Wow that’s a lot of assuming and supposing :) no shop right? no tools right? a place to work and tools for under 3K right? . This ones easy buy a pocket knife, set in your living room and whittle . So far you have $20 spent for a pocket knife. You might need another $200 for a decent vacuum to clean up all the shavings you made in your living room.
As you can imagine, this collective overflow of dare we say, lack of imagination, has resulted in a surplus of duplicate business names across the country. This wasn’t necessarily an issue until the internet came along. The introduction of the World Wide Web has left small business owners from all over the world competing for the same digital real estate: www.tonyshardware.com, facebook.com/tonyshardware, @tonyshardware and more.
Hand tools offer the finesse and precision you just can’t get with anything else. There’s a sense of satisfaction you get from working the wood rather than machining it. After all isn’t that why you got into woodworking? Again there are a vast array of tools but narrow it down to a core range and you’ll have the confidence to complete a number of jobs.
Boy you guys are spoiled, lol. There will always be at least some echo in the shop. I wouldn’t judge the acoustics based on this video though since the shop was still being put together at the time. No cabinets and no floor tiles, so the echo is to be expected. Have you seen the latest video? http://www.thewoodwhisperer.co.....rock-star/ The sound is dramatically improved over the Dream Shop video and all I did so far was add a few floor mats here and there. By the time the cabinets are in and I get some nice rubber floor tiles in place, the sound should be at least to the level of the old shop if not better. Right now though, my priority is on building a bed and I do consider the current sound to be “acceptable” for web videos. I’ll focus on tweaking things when I finally get some spare time. Considering adding some acoustic tiles to the ceiling.
You’ll also want to evaluate your obligation to your employees’ health care provisions following the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, which mandates the responsibility for the cost of insuring full-time employees to businesses with 50 or more full-time, or full-time equivalent employees. It also provides generous tax credits to smaller businesses with 25 or less full-time equivalent employees. Need a little more help understanding how U.S. health insurance reform affects your business? Register for one of the SBA’s upcoming Affordable Care Act webinars. They also offer recordings of previous webinars in both English and Spanish for those who can’t make it to one of their live sessions.
By setting up a separate legal entity, you limit the financial fallout from a failed business, you shield yourself from legal risks (such as someone injuring themselves in your store), and you potentially put yourself in a more advantageous tax situation. Equally, if you are working with partners, ensuring you are set up with the appropriate partnership will give all parties reassurance about their legal standing, obligations to, and expectations from the business in question.
Excessive growth is of course, a good problem to have. However, after stabilizing from the startup process, small businesses more commonly grow steadily before approaching a plateau. This is completely normal and it is often at this point that you’ll need to go back to your business plan and carry out what is known as a SWOT analysis. This includes an analysis of a company’s current finances, the competition, and SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Renovation of your product line, rebranding, and seeking investment for expansion are all potential results of this SWOT analysis. Once again, the key here is being data-driven and always staying hungry. The successful small business owner is always looking for the incremental improvements in their business that when added up, make all the difference.
The primary investment of any garage workshop are the tools. Protect your investment with a high quality tool chest that is neatly organized and (if needed) lockable. Look for smooth rolling ball-bearing drawers, and if you’re buying used, beware of rust and dirt that could corrode your tools. We recommend installing drawer mats to keep your tools from sliding around. They also give your tools a softer cushion to rest in.
We think that insulating your van’s floor is worth the minimal extra cost it adds to your build. The best floor insulation is ½” XPS foam board due to its high r-value per inch and its compressive strength. But a layer of Reflectix will add some insulation while taking away less headspace. We used Reflectix, but if we did it again we’d go with the foam board.
After you are done narrowing down your list of business goals, you are now ready to plan out when they will be accomplished. Just remember, nothing is set in stone so if you need to remove or add something to your business goals later down the road, that's okay. It happens to me ALL THE TIME. Sometimes our priorities shift or things didn't go as planned and you need to make changes.
Spacious pathways are a key aspect of good store planning. In fact, it tops the list of retail experts’ store design tips. Heshy Lovi, Sales and Marketing Director for M Fried Fixtures, recommends aisle widths of four feet or more. This, he says, ensures your aisles and pathways will be comfortable for all customers, including those using strollers or wheelchairs.
Have a walk-through yourself and see where the visual cues guide you or get your staff, friends, or family to do the same and give you honest feedback. Don't forget to observe your customers and see what they're drawn to, what they avoid, and how they move, then match that with your intended design. If you keep resilient and keep your eyes and ears open, you'll be sure to create a retail design that's a win-win for both you and your customers.
This is a fundamental question. A good place to start is with a survey of your property. Most municipalities have a maximum percentage of your lot that you can build on and standard setbacks from your property lines that you will need to adhere to without needing to request special permission to build. On a photocopy of your survey you can draw in what your local setbacks are in order to define the location within which you will be permitted to build. In a best-case scenario, you will have the space to build without compromising too much on space or location; otherwise, you may need to request a minor variance, which would allow you to circumvent an obstacle such as a setback.
By posting on this site and forum, the poster grants to Canadian Woodworking Magazine/Website the unrestricted rights to use of the content of the post for any purpose, including, but not limited to, publishing the posted material, including images, in print or electronic form in a future issue or issues of Canadian Woodworking magazine or related Canadian Woodworking products, and to use the post for promotional purposes without further compensation, as well as the right to use the poster's name in a credit along with the post.
Remember, your retail store layout guides product placement, directs customer flow, and defines the overall look and feel of your store, so it deserves plenty of thought. Many factors will affect your floor plan choice, including the size and shape of your sales floor, the types of products you sell, and even the customers you hope to attract. Keep these factors in mind as we explore each floor plan option in detail.
