im trying to start a ironworks railing company. but dont know where to start

admin

I have about 5 years experience in welding tig and mig. Mostly tig stainless steel. But now i want to try something different i want to start my own buisness in railing hand rails ect ect. But my problem is i have no experience in it and i dont know where to start. Please i need some advice folks
Reply:get a job with an existing company and learn the ropes...no magic pill to make it otherwise...Of all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:Thanks roadkillbobb i appreciate your time and advice budd
Reply:To do commercial or industrial hand rails (where I live anyway) you need to be a certified structural welder.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:@ bmadrid1235 - consider these two facets:  the business side, the technical side.  Focus on the business side 1st.  Your attention is directed to Business Model Canvas.  Setting up and properly operating your business needs to be your #1 priority.  The BMC will force you to define your "etc, etc, etc".  In ref to the technical, visit local ironwork shops who design/build railings.  Talk with the owners and fabricators.  Professionally prepare for the meetings by arming yourself with a written agenda.  Nothing trumps honest Q&A visits and focused interactions with successful humans."Discovery is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Reply:Understand it's a pretty cut throat industry. You'll find just about everyone wants to do rails from welders to fence guys. With the down turn in the economy and construction slow down, big money jobs aren't there like they used to. A good friend of mine used to get about 40% of his work from builders doing custom wrought iron rails and stuff before the economy tanked. Talking to him, most simply won't put the money into this sort of stuff like they used to and his work in this area pretty much dried up.Also I've seen plenty of business fail, not because guys can't do the actual work, but because they can't run a business. You had better expect to have enough money on hand to live on for a year or two, plus the money to start the business. If you are lucky, that will get you over the hard time finding clients and building the business. Also expect that you will be working 6-7 days a week, 12-14 hour days, with no vacation etc. In many ways it's a lot easier to work for some one else and collect a check for 40 hrs and just go home each day. That doesn't happen if you own your own business. There's always estimates to do, bills to pay, clients to chase down for money, materials to buy, jobs to get to the painter and so on, then there's the actual work that goes into the job.I'm not trying to discourage you. There's a lot of benefits to working for yourself. However I see a lot of guys who do an occasional side job and think working for yourself is like that. It's not. Most of those guys almost always work at a loss or barely break even if they tracked expenses like a real business would have to. They'll last maybe a year at best, then fold because they simply just keep loosing money and can't afford it any longer. It's even worse if you take out a loan for equipment etc for the business..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thanks for your time manokai
Reply:I appreciate your timeband opinioj thanks DSW
Reply:My advice: don't. Instead, get a good job with an established company, learn to be a foreman, maybe even join a union. It's way more work to run a small business than you might think. Being on call 24/7 gets to be exhausting. Everything DSW said is spot on.Ian TannerKawasaki KX450 and many other fine tools
Reply:Just a little dose of reality of the various "fabricated metal products" categories of business:  The average after tax profit margin in that sector runs in the 3% range.  That is based on paying salaries as part of the cost to do business which I assume you'd also pay yourself but the point is, there aint much money in it for most people.  You could turn a better profit just putting any investment money into CDs and working as a grunt for someone else....unless you can do something special that commands higher margins.Best plan is to work for others---with your eyes WIDE open---until you can find that niche which can command a better margin.The freedom (or slavery) of working for yourself can have some value to some people but I don't think I've ever met a shop owner who hasn't at one time or another wondered whether that "freedom" was really worth it.  My last vacation was in 2005 for my honeymoon...and I was on the phone doing business 3 hours a day from the hotel.  Freedom...bah.Not trying to discourage you here---just slowing you down a little because it's not about welding, it's about BUSINESS when you start out on your own.  Don't even think about it until you understand accounting and business practices to some extent, and learn(!!) the skills of sales and marketing (and sales is FAR more a skilled occupation than most people think).  Running a business will be a full time job and you will still be welding/fabricating on the side in your "extra" hours to support that if you actually want to succeed.