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People often ask how do I get started. What do I need to know and where can I find the information. I'd like to say that I have the answers to help everyone but that's just not true.

People all start from different situations as we all have different experiences, educations and learning methods. So what helps one budding business person doesn't necessarily help another. Not only that people learn in different ways so a book or article may be useful to one person but of little benefit to another. Some people like videos or audio information while others like seminars and conferences. You see we are are all different and what I offer may not what you need.

However I'd still like to help and maybe over the course of time you will get some benefit from one or more aspects of this site.

Here is a list of books I recommend for people interested in starting a woodwork related business.

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One of the key points I need to make about a woodwork business is that product choose is critical. You want to produce or make something that not a lot of other people are making or doing. For instance lets say you turn a pretty nice burl bowl and you would like to make a living turning bowls.

Following a little market research you find that there are 100 other business in you local area who are making burl bowls, damn. My guess would be you are likely find it hard to make a living turning burl bowls with that much local competition.

So break the market place down and find a growing trend in the turning market that you can exploit. Darrell Feltmate feels that there is a growing trend in small lathes. So why not develop some bowl and spindle patterns specifically for "mini" lathes and market these. Patterns are very sale able to the hobbyist turner and a growing market according to Darrell.

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When you start a woodwork business based around joinery techniques you can either plan to mass produce your product or you can choose the quality line.

A mass producer make his money from a small margin made on lots of product sold. As long as the quality is sufficiently good enough to meet the expectations of his customers and the process of production is streamlined to enable him to maintain the quality and margin. A craftsman on the other hand makes quality products where the skill of his craftmanship is reflected in his product. This precived quality and finish can demand a much higher price. Added to that a craftsman often produces a unique or limited number of products made to order.

There are ways to give the preception of quality to a piece of work that is cost effective to both the mass producer and craftsman alike. The use of dovetail joints is one way. Read Ken Schulte article below to see what I mean.

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