Recent widow looking at piano business

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

Veda:

First of all, my deepest sympathy to you and your family. The very best to 
you.

You ask some questions that only you can answer. Are you emotionally prepared 
to continue Jim's business?  Financially are you able to take the time to 
learn the business?  Do you have the physical strength to do tuning, carry an 
action, or move a piano away from the wall? You are certainly young enough, 
(nearly 50 is not considered old by a long shot), to learn a new career. So 
if you want to, you have a world of opportunity waiting for you. 

To answer one of your questions, yes, you can sell your business. But the 
question is, can you find someone to buy it? A good CPA will be able to help 
you put a price tag on what the business is worth. But if there are no 
buyers, then that might not be the route you want to go. 

If you enjoy working with people, and enjoy doing the "mechanical" part of 
the business, learning how to tune is a viable solution to your problem. You 
have the tools and equipment, which for most new tuners is one of the draw 
backs of starting in this business. If you have the aptitude and the basic 
understanding of how tuning is done, actually learning how to tune is not 
going to be that difficult, especially if you have an Acutuner.

I would suggest you get some books on how to tune, and ask some of the 
members of the chapter for some help. Take maybe 6 months to get the hang of 
what you have to do and ask someone to evaluate your tuning. Before you go 
out and hit the pavement, do some tunings for your church and friends and ask 
their opinions. Once you start, I would venture to bet that most of Jim's 
clients would probably welcome you to work on their piano. 

Good luck.

Willem Blees


In a message dated 5/13/00 11:12:59 PM Central Daylight Time, veda88@usa.net 
writes:

<< Hello,
 
 You haven't heard from me before -- my husband was a piano technician who
 loved to "lurk" on your list -- sometimes he would call me in to read some of
 your funnies --
 
 Jim was diagnosed with cancer back in February and we thought he had more 
time
 than he did. We had not figured out what to do about our business when he got
 so much worse. He died only six weeks later. Now everybody is giving me
 different advice and I don't know what to do.
 
 I don't know how to do piano work myself, but I've got all Jim's equipment --
 three accutuners and a brand new cradle he'd just ordered -- a shop full of
 all these neatly labeled and stored boxes of felts and key tops and strings 
--
 he had just started experimenting with the CA and I was ordering it from a
 supplier-
 
 I did the books and orders and made the appointments for our business -- I
 helped Jim sometimes, and I liked the work -- but I liked doing the
 organizational part of the business more. I have a business degree, but I've
 spent alot of years raising our kids and helping Jim.
 
 We have a really good clientele around here with not much competition in the
 area. Alot of our friends and customers are encouraging me to learn the
 business and take up where Jim left off. I don't know exactly how to do that,
 since he left me so unexpectedly soon -- and i don't know if an old girl like
 me who's almost 50 could learn to do something so new anyway --
 
 Is it possible to sell a business like this -- sort of like a small-town
 doctor sells a practice? I hate to give up what we worked so hard to build.
 What do you guys think?
 
 Thanks -- Veda Mallory >>