John Mahoney: Mahoney Woodworks

October 7, 2021

John Mahoney: Mahoney Woodworks

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. In today’s episode, your host Steve Larosiliere speaks with John Mahoney, owner of Mahoney Woodworks. John owns his own contracting business, and he’s been doing woodworking on the side for about fifteen years. Much of John’s career has been focused on general contracting, including everything from electrical to custom cabinetry and carpentry.

One advantage of his career is that he has used many of his contracting tools to help create projects on the side. Over the last eight years, in particular, he has been honing his woodworking craft to make a more marketable product.

Currently, John is in the process of transitioning away from his contracting business so that he can take his woodworking passion to the next level. A central turning point happened at the start of the pandemic when his contracting work began to slow down.

“I had an assistant working with me, and I wasn’t able to really support him in the way that I wanted to. So we parted ways, and I said, “I really want you to blossom, and this is not the time for you with me.”

During that transition, I was able to work from my home and focus on my woodworking, and I started on Instagram and met a lot of people in the community. My page took off pretty well. I got a lot of followers, I’ve had some transactions, and my wife and my family have given me the opportunity to focus on this.

Over the next few months, I’m going to work exclusively on doing some woodworking from my house and trying to turn it into a means of income and reach out to the community and make it a lifestyle.”

John Mahoney

Building an Audience

Compared to many fledgling businesses, John considers himself very fortunate compared to other people woodworking from home. The combination of a garage workshop (with no cars allowed!) and the numerous tools that John has picked up through his career as a contractor has given him a leg up when it comes to initial investments.

Additionally, people have already been very receptive to John’s designs in the early stages of his business. As such, his current focus is on creating a customer base, developing word-of-mouth advertising, and getting specifically commissioned pieces from that expanding customer base.

Over the last several months, John has been focused on doing craft shows to give people the opportunity to feel and handle his products in person. He believes that those who aren’t woodworkers can’t get a good sense of scale through a photo, so these events give him the ability to provide context for people to experience his work.

Although the Philadelphia area is full of craft shows and other trade events, John finds that their prevalence means that the spots are often very full, preventing him from gaining access.

“Many of the shows are completely full. I’m talking like the Oaks Convention Center, which can hold thousands of vendors, and they have a craft show coming up. Actually, they have three of them coming up, and they’re all indoor, which is really nice because I’d like to have my products indoors. But they’re full, and I’ve also had a few issues getting contacted back about signing up for vendors.

A lot of these places seem to be grandfathered in, with people getting annual spots. So that’s one of the hurdles that I’m working on, but I think that would be one of the best things, as opposed to a social media platform, to really get out there, interact with the community and get a local customer base.”

John Mahoney

Steve’s Advice Corner

In terms of advice for the future, John explains to Steve some of his plans. These mainly revolve around taking advantage of the holiday season and selling some of his high-end inventory to people looking for quality gifts. Additionally, he has been developing a tutorial that he plans to sell at a lower price point. He hopes they will make another excellent holiday gift for spouses and loved ones interested in woodworking and quality craftsmanship.

“I have some feedback, and it’s going to be a little bit counterintuitive to what you’re currently doing. I’ll tell you why. Social proof and building a community are super important for networking. But I always ask people when it comes to focusing on Instagram; What do you want the outcome to be?

Is it building a community of makers? Because you get a large following of makers. Or do you want customers? One of them pays you; the other one does it. I have a very big challenge about making products and not having a customer for them. Unless you have an audience and you’re taking them through the process. I see a lot on your Instagram about the finished product, but I don’t see the process. And that to me is where I would love for you to start documenting things a little bit more.”