Helping a Fellow Small Business Owner
Today I had the opportunity to help out Ryan Poulton of In-Home Furniture Repair and Refinishing. He is working on restoring an antique oak rocking chair which had a broken rocker (the part that sits on the ground and allows the chair to rock) and he needed a replica made out of new oak. He found my name on the internet in a Google search for someone in the Portland area who could plane his stock down to the correct thickness so he could cut it out with his saber saw (I would call it a jigsaw but tools can have multiple names). I let him know I could help with planing his board to the proper thickness and that I’d be happy to cut the piece out on my bandsaw as well.
After our greetings and a brief introduction to my son who came running out to say hi, we got to work. Unfortunately, I did not snap any pictures of the process to share, but it was simple. Ryan had drawn on his oak board what shape the new runner needed to be. The board ended up having about a foot of extra material on the end so I cut that off to save some planing time. Then I planed the backside flat through my thickness planer taking care to preserve the drawing of his rocker. Once flat, I cut out the curves and planed both sides so they were smooth and the exact thickness of the old rail. We did notice a slight twist in the new board which I took care of with a few hand plane passes in the high spots to let the machine flatten out the rest. In about an hours time we had a new rocker ready for final sanding so he can finish restoring a treasured family heirloom.
It was a great experience to chat with Ryan and listen to his story. He once had a full workshop with all the major tools but has now downsized and focuses on furniture repair and refinishing. Because of his line of work and his current shops ability, he has to turn down work but told me he had no one to turn them too. Now I’m on his list to turn people to who need help with additional shelving, tables, or small cabinetry whom he used to have to turn to Craigslist. As a new business owner I am delighted to have Ryan’s 20+ years of experience in the industry to lean on as well as his help getting new clients to help me grow my business and in turn I am happy to help out Ryan any time he needs it.
Starting Keaton Beyer Woodworking has been an interesting adventure. I’ve tried selling small items over the internet on Etsy, which I still do, but it has been hard to gain traction. I’ve made a few commissioned pieces but those have largely been through people I already knew. What I have struggled with thus far is finding clients, which I knew would be hard but has been even harder than I thought it would be. I’m not a good marketer for myself and it’s an area I need to grow my comfort level in to be successful. In a corporation it’s easy, we all know who does what. If you need a contract reviewed, you know to contact legal. If your computer is acting funny, you ask IT. If you have a problem and you don’t know what to do, you ask your manager who can help you out. But in a small business like mine, there is only one department and one person who can answer my questions. So it is nice to have another local business owner who is in the trade and can help me out when I am in need.
If there are any small business owners or hobbyist woodworkers in the Portland area who need some help, feel free to contact me. I don’t have a big shop, but I do have a few large tools (table saw, band saw, planer, miter saw, drill press, router table) that not everyone has and I’m happy to show you around, make some sawdust, and meet someone new.
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