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19 March 2013

Idea a Day #3

This idea is less an idea and more just the first thing I'm doing when my woodshop is functional.

I have a problem with carelessly made furniture, so I make my own (see 1, 2, 3, 4). That's all well and good for me but I never sell my furniture beyond close friends because it'd be too expensive if I actually charged a fair wage - mostly because of labor. There's just no economy of scale when you're doing one offs. That's art. It's expensive.

If I made ten of any single piece at one time though... then the cost associated with each jig goes down ten fold. I have less material waste because I can buy a larger quantity, and while I'm making the individual pieces I only have to set the machines up once.

My idea is to do a Kickstarter for this piece and do a run of 5, 10, 20? Same wood, same size. I'm not sure about pricing or shipping, it greatly depends on the species used, but if I were to use walnut $400-500 seems about right (plus shipping) for a roughly 8-10 square foot table. If it's successful then maybe I could do bigger runs or offer options within each offering like different sizes and different species. Anyways, simple idea and low capital investment. Any payoff could be used to do the same thing at a larger scale and broader audience.

This has a comparable idea at a lower price point - The 10 Year Hoody.

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