Project to Increase Side-Hustle Carpenters
The number of people doing DIY is increasing year by year, in inverse proportion to the decline in the number of carpenters. For professional carpenters working on-site who are struggling with labor shortages, it is truly a welcome development that people are doing their own home repairs and renovations. As a local carpenter, it is my sincere wish that people's living environments improve in any way possible. I truly hope that more and more people will take on the challenge of DIY.
Let's do it! Starting from here!
1. I want to increase the number of semi-pro carpenters! New project launched!!
Japanese society has become poorer, and an era has arrived where side hustles are essential. Now that there is a shortage of carpenters, I thought that if side-hustle carpenters with technical skills—'semi-pro carpenters'—could take on the work of maintaining and repairing local houses, which local carpenters have traditionally handled, it would make everyone's lives happier. If you love DIY, are dexterous, and want a side hustle... you have the aptitude to become a semi-pro carpenter!! Why not hone your technical knowledge within the scope of your own enthusiasm as a profitable side-hustle carpenter, a 'semi-pro carpenter'?
2. I have decided to start a business to support semi-pro carpenters.
I have been on this path for over 15 years at construction sites, and I am already in the veteran category as a carpenter. I don't really feel it at all, though (laughs). During that time, I obtained qualifications such as Skills Training Instructor, First-Class Carpentry Skills Specialist, and Second-Class Architect, and I also gained experience in management as a self-employed person, so I have built up a foundation of technology and knowledge within myself.
Furthermore, as a local carpenter, there are issues that have become apparent while interacting with construction sites and customers.
3. Challenges of doing construction work on other people's houses as a side hustle
The challenges of working as a side-hustle carpenter include the following:
Technical credibility from customers...Since you are modifying real estate property, technical credibility is important, but it cannot be proven.
Revenue structure...The construction industry has unique and difficult-to-understand estimation relationships, and pricing standards are also ambiguous.
Issues with suppliers...The Japanese wholesale practice of not selling materials to people without transaction experience becomes a barrier.
・Grasping one's own skill level...Since construction is a series of new things depending on the situation, having technical confidence in how much you can handle with your own skill level.
Backup when in trouble...Professionals have their own unique networks among fellow tradespeople, so they can get help both knowledge-wise and labor-wise, but you don't have that.
I will create a safety net for semi-pro carpenters!
1. How to support semi-pro carpenters
I will proceed with the concrete form while on the move, but I think it would be good to create a network on the Internet and share knowledge.
Specifically, I have ideas such as creating a website to disseminate information, sharing each person's architectural knowledge, and making it easy to purchase materials via e-commerce.
I have already started the website. Titled 'Recommendations for Side-Hustle Carpenters,' I will be sending it out in the format of Deer Design Architectural Construction Research Institute disseminating its research results. Please take a look.
On note, I plan to collect wonderful works as DIY in a magazine and operate it as 'sharing architectural knowledge.'
I would like to ask for your cooperation in borrowing articles for those added to the magazine, and I hope you will be interested in becoming a 'semi-pro carpenter' as a side hustle.
Thank you for reading to the end.
Deer Design
Representative Hiroki Shikauchi