Today on the Podcast we are thrilled to get a chance to catch up with Alexander Wikstrom of Wikstrom Interior. Alexander is based out of Sweden and has been in business now for seven years as a woodworker, authorized tool and product reseller and workshop owner.
What was the spark for the business?
It all started when Alexander’s wife saw a picture of a table online. The pair was in the middle of doing some home renovations and Alexander knew he had some spare construction wood laying around. After some time in the basement, he had created an admittedly rough around the edges table, but a table non the less. Eventually, they sold the piece and the idea of furniture creation began to take shape.
Alexander spent about two years building tables in the basement while juggling a young family and full-time office job. Eventually, the waitlist for his tables was about a year-long and he knew that he was going to need to make a decision. Fortunately, he decided to build a workshop and started his own business, Wikstrom Interiors was born.
“It was a lot to do, two full-time jobs, two kids and building a woodshop for the first time.”
Much More Than Screws and Construction Lumber
If Alexander were to go back to the start of his business, he says he would have fought to get some more education and mentorship. He has been fortunate to learn a lot over the past seven years but notes that a lot of things came later than he would have liked. Having a mentor early on would have been great for the woodworking side of things.
Reflecting back on the beginning of the business, Alexander has to laugh sometimes.
“Eventually I realised, there is a lot more to making tables than just screws and construction lumber.”
Alexander knows better now though. He notes that real woodworking doesn’t take kindly to shortcuts. You need to do things by the book and always be improving your skills and attention to detail. Thinking of that first table and comparing it to work now, the difference is night and day but Alexander still wishes he had learned all the fundamentals sooner.
Now, live edge furniture has been increasing in popularity. Alexander notes that while he probably wasn’t the first person to do live-edge furniture in Sweden, he suspects he may be responsible for some of the current popularity.
Alexander stumbled across live-edge furniture on Instagram and started researching how he could get his hands on some slabs. It turned out a few mills in the area were making them, but the demand was very low.
“I was lucky and right on time.”
The Wins and the Struggles
Building tables in the basement was a lot easier because they were low-cost products that needed low-cost materials. Now producing higher-end furniture there are more hurdles and considerations. The materials need to be dried and treated, there is more time that needs to go into the build and there is more education that needs to happen on the customer end.
Further to add to the struggles was the lack of a market for live-edge furniture. Alexander had to create the market and find people who would love and understand the product. Now with it being more popular that hurdle is gone, but the hurdle of competition has been introduced.
The struggles are all part and parcel of owning a business though so Alexander just tackles them head-on as they come.
The woodworker and business owner takes a lot of pride in what he has been able to build. Not only has he faced all the struggles and come out victorious, but the company has also taken off. Alexander has also become a mentor for a lot of woodworkers and hobbyists in Sweden. This is actually what inspired his brand partnerships.
Alexander noticed there was a lack of support for those interested in doing what he was doing and he found himself often getting a flood of questions about the industry. Originally he spent a ton of time trying to help others but with his long waitlist and free time already spent trying to grow the business the one-on-one approach wasn’t sustainable.
Instead of leaving people with no support, he launched his webshop where he can continue to help those who purchase the products he works with. This way he can offer top-notch advice based on products he knows and is familiar with and there is compensation for his expertise and time. This year Alexander plans to focus on building the webshop and offering more products, services, materials and value to his customers.
The Business Basics
In terms of tools, Alexander has a bandsaw, hand tools and a kiln but he intends to build a bigger one this year. He has a lot of wood that needs to be dried so the kiln expansion is important, but overall he is happy with his investments.
In terms of business and marketing struggles, Alexander said he would love some advice on how to portray value to customers. Trying to get them to understand exactly what they are paying for and why the price reflects the quality.
Steve’s advice is to consider current brands that offer high-quality products and look at their marketing strategies. As an example, a high-quality clothing brand that releases infographics and transparent reports about the cost of their goods. Steve also suggests that Alexander add a voice to his brand and speak about the importance of quality and why what he offers is better than the cheap options.
“The thing is nobody adds the voice. So the people who do add the voice they are the ones that are winning. If this is your craft and you’re dedicated to it, you add your face [and voice] to it.”
In terms of advice he would give to the woodpreneur community, Alexander says:
“Never give up, always pursue.”
That’s the main thing with woodworking. You can get a lot of trouble on the way, with every table you’ll probably encounter some kind of problem, so never give up, keep going until it’s finished.
Instagram: @wikstrominteriorsnickeri