“I can sleep at night with that. And some people might say, Oh, girl, that’s way too low, you gotta go higher than that. But at the end of the day, I’m busy. And lots of people are hiring me for that. And if I’m making one, you know, every two days or something, then I feel like that’s, that’s fair.”

–Joanie Sprague

 

That’s the voice of Joanie Sprague, owner of The Little Bit Workshop. Today’s show is a little different than our usual program. 

 

On this show, we strive to bring you a slice of how people build their furniture brand. Usually those brands are large or well established, with big names and long profit sheets. Those are the easy targets to showcase people who have made it, but having a furniture company isn’t always based on making a six figure sale or having a shop with many employees. 

 

There are a lot of people who own furniture companies that are just finding their footing. Today, we sit down with Joanie Sprague and have an honest conversation about what it’s like to have a furniture company that is a work in progress. 

 

While her company is as much a business as anyone else’s that we’ve had on this show, she’s in a different place than others, as she is currently in a growing and learning place. 

 

The Foundation of Little Bit Workshop

Before Little BIT workshop Joanie worked in every sort of sales job you could possibly imagine. After college and a series of different jobs that she hated, eventually she took on a landscaping job and realized that for her, an important part of being happy with her work was going to mean not being behind a desk.

 

Joanie feels like she can look at the end of the day and tangibly see her accomplishments. A feeling that she can be proud when she goes home at the end of the day. Overall,the nature of the work makes her feel like she’s accomplished something. 

 

Ethan notes that two of the main reasons that people start building furniture is because they want something tangible. They start at the beginning of the day, and at the end of the day they want to have something to show for it. 

 

The other thing is that like Joanie, they don’t want to work behind the desk, they might want to build desks, but they don’t want to work behind one. 

 

For Little Bit Workshop, it started with a CNC machine. It was Joanie’s first piece of equipment before anything else. She started with making signs and other odd jobs and then things snowballed from there. Now she’s at the point where folks will ask her if she can make something and she is able to either say “ Yes, I can do this.” or “No, it’s out of my scope.”

 

Ethan and Joanie talk a bit about comparing their work to the competition and the importance of setting appropriate prices. Joanie says that she tries to ask first what customers have in mind as a budget. It’s sometimes a hard conversation to have, but at the end of the day, a lot of people don’t realize what it costs to make things. They’re so used to the cheap Amazon and Wayfair world that they don’t realize that what we’re doing as furniture builders is a lot different than what you can buy online. 

 

Closing Advice for the Aspiring Wood Business Owner

You need to learn to doggy paddle before you can swim. 

 

For a lot of people, that’s hard because you need to consistently work. Most folks don’t want to quit their day job that provides them a great insurance plan.

 

Still, you need to be willing to sacrifice to successfully grow a business. Part of that is letting go of the security and the comfort of a corporate job or even a conventional job. It is crucial for your business that you plan for the risks, and take them when necessary.

 

Also remember, everybody’s starting from different places, and everybody’s ending up in different places. It’s all about enjoying the journey.

 


This episode is brought to you by Jobber – getjobber.com/ethan