vanguard machine
Stainless
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2011
- Location
- Charleston and NYC
disclaimer: not trying to have a pitty party, just looking for some sage advice from people i know have been here before.
i am a hard working, motivated young guy with good health, good help, half a brain and a reasonably well tooled up shop. We think outside the box in our approach to work and take on jobs that many other shops in town say "cant be done". We go above and beyond and put in weeks and weeks of 16 hour days in a row when we need to.
we do it affordably, usually with a smile and always with pride.
i work pretty cheap and aside from a pair of red wings and a cheap dinner out with my woman once every few weeks i live even cheaper.
ive been working hard at this shop thing for the better part of ten years now, going on 3 years in the new space, and success seems fleeting at best.
the ups are very few and far between and more often than not peter is being robbed to pay paul, my health is suffering and i see my family for an hour or two every few days if im lucky because im locked in the shop 7 days a week, 16 hours a day.
and forget about friends, i haven't seen one of those in months.
so as i sit here this week (healing from a broken rib which ironically happened remodeling the shop last week), contemplating the idea of closing the doors of the shop for good i figure some advice from other shop owners would give me some real world perspective.
our last year has been mostly 'request for quote' type work and my labor and operating costs have driven me almost completely into the red.
90% of the customers i have been working for have proven time and time again that they have no allegiances and will always seek a cheaper shop. I have learned that this is not worth fighting for as no matter how much you give it away there will always be someone hungrier out there to undercut you.
it seems some months that if i keep going past a certain point catastrophic failure is inevitable and so moving on while i still have options on the table seems like the logical choice sometimes.
how many of you have been in this predicament and stayed at it to find your success, and how many of you took a hard look at your situation and decided to try something else out..maybe a change of direction in what you specialize in? maybe a few days off to clear your mind?
or maybe just shut it down and buy that hot dog cart...
just looking for some real world advice from people who have been here before and what the other side of this looks like to most.
thanks in advance for humoring me
i am a hard working, motivated young guy with good health, good help, half a brain and a reasonably well tooled up shop. We think outside the box in our approach to work and take on jobs that many other shops in town say "cant be done". We go above and beyond and put in weeks and weeks of 16 hour days in a row when we need to.
we do it affordably, usually with a smile and always with pride.
i work pretty cheap and aside from a pair of red wings and a cheap dinner out with my woman once every few weeks i live even cheaper.
ive been working hard at this shop thing for the better part of ten years now, going on 3 years in the new space, and success seems fleeting at best.
the ups are very few and far between and more often than not peter is being robbed to pay paul, my health is suffering and i see my family for an hour or two every few days if im lucky because im locked in the shop 7 days a week, 16 hours a day.
and forget about friends, i haven't seen one of those in months.
so as i sit here this week (healing from a broken rib which ironically happened remodeling the shop last week), contemplating the idea of closing the doors of the shop for good i figure some advice from other shop owners would give me some real world perspective.
our last year has been mostly 'request for quote' type work and my labor and operating costs have driven me almost completely into the red.
90% of the customers i have been working for have proven time and time again that they have no allegiances and will always seek a cheaper shop. I have learned that this is not worth fighting for as no matter how much you give it away there will always be someone hungrier out there to undercut you.
it seems some months that if i keep going past a certain point catastrophic failure is inevitable and so moving on while i still have options on the table seems like the logical choice sometimes.
how many of you have been in this predicament and stayed at it to find your success, and how many of you took a hard look at your situation and decided to try something else out..maybe a change of direction in what you specialize in? maybe a few days off to clear your mind?
or maybe just shut it down and buy that hot dog cart...
just looking for some real world advice from people who have been here before and what the other side of this looks like to most.
thanks in advance for humoring me