to establishing a strong market presence. It won’t always go smooth, but that’s all part of the risk.
