I've mentioned on a couple of posts about a large job I'm bidding on currently. There are 100+ doors along with the various appliance garages, glass doors with mullions. For me it's a big opportunity to break out for a big project. I've been in construction for 20+ years and have been making cabinets part-time for the past 8 both at a 9-5 and on the side. My problem is I work in a 20x20 garage and I know I will have to outsource the case parts as well as the doors. How do I go about outsourcing using production sharing?
The other question I have is how does one go about finding their niche and how have you guys handled it? I would like to build smaller pieces (I enjoy the finer work of matching to existing cabinetry or building one-of-a-kinds), built-in cabinetry or the like. There are at least 25-30 different cabinet shops in my area of SW MO and they all do the same thing: build cheap, that is their costs are very low. (I look at some of what you guys are doing and I say, "Whoa..."). There's one company here that is proud of the fact that they can roll out the cabs like Wal-Mart (There are 4 SuperCenters here in Joplin). I should also mention that we are planning on moving an hour north of Chicago in the next few months and I know there is a bigger market there
You advice will be greatly appreciated.
David Coleman
Shaker Works
