Marshall, When I started my business, I was told the general rule is a new business will take from two to five years to be established. Some businesses don't even expect a profit for that period. The first couple of years for me were busy for two weeks, sitting on my hands for three weeks, busy again for a while, etc. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, it didn't seem seasonal, it just came and went. At about two years out, I started to be busy in a fairly steady manner. I will sometimes have more empty slots on the calendar than I would like, but I don't feel comfortable being lazy for too long. Spend time with the family, clean your shop, sharpen tools, make that jig you don't need now but you will some day, read the Journal till you fall asleep and take a nap! Any intelligent marketing will pay off some, but word of mouth will always be your best source. Make it easy for people to find you. In watching a number of businesses, not just piano techs, I have come to the firm belief that if you do good, consistent work, treat your customers right, and persevere you will be successful. That is many people's experience of the American Way. Hang in there! David Stocker, RPT Tumwater, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100412/174b0429/attachment.htm>
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