Thanks for your detail answer It looks I must do a bit of everything and not to expect too much...I think that peoples advice to be cautious is very good advice, I make all my own furniture (mostly from Oak and as a hobby) and the reaction is universal - "its great", "we love it", "its worth paying a bit more for quality" etc etc ... and then you tell them how much they would need to pay to have me (or someone else) make it for them, no one yet has stumped up the cash!
People will generally make statements that they are happy to pay for quality, that they like to support local industry, that they like to buy British - the problem is how few people will actually follow through with these sentiments once cold hard cash has to be parted with, these statements are often driven by peoples desire to appear more affluent or cultured than they actually are. That is not to say that a business can not be made, that you are doomed to fail or that I (or anyone one else here) wish you to fail - just that you need to be very sure you have a market and will obtain sufficient work to earn a living fairly quickly.
The above said, for what its worth, in my opinion you need to avoid mass markets or anywhere you will be compared to Ebay or high street sellers - you will lose every time. Finding those markets that are too small for mass production but can provide a reasonable profit margin is they key, but also means the business will not scale. From the small companies I know, I would also not expect to make a large profit. If you are looking to sell to businesses then provide a good level of service and avoid those looking for the lowest price possible. As for a shop, I doubt it would be effective unless you are willing to spend a lot of money, you can not compete with the mass market so unless you aim for a very expensive high end shop (and the finishes and fittings that go with it) you would degrade you product to being another high street shop (and those around you will be a fraction of the price). The people that buy hand made furniture from very small companies want to be able to tell people about how they went to the little workshop (insert story about how out of the way and quaint it is) and talked to the people that hand made the furnature etc.
Just my opinion for what its worth.
The problem with car repairs like this is that it almost certainly works out cheaper to get a 2nd hand door from a breakers and if you are lucky the same colour.
Hi I agree with you 100%,but this was my friends car and I done this for no money.In the place where he lives he could not find the second hand door.I lost 3 days to finish that,If I had second hand door would be a different story and it would look even better.I am not happy with the paint,but repair was good...The problem with car repairs like this is that it almost certainly works out cheaper to get a 2nd hand door from a breakers and if you are lucky the same colour.
Its different for rare cars for which parts are hard to get
Thats a problem when you are in business for yourself, mates and so called friends who expect jobs to be done at mates rates