Business ideas for wood lovers

„I want to open a carpentry shop" is the business idea I always hear from younger people. I don't want to discourage you here (which is why I'm giving you ideas below), but this is an idea of how to spend money, not how to make it. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit here. Obviously. But I stand by my main point. Behind the investment in a workshop (whether it's done for free, through EU or government funding) there needs to be a broader business plan. You at least need to know what you're going to produce and who you're going to sell it to. Don't make the mistake of leaving it until later. I've seen it done by bigger houses and experienced entrepreneurs. They took machinery because it was free (funds) and then started maintaining it, spending, while it deteriorated, not producing and not selling anything. But we got into other problems. Let's go back to our business ideas.

The article is part of a series that aims to bring business and entrepreneurship information closer to small woodworking entrepreneurs. If you want to know more, read also this article.

I propose to open below a list of business ideas that I think are good right now. I don't want to write down ideas that I don't believe in or that are difficult to implement without big budgets and a good knowledge of the field (like PAL manufacturing, CLT manufacturing). I then want to update it constantly with ideas that come to me or ideas from you. So it wouldn't hurt to check back here from time to time. Who knows how inspiration strikes me and opportunity passes you by. Anyway, whatever ideas you might find interesting from below, I want you to know that it's just the beginning. Without hard work (more work than the team you'll be assembling next to you) and a strong stomach to help you through the problems that are sure to come, it will be very hard for these ideas to become your successful business.

Business ideas suitable for wood lovers

1. Wooden furniture - I was going to write wooden furniture workshop, but I was contradicting myself (see above). I'll stick to what you'll sell as a business idea. I specified wood and not anything because you need different production machinery than for chipboard furniture, for example. You should know that the market is smaller here for wooden furniture because it is more expensive. I mean it will be harder to sell wood furniture than chipboard furniture. But that comes with advantages if you are good at what you do and have a good marketing and sales team. It's more expensive, so you can sell it more expensively using fewer resources (time, people, raw materials, etc). In other words, you can sell higher value-added products. It's very tempting if you ask me, especially in a market that I think will grow in the coming years.
2. Furniture made of chipboard, MDF - machines are slightly different from woodworking machines. You'll need circular formers, cant applicators, CNC milling and boring machines, other machines for this kind of product. Compared to wooden furniture, it will be much easier to sell chipboard furniture. The market is bigger. There are customers. You just have to reach them with the optimal product and price.
3. Outdoor furniture - I listed it separately because it is different especially in terms of the raw material you will use for your products to last, to be of quality. For the rest, see point 1
4. Houses on wooden structure - many will tell you that concrete and brick are holy, mind your own business. I tell you the exact opposite. The market for timber frame houses will explode in the next few years, in my opinion. You're going to have to get up to speed with all the technology and find people you can trust. If you're serious, hard-working, eager to keep up with all the latest in the industry, that's the business idea of the moment, in my opinion.
5. Houses in CLT - are built a little differently than timber-framed houses, but there will be more and more of them. CLT is a panel made by cross-laminating lumber. Basically, we're talking about prefabricated timber building elements. On the building site they are joined together like pieces of a game. More information about CLT houses can be found in this article.
6. Flooring, flooring, panelling, other interior products - you will need special machinery for their production. I think more and more construction is going to take place in Romania, so there will be more and more need for this kind of wood products.
7. Timber production - and I'm not talking about a gater here, although you could start with that. I'm talking about professional machines, such as those sold by Wood-Mizer, kilns with which to deliver very good quality dry lumber.
8. Wooden decorations - all you need is a CNC to mass-produce almost any type of decoration in wood or other composite materials. I'd say this is where you really need imagination and a marketing and sales team to sell what you can produce. Just a few ideas of wooden products you can sell: marketing products for companies (phone holders, card holders, pens, etc), decorative products for the home (rimming, paintings, etc.), decorative products for restaurants (wine racks, shelves, dividers, etc.), for hotels. And these are just a few examples.
9. Wooden products for the kitchen - wooden choppers, wooden spoons, trays, bowls, chopsticks, etc. Here I think you will have competition from China but if you are creative and skilled, I think there is room for you.
10. Binale - production of doors and windows. Without quality machinery I don't think you can think about business here. Energy efficiency standards, NZEB standards, forces you to come up with very good quality products if you want to count. But even if you can and want to, this is an area that I think will offer many opportunities in the coming years.
11. Online shop with wooden products - if you like online and learn fast, I think it's the business to seriously consider. I would recommend your other business ideas more. But if you think your chances of success are better with online shop, then online shop it is.
12. Unground timber yard - idea added to suggestion made by Claudiu Retisan on Facebook. The only condition for the success of the business, in Claudiu Retisan's opinion, is the diversity of planks, posts and beams.

Now you get the idea. You need a business plan, a plan in which you assess the variables of your future business and set out the steps to take in your new venture. I'll tell you more about it in the following article.