Awesome John! Sounds like you'll have even MORE time for golf this year!! I have to comment on the piano sales. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I really enjoy working on my own pianos. I enjoy finding the bargains, bringing out their potential, and then finding homes for them! Its a great way to hone voicing and regulating skills. It can also be good for your reputation. I also like that it gives me some variety in my work schedule. On the other hand... It's really hard to make as much money for time spent as servicing pianos. We can often pick up a piano for two or three hundred bucks and sell it for between $1500-$2500. But you have to consider ALL the time involved: 1) How many pianos did you have to look at to find the one you wanted? 2) The time to pick up the piano and move it to your shop 3) All the time tuning, regulating, voicing, cleaning, etc. 4) The time that it takes to advertise it, i.e., posting ads on Craigslist, updating your website, sending a flier to the music teachers, etc. 5) How much time is involved in discussing the piano with potential buyers? One potential buyer could easily eat up the same amount of time as a tuning! Then they may not even buy the piano. 6) Time involved in delivery and follow up tuning. We include this in the price of our pianos, so it comes out of our profit. 7) Warranty issues. Luckily for us this has been rare, but it will occur and does take time. 8) The cost of maintaining shop space and supplies for fixing the pianos. If you already have a shop, this isn't such a big deal. On the other hand... Being in the position of a piano retailer ( we consider ourselves a "micro-retailer". We typically sell 8-12 pianos a year.) has helped me a lot in understanding that end of the business. I get along with stores much better because of this perspective. It has helped me to prioritize the procedures I perform and develop that important skill of knowing where to "draw the line" with quality and price. Selling pianos was more important to my business back in the mid to late 90's when my rates were lower and my schedule less full. As your rates increase and your schedule gets booked out, the sales have a harder time competing with the service. It's all part of a crazy puzzle isn't it? :) On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 9:01 AM, John Dorr <a440 at bresnan.net> wrote: > Hi, > > Just to chime in again... my business grew 6% last year compared to 2009. > My goal is to have it grow 15% this year. > > Strategies: > 1. Raise rates > 2. Create a website (almost done!) > 3. Sell more pianos! > 4. Learn more, increase my skill set. (Go to the CONVENTION, y'all!) > > Cheers! > > John Dorr, RPT > Helena, MT > > > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110103/237a06f9/attachment.htm>
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