Craig DeCicco: DeCicco Woodshop
“I’ve been sort of building furniture or building things for most of my life. I was in the Marine Corps, my first time living in a house, and I was just building some crappy furniture for myself. And then slowly started building slightly better furniture for myself.
And then, a few years passed, and some friends started asking me if I could build some furniture for them. A couple more years go by that and I’m just, “Does anybody else wants any furniture?”
– Craig DeCicco
Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Craig DeCicco, the proprietor of the custom furniture firm, ‘DeCicco Woodshop,’ is here today with your host Steve Larosiliere.
When Craig and his family purchased their home, he began working on some modest furniture pieces. Friends and relatives began to notice and inquire whether he might construct something for them. Over the ensuing few years, Craig started creating a proper workshop and developing his talents. Every now and then, he would accept requests for custom furniture. Eventually, when those orders got more regular, he launched his firm as a side gig first before becoming a full-time endeavor.
In this episode, Craig shares how his side hustle developed, the reasons he began to reevaluate his full-time position, and his plans for his business which started as a hobby but is now a full-fledged custom furniture business.
Listen now to hear the complete story!
“And I’m just slowly building my skills, and then four years ago, 2018 or so, I started DeCicco Woodshop and, you know, really started pushing for the custom furniture. I did it part-time, just sort of nights and weekends for about three years, working another full-time job on the side, which really helped to sort of grow the business in terms of all the equipment I needed and then the shop and all that stuff.
I could sort of fund that and continue to grow my skills. But then August of last year, I quit my other job. I’m doing woodworking full-time.”
– Craig DeCicco
Knowing when your business is making enough money
Even if you intend to run your firm full-time, beginning on a part-time basis might have several benefits. You may rely on your full-time job’s income and perks, which lowers your risk. Additionally, it enables more progressive expansion of your company. And this is what Craig exactly did. He began to consider the possibility of managing the furniture company full-time much more seriously. As a precaution, Craig devised a plan to save a specific sum of money and ensured his woodshop could handle the added workload. Craig consistently received orders for more than two years, but he had to turn many of them away due to his hectic schedule. Therefore, Craig boldly decided to start a full-time job at DeCicco Woodshop in May 2021.
“When I first started building furniture for other people, it wasn’t really in my head as a goal to do it full-time, but I have had a goal for a long time since; I mean, most of my adult life was just to run my own business. I’ve just always wanted to work for myself. And I’ve had several ideas over the years.
Nothing really that I was that passionate about, but over the years with the furniture, I just started growing and growing, and I was just more and more passionate about it. I loved it. I loved the work. I loved learning it. The seed started to be planted like maybe I could do this full-time.”
– Craig DeCicco
Want to get in touch with Craig DeCicco?
Contact him through:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/decicco_woodshop/?hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-decicco-702b045a/