Earn a Second Income from Your Woodworking

Rating:
Summary: It's a good overview of what must be considered....
Review: but it's not much help at finding the answers. Of course, that's kind of understandable, since "Woodworking" is such a broad area, and so different in different areas. The interviews with woodworkers currently in the business are interesting, but it's a real stretch to call them "Case Studies". I'm a graduate management student -- I know case studies -- these are NOT case studies. I only make that distinction because it's a shame that they really aren't case studies. This book is clearly written for the target audience of people who do woodworking as a hobby and want to turn it into a little business, maybe just something on the side. The book is VERY GOOD at bringing up all the issues that a woodworker-turning-small-business-owner needs to know about and what needs to be done. It's even pretty good at pointing one towards how to get those things done. Where it is weak is in helping one see the salient turning points in making the decisions: for example, it says the woodworker needs to choose between setting up business as a sole-proprietorship, partnership, S-corp, LLC, etc. -- that's important -- but it doesn't have enough on why any of those should be chosen over the others. Not enough to help a person decide. The "interviews"/case studies *would* have been a great place to ask questions like that - "why did you choose to set up an S-corp? How has it worked out for you?" -- and then back up those answers with responses from a business school graduate. This type of analysis would have made the book much more valuable. Still, I think it's worth reading to anyone considering hanging a shingle in front of their shop (so to speak). I give it a solid 3 stars, and closer to 4 than to 2.

Rating:
Summary: It's a good overview of what must be considered....
Review: but it's not much help at finding the answers. Of course, that's kind of understandable, since "Woodworking" is such a broad area, and so different in different areas. The interviews with woodworkers currently in the business are interesting, but it's a real stretch to call them "Case Studies". I'm a graduate management student -- I know case studies -- these are NOT case studies. I only make that distinction because it's a shame that they really aren't case studies. This book is clearly written for the target audience of people who do woodworking as a hobby and want to turn it into a little business, maybe just something on the side. The book is VERY GOOD at bringing up all the issues that a woodworker-turning-small-business-owner needs to know about and what needs to be done. It's even pretty good at pointing one towards how to get those things done. Where it is weak is in helping one see the salient turning points in making the decisions: for example, it says the woodworker needs to choose between setting up business as a sole-proprietorship, partnership, S-corp, LLC, etc. -- that's important -- but it doesn't have enough on why any of those should be chosen over the others. Not enough to help a person decide. The "interviews"/case studies *would* have been a great place to ask questions like that - "why did you choose to set up an S-corp? How has it worked out for you?" -- and then back up those answers with responses from a business school graduate. This type of analysis would have made the book much more valuable. Still, I think it's worth reading to anyone considering hanging a shingle in front of their shop (so to speak). I give it a solid 3 stars, and closer to 4 than to 2.

Rating:
Summary: A good insight to what it takes to earn some money from wood
Review: This book will give you some insight as to what it takes to pursue woodworking either full or part-time. If you are a hobbyist and are considering pursuing this field full time, this book will make you become aware of issues that you may not have considered. In addition to exploring various business related issues, fifteen professional woodworkers are profiled to give you an example of how they entered the field and how they market their craft. I found some of these profiles a bit redundant but their marketing techniques interesting. Personally, I am a hobbyist when it comes to woodworking and have considered pursuing this full time. This book, however, made me think of some issues that I need to consider before "jumping in." Overall, an informative book.