Atelier.Lignum - the story of how an engineer with a successful career became a carpenter who passionately tells the story of wood

I met Daniel Jolța in 2019 at BIFE. He came to our booth to meet us and talk about his passion for wood. She was at the beginning of a journey based on a love of woodworking she discovered years ago. He had come from Oradea to the fair in Bucharest to find a supplier of machinery for his new business. The visit was useful because he had already agreed in principle with Wood IQ for classic joinery machines. There was a lot of passion in the way he talked about his projects, about wood and about his fellow craftsmen doing great things. Since then, I have followed his journey, appreciating his hard work and every success. The other day we met again and found the same determination to follow his path and a story worth telling.

A passion for wood changed his destiny

Daniel is a structural engineer by trade, but says he is a carpenter at heart. After finishing university he worked in the car industry for five years. He worked for a large company with several businesses and at one point he was entrusted with the organisation and management of a carpentry workshop. He was so impressed with what was being done there that he felt that this was what he wanted to do, that this was his path.

You know, I liked it so much, I thought I heard a choir of angels in the back. I decided that's what I wanted to do with my life. That year, I also made my logo. I made it have a visual identity, like an anchor to hold on to to create my dream. That was in 2014 and it wasn't until 2019 that my dream became a reality.

That same year he decided he needed to gain experience in the field and decided to change jobs. He wanted to work in a furniture factory, to take it from the bottom up and learn everything by making things himself. He sent his CV to all the furniture factories in the city and before Christmas he quit a job where he had a well-paid management position for one of a labourer who was going to put hinges on furniture doors for half pay. Very important to this step was the support of his family, with his wife always by his side.

After 3 months of work, he was offered to take over as Director of the Commercial and Logistics Department. Although he was moving away from furniture production again, he accepted because he understood there was a lot to learn. The company was Italian and his task was to act as a liaison between the Romanian and Italian companies. That's when he understood how important customer service is, he learned that it's not just about the quality/price ratio. Service is also part of the equation, and good service means quality.

Service is practically the cornerstone on which I built my business. For example, for me, delivery time is sacred. I wanted to repair the reputation of the craftsman who is said to never finish the job on time. I also let clients know the status of the work so they are prepared if it is interior work. This has resulted in me having repeat customers who come back for other orders. Someone told me at one point that they were racking their brains over what to do in their house with wood. I have a small workshop, my mode of business is Business to Client and I see that service is very important. I learnt this in the Italian company where I worked.

He worked in a furniture company for 3 and a half years, but his desire to start his own woodworking business never ceased. At some point he was offered the job of general manager. He took a good look at the situation and realised that this was not the way he wanted to go. He told his bosses about his passion and they made him an offer. To work directly in the factory for 1-2 years, gain experience and then choose what he wanted to do. He accepted and took over the machine shop where they were working on classic machines and CNCs. Here he learned about machines and saw how to work on them, without actually working on them.

Start Up Plus gave him the opportunity to start on the road to entrepreneurship

During the time he was working at the machinery department, entrepreneurship courses were organised in Oradea as part of the Start Up Plus programme. Unlike Start Up Nation, this is a programme that grants non-reimbursable European funds by first analysing the business plan. Daniel signed up for the course, attended and graduated, then made a business plan for which he got a very good score. He defended the plan in front of a panel of local entrepreneurs and programme representatives and in the end received funding of over €30,000. It was the sign he had been waiting for to choose whether to stay in the furniture factory or go the entrepreneurial route.

Under this programme, funding is received directly in two instalments, not through a bank. The first instalment, of 75%, came 6 months after approval, with the remainder to be received within a year, provided they produce 25% of the full grant amount within that period. It was 2019 and as he was shortly to receive the first tranche of money, he came to the fair in Bucharest to see what machinery he could buy.

Collaboration with Wood IQ

Of the entire funding, he decided to use most of the money, 2/3, to purchase machinery, 20% for hand tools, and the rest to provide 5-6 months rent for the workshop as a safety net in case he failed to produce enough.

We went with Wood IQ primarily for the person Dan Pruteanu. For him the relationship with the client is very important and we felt we had the same way of thinking from this point of view. I needed the machines very quickly and as the money was not yet in the account, I had to give it from my own funds. Dan accepted an advance of 10% of the value of the machines which was very important to me.

Bought a combined circular+brake machine Wood IQ model CF2300a straightening machine Wood IQ model MI 53Pro and one for thickening Wood IQ model RG 53 - both with a maximum available width of 530 mm - a vertical sanding machine Wood IQ model SC 2600 and an exhauster.

The helix and the thickness I got them equipped with helical shaft with pills. It cost me more, but I made the best choice. With a single row of pellets I went more than a year machining in full oak and cer. It's easy to work on and maintain, and if you need to change them, even if the price is 400 euros, you have 3 years to save that money. For hand tools we went with Festool.

The chance offered by Oradea City Hall

The dream had become reality, and the visual identity that had clung to it until then had acquired legal personality - Workshop.Lignum. Before the machines arrived he tried to get his hands on the machines in a friend's workshop. For sanding and all that manual work, he had improvised a workshop in a disused kitchen belonging to his grandparents. He would buy scraps from furniture factories, sort them, choosing the best. That's how he started making shredders. It seemed to him that they didn't require precision or sophisticated machining, just creativity, so he made them as interesting and attractive as possible.

At the same time the Autumn Fair was held in Oradea. Although it was quite late I insisted at the town hall until they accepted me. I arranged the stand as aesthetically as possible, with a carpentry bench, old frames, hanging shredders and flowers. People were very attracted and in 2 days I sold everything I had made. We stayed all night in the workshop and worked on other shredders. In the morning, when I got to the market, people came and took them from my arms, they were arguing over them. I couldn't believe it! It was really good, I turned 500 lei worth of scrap wood into 9000 euros.

After the fair, the city came to see me, the department Visit Oradea and they told me that from now on I could participate in all the fairs organized by the city and that I didn't have to pay anything for participating in that fair. They just asked me to be as original in the next editions.

After the Autumn Fair, the machines arrived, so for the Christmas Fair he could prepare even better, especially since he had also moved into the rented and furnished workshop. He attended the fair, also with shredders, and again it was a success. After the fair they contacted him again from Oradea City Hall and told him that he had been appointed promotional ambassador of the city. He was to attend all the fairs in the country as a representative of the city where, in addition to his own presentation, he had the task of finding equally creative people in this area of manufacturing, whom he would invite to the fairs to be held in Oradea. The idea was to change the face of the fairs, to make them more authentic and spectacular.

Pandemic has stopped some plans, but created conditions for others

In January and February 2020 we were working from 4am to stock up on shredders for the fairs. I had the whole year full of trade show entries, some months I had 2-3 entries and I realized that with the road and all, I would not have time to produce. So I made a large stock of shredders. And the pandemic came! Everything was put on hold and I was left with stocks. I immediately made a website to sell them online. But at the beginning of the lock-down period nothing was happening. The questions started: what do we live on, there were 2 small children at home (wife taking care of them), how do we pay the bills? I would come to the workshop and work with wood because I liked it. And at one point a friend called me. - Are you making a meal? -Yes, of course! I had no idea how to make tables. I made it and after a year and a half I see that it still stands up very well. Then another phone call - Do you make dressers? Yes, the best! I hadn't made any. That's when I understood that saying about measuring 10 times and cutting once. I'd measure and measure again and before I cut, I'd stop and measure again. I did it and it came out really well.

In June it slowly started to gain courage again. At the height of the pandemic, he was approached to set up a café in Cluj. In the area where he has his workshop there are several companies - wrought iron, panel processing, etc. - and so he was able to bid on the whole job and give work to the other companies. There was a period when he was working very hard and fatigue built up. One of the days the oberfreza jumped out of his hand and severed some tendons. He continued working with his hand in plaster. His wife helped him with the sanding. The plaster cast was removed the day before the fitting in Cluj. But it happened that he realised he needed people.

There are now 4 of us in the workshop. I have very nice and serious people. Lignum is a team result. We could use another one, I hope to find it soon.

Daniel was going to end up making furniture, but until the pandemic this was not a priority. The pandemic, however, hastened things along and forced him down this path. Now he's making furniture and has no time for shredders. He's sorry he can't honor this request too, but there simply isn't time.

The year 2021 is fully occupied, the strategy for 2022 is done and already thinking about the development plan for 2023

The production of solid wood furniture gives him unspeakable satisfaction. He loves what he does and tries to involve others in his work. He takes advantage of the opportunities for interaction offered by social media and shows what's behind the work, behind closed doors, as he puts it. Through videos and photos of the workshop, which he also takes, people can see how a table or a sideboard is made, from the raw board to the final product. He feels that people get emotionally involved, and the customer, even if the object is not shown in its entirety, is very pleased when they recognise their work.

Setting off on the dream road proved to be inspired for Daniel Jolța. Now, 2021 is complete in terms of orders. Lignum has complete home furnishing projects for the entire year. Because the projects are phased, to ensure cash-flow he fills small orders for tables or chests of drawers. And for 2022 the strategy is done. He would like to flesh out a few of his own furniture collections with the possibility of adaptation. To have a personal imprint, but also to offer the possibility to adapt to the vision of designers or architects. And in his development plan for 2023 Daniel has included the creation of a new furniture brand.

Good luck, Daniel, good luck Atelier.Lignum! We promise to follow your projects from now on!