My Family-Run Woodworking Business Makes $30K/Month
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
Hello, my name is James Frailey. My son, Asher, and my wife, Paige, and I started our woodworking business four years ago: Frailey Woodworks. I am a retired engineer, my son is an architect, and my wife is an artist. Each of these skill sets are now focused on our high-end furniture making business where we specialize in full-scope design and build.
We work with our customers to understand their vision for a timeless piece of furniture that meets their desired function and is artfully crafted using Scandinavian and Danish design practices.
Although we build tables, beds, and storage credenzas, our most popular pieces are vinyl record consoles and sit/stand desks. We sell to audio enthusiasts that would like to have an heirloom quality, solid wood console to house their high-end audio equipment.
Additionally, our unique Everyday Sit Stand Desk is popular with work-at-home professionals that want a hand-powered standing desk that is so beautiful you don’t want to keep it hidden in your office.
Our business has grown steadily over the past four years with our current year averaging $30,000/month in sales.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
It all started with a family conversation around the Thanksgiving table in 2019, where the idea for a mid-century modern sit/stand desk was created. After many months of pooling our family’s professions and passions (aeronautical engineering, architecture, and fine art), the Everyday Desk was born. Soon, we ventured into other custom mid-century furniture, and our business took off.
Because our design approach leans heavily on mid-century modern elements, there became a natural affinity between what our company builds and high-end vinyl record enthusiasts. Our customers desire to have a high-quality, custom media console to house their turn-tables, albums and equipment.
Since we are a small-company without a national reputation, it was essential for us to give confidence to our customers throughout the design, build and delivery process that we are a company of integrity and we will deliver exactly what they purchased. We accomplished this goal by communicating clearly and frequently with our customers. One unique service we provide our customers is a personalized cloud-based photo album of their piece being constructed. We start each piece’s album on the day we purchase the wood and we add to the album daily progress photos along with comments. We share this album with each customer so they can see their piece come together all the way to final staged photos.
We are so grateful for the ideas and dreams that each one of our customers have brought to our business and we’re excited for what the future holds!
Do an in-depth retrospective and learn from each failure and ask the question, “what could I have done differently to get a different outcome?”
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
Building our first hand-powered sit/stand desk took several iterations before we had a working prototype. The first article was constructed in cherry and we took several staged photos of the desk. We then posted the desk on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist.
From those listings a local customer came out to our shop, interviewed us, and to our surprise, he commissioned us to build not one, but two, desks. This began a three month process of testing and refining our design to be production ready.
We knew we had a winning design when the customer asked us to sign the piece and he wanted to be known as having the first production article from our company.
Describe the process of launching the business.
Our business began to grow significantly once we started marketing on Etsy. We are especially grateful for the early adopters, who purchased on that platform before we had any positive reviews. These customers took a chance on our company and we are very grateful for their trust. I think our attention to accuracy and details in our product descriptions, and good photos which highlight the product’s function and beauty are all key to successful sales.
Shortly after making a few sales we began receiving five-star reviews. And even today we have received only five-star reviews, which we hold as a source of confirmation that we are on the right track.
Because we are a family business, and I am a retired engineer, we were able to use personal savings to finance the early days of the company. I believe having a supportive family, not only for financial backing, but moral and emotional support was key to us having a successful launch.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Our business began to take off when we focused our marketing and production on record consoles that have a mid-century modern design. There is one particular design that we call the “Jetson” because of its sweeping legs and subtle star-shaped top. Initially we thought it would only be of interest to one buyer.
But as it turned out, this design became one of our most popular models. It also is a relatively easy model to build, and consequently our financial margins took a positive turn.
It is not uncommon that a customer that purchases a media console from us, will come back and purchase a table or bed or storage unit. One customer who ordered a media console from us, and after receiving it decided to have us build all of the major furniture pieces in his new home.
Each piece that we build has a unique serial number and signature of the craftsman that built it. Our customers love this personal touch and to know their furniture is not mass produced but custom built for their particular needs.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Because our company focuses on custom, hand made fine furniture for the modern home, it is a challenge to apply typical scaling processes to our workflow. To mitigate this we have taken a lean manufacturing approach and have documented best practices and provided extensive training to employees in the Frailey Woodworks methods.
Because we are a small company it is difficult for us to attract associates purely based on pay rate and benefits. Nevertheless, we have never had difficulty finding qualified craftsmen (and women) who have desired to work for us.
We maintain a clean, air-conditioned, organized workshop that encourages our employees to bring their best everyday. In addition, the Frailey Woodworks Mission Statement reads:
To design and build handcrafted, solid wood, fine furniture,
That delights our customers and endures for generations,
While stewarding the talents and time of our craftsmen,
All for the glory of the Carpenter we love and serve.
The third line, regarding stewarding the talents and time of our craftsmen, motivates us to think of ways that we as a company can grow and mature our associates into the person they aspire to be. Many of our craftsmen have a desire to design their own pieces.
This has led us to develop an Employee Design Incentive Program where we will work with them to prototype a design, market it on our platform, and if it is successful they receive a profit sharing royalty with every sale. We believe this is a way to share the business insights of a full-scope design and build enterprise with our employees and will likely serve them well in the future.
For the current year to date, our Cost of Goods runs approximately 31% of income, and Operating Expenses amount to an additional 36%. That leaves a profit margin of 33% of income.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
A critical piece of our business success was choosing a capable and professional bookkeeping system. We decided to use Wave Accountings cloud-based services which has an extremely affordable start-up program. This system allowed us to connect our business banking and credit card accounts to their system, making account reconciliations very efficient.
The Wave dashboard gives us many insightful and high-level views of our monthly and annual performance.
Another key feature of Wave was the ability for us to send professional electronic invoices with multiple payment options to our customers. The invoices were personalized for our company, including our logo, colors and terms and conditions.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
Frailey Woodworks primarily sells on our website and our Etsy store.
We also have an Instagram site where we post reels of work in-progress or finished pieces.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
In Conner’s and Smith’s short book, “Change the Culture, Change the Game” the value of creating a culture of ownership and accountability within an organization has impacted me greatly to create a company where everyone involved views their role as integral to the success of the enterprise.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
The advice I have for entrepreneurs just starting out is to not be discouraged with early failures. Do an in-depth retrospective and learn from each failure and ask the question, “what could I have done differently to get a different outcome?”
Also, it is important to be tenacious, unrelenting in the personal effort and time that you will have to give in order for a successful launch to happen. It will stretch you likely beyond anything you have endured in any other work environment. Stick with it, seek the help and guidance of trusted family and friends, and you will persevere.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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