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<BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff=
f">Over the years I have hired people to work in my shop. I got pretty=
good at training people to do action work. You just have to break dow=
n the steps to manageable, understandable elements like polishing capstans a=
nd front pins, cleaning parts, bushing keys, etc. I left the more =
complicated stuff like drilling a set of hammers or hanging them for myself.=
I did manage to train one gal who had been a housekeeper at a hotel (=
making minimum wage) to do very basic regulating and paid her double what sh=
e had been making. Stay at home Moms and retirees like to do something and a=
re really flexible with their hours in that they don't really want full time=
jobs. In my area we have lost several active techs for various reason=
s and I am really covered up. The dealer that I work for two days a we=
ek (because he sells very high end pianos and gives me total control over wh=
at I do to prep them) was making demands that exceeded my time so I am train=
ing a less experienced tech who had not had the chance to train on high end =
pianos. The deal that I have worked out with the tech and the dealer i=
s that he comes in one day a week and I supervise his tuning and regulating =
work. He works for free and I get paid my usual rate while I supervise=
/teach him and also work on other pianos. In exchange for the new=
tech's work the store and I give him the lower end work (and take no cut)&n=
bsp;that I don't want to do. The new tech has had a giant jump in=
his business, gets trained and I don't have to try to beg off on older upri=
ghts and spinets. The dealer gets more work done for the same money and is a=
lso developing a good relationship with another tech who can fill in for me =
when I have other obligations. I expect that this arrangement will sti=
ck through the summer when things are slow and we'll return to our normal wo=
rking arrangements when things pick up in the fall. By the way I don't=
see the business slowing down at all. In fact I think that this parti=
cular dealer's business has picked up considerably in the last 6 months. TP<=
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