Time Management: Shop work and tuning appointments.

[Mark Potter]

Hi Phil -
   
  I have had my shop here on my property for the past 14 years.  It is FAR more efficient than the "shop away from home", at least for me.  While there is no "set" schedule for me, I generally book 2 full days/week for being in the shop, and tune the other 3.  This has the benefit of weeding out your less desirable tuning clientele, and gives your body a break from the physical demands of tuning.  As you include refinishing I think you will find that a couple hours here, a couple hours there in the shop is not conducive to that kind of work, for the most part.  I am an early riser, too, and will commonly slip in some shop time in the early mornings before making the tuning rounds, and also late afternoons upon arriving home, if time allows.  You are right on target, though, about the pitfalls of a home shop regarding the potential for stealing time from your family.  I make a point of not working past 5pm, reserving the evenings for time with my wife and son.  It has worked very well
 for me.
   
  Mark Potter  

Phil Bondi <phil at philbondi.com> wrote:
  Hi all.

I'll try to be as thorough as possible for my situation:

My business is reaching a point where I need to make a decision on how 
to handle the increased shop work and keep my stable of tuning clients. 
The question is:

For those of you, like myself, who work alone, how do you handle your 
time for the shop and the tuning clients?

My shop is now located here at my home (well, almost). That scenario has 
changed in the last month. My shop use to be away from my home, but now 
it's here. That's a biggie for me, since now I can just go down to the 
shop and do some work without worrying about how dirty I might get 
working in a shop and then going to see my clients..or vice versa.

Here's my thought on what may work for me:

Since I am an early riser, I'm thinking that I could use those early 
morning hrs. to my advantage in the shop. My mind is usually freshest 
when I first wake up (yes, I have a mind!) and then schedule tuning 
appointments in the late morning/afternoon. The reason I feel this 
scenario might work for me is because I tend to think that "when I come 
home, I'm done" for the day..so if I schedule appointments in the 
morning knowing that shop work still awaits me, I may not get as much 
done once I 'get home'.

I have been in this business for almost 10 years now, and I have felt 
this evolution coming for awhile - now it's here - my shop is almost 
completely moved from its old location to the new one - shop work will 
continue to make its way towards me - and I tune on average 4 a day.

Also, I don't want Ruth to feel she's married to a business. Her 
happiness is very important to me. She understands this is going to be 
an evolution process, and I have no intention of leaving her out of this 
loop. We need time together, of course. She is not the early riser that 
I am. I make a great cup of coffee!!

Anyway, the shop work is going to increase even more this summer/fall 
when I plan to introduce refinishing and touch-up to my shop skills. I'm 
not there yet, but I plan on being there fairly soon. Some have said to 
me: "Why do you want to learn refinishing?" - because there is a huge 
need for it in this area (and I suspect alot of other areas also), and 
learning this art will keep me in the shop and off the roads. I have had 
to turn down alot of work over the years because I have not felt 
comfortable charging people for refinishing when I know my skills are 
not where "I" want them to be. Those of you that have been in that 
business know how to treat a finish by looking and touching a piece. I 
admire that skill. It is my intention to have the ability to approach 
that level of competency in the near future, with of course, continuing 
education in that field.

So - if you're still reading and wish to comment and make a 
recommendation, I welcome it. I could have gone private with this, 
seeking advice from past trusted sources, but there is such a wealth of 
knowledge here in this forum that I do not want to leave out anyone who 
might offer a scenario that could be beneficial to me..and others.

-Phil Bondi(Fl)


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