Hi Guy's, This is my first post so be gentle with me
I've perused this site for years but have never officially signed up and become a member. I've learned quite a bit from these forums and would like to begin with a genuine thank you to all of you who contribute. I currently have plans to purchase the business that I've been at work for the last 11 years and am in need of a bit of business advice from those that have "been there done that". Here is a little backround about me...
-I'm 29yrs old and have been in machining since I was 18
-In the last 11 years I've moved from my humble beginnings of painting walls to
-Deburring
-Operator
-Set-up
-Programmer
-Inspector
-Quoting
-Purchasing
And currently run the day to day operations as Operations Manager. I've worked many hours beyond required (unpaid or paid) to get a job done and believe that it is my duty to do so. I've been fortunate enough to work with an amazing employer who has granted me every opportunity to grow within his business and like to express my gratitude through my work.
This has lead to the opportunity I'm presented with today... Owning the business. I have been extremely involved with the running of production but am not inept to point out there is complete other side of the business that I have no experience with such a sales/financial anything or any type of marketing. We are ran very old school and it has worked well in the past with our owner but times change and more specifically our customers "requirements" change.
I feel like We've got a decent core group working for us but is not near what we need to function properly on a day to day basis. Skilled labor is hard to find and some of these wages they are requesting seem a bit extreme? I had a guy in last month that wanted $48 an hour to program and occasionally setup a machine which blew my mind that he'd ask that from a small shop like ours.
We've had a core group of customers as well that have been with us for 20+ years. Requirements from them are changing (mostly quality related) that have really put a strain on QA department and have had to invest recently in a programmable CMM as well as a QA/QC department. I know this is probably just needed but for years we operated perfectly fine with the inspection procedures we had before but now seem to be becoming nit picky about small things.
What should I be prepared for? I feel I have an abundance of common sense but how far will that get me? I could write a million more questions but this post seems to already be dragging out lol.
P.S. Time Frame is currently set at 2 years.
I've perused this site for years but have never officially signed up and become a member. I've learned quite a bit from these forums and would like to begin with a genuine thank you to all of you who contribute. I currently have plans to purchase the business that I've been at work for the last 11 years and am in need of a bit of business advice from those that have "been there done that". Here is a little backround about me...
-I'm 29yrs old and have been in machining since I was 18
-In the last 11 years I've moved from my humble beginnings of painting walls to
-Deburring
-Operator
-Set-up
-Programmer
-Inspector
-Quoting
-Purchasing
And currently run the day to day operations as Operations Manager. I've worked many hours beyond required (unpaid or paid) to get a job done and believe that it is my duty to do so. I've been fortunate enough to work with an amazing employer who has granted me every opportunity to grow within his business and like to express my gratitude through my work.
This has lead to the opportunity I'm presented with today... Owning the business. I have been extremely involved with the running of production but am not inept to point out there is complete other side of the business that I have no experience with such a sales/financial anything or any type of marketing. We are ran very old school and it has worked well in the past with our owner but times change and more specifically our customers "requirements" change.
I feel like We've got a decent core group working for us but is not near what we need to function properly on a day to day basis. Skilled labor is hard to find and some of these wages they are requesting seem a bit extreme? I had a guy in last month that wanted $48 an hour to program and occasionally setup a machine which blew my mind that he'd ask that from a small shop like ours.
We've had a core group of customers as well that have been with us for 20+ years. Requirements from them are changing (mostly quality related) that have really put a strain on QA department and have had to invest recently in a programmable CMM as well as a QA/QC department. I know this is probably just needed but for years we operated perfectly fine with the inspection procedures we had before but now seem to be becoming nit picky about small things.
What should I be prepared for? I feel I have an abundance of common sense but how far will that get me? I could write a million more questions but this post seems to already be dragging out lol.
P.S. Time Frame is currently set at 2 years.