Woodworking Shop

Look forward to move forward William Sampson, Editor-in-Chief, wsampson@wattnet.net Don’t let economic naysayers slow the success of your business

Plenty of energy—Most of the talk among the scores of woodworking shop owners at the recent Biesse One2One event in Charlotte, N.C., was about growth, boosting efficiency and quality, not dwelling on any supposed economic doom and gloom.

Maybe it’s the newly blooming flowers after a long and snowy winter or maybe it’s all the recent talks I’ve been having with small cabinet shop owners around the country. Whatever it is, I am in a particularly optimistic mood as we head into the spring and on toward summer.

Tales of economic doom and gloom that so fill the mainstream media seem to be largely disconnected from the reality reported by shop owners I talk to. Oh sure, shops that rely almost entirely on residential new construction are experiencing a slowdown. But they seem to be effectively moving into other areas, such as commercial work and remodeling.

Commercial work seems to be a particularly bright light with continuing and often growing activity.

Going back to the results of our recent Small Shop Survey, it was also heartening to note how many shops polled in January and February were still predicting growth for 2008. The same has been true among shop owners I’ve talked to in recent visits to Virginia, California, and North Carolina.

The visit to North Carolina was particularly interesting because it involved attendance at the Biesse One2One event where about 100 shop owners from all over North America flew to Charlotte, N.C., for two days of meetings, workshops, and networking. There was little talk or evidence of an economic downturn there as Biesse revealed plans for a huge and innovative expansion (we’ll be reporting more on that as official details become available). The Charlotte skyline was dominated by construction cranes, and most of the shop owners, no matter where they came from, expressed no serious concerns about finding enough work. In fact, most of them had come to the event because they were intent on buying new equipment to expand their capabilities.

A lot of this reminds me of that old expression: “Behold the lowly turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.”

Successful business is a continuous process of taking measured risks. If there were no risks, there would be no rewards. Of course, if the economy is struggling in your area, the risks of considering expansion in new areas or with new equipment may be sizable. But interest rates are low and tax incentives are high, so setting your sights ahead and investing now is something to consider.

One thing is for certain: No business can move forward if it is focused on the past. More than 90 percent of shops in our survey rely on referrals as their primary marketing tool. That may have to change as shops develop more balanced marketing that brings in business from increasingly diverse sources. What are you doing to move forward while others around you may be standing still?

What are custom cabinets? Find the true value that defines your business and separates you from stock cabinet manufacturers.

Exactly what is custom cabinetry? The Oxford Dictionary gives several meanings to the word “custom” but starts with “usual behavior,” established usage, business dealings and customers. Looking at the custom cabinet business, the term custom relates more to building exactly what the customer wants.

Certainly custom is about choices in materials, color and finish, meeting space requirements and looks to please the customer. It may even be about specific sizes for very special purposes customers might have.

When we speak about size we look to accommodate the customer’s needs with the available space to house them. A kitchen, for example, may well be filled with standard cabinetry in fixed incremental sizes. Or, we could introduce special sizes to create symmetry, thus appealing to a particular customer need.

Either way, it should not make any difference to the productivity of a modern woodworking shop because we can now make a one-off almost as efficiently as multiples.

To be sure the front end that is, the design, parts generation, material needs and production planning is more time consuming in custom work. But when it comes to actual manufacturing, a modern CNC nesting machine does not care much as to what size the pieces are. Efficiency comes from loading and offloading the machine only.

So is it the variation in sizes that defines custom versus a shop that builds standard modules? Shops that build to standard sizes have the burden of inventory, packaging and ever-increasing shipping costs, which the custom cabinetmaker does not have. The non-custom shop typically relies on others to install the product and therefore is unable to deliver the real value that the customer is buying.

The essence of the custom cabinet business is about being able to deliver a product in an efficient and cost-effective manner while delivering real value. After all, stock cabinet companies make only cabinets, while the custom cabinetmaker makes a kitchen. Delivering value

So, if the good news is that modern custom shops are delivering real value without some of the burdens faced by stock cabinet companies, why is it that the custom cabinet business seems so tedious to so many? Why is it that many shop owners work more than 60 hours a week?

We established the value that you deliver. The secret is to focus on that and ask yourself what needs to be done to deliver it. Look at all other activities which are required to make it flow. Streamline those, automate them or eliminate them altogether. Standardize all aspects of the operation which are not part of the customer’s value expectations.

Things like construction details, sizing of parts to maximize yield and standardization of drawer system, as well as operational procedures, are of no interest and have no value in the majority of your customers’ eyes. Savings and efficiencies may be gained there for you at no cost to the value perceived by your customer.

The custom cabinet business is not a walk-in-the-park. It is about making the right choices amongst a thousand little things.