Seven months ago I got my first check for tuning a piano. I now have close to 150 customers. It feels like it's going to take forever to actually become viable. My question is: How long did it take you to get enough customers to be viable, and how many customers do you consider that is? I understand that viability is different for different people, but I'm just trying to get an idea, on the average, how long it's going to take. >> Martin, Martin, You need to do a little math. BTW have you done a business plan yet? I doubt you have, otherwise you wouldn't have asked this question. You have in seven months developed 150 customers, that is about 21 1/2 new customers a month. At this rate you will conservatively end up with 250 customers at the end of your first year. For the sake of illustration, (if the FTC police will let me) you charged $60 a tuning and had no repeats you earn about $15,000 your first year. That is if you have no repeat business (unlikely) and you didn't perform even the minimum extra services, i.e., hammer filing, key bushings, cleaning, etc. If you haven't you are not a technician but just a tooner and with 250 pianos you certainly can earn an additional $4,000 -- $5,000 a year doing these "extras." I know $20,000 a year will not make you a rich man but that is just the first year. BTW did you pick up an old junker to rebuild for the experience as well as to earn something however little in your free time? The second year: Half of your first years customers will die, move, get divorced, quit taking lessons, decide to use someone else, sell the piano, etc. I hope you can continue the blistering pace of 21 new customers a month so your income may be in the neighborhood of $30,000. The third year: The phone stops ringing for three months. You can't scare up a tuning to save your life. You call through everybody who ever had to tune their piano with little success. You rebuilt a piano or two which you can't sell. This my friend is gut check time. If you pass the test (there will be others) you are on your way to a prosperous future. If you run your business well and develop a well thought out business plan and execute it you may even earn a six figure income someday. Andrew Remillard Running a well thought out business plan for 10 years.
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