Official Luthiers Forum!

I've been a one man operation pretty much for 10yrs, and I always thought I'd stay that way but after a few recent events I'm coming round the the idea of building the whole thing up a couple of notches, but I wonder if anyone could give me any advice?

I'd always want to keep the workshop that I have in the music store (the store isn't mine) - it has great footfall as well as being fun, but it has limited size and eventually (in 5 -10years) I'd like to have a couple guys working with me in a larger workshop off site, so I can take time off occasionally without worry.

Any general advice such as, employ skilled people that dont need too much training, or go for younger people who you can mold?
Do you give people specific jobs or train everyone to do everything?
On the financial side, if i had experienced people I'd prefer them to be self employed and I'd pay them piece rate - so they would sort their own tax etc out. The benefit is that they can earn as much as they want - the more they do the more they make - without any overheads or hassle.
I'd like to get as many contracts from distributors here in the UK to take care of their warranty issues as well as having my own small brand of (hopefully) quality electric and acoustics.

It seems to me that there are quite a few guys doing this in the states, and probably the only reason is its far less common here is because we often prefer to do things in a smaller way, or maybe have a "don't get idea's above your station" mentality.

Anyone with any advice - greatly appreciated. I've put the same question on Frank Fords new forum - appologies if its against forum rules etc, and please feel free to delete.
best regards,
steve

_________________
www.theguitarrepairworkshop.com

Curtis, here are a couple of thoughts (which may be worth just what you paid for them) from a (so-far) hobby builder. First, I'd start sooner rather than later, with an apprentice. I'm a firm believer in apprenticing to build skill level up to "master" and, with luthiery, I'd bet you'd have young people beating down your door for the chance to apprentice in guitarmaking. And it's worked, from Stradivarius to D'Angelico to Larivee. (Can't tell you how many Larivee apprentices have gone on to make their own lines)
Second, identify the "grunt work" that's hard to screw up, so you can bring an apprentice from sweeping the floor into these areas quickly and free yourself of these to concentrate on the skilled tasks. Output will improve as he becomes more proficient at more skilled work.
Thirdly, only one apprentice at a time. If business continues to grow, repeat.

_________________
Dave
Milton, ON

I did, but they got it under control with medication...

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

A few thoughts come to my mind…
Why grow?
One of the beauties of this occupation, besides a love for music and woodwork, is the avoidance of repetitive tasks. I worked in a production shop for a while, and making hundreds of bridges, or gluing braces on hundreds of tops and backs, say, gets old pretty quick…
You won't be able to have any time off, instead you'll find yourself becoming a shop foreman and a manager and getting further and further away from the work.
There are, elsewhere, easier ways to make money.
I do not see how you can organize a shop with self-employed people. How could you plan instrument output and schedule builds if you have an uncertain workforce? Better to have one apprentice on payroll, even for a ridiculously low salary, as it is usually the case in the guitar making business.
From what I gathered, production shops prefer to hire young people fresh out of whatever lutherie school, and mold them. It's exceedingly difficult to re-teach builders set in their ways, however talented they may be.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

expansian is great if you can afford it.

one of the reasons that there are not so many people doing what you wish to do in the uk is becouse its alot harder to get funding here than it is in the states.
the only way the bank will finace you is if you can prove that your idea is viable by actualy doing it for 6 months to a year and showing them the figures that prove its a worthwhile investment.
unffortunatly a business plan alone will probably not be enough and they will expect to at least 25 percent of the capital yourself.

as you are allready in the trade it may not be as hard for you but it can be intimadating to many people to take on employies.
the fact is that you are responsable for there livelyhoods as soon as you put them on the payroll and this can be a huge pressure and yet another fixed cost on top of workshop costs rates bills stock and machinery etc.
its this that stops alot of people from expanding but if you can find the money to make the comitment then the rewards should follow.

also our current econimic climate will not help as the banks seem to be even more reluctant to lend money at present.

i would say get a good young luthier from merton,mancat or london met and put them on a increased wage scheam that garuntees them higher wages the longer they are there and the bigger the business gets that way you dont have to make the investment that an experienced luthier would require in the early days.
you will find that the students come out of those courses with a good knowlege base and the tutors will be helpfull in finding the right candidate if you contact them.

good luck the uk needs more folks that are willing to put the hard work in in this trade and i hope you reach the goals you have in mind,

Joel.

thanks everyone - a lot of these things i've brielfy thought about - its very helpful to have them put down on paper as it were so i can assemble my thoughts.

I think i may have unwittlingly mislead you slightly - i'm primarily a repairman, and intend on staying that way, but i'll continue building a few along the way. Customers always seem to think you only know what you're talking about if you can build - which is fair enough, i can see why they think that.

The repair side of things is my main love though really, I cant explain why (possibly regular earnings!) but thats the main drive of the off site workshop plans, dont forget i'm talking 5-10 years here.

I think there's a rule here in the uk that stops anyone from permanently contracting self employed people, so that will probably shape my plans, but finding the right person to employ doesn't scare me off - i'd just rather not have too much extra paperwork!

I definately don't see a lifeless production line, just a good sized repair facility that allows me personally to do the jobs i want and build a few things along the way, and hopefully build a nice little business with a few good people that can all benefit, as well as the customers.

I've got a lot of saving up to do but I'll keep you posted with any happenings - good or bad!

_________________
www.theguitarrepairworkshop.com