I’m 35 and Make $130K at a Big Tech Company With a 3-Year-Old and a Baby on the Way. Is It Insane to Quit and Start a Niche Woodworking Business?
Adrian Volenik
Sun, August 16, 2026 at 4:31 AM GMT+5:30
6 min read
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A 35-year-old systems architect making $130,000 at a large tech company has built the kind of career many people would hesitate to leave. He works fully remote, has good benefits and a stable paycheck. But after three years of woodworking on the side, he is considering giving it all up to make custom furniture and carvings full time
There is one complication. He and his wife just bought their first home and have a 3-year-old and another baby on the way. He thinks woodworking could bring in $70,000 to $80,000 during the first couple of years. His wife supports his passion but is understandably worried about the financial hit
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“Stability has been my guiding star for a long time,” he wrote on Reddit recently. “But for the last three years I’ve been really into woodworking. Is it insane to leave a stable six-figure job to start a niche woodworking business?”
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The woodworker has already sold pieces online and at local craft fairs, and customers are asking for commissions. Still, people with experience in the crafts business overwhelmingly urged him to keep his tech job for now
“Do NOT under any circumstance quit that job right now,” one cybersecurity engineer wrote. He questioned what would happen if the projected $70,000 to $80,000 became $30,000 during a slow year, particularly after losing employer benefits
A retired professional craftsman called that “ridiculously sound advice.”
“I love what I do and I love what I make,” another craftsman was even more sincere, “but if I could go back, I’d pick the boring, stable job and do the crafting as a hobby.”
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One longtime self-employed craftsman offered numbers that showed just how unpredictable the business can be. Over 27 years, his best year brought in $57,000, while he averaged $28,250 annually. His worst year produced just $6,300
There is also a difference between loving woodworking and running a woodworking company. A full-time operation means finding customers, marketing, bookkeeping, buying materials, managing deadlines and handling complaints. Physical work also carries another risk: If an injury makes it impossible to build furniture for several months, revenue could disappear with it
