You know you love woodworking and want to start a business – but what kind of woodworking business? In this post we’ve rounded up a great big list of different woodworking business opportunities and ideas you can start today!
One of the best things you can do when you first start a woodworking business is to decide on your niche. What kinds of products do you want to make? How do they all relate together? Who is your ideal customer?
If you create items that can fall together under one theme or will appeal to a specific audience, you’ll find it’s much easier to attract customers and make more sales than if you sold a whole variety of different unrelated things.
This is called finding your niche, and it can make all the difference in the success of your woodworking business.
If you’re looking for your niche or just wondering what types of woodworking business opportunities exist, this post covers 15 great woodworking business model ideas for you to use as inspiration!
1. Custom Furniture Business
Building custom furniture can require more space than other woodworking projects and require a good bit more skill, but the advantage to custom furniture is it often has a higher selling price.
Here are some examples of types of furniture you can sell:
- Tables
- Desks
- Dressers
- Headboards + Bedframes
- Nightstands
- End Tables
- Buffet Tables
- Side Board Tables
- Chairs
One of the things that makes this a great woodworking opportunity is it’s NOT something just anyone can easily do – so if you do have the space and the skills it can be a great way to carve out a niche for yourself.
2. Garden Planters + Decor
People are always looking for ways to decorate their garden and make the outside of their homes look nice. The garden + decor niche is a great option for many woodworkers, as many of the projects are relatively simple to build.
Here are some ideas for types of things you could make and sell:
- Garden Planters
- Garden Benches
- Bird Feeders
- Plant Trellises
- Arbors
- Plant Shelves
- Picnic Tables
- Patio Furniture
There are literally thousands of different designs for garden planters and home garden decor ideas that you can build.
3. Kitchen + Dining Accessories
Everybody needs to eat and no doubt there’s always the need for quality kitchen and dining accessories.
Here are some examples of things you could make for kitchens + dining rooms:
- Wine Racks
- Mug Tree / Organizer
- Paper Towel Holders
- Napkin Rings
- Wooden Bowls
- Wooden Spoons and Serving Utensils
- Cutting Boards
- Spice Racks
- Stove Covers
- Custom Shelving Solutions
- Kitchen Carts
- Baker’s Racks
- Decorative Kitchen Signs
Look around your kitchen – chances are you’ll find plenty of inspiration for the culinary niche as a woodworking business idea!
4. Bath + Body Gifts
The bath is often times one of the most used and sometimes most overlooked room in a house. There are all kinds of different options to consider making if you wanted to specialize in creating and selling bath and body types of items.
Some examples of products your woodworking business could make:
- Wooden Soap Dish
- Bath Tub Caddy Tray
- Wooden Bath Mats
- Massage Tools
- Towel Racks + Holders
- Cabinets
- Shelving
- Bath related signs
Everybody loves a little bit of pampering so the bath + body niche is definitely one woodworking business idea to consider!
5. Pets + Animals
Another thing many people love dearly? Their pets of course! You can choose to focus on just one type of pet, such as cats or dogs or birds or even hamsters – or you can offer a wide variety of similar items for all.
Here are some types of things you could make for pets:
- Dog Kennels
- Dog Houses
- Cat Trees
- Cat Enclosures
- Dog / Cat Toys
- Dog Toy Box
- Feeding Stations
- Litter box Covers
- Bird Cage Stands
- Aquarium Stands
For more inspiration, spend some time in a pet store and just walk around to see the types of things they offer. Most likely you will see something that makes you say, hey – I could build that!
6. Toys + Entertainment
With the prevalence of digital gadgets and screens these days, more and more people are looking for things that can give them some much needed time away from their phone or laptop.
Ranging from kid’s toys to even fun things for adults to do, there are plenty of great ideas for woodworking business in this niche!
- Wooden Blocks
- Toy Cars + Trucks
- Toy Trains
- Dollhouses
- Lego Organizer Tables
- Water Play Tables
- Kitchen Sets
- Puppet Show Stands
- Swingsets
- Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles
- Brainteaser puzzles
- Wooden Chess Sets
- Corn hole / Bean Bag toss games
7. Containers + Boxes
A box seems like such a simple thing, but you’d be surprised how many people want a nice quality wooden box and how hard they can be to find!
People use boxes and containers in a number of different ways – from holding trinkets or jewelry to using crates to hold items on shelves.
Here are a few examples of the different kinds of boxes you could make:
- Wooden Crates
- Wooden Chests
- Decorative Boxes for Shelves
- Trinket Boxes
- Essential Oils Organizer
- Memory Boxes
- Gift Boxes
You’d be amazed at how many people sell all kinds of wood boxes per year online – so there is definitely a demand if you wanted to niche down and enjoy building boxes.
8. Specialize in Shelving
Many people who started a woodworking business found that something as simple as floating shelves could bring them a lot of sales with relatively little cost or labor.
Like boxes and containers, shelves are something we usually need but take for granted. Finding high quality shelves actually made out of wood at stores is becoming rarer and rarer – and VERY expensive.
You could choose to make custom built-in shelves for local customers or simply build and sell bookshelves. There are all kinds of creative designs for book shelves and wall shelves – the sky is the limit!
9. Custom Signs Woodworking Business
If you have a vinyl cutter, CNC router or maybe just enjoy painting or woodburning as part of your woodworking hobby many people have found a lot of success in making custom signs.
One advantage to a custom wood sign business is most signs don’t take up a whole lot of space to store. Signs are also relatively lightweight and thin, making them easy to ship.
Here are some types of signs you could make:
- Funny Signs
- Inspirational Quote Signs
- Directional Signs
- Beach Themed Signs
- Outdoor/Camping Signs
While signs are easy to make compared to many other wood crafts, one thing to consider is there is also a LOT more competition as a woodworking business making signs. If you decide to create custom signs and sell them make sure your designs are unique and will stand out amongst the crowd!
10. Design + Sell WoodWorking Plans
One of the most lucrative woodworking businesses is to not sell any physical product at all but instead sell digital downloads of detailed woodworking plans and blueprints.
If you love to make things, but find it’s too time consuming or labor intensive to be profitable, selling the designs as a pattern or woodworking plan is a great option!
To start this type of business, you will have to first build the item and carefully document the cuts you make. It’s helpful to have some experience drawing plans or using CAD / 3D software to provide illustration and examples.
The best part about a digital business is you can make money while you sleep and the same product can be sold multiple times.
11. Teach Classes + Workshops as a Woodworking Business Opportunity
If you enjoy meeting new people, explaining things in detail, and like to share your knowledge and wisdom, teaching classes and workshops can be a great option!
Here are some examples of different types of classes you could teach:
- Woodworking Safety 101
- How to Build a Bird Feeder
- How to Build Garden Benches
- How to Build a Table
- How to Carve Wooden Spoons
If there is something you like to make, chances are you could make it a class!
You can choose whether to teach your classes in-person or online. In person can be a lot of fun, but the nice thing about selling classes online is they only need to be recorded once and can be sold over and over again!
12. Host Woodworking Retreats
What could be more fun than gathering a group of woodworkers together to spend a week or weekend creating and learning together?
Hosting a retreat requires a good bit of planning, but this is a very successful business model for many different craft and arts industries.
The first thing you will need to find is a location and also determine meals/catering for the amount of days spent at the retreat. Be sure the location offers ample workshop space so that no one is too crowded. It’s also a good idea to choose a location that has a nice environment to enjoy – whether it’s in the mountains, near a lake or by the ocean.
Once you have the details organized on what you will offer for your retreat, you would then sell packages that include lodging, meals and the workshop classes.
This can be not only a very profitable woodworking business opportunity, but you can make some great friends and memories along the way!
13. Business to Business / Commercial Services
Another type of woodworking business you could start is one where your primary target market is other businesses or commercial companies.
For example, you could network with real estate agents and create unique one of a kind gifts for their clients when they buy a new home. You could get contracts with an office to supply unique gifts for holidays or special events and promotions.
You could get contracts to create wood bowls for restaurants, or even create their wall art.
Targeting business customers can be more difficult to start out with, but many times it can also prove to be very lucrative as this is often an untapped market with little competition!
14. Holiday + Seasonal Items
Holiday and seasonal items can be a very lucrative woodworking business opportunity.
One thing to remember of course however is your sales will only primarily be around holiday months. You may be VERY busy preparing for the holidays and working through the holidays and make decent profits – but you may find yourself in the middle of other months with no sales and no paycheck!
Most woodworking business owners we know for this reason balance holiday items with regular items they make and sell.
Of course, there are wacky holidays nearly every day of the year, so you could always capitalize on that. I’d love it if someone made some proper decorations I could buy for Wear Brown Shoes Day on December 4th each year!
15. Custom Engraving + Carving Business
If you have a CNC router or laser cutter, there are all types of things you can do for engraving and carving.
Yes, buying a CNC router or laser cutter can be expensive – and there is usually a bit of a learning curve with software – but you can often times reproduce more items more quickly than you might be able to by making each and every thing by hand.
Being able to personalize and engrave custom items also opens up a whole new window of opportunity – you could customize names for wedding gifts, birth dates, special events and more.
Another advantage? You are no longer limited to only working with wood. Sure, we love woodworking here at Builderology, but with a CNC router or laser cutter it is easy to explore other materials such as metal or glass {just be sure to follow all manufacturer specifications on your specific machine and use the proper materials and tools!}
Want Even MORE ideas for your woodworking business? Check out our post on 65 Profitable Woodworking Projects That Sell to inspire you on what types of things you can make!
Ready to Start Your Business? Read our step by step guide on Starting a Woodworking Business.
I hope you found this post inspiring and it helps you decide on what type of woodworking business to start and what kind of business model you want to follow. There are so many woodworking business opportunities so you are sure to find something that fits your skills and your passion.
Do you have any woodworking business ideas to add to this list? Share them in the comments section below!