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Have you made mistakes as a small business owner? I know we have and in the early days I'm not sure we even recognized what those mistakes actually were. Over the last few years however, after seeing our business from new perspectives, my father and I have started to recognize and learn from our previous mistakes.
Here are three of our biggest.
Read moreOnce again I have neglected the company blog for an extended period of time. Not because of laziness, but more in finding the time to give proper attention to the written word. As the work day progresses, time fades away, before you know it exhaustion takes over and the last thing I want to do is type out something interesting and insightful.
Read moreMany of our customers have done business with us for years and we appreciate every order they place here at the shop. Part of the reason they come back, besides stellar work, is the fact that I do my best to learn there tendencies and little idiosyncrasies. This does not mean I am at everybody's beck and call 24/7, but I do make an effort to give each and every customer the best service possible.
Read moreI have a couple blogs, one for myself (which I have not updated in a while) and the one you are currently reading.
Why?
When I originally set up the accounts I felt separation was warranted because why would I want people on the business side having to deal with anything from my personal life and vice versa. Plus, keeping personal and business life separate seems logical.
Read moreIf there is a such thing as web hiatus then I have been on it for the last few months, having really posted nothing to the web blog or much on the twitter. This is not because I have lost the passion for business or have become frustrated with social media. On the contrary, I have realized the power and I need to have it!
Plus, with the addition of our new equipment business has picked up and the shop has been extremely busy, leaving little time to keep up with things.
The bottom line was we needed a change after gaining data on what was going on with our current website. Out with the old, in with the new.
Read moreAfter spending the last month and a half getting our new CNC plasma table online, we can finally reap the benefits of our new mechanical employee. The process has been long, but educational with my excitement through the roof with what the future holds for the company. I never realized how much confusion comes with an investment like this one. I figured to be keeping up with most of the jobs I currently have, including the blog, twitter page, marketing, billing etc. with none of these things actually happening. My focus was always somewhere else with most days ending seemingly like nothing had been accomplished. However, things were happening all over the place and work was getting done even in the shadow of the minor problems that came with our new installation.
Now, with the dust settling, my father and I can focus on building the business around our new investment, making strides toward the next big purchase. Not to mention getting my act together in regards to keeping up with the financials, shipping, the blog, marketing and everything else related to running a successful business.
The last few months have been exciting and the next few years will be amazing. Time to get back to business!
I would like to thank Dan Davis and The Fabricator Magazine for asking us to contribute to one of their feature article's in this months issue titled "Developing Shop Employees For The Field". I was more than happy to give an interview to a publication that I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy. My father and I were thrilled with how the article came out, with much appreciation given to Dan Davis and his team. When I first started in the business, working for my father, I was an installer for our residential and light commercial jobs. I learned a lot about how and what was needed to be fabricated for many different kinds of jobs. That was the simplest part of my job installing and working in peoples homes each day. The hardest part was dealing with customers from a business and personal point of view.
Every customer is different, especially when you are working in their home. Their first inclination is to be skeptical about the stranger in their house. Their second is to wonder if this person will ultimately rip them off. Most of these issues are expected to be taken care of during the quoting process, but this doesn't always put the customer at ease.
These kinds of problems are something I explained during my interview with Dan Davis, The Editor-in-Chief and writer of the article. There is definite psychology to working in a persons home; the hardest part for me as an installer.
My father and I work alone now due to economic conditions, but if we bring on new installers, these are the types of things I would pass along to help and develop new employees for our company.
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