How are custom woodworking professionals identifying themselves today and what are the inherent challenges they find themselves taking on?
Although many businesses use the word “custom” in their names, what differentiates a true “custom shop” today is its ability to make a one-of-a-kind product, say those who consider themselves the real thing. “I would have to define a custom shop as one that has no pre-set sizes, colors or styles of whatever product it produces,” says Dave Kennedy, owner of Dave’s Custom Woodworking in Oshawa, Ontario. “A true custom shop works from a client’s ideas or drawings to produce a product that is exactly what that client wants.”
“A true custom shop is one where artisans build pieces from original designs for its own line or for one-of-a-kind commissioned pieces,” say Scott Johnston and Marie-Michelle, owners of The Wood Extension in Tarzana, California. “On the other hand, a ‘customizing’ shop might be one where existing lines are altered — as in a custom cabinet shop, for example. The pure custom shop, however, has the soul of a true artisan — that of a designer and craftsman.”
As far as what it takes to run a custom shop, the versatility of a “one-man-band” seems to be required. “Managing a custom shop involves everything from meeting the clients, designing the projects, bidding the jobs, building the jobs, delivering the jobs and collecting the money,” says Tom Homza of Custom Woodworking Mfg. Inc. in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
Custom shops have their own set of challenges
“A real problem we have is finding people who literally are able to take an architectural millwork print for a cabinet or entry system, understand how to make a cut list, know what will need to go into the project, be able to machine the parts and pieces for it and then assemble it,” says Hozma of the four-man shop. “We produce hardwood mouldings, cabinets and doors for high-end residential construction — homes in the half million to one million dollar range. Those clients want moulding that’s larger than what is available at places like Home Depot. We do a lot of cherry, mahogany and walnut. We have to turn down work all the time, however, because we can’t find skilled labor today that has the capability of seeing a job through from start to finish. The only easing of the situation has been with the use of some high tech equipment. It’s easier to teach someone to run one machine for one specific part of the process than to try and teach the entire process.”
Another challenge specific to custom shops is time costs, notes Kennedy. “The cost per unit for a wall unit manufacturer that can produce large quantities of finished product may be much lower than building one custom unit for a client,” he says. “At the same time, a unit that has been done custom is generally of far higher quality. Don’t price an item at these large stores and think it can be done custom for the same price. Another challenge is in machinery. Its set-up and the making of gigs or templates that are for a one-time usage are time-consuming. In my case, where I have a limited selection of machinery, time is spent just figuring out how to accomplish a project.”
“One of the challenges is not underselling yourself— knowing your self worth — your value in time and labor,” says Johnston. “That’s where most guys fall short. They do beautiful craftsmanship, but they give it away because they are not able to put the dollar sign in front of time. It’s business sense.”
Marketing is another challenge, notes Johnston. “How do you market yourself since you don’t have a line to market? I have a very long list of interior designers that I call on a regular basis. I also mail out information about our custom work to designers. Participating in designer showcase homes in our area has proven to be great publicity.”
“As far as technology goes,” says Johnston, “you are generally looking for machinery that gives you a great deal of versatility so that you can be more creative. If machinery is specifically set up for one thing, can you adjust the equipment to do more? If you want to do radius work, is that edgebander capable of doing concave or convex edgebanding?”
Kennedy says most of his shop’s work is done with basic woodworking machinery. “Although all of the high-tech machinery intrigues me, the cost of most of this equipment is high,” he says. “Also, most of that equipment is based on high volume work rather than custom work.”
Mistakes not to make
The biggest mistake custom shops make is not covering themselves by doing shop drawings on every project, believes Johnston. “Whether it be custom chopsticks or custom furniture, if the client signs off on a drawing, then there is no room for later claims of miscommunication or misinterpretation. Also, it is very important to pre-qualify your clients so that you design within their budgets.”
“We’ve learned never to do a job without a deposit to get it started,” notes Homza. “We don’t feel it is our job to finance a project. Many of our jobs take months to finish.”
Kennedy’s advises, “The bottom line is, do not try to compete with the mass consumer goods end of the trade. Customers who are willing to pay for what they get, have an appreciation for higher quality in material and workmanship and enjoy personal service with the ability to add their input into the work are out there.”
