Pretty much, Everything you say I have the same thoughts about ?? 1 Man Shop ?? As with anything in life, everything has its Positives and Negatives ?? Working alone is great because you don't have anyone else to concern yourself about. But, it can be fairly expensive to hire someone else too ?? Wages, Insurance, Holiday pay, Sick pay, Workers insurance and occasionally paying for mistakes and broken equipment / tooling ??? Add to that, finding the right person who will always turn up and hopefully leave their bad attitude at home ?? Like you mentioned, it can get a little bit lonely working by yourself. And you do miss other people being there when you're a 1 Man Shop. Even though you might complain about customers ?? They can be a big positive to have when you need someone to just chat with. Financing Equipment ?? It's very easy to get caught up with what you see on RUclips ?? You see others buying all this New Equipment and thinking you must be doing something wrong, because you can't seem to justify buying even half of the stuff they have ?? But, what you don't see is what's going on behind closed doors. Some have silent partners that help pay for this equipment or they are so far in Debt they can't afford to not work ??? Clearing out what you don't really Need to focus on what is important. I see you like most shops are when they first start out, me included. You try to be everything to everyone. But, this never seems to work out in the long run. You just finish up stuck in a hole killing yourself trying to make what customers you do have happy. In the meantime you're not happy ??? I started out as a Repair / Job Shop and hated the idea of being a Manufacturer ?? Manufacture for me now, is around 90% of my work. When I first started out it was the exact opposite. I have a few reasons why, I never wanted to be involved in Manufacturing. I didn't want to be stuck making the same things and I was concerned about working for little money which is common with Manufacturing. Whereas Repair / Job Shop work it's interesting and it was a service that customers Needed rather than wanted. Just sharing some thoughts after listening to what you said during the video 👍
I've got a small shop near Baltimore, MD. Same boat that you're in. I've got one good full time employee and a couple of retired guys that just want 20 hours per week. The full time guy is definitely more productive, but if we get slow the retired guys are happy to take off until we pick up again. Just an idea.
Another one man shop here. 👍
Enjoyed your video!
Pretty much, Everything you say I have the same thoughts about ??
1 Man Shop ??
As with anything in life, everything has its Positives and Negatives ??
Working alone is great because you don't have anyone else to concern yourself about.
But, it can be fairly expensive to hire someone else too ??
Wages, Insurance, Holiday pay, Sick pay, Workers insurance and occasionally paying for mistakes and broken equipment / tooling ???
Add to that, finding the right person who will always turn up and hopefully leave their bad attitude at home ??
Like you mentioned, it can get a little bit lonely working by yourself.
And you do miss other people being there when you're a 1 Man Shop.
Even though you might complain about customers ??
They can be a big positive to have when you need someone to just chat with.
Financing Equipment ??
It's very easy to get caught up with what you see on RUclips ??
You see others buying all this New Equipment and thinking you must be doing something wrong, because you can't seem to justify buying even half of the stuff they have ??
But, what you don't see is what's going on behind closed doors.
Some have silent partners that help pay for this equipment or they are so far in Debt they can't afford to not work ???
Clearing out what you don't really Need to focus on what is important.
I see you like most shops are when they first start out, me included.
You try to be everything to everyone.
But, this never seems to work out in the long run.
You just finish up stuck in a hole killing yourself trying to make what customers you do have happy.
In the meantime you're not happy ???
I started out as a Repair / Job Shop and hated the idea of being a Manufacturer ??
Manufacture for me now, is around 90% of my work.
When I first started out it was the exact opposite.
I have a few reasons why, I never wanted to be involved in Manufacturing.
I didn't want to be stuck making the same things and I was concerned about working for little money which is common with Manufacturing.
Whereas Repair / Job Shop work it's interesting and it was a service that customers Needed rather than wanted.
Just sharing some thoughts after listening to what you said during the video 👍
I've got a small shop near Baltimore, MD. Same boat that you're in. I've got one good full time employee and a couple of retired guys that just want 20 hours per week. The full time guy is definitely more productive, but if we get slow the retired guys are happy to take off until we pick up again. Just an idea.