Want to Start a Furniture-Making Business?

Furniture is what adds a personal touch to any home. Every Indian household has corners that are made special with furniture. And there is a massive market for furniture within and beyond the country. Indian handicraft and furniture are renowned worldwide. 

In fact, the Indian Furniture Industry is expected to be valued at $61 billion by the end of 2023. https://www.startupyo.com/furniture-making-business/ 

The current growth in the real estate business and the growing housing need for housing among the millennials and baby boomers with an aesthetic furniture taste is icing on the cake. 

Thanks to the pandemic the world has shifted to online mediums and people spend more time in their homes. From their couch to their working desks they look for furniture that can help support their lifestyle. 

The country is developing, making more room for disposable income in big cities. 

And a solid furniture-making business greatly benefits from city dwellers. This business stands on four pillars- effective supply chain management, reasonable cost minimisation, customisation and brand management. 

The furniture market doesn’t end with just home use, corporate spaces, hotels, wellness clinics and resorts. When you start a furniture-making business, secure your supplier and raw material manufacturers. From your wooden screw manufacturers to your branding agency, finalise every third party beforehand. 

It is tedious to kickstart any business, let alone a furniture-making business. So let us look at how one can start a furniture-making business.  

1. Conduct a market analysis

Understand who you are catering to, who else is catering to them and where is the gap in the market for you to take a stronghold of. Big players already exist in the furniture market. Look at companies like Pepperfry and Urban Ladder. You can analyse their profiles. This will teach you what to do and more importantly, what not to do.  

• Get to know what is new and trending in the market
• What kind of material you are able to source, that decides the kind of machinery and furniture screws you will need.  
• Decide what your products are going to look like
• Think of how you want to position your brand

Both these companies have had a strong foot in the furniture business. They were quick to understand that the urban young who are building their careers and their homes can’t give out time. To save them from the traditional furniture visits and give them the comfort of ordering their furniture online changed the game. 

2. List the requirements of the business

You will have requirements for each step in the business. First will be the permissions and clearance, then the production and procurement requirements, then come the logistics, the services, managing staff and much more. Don’t forget that you will require space for the production activities to take place. 

We start with the registration and approvals- 

• GST registration
• MSME registration
• Trade licence
• NOC by state pollution control board

After that, you will require space for the production activities to take place. 

Then comes your raw material list. These also include components like SS wood screws and tools. 

• Wood, depending on your product and availability 
• Fasteners
• Metal, steels, alloys
• Plastic and vinyl
• Packing material
• Tool kits 

A clear requirement is also manpower, you will require skilled and unskilled manpower to function. 

Now, this list is where most of your investment will go. Yes, it is the machinery and equipment you require to produce furniture. 

• Stationary machines: bandsaw, timber sizer, wood lathe, drill press, wood shaper, reminding machine, thickness planer
• Double end tenoner: rolling chain system, slide chain system
• Panel edge processing equipment: high speed, heavy-duty, light-duty edge bander
• Panel automatic packing machine

It is very important to understand how your furniture is going to be built. This gives an insight into your furniture’s strengths, and more importantly the one thing expected out of it: durability. Usually, furniture making involves the use of SS wood screws, joint connector bolts, flat head screws, wood dowels etc. 

3. Start planning how your furniture will reach your customer 

When we talk about the furniture reaching the customer, its first connotation is logistics and the other is branding. 

Logistics is crucial for a furniture-making business. A lot of your business’s value lies in how you get the product delivered. The products you are dealing in require care, timeliness and diligence to be delivered. Furniture is heavy and of high value in nature. When a customer spends a hefty amount on the product they expect good service, timely delivery and a smile on their face when they look at it. 

In most cases when you go online with your selling, the decision-making and buying perspective of customers is very liberal. When it comes to furniture, that is not the case. As we talked about Pepperfry and Urban ladder identifying the online market for furniture they also brought forward the additional attention and effort branding requires to get the customers to put their faith in your business. 

Position your brand well in the market to gain a larger customer base. Highlight key points such as your design, sustainable approach, after-sales services, and quality of the product. Furniture is a long-term investment and people are picky about it.  

There is nothing better than a customer choosing furniture you built, to complete their home. And this along with all the other reasons mentioned above is why one must consider starting a furniture making business. We live in a time where any business paired with wit can reach heights. 

The profit margin for the furniture making industry in India is huge. This business is likely to give you a 40% profit margin. If you wish to start a business with a great ROI, then this is it.  

There is a large scope for furniture making businesses in our country. An increase in customisation of spaces through furniture is a major reason that contributed to the growth of the Indian furniture industry.

LP Screw is one of the top wooden screw manufacturers in India. We have production units spread over 50,000 sq. feet and a production capacity of 35 Lakh screws per day. We provide strong and durable screws that are cost-effective. 

We have a wide range of screws both manual and machine operated that work well for the furniture making industry.