The Handcrafted Podcast: The Business of making things

The Handcrafted Network
Summary:
Perfectionism can feel like craftsmanship, but often it’s just procrastination in disguise. In this episode, Paul talks about finding the line between maintaining a high standard and wasting time on details your customer doesn’t notice or value. He explores wabi-sabi, the beauty of imperfection, and why handmade work doesn’t need to look machine-made to be excellent. The goal isn’t to lower your standards—it’s to define your standard, know where perfection actually matters, and get the work out the door.
Key Takeaways:
Perfectionism and craftsmanship aren’t the same thing.
Extra effort doesn't always translate into extra value for the customer.
Figure out where precision truly matters versus where “great” is enough.
Handmade work inherently contains human variation—and that can be part of its value.
Your company's standard should evolve as your skills, customers, and business evolve.
Finish it. Ship it. Learn from it. Get better on the next one.
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Most makers think about selling directly to customers, but there’s another powerful path: selling to other businesses. In this episode, Paul breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of direct-to-consumer (D2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales—and why the strongest businesses often use both. 
Key Takeaways:
D2C is easier to start, harder to scale. You can begin through markets, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, your website, and word of mouth—but eventually growth requires serious investment in branding and marketing.
B2B is harder to establish, but easier to pursue proactively. Instead of waiting for customers to find you, you can directly approach designers, contractors, showrooms, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses.
Recurring B2B clients can fill your pipeline, but relying too heavily on one customer creates major risk.
B2B can become a race to the bottom if you're viewed simply as a vendor or commodity.
Diversification is the goal. Philadelphia Table Company now operates roughly in thirds: D2C, interior designer/showroom resale, and direct B2B.
COVID proved the value of diversification. When hospitality disappeared almost overnight, PTC's D2C business helped keep the company moving.
Homework: Write out your potential D2C channels and B2B channels. Identify specific ways you could actively grow each side of the business.
Core idea: Use B2B to proactively generate revenue while you slowly build the brand and audience that make D2C scalable.
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Summary
Business owners often jump straight into fixing whatever problem seems most obvious—but that may not be the problem actually holding the business back.
In this episode, Paul shares how he thought Philadelphia Table Company needed a salesperson, only to realize that sales weren’t the bottleneck at all. The real issue was production capacity and an increasingly long queue.
Before hiring, changing your product, chasing more leads, or making a major pivot, trace the problem back to its actual source. More leads won’t help if you can’t close them. Better products won’t fix bad customer service. New employees won’t solve a broken system.
Key takeaways:
Don’t confuse the symptom with the actual problem.
Identify where the bottleneck really exists: leads, sales, production, delivery, service, systems, etc.
Don’t default to the easiest or most obvious solution.
Give big decisions time—sleep on them and revisit them with a clear head.
Business is a constant game of Whac-A-Mole. Solve the right problem, then move on to the next one.
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Summary:
In this Office Hours episode, Paul answers five real-world questions about the growing pains makers face as their businesses expand. He covers why being busy doesn’t necessarily mean being profitable, when it makes sense to start turning down work, how to build a quality-control culture with employees, whether to raise prices when leads are slow, and how to stop yourself from becoming the bottleneck in your own company. 
Topics Covered:
Busy but not profitable: Use cost analysis to determine whether the problem is pricing, efficiency, or overhead—and aim for roughly $150K in revenue per employee as a benchmark.
When to say no: Early in your business, saying yes to diverse projects can help build your portfolio. Niche down as demand and experience grow.
Quality control: Create a repeatable QC checklist and a clear shop standard so quality isn’t dependent on the owner inspecting every detail.
Raising prices when leads are slow: Separate a lead problem from a closing problem. If leads simply aren't coming in, price probably isn't the reason.
Getting yourself out of everything: Break the business into clear buckets—marketing, sales, design, operations, production, delivery—and assign ownership so everything doesn’t automatically flow back to you.
Core takeaway: Growth creates a new set of problems. The solution isn’t simply working harder; it’s understanding your numbers, creating standards, defining responsibilities, and gradually building a business that doesn’t require you to personally touch everything.
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Paul shares five practical sales habits that help makers turn more inquiries into paying clients—without relying on pushy scripts or gimmicky closing techniques.
Reply quickly, even if it is only to acknowledge the inquiry and set expectations.
Track every lead and record project details, timing, preferences, and past conversations.
Tell the story behind the product instead of responding with only a price.
Treat sales like improvisation by adapting to how each customer prefers to communicate.
Follow up consistently, using personal details and relevant questions instead of generic “just checking in” messages.
The biggest takeaway: there is no universal closing formula. Great sales come from being responsive, organized, curious, and willing to stay engaged. Paul estimates that 50–60% of his sales come from follow-up rather than the initial conversation.
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