Viability

[Charly Tuner]

Martin,

I, for one, would sure like to hear HOW you managed to round up 150,  
customers in JUST 7 months...or as Andrew Remillard points out, about 21 1/2 
NEW customers EVERY month! Please let me in on your secret.

Terry Peterson
Los Angeles, CA
Associate Member, PTG


>From: ANRPiano@AOL.COM
>Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
>To: pianotech@ptg.org
>Subject: Re: Viability
>Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 08:35:44 EDT
>
>  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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