Have you ever thought about creating an online woodworking shop? In fact, an online store can help you to overcome the regional barrier and establish yourself at the national level. So, instead of selling your wood products only in your neighborhood, you start to sell them all over Brazil.
And to get started you just need to come up with an idea and create a minimal viable product. Next, the project needs to be boosted and scaled. Well, follow along and learn how to do that!
ONLINE WOODWORK: FROM THE FIRST IDEA TO GROWTH
The method I'm going to teach you to start your online woodworking business is the e-commerce startup method, which is based on the book "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries. It consists of four entrepreneurial steps aimed at spending as little as possible to create and launch a product on the market. Check it out:
1 - Idea:
Start by identifying a problem consumers have that can be solved with a woodworking product. For example, many people like to decorate the walls of the house. So, for these people you can create wooden plaques with the words or images they prefer.
At this moment, however, focus on just one product. Later, when your project matures, you can add more products to your portfolio. Also, at this stage you don't need to think about the online store yet. Focus only on the initial idea and the product prototype or minimum viable product.
2 - Validation:
Launch your minimum viable product to small audiences within your city. That is, instead of making a large-scale launch, present the product only to restricted audiences. The idea is to check how people behave in front of the product, which is still a prototype, and get insights to improve it.
As this is a testing phase, you won't need a very large structure. Then use economic or free platforms such as social networks. Build a page for the product and market it to a small audience through paid ads. Analyze adherence, engagement, reviews, consumer opinions.
3 - Traction:
Optimize your product by using reviews and opinions from early buyers. Also utilize insights gained from product marketing data, among other metrics you can obtain from analytics applications integrated into your campaigns.
Now, with your product tested and optimized, broaden your audience. Instead of advertising only in your city, also disclose in adjacent cities. And while you do that, keep testing and improving. Then expand testing to other states until it reaches a national level. Then create an online store.
4 - Scale:
Start expanding the business. Start selling the product nationwide via e-commerce. Also, start developing new products to make up your portfolio. Remember, new products must go through the same “idea, validation, traction and scale” strategy that you employed with your first product.
At this stage, you can think about optimizing not only the products, but also your online store. Enhance it, for example, with delivery management systems, customer service, feedback, security and other advanced features. If necessary, migrate to a more robust e-commerce platform that supports growth.
ONLINE WOODWORK: THE E-COMMERCE PLATFORM
The moment you need to choose the platform to create and manage your online carpentry business is crucial. A wrong choice can demand a lot of extra work, as well as much higher costs. Therefore, I recommend renting the best e-commerce platform you can from the start.
Above all, choose an elastic platform that allows your online store to grow without bottlenecks and to perform well in major events such as Black Friday. So, you won't need to make a costly migration when your e-commerce starts to gain body and scale on the national scene.
PRODUCT IDEAS FOR ONLINE WOODWORK
There are several types of products that you can sell in an online woodworking shop, check out a list below:
- kitchen products: cutting boards, coasters, spoons and napkin holders, for example;
- Miscellaneous furniture: cupboards, wardrobes, tables, chairs, bed platforms, racks and much more;
- items for gardens: planters, vases, vertical vegetable gardens, panels, trellises, supports for pots, planters, etc.;
- Decoration: sculptures, plaques, objects, ornaments, adornments, ornaments, crafts and other items.
These are just some examples. There is a huge range of wood products that you can create and sell from your online woodworking store. It is possible to offer both ready-made and customized products. You decide.
OPENING AN ONLINE WOODWORK: THE BUREAUCRATIC PART
Throughout the process of creating your online woodworking shop, you must remember to open a company and obtain a CNPJ. Only in this way can you issue invoices, which is essential in e-commerce. For the process of starting a business, I recommend creating a business plan first. This document can be written as you develop your business using the lean startup method that I have already explained in brief.
The biggest advantage of selling your woodworking products on e-commerce is that an online store has a national reach. That way, you stop selling only in your neighborhood and start selling all over the country. In addition, an online store is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays. In other words, it is a sales machine that never rests.
As soon as you can, click on " How to set up an online thrift store " and learn how to get this type of business up and running!
