Guitar Builder Carves Out Woodworking Moneymaker

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

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Welcome to a brand new week of side hustle school. I'm so glad you're here. I have a lot of stuff in the mix here on my end. Over here, I've been working with the team on a way to interact with listeners, perhaps yourself, or at least some of our listeners more directly as we continue to level up here in year three. I'm also working on a new book, just beginning the process of outlining it, writing some initial chapters, which is always fun, and of course, getting ready for the holidays.

I know it's often a busy time for so many people, so whatever you're up to, I hope you have a way to stay grounded, stay focused, keep your head about you in the midst of the insanity. All right, now we have some great stories coming this week, including an attorney who sells wine-themed sunglasses made of cork, which is pretty cool. He has what you could say are great expectations. Now that story's coming out tomorrow, but in today's story, a California guitar builder finds a way to put spare materials to good use. With extremely low startup costs, because those spare materials were free, this project now brings in an average of $2,000 a month in extra income, which of course is very helpful living in a high-cost area such as California.

Okay, this story guitar builder carves out woodworking moneymaker. It's coming right up in just 30 seconds. Stay tuned. [Music]

As a teenager, California native Eric Blackwell loved the guitar. Playing gigs in bands made him realize that he wanted to spend his life around music.

After finishing high school, Eric found his way into the electronics department of a custom guitar factory. Now this was a job that he loved. It allowed him a firsthand glance into the world of his obsession. Not only could he hear the music the strings made, but he could see how everything worked within the instrument. Over the years, Eric gained experience at the factory.

He also paid attention. One of the things he noticed was how much wood would get thrown away. The pallets that arrived on the dock had to be sorted out and cut up into different shapes and sizes. And in this process, large batches of wood would be set aside whenever any imperfections, no matter how minor, were found. While this wood was unsuitable for making quality guitars, it was perfect for almost any other endeavor.

So Eric began a series of small woodworking projects on the side where he would make gifts for friends and family. He began with cutting boards and other simple items such as serving trays. He did this for many years before realizing he might be able to make extra money from it. It dawned on him that there were others out there who would probably enjoy his items made from wood as well. And once again, he started with the simple things like cutting boards, tap handles, and bottle openers.

These seemed like everyday items that would appeal to those who liked the aesthetic of wood. The next task was to figure out where to sell his products. Amazon was the first platform to come to mind, but Eric realized that the corporate giant wouldn't work for him. When he looked into it, did some research, he heard horror stories about difficult customers and high return rates. He also didn't like the sterile vibe of a mass marketplace.

This drove him to sell his products on Etsy, the platform that specializes in handmade and vintage items. The Etsy audience tends to appreciate personalized and more sustainable gifts, so he decided this was the market he wanted to focus on. But a not insignificant problem still remained. Even though Eric was sure Etsy was a good platform for him, he hardly had any sales, at least at first. It turned out that because he was making simple everyday items, there were lots of them on the market.

For a newcomer who didn't know much about marketing or have a long list of reviews, there was little chance to stand out. So he switched to making more complicated items such as wooden clocks and guitar stands. They were practical and classy. Besides, he felt there was a real need for guitar stands in the world of music because the ubiquitous plastic and metal ones were cold and utilitarian, and also, of course, mass produced. This turned out to be the right move.

Eric got his first sale on a wooden clock, and he got more. His customers told him that they appreciated the vintage design. The guitar stands were also a hit. That's not to say, however, that everything was melodic from then on. Before Eric realized he could do well enough with just organic listings on Etsy, and also another platform called Reverb, he dabbled in social media.

After spending hundreds of dollars on ad campaigns, there were almost no sales to speak of. Engaging with social media influencers proved even more disappointing. The only thing he could do, he realized, was to focus on things he could control, having professional-looking photography of the items, and interacting well with potential customers, for example. In the end, the narrative of a guitar builder who builds cool stuff out of chopped-up guitars went over more customers than anything else. There was one more big challenge, and that challenge was burnout.

He had set the initial price for his stands at $59 in order to get more customers at the beginning. This worked especially well during the holiday season when he would get a lot of orders in, but then he would be hard at work every night in the garage while his wife and kids were spending time together. This added so much stress that he began to feel it wasn't worth it. It even got to the point where he became resentful when a new order came in. Not for him was a big turning point.

He knew he should be excited when people were buying his items. The logical step was to raise prices just enough to slow down the orders while increasing his profits, therefore his motivation. So he decided to make a $5 increase each month to test the waters and see how people responded. Eventually, he settled on pricing the stands at $79 to $99, which allowed for more profit to justify the time he spent. Three years in, Eric is now earning around $2,000 a month in additional income.

It all began by working with materials that others considered useless. Three years in, Eric is now earning $2,000 a month in additional income while still working his full-time job at the guitar factory. It all began by working with materials that others considered useless. [Music]

I'm gonna leave you today with a quote from Eric. We asked him what the best part of all this was, and he said, "The absolute best part is actually experiencing this process.

It's given me so much confidence from developing the idea to persevering through the challenges, and then ultimately hitting my stride in this new venture. I've learned so much along the way and made plenty of mistakes, but they were all worth it. I remember a famous luthier, Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars, who told me, "You can't really learn something until you completely screw it up first." And I found that to be true. I embraced the failures and enjoy the process of research and development. It's all been so fulfilling." Love that quote.

There's not much I could add to it, except let this be an encouragement to you. It is a fun process. If you haven't experienced it yet, or if you've been going through some issues or challenges, as part of experiencing it, don't lose sight of the end goal because you're gonna learn so much, you're gonna gain this confidence just like Eric did, and like so many other people have done. That's because inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1052.

Come and check out Eric's clocks and guitar stands. We're gonna link up his Etsy shop. He's doing some really cool work, in addition to anything else that I mentioned in the episode. I'll be back tomorrow. As I said, we got a lot of stuff coming out this week that I don't want you to miss, so be sure you're subscribed.

All right, my name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]

- From the Onward Project.