

Wouldworks: My non-software startup - brentmc79

I wouldn't quite call it a startup yet, but I was inspired by Jeremy McAnally's WickhamHouse startup and when he posted about it a few weeks ago (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1795302) and this led me to start http://wouldworks.com.<p>I recently started tinkering in my garage, building little things out of wood.  My tools were limited to a rotary tool, a jigsaw, and a drill -- extremely basic stuff when it comes to woodworking.  Given what I was working with, I was never extremely satisfied with the quality of what I building.  Despite that, I decided to show off one of my creations (a laptop stand) to my coworkers, and to my surprise they were all very impressed with what I had built.<p>Several of them were interested in a stand of their own, and someone suggested that I should sell them online.  Well, I really like doing stuff with my hands -- building stuff, fixing things.  So I started thinking about it, and after hearing Jeremy talk about his business (we're coworkers) and how well it was doing, I thought why not?<p>There was one problem, my shitty excuse for a woodshop.<p>I didn't have the money to go out and but a bunch of nice tools.  Hell, I didn't have the money to buy a bunch of cheap tools.  I had all these ideas for other tech/gadget-related accessories to build, but no means to do so.  I thought, how could I make this happen?<p>I tried setting up something through kickstarter.com, but unless you're making an indie film or back-to-the-future shoes that tie themselves, they're not interested.  I found another site that wasn't so picky (gofundme.com) and set up a donation site there.  I just launched it earlier today and I've already gotten a handful of donations.<p>http://bit.ly/wouldworks<p>Check it out.  If you like what you see, make a donation and I'll send you something cool and hand-made in return.  If you don't like what you see, but you think there's something I can do to change that, then let me know.
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luke_s
As somebody who runs a small non-software related online business, selling
products, my first question is - why in the world do you need funding?

Just start a website selling the stands and see how many orders you get! You
can obviously build a few with your existing crappy tools. Rather than going
through all the trouble and distraction of raising money, when you are not
even sure if there is much of a market there - just start selling and find
out! You will soon know if this is something worth perusing, and you can use
the income generated to buy better tools and scale up the business.

In the unlikely event that you start to become flooded with orders you can
either create some kind of waiting list people can add their e-mail addresses
to, or just increase your prices until you have a level of demand you can deal
with.

To pull some advice from the software related start-up work, If you are not
embarrassed by version 1, then you have waited to long to release.

~~~
brentmc79
Essentially that's what I'm doing. If people make a donation, then I send them
a product. I could continue to build them with my existing crappy tools, but
with more appropriate tools I can be more efficient and maintain a more
consistent, quality end product. It'd be different if I were asking for
donations and promising nothing in return. In the end I think it all works out
the same.

Just out of curiosity, what's you non-software online business?

~~~
fragmede
> If people make a donation, then I send them a product.

I've seen that else where, and it really peeves me. Why can't you just say
you're selling your product online? What is it about calling it donation?
(Other than Paypay being really picky about it.) If it's a _donation_ , then
it's a donation. If I give you money, and you give me a product, that's called
_buying_ and _selling_.

~~~
Kliment
Paypal being picky is a real issue though. This kickstarter-style compensated
donation does seem to get around that, but I expect it's a loophole that will
soon be closed. Then again, I don't know of any other setup for doing a pay-
what-you-like model with Paypal.

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Empedocles99
If you are in the bay area, check out <http://www.techshop.ws>

They have woodworking tools and machines. The most awesome of which are: 2 CNC
Routers, and a lathe

Also: chop saw, table saw, jigsaw, and some other stuff I don't know about.

I use the metal stuff there, it's a wonderful place to make stuff, plenty of
people making interesting projects too.

I'm a member there, and don't benefit (other than getting to see other peoples
crafts) from recommending this to you :)

~~~
joshu
Techshop isn't strong for wood. However, there's Sawdust in Santa Clara.

<http://www.sawdustshop.com/>

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Bryantc
Do you still have a link to a picture of the stand? I don't seem to be able to
find it in the comments.

Your post made me register for a HN account after lurking for a long time
because I too run a non-software online business. I manufacture my own
products, do our own web development etc.

You don't need to be distracted with raising funds and the what-nots like Luke
has pointed out. When I first started out, I made a few samples and took a few
pictures of them. I coded up my own website, loaded the products in and
launched. All this was done with around $700.

With the amount you have raised up now, you should quickly start putting your
products online (your own site, or perhaps even marketplaces like Etsy). Focus
on getting customers and then keeping them.

My business is still young and I am nowhere near what some HN'ers have
accomplished, but if you ever need a little help, feel free to contact me.

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momotomo
The lack of scale is probably cooling people's interest in investing in this -
realistically it's not going to escalate into something that produces returns
by a factor of N. It doesn't mean it's a bad idea - but this is basically
hobby / small business / home business territory.

Meanwhile, if you have good ideas, have you considered working on the design
side, getting together with a few people and moving towards small scale mass
production for your gear?

edit: sorry, mass production as in finding a manufacturer somewhere who can
make bulk quantities of your furniture, wood or otherwise.

~~~
brentmc79
Well, to be honest its not really investing since you'll get a product in
return, but yeah I see what you're saying.

For right now its just me doing the design and fabrication. I'd like to keep
it that way as long as possible. I think the fact that they're not mass
produced is what people really like about it.

If it does somehow get to be more than I can handle, then I guess I'll cross
that bridge when I come to it. ;)

~~~
momotomo
Can relate, I work in the arts so theres always a 1:1 cap on the production /
profit aspect of it (excluding soft copies like prints and digital editions).
Though, given, that's completely discounting the return of the enjoyment of
the craft itself.

You could very well do both, produce and sell the originals, shell out a
second business that mass produces the more popular designs, etc.

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SHOwnsYou
The stands look awesome, but I had some thoughts.

I don't have a lot of use for a (really cool looking) laptop stand. But there
are other things that I do have a use for. Mostly chairs, tables (maybe a
coffee table with a great design or concept), trunks, boxes, etc.

Those things in a dark finish are really what appeal to me.

I guess what I'm saying is that while the stands look awesome, don't forget
the classics that have just as much, if not more, of a market, but also keep
doing what you like to do. This is obviously heavily slanted towards what I
like to see in woodwork, rather than what I'm sure you really like to make.

I don't know what your intentions are (just doing this for enjoyment or one
day hoping to leaving your job for your craft), but there is always a market
for quality woodwork and I think your stuff is phenomenal.

~~~
brentmc79
Thanks for the compliment!

At this point, I'm mostly interested in smaller items since they're easier to
ship to people. Initially I'm just planning to steadily increase the quality
and detail of what I build.

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NginUS
Here's what comes to mind when I look at what you're doing.

I have a monitor problem where one is too short, and because of how my desk is
I'd have to raise both of them different heights for them to fit right. If I
had a couple books the right size, it would solve the problem- but that would
look ghetto- and I don't have books the right size anyway.

What if customers could send you a photo of something that could be solved by
custom woodwork that they don't have the means to do themselves, so you could
exchange measurements & sell a solution like that?

~~~
brentmc79
Send me some photos to give me an idea of what you're talking about. brent at
wouldworks dot com

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noglorp
Have you checked around your community for a shop you can use/rent time in?

~~~
brentmc79
I thought about looking into something like that, but I have two young
children and it can be a bit of a challenge to get out of the house sometimes.
Being able to just step into my garage makes it much easier.

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spacecadet
Sweet, keep it up! I build furniture in my free time, my house(an a few
others) is filled with my creations. I also find it therapeutic after long
periods of staring at a screen.

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SabrinaDent
You need to open an Etsy shop ASAP. You are providing the perfect answer to
the _very timely_ question "What do I get my boyfriend/husband/dad for
Christmas?"

~~~
brentmc79
<http://wouldworks.com>

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duck
Hope this works for you, but have you looked at the price of good tools? $1500
isn't going to get you much more than a nice 14" bandsaw and decent table saw.

~~~
brentmc79
No doubt. But if I can make a decent product with shitty tools, then I can
make an even better product with mediocre tools. If I start turning a real
profit, then I'll invest in real quality equipment.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
A few really good tools will last you a lifetime. Don't waste time, money or
potentially your safety with inferior tools. And stay far, far away from dull
tools, too.

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retroryan
clickable non-bit.ly link - <http://funds.gofundme.com/z5b0>

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gcheong
Any pictures of the iPad stand?

~~~
brentmc79
Not yet, but only because I don't yet have the necessary tools to finish it.
But if the donations keep coming in like they have been, then I'll have what I
need very soon! I'll post some pics as soon as its done. You can count on
that.

