<div>Hi Phil -</div> <div> </div> <div>I have had my shop here on my property for the past 14 years.  It is FAR more efficient than the "shop away from home", at least for me.  While there is no "set" schedule for me, I generally book 2 full days/week for being in the shop, and tune the other 3.  This has the benefit of weeding out your less desirable tuning clientele, and gives your body a break from the physical demands of tuning.  As you include refinishing I think you will find that a couple hours here, a couple hours there in the shop is not conducive to that kind of work, for the most part.  I am an early riser, too, and will commonly slip in some shop time in the early mornings before making the tuning rounds, and also late afternoons upon arriving home, if time allows.  You are right on target, though, about the pitfalls of a home shop regarding the potential for stealing time from your family.  I make a point of not working past 5pm, reserving the evenings for time with my wife and son.  It has worked very well for me.</div> <div> </div> <div>Mark Potter  Phil Bondi <phil@philbondi.com> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Hi all. I'll try to be as thorough as possible for my situation: My business is reaching a point where I need to make a decision on how to handle the increased shop work and keep my stable of tuning clients. The question is: For those of you, like myself, who work alone, how do you handle your time for the shop and the tuning clients? My shop is now located here at my home (well, almost). That scenario has changed in the last month. My shop use to be away from my home, but now it's here. That's a biggie for me, since now I can just go down to the shop and do some work without worrying about how dirty I might get working in a shop and then going to see my clients..or vice versa. Here's my thought on what may work for me: Since I am an early riser, I'm thinking that I could use those early morning hrs. to my advantage in the shop. My mind is usually freshest when I first wake up (yes, I have a mind!) and then schedule tuning appointments in the late morning/afternoon. The reason I feel this scenario might work for me is because I tend to think that "when I come home, I'm done" for the day..so if I schedule appointments in the morning knowing that shop work still awaits me, I may not get as much done once I 'get home'. I have been in this business for almost 10 years now, and I have felt this evolution coming for awhile - now it's here - my shop is almost completely moved from its old location to the new one - shop work will continue to make its way towards me - and I tune on average 4 a day. Also, I don't want Ruth to feel she's married to a business. Her happiness is very important to me. She understands this is going to be an evolution process, and I have no intention of leaving her out of this loop. We need time together, of course. She is not the early riser that I am. I make a great cup of coffee!! Anyway, the shop work is going to increase even more this summer/fall when I plan to introduce refinishing and touch-up to my shop skills. I'm not there yet, but I plan on being there fairly soon. Some have said to me: "Why do you want to learn refinishing?" - because there is a huge need for it in this area (and I suspect alot of other areas also), and learning this art will keep me in the shop and off the roads. I have had to turn down alot of work over the years because I have not felt comfortable charging people for refinishing when I know my skills are not where "I" want them to be. Those of you that have been in that business know how to treat a finish by looking and touching a piece. I admire that skill. It is my intention to have the ability to approach that level of competency in the near future, with of course, continuing education in that field. So - if you're still reading and wish to comment and make a recommendation, I welcome it. I could have gone private with this, seeking advice from past trusted sources, but there is such a wealth of knowledge here in this forum that I do not want to leave out anyone who might offer a scenario that could be beneficial to me..and others. -Phil Bondi(Fl) </BLOCKQUOTE>