This isn't a cutting board video, it's a business excellence video. The concepts provided here translate to any business. As a veteran financial advisor and hobby woodworker, there are bits from this video that I will apply to my full time practice as well as my woodshop. Thanks for your sage wisdom. Learning is a lifetime endeavor and nobody has a monopoly on good ideas.
Took the words right out of my mouth lol! I personally think the cutting board market is completely saturated but the overall advice in this vid hit me at a needed moment and can be applied to any maker.
Can you make money selling cutting boards? Sure but the main reason is it's extremely oversaturated by makers and large corporations. Home Depot is selling walnut end grain boards for $40. In my opinion, the shark is beyond jumped. Make them for gifts and to use scraps but don't form a business strategy around it.
Yes you can absolutely make money selling cutting boards in spite of mass marketed product. My video talked about how to do that very thing. There are many people charging $300+ for their product right now. But their customers are not bargain hunter shoppers!
@@MWAWoodworks I wouldn't argue that you can make money doing it as I replied above. I watched the video and think there is a lot of valuable info that isn't discussed on youtube. I guess my point is I'd paint a more realistic expectation for new business owners thinking about basing their main source of income on cutting boards alone. Setting yourself apart and marketing is MUCH more important than the product most times (as you stated). I just tend to think if Kohls and Home Depot selling legit hardwood boards for pennies and 155K results for cutting boards on Etsy it's well past it's prime as a main selling sku. Just my thoughts though and I'd never say anyone can't do anything, just know what you are up against.
I don't think you have to limit it to just cutting boards. Any hand made items can follow the exact same script. Cutting boards is just the easiest/most accessible product to the woodworker looking to get started.
I would argue that “Home Depot” and “$40.00” are actually big turnoffs for people looking for a quality wood cutting board. The only people buying those are cheapskates giving them away as gifts. Over-saturation is solved by smart marketing & social media.
Just echoing another commenter.... This was truly a master class in starting a cutting board business. I'm 1 year in and everything you said is spot on. 8 learned so much. Thank you for taking the time to create this content.
6:16 double the size may end in 2.8 times material costs (as thickness is increasing, too) and material cost is increasing to $84. Profit will then only $51 or 37% profit margin.
Dang brother you covered so much in so little time. This was a great video. Been in business for 35 years (different business) but your advice is really good. It’s a lot of information to take in for a person that has never run a business before. With that said, I would consider a follow up video or even a series to this video. You obviously know what you are doing and I’m sure your knowledge will be in high demand. Thanks for the video.
I quitted my job to start my fulltime woodworking and what you said in the video is so comprehensive. These are exactly what I've learned but can't think of any better explanation. Thank you for sharing these. Great inspiration. Thank you, From Australia
Great tips! I used to do well on Etsy, but like you said, the competition has gotten to be too much. I'm focused on content now instead of selling products.
Good points covered here. I sell all my boards through social media. TikTok has drawn a lot of attention and customers to my work. My boards are very time consuming but I'm not looking to be compensated for time as this is a weekend hobby for me. I'm selling due to WOW factor and have a waiting list rather than inventory.
This is all very good information! The only thing I can think of that might also be helpful are business cards. You can get hundreds made up for less than $25 and have something you can hand out to friends, family, and customers. My only critique is that you gave 12 super helpful ideas, and your title says 15 ;) Thanks for making this type of content!
it's a great common video about any business! Awesome motivation to apply all of these advices! Enjoyed by watch this and will be happy to share with others as a guide.
Thanks for the video. Lots of great info! This may be a dumb question, but how do you provide images for all the options that you might offer on a cutting board (different sizes, features, wood species) without building a bunch of cutting boards in advance that you might not sell? Is there just no way around it?
If you put a juice groove in a cutting board is it a carving board (for meats, cooked or raw) or a cutting board? Most of the chefs I know do not want a juice groove be3cause after cutting the food, they typically pick up the board and scrap the food directly into the pan or pat....
I've made dozens of boards over the years but never sold any of them. They were all as gifts. BTW, Marc did a video on the best finish for cutting boards and it turned out to be pure tung oil. Mineral oil was rated at the bottom. That was interesting to learn.
Thank you so much for this great video. I have seen a lot of videos regarding woodworking and also the business behind it, or so called how to videos. But yours has been by far the best one. Content, footage and of course your craftsmanship. Awesome. Best regards from Germany
Small board - $175. Large board - $250. "Would you rather make two small boards or one large one?" One large, obviously... then cut it down the middle and make two small ones! A couple minutes to sand/finish two cut edges for an extra $100 of income :D On a serious note, cheers for going a bit more into actual selling/advertisement (and "showing off not only end product, but work that goes into it" in particular). Too many "how to sell" videos basically just say "Make stuff and sell it to your fan base. Simple!" and that's not really useful.
One thing I would caution people about if they do make your wood conditioner like that is to not make any claims about food safe. Even if it's 2 food safe ingredients and the end result is in reality food safe, it's another thing to create a new product and make that claim. You can get in some serious trouble. Instead just like he said on here label it "wood conditioner" and list the ingredients with brands so customers can make that connection themselves. If you want to claim something is food safe after altering the original product it needs to be tested by the FDA.
Ok,1st and foremost,LOVE all the tips and the video! Now to my question, since you brought up you love walnut! Do you do any kind of disclaimer for walnut or any of the other nut trees for that matter. Basically how do you approach the issue selling boards to customers? Thx in advance!
Solid video packed with great info. I would also suggest joining a BNI or get into networking events. Get associated with real estate agents many like to give gifts to home buyers.
Wow , I never thought about this, I need to go back and rethink my objective for this business start up. Would love to to you more on this subject. Till next time thank you and God's speed
All excellent points! And just the time that I needed to hear what you talked about. Especially cost of wood; I use "Free" Mesquite a Lot in making bowls and boards- after processing, there is about 3 times the labor (on a good day) over store bought- and I'm talking $20 -$22 per bf. And the advise on selling is something that I really needed. Thanks!
Wait... That math at 6:30 is stupid. I tried to make sense of it, but the only thing i can figure out is that you charge extra for nothing. Labor is what YOU want for making the board... that is your cost of labor. Its YOUR money because YOU made it. Unless you are paying someone else 100$ to make that small board, YOU get that 100$. So where does the other 45$ come from if its not labor or material cost? Magic fairies come down and sprinkle some extra fucks to give on it? Lul? I know it was your way of trying to illustrate the difference in pricing, but maybe you should have explained that better cause somewhere... someone really thinks that labor isnt part of the profit and is going to think that they are only going to make 45$ from selling a 175$ cutting board that they paid 30$ to create.
Labor is a cost of any business whether it's 1 person or 50 people. The rules don't change just because you made the product. Labor is what you get paid, profit goes back into the business to make the business grow, pay for advertising etc.
Thank you for sharing. Planning and knowing what to work on is valuable information. If I may always ask another unbiased person to examine your work. I.E. Quality control
One aspect you didn't cover is order processing, from taking the order, to invoicing and shipping. Also handling returns or other customer issues. A lot of people who are great at woodworking are terrible with the paperwork. And don't forget taxes. Just add taxes to the cost of doing business and price accordingly. Sales taxes are added on to the invoice but your income taxes aren't.
Oh Yes there's a lot more things I didn't cover when it comes to the cost of doing business. My main goal was to get people to understand the basic idea that your time and labor costs money.
Great advice, just found your site and I’m really enjoying it and your style of presentation. I am just getting started at woodworking and am learning a great deal from your site. Keep up the great content!
How have I never seen this video? LOL. On to watch the rest of your cutting board videos. Home sick…. Binge watching your channel (again). I guess it showed up because I’ve recently been making small cheese and cracker trays. Not sure how I got on this kick. But that’s where I am. Using up a lot of hard wood scraps that have been sitting around for FAR too long. But the process… has been so fun. I have been focusing on setting up a process. I’m made a jig first. Made a test one out of plywood to see if my jig was right. Three different versions after that…. Made a test one out of pine. Then walnut. Now that I have my process. I have 8 blanks ready to go. Will most likely add some cutting boards to the mix. So off to watch your video on cutting board oil.
This really is only for American's, as a Canadian Ive seen these at craft stores/fairs farmers markets for decades and NOT AT ALL THESE PRICES LOL. Yes most local wood is much cheaper here then in the USA. But over all alot of people don't want to spend alot on something
This is unbelievable!!! I am so happy I found your channel!!! This was better than my stupid MBA..... seriously wow thank you. Amazing channel, subbed!
So, nothing against this author - thank you for publishing this generous video - but... If a family member/boss wanted to gift me something nice, I'd much prefer they give me the $200 cash rather than a cutting board; cutting boards are ~$15 on Amazon and I could get a whole lot more utility out of the left-over $185 cash than I could out of the more expensive cutting board. Why are there so many frivolous customers?
Instead of cutting boards ... Sell charcuterie boards instead. You can charge a premium to suburban housewives looking to impress their friends with the bespoke presentation.
I don't know if Vegas is very different than other cities but more cons of selling at a market is all of them require a 2 business licenses (in state and county you at selling) and vendor insurance. A lot require a tent too so be prepared to spend at least $200 on that.
@@MWAWoodworks 100% - I think most people are getting a basic business license (if they are smart) but I wasn't aware of multiple licenses to sell in different counties and submitting tax forms on site in some cases. That with vendor insurance it makes it a decent chunk of change to start. Just putting it out there. It was VERY different even 10 years ago.
Meh...I'm never a fan of the mentality of "testing your pricing". Why can't we just make stuff, sell it for a fair price that reflects the work that goes into it, and leave it at that?
A fair price is what someone is willing to pay you for your work and your time. If you applied for a job at two different companies and one company was willing to pay you a higher salary for the same work, which job would you choose? Why would running your own business be any different?
@@MWAWoodworks We all know that salary isn't the end-all-be-all of job satisfaction, so why should running your own business be any different? Yes, price products so the bills get paid and you get properly compensated. I just balk at the concept of raising a price simply because you found a person willing to pay more for the same product. I believe this need for ever-increasing revenue/profits that capitalism has ingrained into us is unhealthy.
It's not about ever increasing profits. It's about having proper work life balance. Do the least work for the most money. Why spend time making 2 things for 100 dollars when you can make 1 thing for 200. You make the same money for less work. Know your worth and don't sell yourself short and you'll be satisfied.
An important thing to remember is that pricing too low can make people assume your work is crap. I have a book kicking around somewhere written by a professional wooden boat builder, whose name I can't recall offhand. When he didn't have new boat orders and wasn't engaged in repairing or renovating older ones, he carved half models of boats and ships. Half models date back to the days when instead of drawing plans on paper, a designer would carve out one half of a hull, often in 'lifts' - thin slices that could be taken apart and measured to scale. Aside from giving the builders something to work from, they let the client visualize the finished product. Nowadays they're made and sold mostly as art objects - usually on a plaque, and often with stuff like carved wooden sails added. In the last chapter of the book the author covers making and selling half models, which is probably the oddest sidetrack in any of the boatbuilding books I own. The last wry bit of marketing advice he gives is something like, "I'm not sure what it says about people and the world. But if all else fails, try raising your prices."
I just came across this video and your channel, THANKS for posting this.......As soon as I finish this comment, I'll subscribe and see what else you come up with.... I've been woodworking for quite a few years, but since I'm getting close to retirement, I'm going to get a bit more serious. I've done quite a bit of research and don't see anyone doing quality cutting boards, charcuterie boards or cheese slicers. That's where I'm going to start, and we'll see where it goes from there.
Creating your own site is the best thing for business,; however, Etsy may not deliver well but your brand would be seen over and over. I see Etsy as a gimmick but use it as means to put myself out there along with social media. Another TIP is to gift your boards to friends, coworkers and family, and nonchalantly on the sly mention how it would be cool if they mention how they love it on their media platforms. Coworkers was a valuable source of advertisement for me. Love your video on this topic.
Can you comment on using something like Purple Heart in your boards? I’ve heard it can express toxins even after finishing that can get into your food.
This was a well orchestrated video. You were talking "fast", but it was logically organized and flowed well, so I didn't get lost. In other words, you were talking fast, but not too fast for the script and storyboard. Thanks for the video, it was helpful.
The difference between the US and the U.K. is staggering. I guarantee you wouldn’t sell a single board over the value of $40 in the U.K. nobody is spending $250 on cutting boards. Seems like a great market over there.
@@MWAWoodworks No doubt you’ll get a buyer or two but here “everyday prices for everyday people” will out-sell a $250 board 10 times over. If that makes sense.
@@MWAWoodworks Yeah I get the work rate to reward ratio but that’s a lot of labour work for the board to sit on a shelf for the next 12 months waiting for a buyer. Maybe not that long in the states but over here, that would be the case. Not many makers/creators out there can afford that. I get though that long term that’s a great goal to aspire to.
Oh, I never built up stock. I always made my boards after the order was placed. Keeping stock is really only needed if you sell your work in a shop or work a booth at a craft show which I never did. I was online orders only.
I would never get 250€ for cutting board. It seems that 45 euros for epoxy decorated is too much. I Just purchased end grain cutting board made from oak for 50€. I understood that there is no point for me to do it myself. And it is big.
Do you mean locally or via the internet? On the internet, with the right strategy you absolutely can get 250 euros. I sold boards for more than that shipped from the US into Europe and throw on top of that all the taxes Europe charges and people still bought my boards. You won't sell thousands of them but you don't need to at that price and thats the point.
Great advice for any start-up! Some of the comments prove there was a misunderstanding. I didn't focus on cutting boards when starting my side gig making custom builds because the market I'm in has way too many large companies mass-producing them. But that doesn't cheapen the info you provided here.
Really great video and a lot of information that actually extends well beyond cutting boards. However, one major omission and perhaps beyond the scope of this video and maybe covered in another one I haven't seen, is the idea of overhead and separating the business from the person. There is more than just labor and materials, your blades will wear out and your machines have a finite life. Also, the person needs to make money and the business needs to make money, These two are separate. If you work a regular office job somewhere, You are not expected to provide your own computer, the company does that. In a way you begin to touch on this by showing labor and profit but laying out what that profit is actually for would be the next level of understanding.
Good talking points. What have you found to be the best way to drive traffic to your website? Are you relying on your social media posts or do you look more into different search engines like google or bing?
6:55 But aren't you paying yourself for the time? So the "labor" is actually part of the profits, since it goes 100% to you. That would mean a small board is 83% profits whilst a large board is only 76%.
No. Labor is a cost of business, not profit. Imagine if you have 3 people working in your business. Their pay is not your profit. The same is true if you're the only one in the business.
Good afternoon from a sunny South-Africa. About a year ago, I strated selling cutting boards at our church for a market day. I had wooden cutting boards, but I also had a lot of Solid surface boards. From there it just took off. I have now, a year later, never looked back. I have a lot of Solid surface boards. Far far more than the wood. I have actually stopped making wooden ones. That also gave me an added edge at the markets, because there is no one else that is selling it. But, like you said. Markets is a difficult place to sell your product. I have teen told to go the on line route. Thank you for confirming it.
I'm kind of surprised people are even spending that much money on cutting board. It's somewhere between a utensil and a consumable, depending how and how much you use it. If you don't sand it down once in a while it gets nasty. With a jointed board especially I would be worried how well it holds up to moisture. Boards made from a single piece warp, glued boards fall apart after too many wet dry cycles.
Most people see them as kitchen art or decorative pieces, although they are completely functional. I have cutting boards 10 years old. They hold up just fine. Glued boards like this don't fail unless a really inferior glue was used.
Look at this legend, annoyed at Etsy for advertising the competition, while teaching the competition how to be more competitive. That's how you know its about the craft
Just followed up on your cutting board finishing video. Thanks for the video and all the links. One more thing could you share a link for the lid labels?
