I will not Start with a formula or any other advice. I feel that goals in this industry are fluid and you either adapt or perish. I will give one personal opinion, and it’s not anything personal against anyone. But I hate MDF with a passion. I’ve seen some great things built with it by people who never had to lift it. That aside, do as you please. Myself, I install for a large cabinet company and work with a couple designers who know a lot of people that get very excited about us working together. I’ve worked very hard to build a reputation of high standards and workmanship. I try my best to deliver that every job. I guess what trying to get at is this, exactly what and what scale are wanting to do? What kind of return are you expecting? Do you have or understand the marketing that you need to have success. What types of relationships have you built with builders designers, and alike. There is much more that could be covered in this, many more questions. I will share this, my background is I’ve worked general construction, framing, historical restoration, interior trim, military leadership, operations management, sales, commodities broker, designer, cabinet installer, but most of all I’m a student of the craft, and a student of life. So be direct and ask what you want to do.
Your comment on MDF reminds me of something someone said to me when I first started. "This is construction, everything is heavy."
I get the feeling that y'all thought I asked, "how do I get rich in cabinetry?" I'm not asking how I can change trades tomorrow, I'm trying to think about the next 5 years.
For scale, a one man operation and the scale that comes with that. Cabinets, built-ins, vanities, maybe doors and windows. Finer work. I'm looking down the road. I don't know if I want to be lugging lvls around and climbing a lot of ladders when I'm 50.
Maybe there's not enough meat on that bone. Honestly I'm not sure. The only cabinet guy I know in town is pretty big, does all sorts of millwork and probably has 10 or more employees. I haven't really met anyone smaller that made it.
Return? Not sure. If I could make 50 a year personally, I'd be very happy. If I could make what I make now and have a more enjoyable day to day, I'd probably still be happy.
I don't know about marketing, honestly. I've worked mostly for small scale contractors who get everything word of mouth. When I was framing, the owner marketed the houses by apparently blatantly lying. Haha. Building I find natural, but not so much marketing and business. I spend my time doing one and not the other
I've found it difficult to make much connection with the builders I've met at work. We mainly work directly with homeowners. The builders we've worked with seem to hire us begrudgingly to fix things other subs have messed up. They're not shy about that or quiet about their annoyance at our cost. Not much interest in having anything but dirt cheap labor. This certainly hasn't made me eager to build a relationship. I've only been in durham for a couple years, so I haven't met too many.
I'm the second man on a two man crew. We used to have laborers, but it's just been two for about a year. I look pretty young, so I think I come of as kind of a helper/laborer type to clients and builders.