Why do you want to start a repurposing business?

So, I have a question for you: Why do you want to start a repurposing business?

This is such an important question for you to thoroughly think through before launching your business.  If you’re already painting and repurposing and selling pieces for fun or as a hobby, that’s great!  But before you take the leap and really move forward with turning this into a business, I need to you think about WHY you want to start a business.

Are you doing it for extra cash on the side?

Are you doing it so that you can flex your creative muscles?

Are you doing it because you plan on it becoming your main source of income?

The reason why these questions are so important is because there’s a big difference between setting up a business to make you an extra $500 a month or setting up a business that will ultimately make you $50,000 a year.  It is very, very easy to make $500 a month repurposing furniture.  You can easily do that by selling just two or three pieces.  However, if you want to make repurposing furniture your full-time job, it will be very difficult for you to work enough hours and paint enough pieces to sell $50,000 dollars worth of inventory.

If your average sale price is $150 and that piece took you 4 hours to complete and $50 in materials, then that means you are working for $25 an hour.  $25*40 hours a week (let’s be realistic; 40 hours a week is a LOT of time spent painting)*52 weeks a year.  That is $52,000.  It is likely that you’ll spend 25-30 hours a week painting and the rest of your available hours (if you’re doing this full time) will be spent shopping for the pieces to paint, marketing, maintaining your blog or website, looking for places to sell, and doing all the other things that you need to do.

With that said, $25*25 hours a week*48 weeks (come on, you know you’re going to take vacations and days off) = $30,000.  Can you support yourself on $30,000?  If the answer is yes, then that’s great!  If the answer is no, you’ll need to consider other ways to make money without relying on painting and selling inventory.  That is a topic I’ll discuss further in a later post.  For now, think about why you want to start a repurposing business and if you think it’s realistic based on how you intend to do so.

Happy Launching!

Amanda

Connect with me on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/olderthandirtrepurposing

Twitter: @otdrepurposing

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/otdrepurposing/

Instagram: olderthandirtinteriors

The Launch of ReLaunch

Hey everyone, Amanda here from Older Than Dirt Interiors!  I wanted to announce some exciting news – I’ve decided to blend a few different skills of mine into one big ball of repurposed awesomeness.  I’m creating a blog series focusing solely on helping other people launch their furniture repurposing businesses!  Now let me explain why 🙂

When I was breaking into this business, I searched high and low on the internet for resources dedicated specifically toward starting a furniture repurposing business.  I even went to my local library to find books!  As a business coach and a 3-time entrepreneur, I am well aware of how to start a business but I had never started a business in the home decor/furniture space before.  The closest I came to gathering the information I so desperately sought was through random blog postings or websites of some of the repurposing world’s most notable names (i.e., Annie Sloan, Miss Mustard Seed, Blue Egg Brown Nest, etc).

The more furniture blogs I came across, the more I realized the same question was being asked over and over again by readers who wanted to become entrepreneurs.  “I am so passionate about painting furniture or finding antique furniture and decor – how do I launch a successful business in this industry?”  I, myself, was one of those readers so I’ve taken it into my own hands to help everyone else out there who has the same question that I had.

My goal with the ReLaunch blog, the videos I plan to post, and the book I’m in the process of writing is to help educate people on how to launch a solid repurposing business from the beginning.  I’m a business consultant and coach by career and a master DIYer and furniture repurposer by passion.  Put together those two skill sets and voila, you have ReLaunch!

I’m here to help you answer all the questions you have about launching your own repurposing business (from how to file for an LLC, to what types of paint are the best, to where you can find the best deals on the furniture you refinish).  I want to help you take your passion and turn it into a stable business so that you can do what you love, love what you do, and make money too.  Please comment on this entry with any questions you have that you want me to address in upcoming posts or videos.  I want this to be as interactive as possible.

If you’re interested in one-on-one coaching, feel free to reach out!  I’m offering a limited time introductory rate.  Check out my website for more details here.

Have a great rest of your weekend everyone!  Happy Launching!

Amanda

Connect with me!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/olderthandirtrepurposing

Twitter: @otdrepurposing

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/otdrepurposing/

Instagram: olderthandirtinteriors