Several things to do. 1. Higher end work is number one. That doesn't necessarily mean only accepting higher end pianos but increase the amount of work you do at each job (and charge accordingly). If those same 600 appointments start to average 25% - 50% more your income will grow without you having to book more appointments. You can do that by simply going to a full service type of appointment but you will probably need to ease that in place with your older customers. That means be aware of what those pianos you work on need and work on selling the benefits. 2. Add rebuilding work to your arsenal and start learning to do more. 3. Piano brokering. Offer to help individuals buy and sell pianos and collect a fee. 4. Actually buy and sell pianos. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com We are at an interesting point. I can only stand to service a finite amount of pianos - not more than around 600 per year. We've been developing our piano sales business hoping that would provide more growth opportunities, but it takes up a lot of time. We are reaching the point where about the only way to grow our income is to raise our rates. Of course it is necessary to raise rates at least 3% a year to keep up with inflation and avoid a "pay cut". Growing a business is an interesting and challenging game! I'm wondering what the next step is... Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA
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