With the year wrapping up, I would like to share with you something that I like to do to help close the year out in an efficient and self-reflective way as a woodworking business owner and woodworker. I do hope all of you Young Wood Pros can make a habit of doing the same. 

Outside of the obvious, being how most would look into doing an end-of-year financial inventory, which I do also, I would prefer to talk to you about looking for patterns regarding how you run your business and your decision-making. 

The only way to get better is to sit down from time to time and examine how you’ve been doing things. I break this down into three categories: What went right, what went wrong, and what direction I want to move in.

I can tell you firsthand as a business owner that blindly rolling through the years without examining your process and handling of your business is unwise. Knowing where you’ve got it right and where maybe you could’ve gotten it better are the keys to recognizing your strengths and areas of improvement. Only then can you really start to look at what the path forward next year could look like. 

At the risk of being a little too vulnerable. I’ll even throw some of mine out there from this last year, for example.

What went right?
When examining what went right, here are some questions to ask. 
•    Did your business have any major growth financially? 
•    Did you discover any new methods or process that makes work more efficient and faster?
•    Were you able to make your deadlines on a consistent basis? 
•    Were the final numbers after finishing a job lining up with the bid you were giving beforehand? 
•    Any areas where you might build some confidence or even some employees of yours that did the same? 

When I looked at my year, I was able to see some of the things I know I got right as a craftsman and business owner. I definitely experienced some growth financially and tried some new woodworking methods with good success. I also was able to achieve some very difficult and tight deadlines consistently.

I experienced some decent creative growth with trying new designs that worked out really well for some clients along with, I think, making more public appearances and speaking engagements this year than I have in any previous one. I had a very busy year and a successful one in my opinion. 

It’s not bragging or unbecoming for you to sit down and do an inventory of your successes. It’s important to do this, knowing what your strength gives you something to lean into in the coming year. Another great thing that happened this year was I brought in some help and he was a wonderful aid in getting some things done. Finding competent help was one of my favorite parts of the year.

What went wrong this year?  
If I’m being honest, I will admit this is my favorite exercise of the three. This is the one where I have to do some inventory on where I need to be better. I’m not saying it’ll be pleasant, but this is where the growth is, and this is where next year benefits the most. 
Some places to start that I would suggest would be to look at how you handled problems. 

•    What kind of problems did you have at your job this year? 
•    Can you find an area of running a business where you had some problems? 
•    Did you have a hard time getting new clients? 
•    Did you have a hard time pleasing clients? 
•    Did you have difficulties with machinery or not enough machinery? 
•    Not the right machinery? 
•    What kind of hours were you putting in? 
•    Do you feel like you got better as a woodworker? 

These are just some examples of places to start. Only you know where things didn’t go the way you want them to this last year. 
After a good bit of business and self-reflection, I came up with several that I genuinely look forward to improving next year. One of the biggest problems I had this year is that I said yes way too much. By that I mean I was giving away too much of my time and availability for free or for unreasonable pay. This was glaringly obvious to me well before the end of the year. This year there were more examples, than I even wanted to admit of where I really was giving away myself and my talents as a product without being paid in return too often.

Examples of that would be sketching up for clients for free without demanding some form of contractual payment or way of reimbursing my time for drawing. I took too many calls and too many emails from people asking for suggestions and ideas for their woodworking stuff. I lost a lot of time this year, doing administrative stuff like chasing down checks owed and contracts way beyond what I’ve ever had to deal with. I took too much time to speak with a lot of potential clients who I already had a pretty decent feeling weren’t serious without really finding a way to cut it short. 

In other words, I was too accessible this year, and in my experience, when you’re too accessible, people stop valuing your time and start expecting you to keep giving aspects of your business to them for free. Unfortunately, because of this, it also ate up a lot of time I could have used to pursue some new designs in creative endeavors at work that usually are financially beneficial.

It also was a contributing factor with a lot of those tight deadlines that even though I did make, I made just barely. As they say, the chickens always come home to roost, and if you’re giving yourself away for free too much, it’s going to impact your business and potentially your family in one way or another. I look forward to getting that right in the coming year. 

What direction ahead?
Next year cannot come soon enough, right? That’s probably a common feeling after you go through your strengths and weaknesses of the last year. Nothing wrong with that. Best to set some goals or plans first. 

I like to look at this last for a good reason. It’s better to have an understanding of where I’m going if I know where my strengths are and where I need to get better. I can use that information in my planning for the next year. I have found it allows me to set myself up for more success and have a little more control. It also allows me to better utilize improvement opportunities because I’ve prepared for them. 

•    What are your plans for next year? 
•    What aspects of your business would you like to change or grow? 
•    Do you have enough help? 
•    Do you want to take a shot at a new design to market? 
•    Is there any equipment or machinery you’ve been hoping to purchase? 

Such a beautiful thing about the future is that it’s pretty open ended, and I strongly suggest you spend time going over what moving forward looks like in the best interest of your business. In case you haven’t guessed, some of mine might be spending more time with tools in my hands and less time with my phone, email, or out of shop contributions to others that reduce my ability to make money. 

I also look forward to coming over with a better client screening process, I’m in the fortunate position that I’ve been doing this for quite some time and I’ve invested some of my earnings and profits over the years wisely (yes, it’s a good idea to use some of your profit as investments and let your money make you some money, too). Since I’m in the later years of this, I now benefit from the flexibility to start getting a little pickier about what jobs I want to take. I plan on spending more time doing creative pieces for galleries and pieces I’ve been wanting to make. 

Once again, my career is likely in a different place than most Young Wood Pros reading this. I’ve worked very hard to get to this place. I hope you all do as well. Most importantly, I look forward to making the adjustments and get back to protecting the parts of my business that matter the most. Those parts are my time, my energy, ability to look in the mirror and respect the man I see and the work he does. 

Pretty heavy stuff for you Young Wood Pros, isn’t it? If you’re going to be successful at running a woodworking business or any business, it is important that you take some time to be still and inventory how you are doing day-to-day, your client and business relations, calculating your profit margins, and how to most constructively use your time. 

Don’t be afraid to make some plans for the next year that might even be a little bit too bold but also remember that sometimes the most important thing about a plan is your flexibility while you executing it. Good planning and execution are staples of success. Anything else is just wandering aimlessly, expecting results to continuously improve on their own. 

That also applies to a growing and budding woodworker. It’s been my pleasure to share these thoughts and all of my previous ones in articles with you throughout this last year. Thank you for taking the time to read them.

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