FURNITURE SHOP BUSINESS PLAN SAMPLE
Are you interested in setting up a furniture business? Do you enjoy making things out of wood?
If you have always had a passion for looking at the office or home furniture, buying them, and have a great design of any furniture in mind that you would love made for you, you can always turn that passion into a lucrative business by starting a successful furniture business in your city.
SEE: BEST FURNITURE BUSINESS IDEAS
Starting a furniture business is one of the greatest things that you can do from home and not just for the fun that comes with the art, but also for economic gains. Another special part is that your potential earnings are completely up to you.
If you’re feeling lazy and just want to build a couple of chairs, tables, or any woodwork designs for a $200 profit, you can decide to build 10 beautiful tables for a nice $2000 profit. Obviously, the profit you earn will also depend on the quality of your work.
MORE: MOST PROFITABLE WOODWORKING PROJECTS TO BUILD AND SELL
I want to share with you some tips on starting a furniture business with little to no overhead. Wow, a business with little or no overhead and loving what I do! That’s right, your very own business at home, making money.
You don’t need a degree in furniture in starting a furniture business. You can learn this art either by watching YouTube videos, learning from books, or a mentor.
Opening Your Own Furniture Business: Steps and Requirements
- Define your Niche
The word, “furniture” comprises many wood products. You have to decide the niche you want to focus on and be known for. You can decide to focus on everything that has to do with the business of furniture but this means you will need to get good and experienced carpenters for that.
For instance, if you are going to be making wood toys or carvings then you need to make up your mind. Knowing where you want to specialize can mean anything from fixing up kitchen cabinets to producing wood furniture for business, and even making wooden toys. Knowing what kind of product you’re going to specialize in will also give you an idea of what equipment you’ll need to produce your product.
Identify your target market and use that as a map to defining your niche. Decide if you want to go for kitchen furnishing, office furnishing, home furnishing, etc. I will advise that you first research to see if your chosen niche has a high demand in your kinds of business office furniture. All these should be well captured in your furniture business plan.
- Find the Right Location
A modern furniture design business needs the right location to operate successfully. Find a location that will be suitable for your products (so you can display them), suppliers (so they can ship in woods for you), and your customers. Have in mind that the location for your workshop can be different from your showroom.
So, pick a convenient place for your showroom where you can display your office business furniture for sale. If you don’t have the finance, you can use your backyard as your workshop and only rent space in a good location for your showroom. Depending on the materials you will be using, you might also need a warehouse space too.
- Obtain License and Permits
Every state requires some form of business license and permit to run some small furniture businesses legally. A business license is the first thing that you will need when starting your manufacturing or retail furniture business.
Where you plan to start your furniture manufacturing business depends on what kind of license, permits, etc. if any, that you will need. There is usually a small fee for this license and permits.
You may also want to hire an accountant to keep track of your books or you may choose to do this yourself. Starting a business at your home will require a lot less money and required permits, etc., to get started.
- High-Quality Tools
Whether you are into the used or refurbished furniture business as a hobby or for a serious money-making business, you need to have good tools depending on your niche of furniture. Tools are a must in the furniture business.
You will need power tools, such as a router, jigsaw, sander, drill, table saw, etc. Once your business takes off you may want to invest in a nail gun and compressor. You will also need some hand tools, such as tape measure, screwdrivers, hammer, T-square, clamps, hand saw, etc.
Once again, we are talking about starting a furniture business on a budget, so if you don’t have all the tools needed to start a furniture business then ask a neighbor, relative, or friend to borrow them.
- Advertise your Business Online and Offline
Now that you are ready to start building your furniture business, it’s time to advertise. You can advertise through fliers, garage sale ads, yellow book listings, or even your own website. I have heard of so many people in the American furniture business that used social media platforms, Facebook, and Twitter to promote their custom furniture business before they could afford expensive advertising.
You should have already built samples of work from your furniture business so that you can take pictures that you can put on your website, flyers, etc.
How to Start a Furniture Store Business
The sole purpose of a furniture store business is to produce and distribute furniture and get income in return.
Opening a retail furniture store business requires various procedures and necessities. It does not matter if you have a degree in furniture making or a self-thought skill on how to produce extraordinary modern and vintage furniture, you will also be required to know how to properly plan a business and run it smoothly.
The important factors in opening a new or used furniture store business are listed below;
- Business Niche
Furniture making is of various types, you may decide you want to produce seats, tables, beds, storage furniture, office furniture, or entertainment furniture.
Different materials are required in opening a repurpose furniture store business. Indicate the materials to be used in making your furniture, materials such as wood, plastic, metal, concrete, or glass are mostly used.
- Choose your Target Market
Do you want to sell to residential buyers, hotels, and resorts, or commercial customers? Carry out a market study on your competitors and the products you can offer that they don’t. Also, determine the target customer’s demands and suitable pricing for your furniture.
- Business Location
A resale furniture business would require enough space which will allow you to make furniture conveniently and display it to customers. If you want to produce residential furniture, your location should have enough space for parents and children to easily move around. Your location should also be easily accessible by your suppliers.
It is advisable to have warehouse space to store materials, choose a space that’s convenient for you and your suppliers to pick up and drop materials. Your location shouldn’t be based on the cheapest site, but pick the best affordable location as space is very important in opening a furniture store business.
Gather information on laws and regulations in your area restricting some locations for your workshop.
- Suitable Business Structure and Registration
Conscientiously decide your business structure. In opening a furniture store business, your business structure would affect the filing of assets tax. Get a lawyer or a business consultant to guide you in deciding the most suitable business structure.
Business structures include; sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and Limited Liability Company (LLC).
In opening a furniture store business, any structure or business would require business registration register your furniture business with your state’s Secretary of State, choose a furniture store name and secure a tax identification number from the IRS. Regulations and laws demand that furniture producers adhere to rules placed on the production and disposal of hazardous wastes from wood and metal regarding customer’s safety.
A Properly Written Furniture Store Business Plan
A business plan contains company information and strategic success plans. Drafting a business plan is very important when opening a furniture store business as it’ll give a clear understanding of the business to investors and is also used to house important information on your business.
Write a description of the types of furniture you want to produce in your company, the type of materials needed, and the manpower necessary for opening a furniture store business. Also, write on strategies to distinguish yourself from competitors and do better.
Explain your market strategy, not just how you want to market your products but also how you want to further expand your company.
Include your financial prominence in your business plan, it’ll explain to investors how you intend to finance the company and basic information such as company name, agents name, location, and operational data.
- Startup Budget
Your startup business budget should account for expenses in opening a furniture store business such as;
- Equipment purchase or lease.
- Employees’ salaries and earnings.
- Marketing and advertising expenditure.
- Purchase of items for a business startup such as wood, plastic metal, and any other material you will need.
- Acquisition of business location or rent dues.
- Expenses involved in obtaining license and permit, such as registration, tax identification number, and lawyer or consultant charges.
- Source of Funding
If you do not have enough funds in opening a furniture store business, there are various ways to get investors and finance.
- Loans can be requested from the Small Business Administration and banks.
- You may also seek financial assistance from family and friends, through home equity loans or crowdfunding platforms and partnership with investors.
- Marketing
You may decide to sell your furniture online, open a website to exhibit your furniture to the public. Get an experienced web designer to give your website a professional look, and the website should be updated when new products are available. Photography may also be required, to raise the aesthetics of your furniture.
Furniture prices should be placed after a proper survey of the price range of other producers.
Have you decided to open a furniture store business? It is not a difficult task with proper planning and self-commitment. Every successful business starts from a point, a good startup and management plan would fetch your targeted profit.
FURNITURE MANUFACTURING BUSINESS PLAN EXAMPLE
Here is a sample business plan for starting a retail furniture store business.
BUSINESS NAME: Gozad Furniture Store
TABLE OF CONTENT
- Executive Summary
- Business Description
- Vision Statement
- Mission Statement
- Product and Services
- Market Analysis
- Business Structure
- Sales and Marketing Strategy
- Financial Plan
- Competitive Advantage
- Conclusion
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Second Hand Furniture store business is a business that thrives in all communities in as much as the residents make use of furniture in their homes. No home does not have or need at least one piece of furniture no matter the economic situation of the family.
This business is the type that does not require any special training or educational qualifications, all you need is a basic knowledge of how a business should be run. It can either be started as a small scale or large scale business depending on what the owner can start with. You can even start on a small scale and build the business to a large one as time goes on.
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION
Gozad Furniture Store is a family business owned by Daniel Tchale and his family members. He is a graduate of Business Administration and has great leadership and business skills which he is determined to use for the growth and success of the business.
Gozad Furniture Store will be located in the urban side of Ghana especially in the area where there are newly constructed buildings. The business will focus basically on its growth and success through the provision of excellent customer service. The business will ensure that both a solid local customer base and an online customer base are established.
VISION STATEMENT
The vision of the business is to be a one-stop-shop and the best furniture store in Ghana. Also, the business wants to be the number one furniture supplier.
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the business is to go beyond the customers’ expectations through the products and services we offer to them. We are looking to achieve the following goals:
- Creation of an efficient and loyal program to our customers.
- Provision of quality products at a reasonable price that satisfies our customers’ desire.
- The constant growth of sales in the first two years of operation.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Gozad Furniture Store will operate a large scale business that deals with all types of furniture, some of these products are:
- Armoires
- Beds
- Dressers
- Tables
- Chairs
- Benches
- Bookcases
MARKET ANALYSIS
TARGET MARKET
Gozad Furniture Store is a business that will be available to all residents of Ghana irrespective of their level in social class. Regardless of who you are, you can always get your furniture from our store. Some of the people we will be offering our services to are:
- Business people
- Organizations/offices
- Celebrities
- Government Officials
- Sportspeople
- Tourists
- Students
- Individuals
- Every household in the neighborhood
MARKET TRENDS
Since every business now has a presence in the online world, it will also do a lot of favor to our business to have an online presence via website, social media; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on.
BUSINESS STRUCTURE
Perfect Furniture Store is focused on getting the right structure for the business to grow well and make profits. Given this, we will ensure that only hardworking, decent, honest, reliable, and goal centric people are hired. Most importantly, people with leadership and business skills will be employed to occupy the following positions:
- Chief Executive Officer (owner)
- Business Development Strategist
- Operation Manager
- Sales Manager
- Cashier
- Store Manager
- Cleaners
SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY
Since we are just going into the furniture business, we have decided to offer the following services to achieve profitable sales:
- Our customers will be provided with excellent and reliable services to keep them happy and keep coming back.
- An easy to use the website will be created to educate our customers on the right choice to make concerning furniture.
- Products that tend to be difficult to find will be made available in our store.
- Advertisement on both local and online media will be done.
FINANCIAL PLAN
Gozad Furniture Store needs about $150,000 to start the business out of which 60% of it is ready. The business has decided to get the remaining 40% from banks as loans. We plan to have a conservative financial plan with a low payroll, low expenses, and conservative sales forecast.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Studies show that there is minimal competition in the furniture industry but we have decided to use aggressive marketing strategies to make our business stand out and also gain more customers as time goes on.
Also, the business will have a constant and adequate presence online to create awareness among the users of social media.
CONCLUSION
This is a retail furniture store business plan sample that can serve as a guide in writing a business plan. This business is owned by Daniel Tchale and will be located in Ghana.