re: Becoming a professional woodworking or not

Thanks Madts,lanwater and Jim
Here’s a really tough area to figure out when you go into the ww business,
What to charge for what you make. Many folks have lots of approaches,some want to charge just the cost of the material and a nominal profit equal or less than the cost of the material.In my opinion, this is not the way to make a living it’s the opposite, it’s a way to fail. Another person might say just charge what others are charging or a little less,taking that approach does not ensure you are making a profit.Then there are those who say to Just charge an hourly rate,this might work if you take more than your just your material and the hourly rate you want into account. This may or may or may not turn out to be profitable,why? because there are other expenses involved like some of things already mentioned ,such as ,rent,or a mortgage,the cost of utilities,the cost of insurance,employees wages and cost of and wear and tear on your tools and equipment and more. Given al lof these expenses how do you come up with a hourly rate that you know will be profitable ? The only way I know is to calculate the cost of doing business on a daily and hourly basis. This is your shop hourly expense rate,Then add in the cost of materials,including wood,glue,sand paper,finishes,finishing supplies. now you have your total cost.
At this point your informed as to what it cost you to make any particular project.
From this point shop owners make up their mind what to charge over and above
their acual cost,some multiply by two three and even four times ,depending on the project’s difficulty ,the client,work load and or how hungry the shop owner is.Many might say,what if the client won’t pay that much? The answer is passon the job,there’s no sence in working and not making a profit.