Make Woodworking Your Career || You Should Do These 10 Things

Been in the carpentry/cabinetry game for 40yrs. Worked for others the first 3yrs then went on my own. There are 2 types of clients, those who care about price, and others who care about quality. I started out getting any work available, then worked my way up. One thing is for sure, excellent craftsmanship always stands out

Awesome book that gives you step-by-step photos youtube.com/post/UgkxTNB_zFBSnTo_O1PqfVUwgi7ityw0J… and directions to make every day project. I can see myself making a few of these projects and giving them as housewarming and holiday gifts!

Great tips dude! I personally take my horse to every client meeting, but I will say it does sometimes cause a distraction.

Tip 11: Charge more than you think you should! A lot of us got into doing things ourselves because we're filthy cheapskates. Our impression of what things are worth is heavily skewed because when we do things for ourselves, materials is the only cost. If someone is paying you to do or make something, they would almost definitely would have agreed to pay more than what you thought to ask. Sincerely, a guy that feels guilty about his prices but everyone keeps saying yes.

Jason: I don’t do client work anymore Jason’s wife: Laughing as he builds her a custom office

All good stuff. Tip 11 - Clean and sweep up the job site at the end of the day. It's professional and the client can walk around and focus on work not mess.

You missed one of the best bits of advice I've ever received. Stop pointing out your mistakes. It's only human to be self critical but your run of the mill customer won't spot that tiny detail that's driving you mad. So why highlight it!?

The pricing guide was some of the best advice you can give. People forget about paying themselves a good wage. They also forget about installation or delivery. They forget that their best friend will only help diliver or install things for free for a while. At some point you are going to have to pay them for their time and using their truck.

Do a video regarding just proper milling of wood. Hints and tips to get perfect milled wood like I see you do so easily.

Another one to add... Try to limit your client's design choices to 3 options or less. Most people get completely overwhelmed by the myriad of choices we can offer. Helping to limit them makes their decision easier. Of course, occasionally you will have clients that know exactly what they want, but that is rare for end users.

As a relative newcomer to woodworking, I've been exploring different channels and enjoying the personalities I've come across. Buy you and your channel are a notch above. I love your humor, playfulness, and knowledge. Someone give this guy a TV show!!

Well said,thank you for enlightening what I lost in my list of woodwork. Am from ZAR,South Africa. Thank

Can’t wait until you zip-line into the scene. Lol

I have been in this industry many (4+) decades. When I do a site visit I have a large sample case that shows all the joints I use, the wood's we spoke about on the initial call, and our portfolio. Letting a client handle the samples and see exactly how the joints fit together in person is a great way to make the visit pay off. It also helps to have half a board foot of material so IF they whine about how expensive it all is you can pull out the sample and show that this piece of walnut in your palm costs $12.00 or whatever. If you think that might scare that paying customer off then THANK ME NOW. The "Try not to poop at a clients house" is SOLID ADVISE and has earned you a like and a sub, pun intended.

Great stuff. I would only add that for pricing purposes, you MUST include a percentage to cover your overhead expenses. Wear and tear/ maintenance costs on machinery, new blades, shop utilities, shop maintenance, vehicle costs/ maintenance,YADA, YADA, YADA. You have many costs which exist just to keep the operation going, regardless of the volume of business you might do. One option is to calculate this overhead for a yearly basis, then divide it by 2000 hours (typical 40 hour work week x 50 weeks) to yield an hourly figure which is added to the hourly labor estimate. That way, your shop expenses are covered. Omitting this item means you are EATING thousands of dollars of costs, and your hourly wages are actually MUCH less than you think. Of course, you need to include at least 5-10% profit on top of ALL costs, and this is MINIMUM. Paying yourself a decent wage without profit just means you are still working for someone else. Thanks for sharing you experience with us.

great tips, but the best part was your spinning re-entry and the the church outfit! perfect!!

"stop pouring epoxy on everything like a freak" 🤣🤣🤣 that gave me a really good laugh! I love it! Thanks for the informative video. I'm considering going into woodworking full time, so this is helpful.

Wow! Thank you so much! This is indeed very helpful... and different and more useful than other videos with the same topic. Your honesty and transparency are to be praised. Merci, Jason!

Super helpful, I’ve been a self taught woodworker for the last six years, just as hobby while I do carpentry full time. Looking into starting my own business (daunting now that my daughter has been born) and working towards doing woodworking full time, these tips videos have been crazy helpful for me.

Thanks so much bro for this kind of advise, much appreciated, a big thumbs up to you. Keep inspiring us to do more.