Start A Furniture Business - Business Ideas
The furniture industry involves designing, manufacturing, and selling various types of furniture for household and commercial purposes. With the increase in flexible workspaces and the real estate industry’s growth, the furniture business’s demand is boosted.
The furniture business is easy to start and does not require high investments. However, it is first essential to know your niche, for example, office, domestic, home furniture, and luxury items.
The furniture business needs a lot of preparation and prior knowledge. Taking business classes, learning about your local market, and making a solid business plan is advisable. In general, if your products are unique and one of a kind, consumers will be willing to pay a higher, including the shipping cost.
Starting a furniture business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell furniture, or selling furniture online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to start a furniture business ➜
Key Stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
|
Office Space Expenses |
$0 |
$7,000 |
|
Employee & Freelancer Expenses |
$151 |
$352 |
|
Website Costs |
$223 |
$7,215 |
|
Business Formation Fees |
$5,600 |
$20,400 |
|
Equipment & Supply Expenses |
$63 |
$200 |
|
Retail Business Expenses |
$0 |
$6,000 |
|
Inventory Expenses |
$300 |
$10,000 |
|
Software Expenses |
$162 |
$3,094 |
|
Total Startup Costs |
$6,499 |
$54,261 |
Case Studies
•
$6.5K/mo
•
$37K/mo
•
$20K/mo
•
$25K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
French Italian LLC |
instagram.com/frenchitalianhomedecor |
25 |
|
|
Ashley Furniture |
ashleyfurniture.com |
6,518 |
|
|
Al Rugaib Furniture |
alrugaibfurniture.com |
10,154 |
|
|
Living Spaces |
livingspaces.com |
12,490 |
|
|
Temple & Webster |
templeandwebster.com.au |
14,193 |
|
|
Birch Lane |
birchlane.com |
15,636 |
|
|
My Bob's |
mybobs.com |
24,451 |
|
|
Rove Concepts - Mid Century Modern Furniture |
roveconcepts.com |
25,886 |
|
|
Fantastic Furniture |
fantasticfurniture.com.au |
40,981 |
|
|
Lovesac |
lovesac.com |
42,484 |
|
|
CITY Furniture |
cityfurniture.com |
50,258 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
|
Flexibility |
You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
|
Ability to start your business from home |
It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning! |
|
Rewarding work |
Starting a furniture business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about. |
|
Scalable |
With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers. |
|
Meaningful business connections |
You never know who you will meet as a furniture business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
|
High customer retention rates |
Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
|
Crowded Space |
Competition is high when it comes to your furniture business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies. |
|
Motivation of employees |
If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
|
Longer Sales Process |
A furniture business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers. |
Marketing Ideas
-
1
Affiliate Program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.
Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.
-
2
Direct Sales
Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.
For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.
-
3
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.
Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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