The Handcrafted Podcast: The Business of making things
The Handcrafted Podcast: The Business of Making Things" is where craftsmanship meets business strategy. Hosted by Paul, founder of Philadelphia Table Co. and The Handcrafted Network, this podcast dives into the mindset, pricing, marketing, and systems that help makers turn their craft into a thriving business. Whether you're a woodworker, artisan, or creative entrepreneur, you’ll learn the strategies to build a profitable, sustainable business—because great craftsmanship deserves great business strategy.
The Handcrafted Podcast: The Business of making things
Office Hours: The Problems That Show Up When Your Business Starts Growing
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Summary:
In this Office Hours episode, Paul answers five real-world questions about the growing pains makers face as their businesses expand. He covers why being busy doesn’t necessarily mean being profitable, when it makes sense to start turning down work, how to build a quality-control culture with employees, whether to raise prices when leads are slow, and how to stop yourself from becoming the bottleneck in your own company.
Topics Covered:
- Busy but not profitable: Use cost analysis to determine whether the problem is pricing, efficiency, or overhead—and aim for roughly $150K in revenue per employee as a benchmark.
- When to say no: Early in your business, saying yes to diverse projects can help build your portfolio. Niche down as demand and experience grow.
- Quality control: Create a repeatable QC checklist and a clear shop standard so quality isn’t dependent on the owner inspecting every detail.
- Raising prices when leads are slow: Separate a lead problem from a closing problem. If leads simply aren't coming in, price probably isn't the reason.
- Getting yourself out of everything: Break the business into clear buckets—marketing, sales, design, operations, production, delivery—and assign ownership so everything doesn’t automatically flow back to you.
Core takeaway: Growth creates a new set of problems. The solution isn’t simply working harder; it’s understanding your numbers, creating standards, defining responsibilities, and gradually building a business that doesn’t require you to personally touch everything.