With the weather turning nice, I have jumped into some new woodworking projects, with the long-term goal of setting up a small side business. I am not looking for a new career, mainly just a funding source for the hobby and a means to slowly grow or improve the other tools. Of course, trying to find a product which fits all the criteria – sells well, inexpensive materials, and not much effort to create. Current product I am working with is a planter box.
The box itself is a cube, about 16″ on each side, with a farmhouse “x” pattern on the sides. Decently ornate and complex looking, without too crazy of an assembly process. Most of the pieces are standardized sizes, it is really just four sub-assemblies connected together. The main advantage is that it is scaled and sized to utilize fence picket boards, which given the current lumber prices is a very good option – and pre-treated for being outside. A single pine picket is only a couple of dollars, and even cedar is not too much more expensive. The biggest issue with the material is really just finding straight, good condition pieces since the general fence-level quality isn’t that high.
My first build was a test, how long does it take to create, and in what ways can I optimize the build process. I ended up confusing some of the cuts and used a bit more material than intended, but in the end the mistakes were practically invisible. With some batch processing and practice, I expect these will assemble pretty quickly, making it much more practical for a product.
For material, I have two choices – pine or cedar. For the pine options, my intent would be a simple white washing of paint or similar colors. For cedar, they would be left “natural”. One suggestion I saw in a forum was to coat the feet of the box with a rubber sealant, to prevent water from soaking into the wood and causing rot, I will likely give that a try as well.
My real question now is how and where to try to sell these, and can I sell them for enough money to make them worthwhile. My initial pricing is looking at about $60 for pine, and $80 for cedar, but I am uncertain how to actually get them out to a market. Most likely I will continue building a few, decorate the porch for the wife, and see if there is any interest beyond that. I had considered the local farmer’s market, but that carries risk – I would want to pre-build enough to make it worthwhile, but then I could easily be stuck with quite a few extra having spent the time and materials.
Have you tried this before? Do you have any suggestions for how to get started, or how to just take that initial leap?
