opening a shop?

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I would like to open a shop someday in the future. I love welding and fabrication but realize its not as easy as just opening a shop one day. I don't know where the money is? my dad was a aluminum trailer/ boat builder along with various aluminum fabrication but trailers are getting hard to make money on. Is maintenance welding and repair work good? is it good to specialize in tig welding prescion parts? I have welders and tools I can use. So how do I start?
Reply:MICK has his up for sale !  Beautiful country and you can hire kangaroos too !!!!
Reply:Start a Facebook page, invite your friends,  show some of your work, wait for word to spread,  work somewhere to pay the bills until you can't afford to go to "work" anymore.
Reply:Originally Posted by Teggy1Start a Facebook page, invite your friends,  show some of your work, wait for word to spread,  work somewhere to pay the bills until you can't afford to go to "work" anymore.
Reply:Originally Posted by nick121.. So how do I start?
Reply:As just said the welding part is a cake walk it's the management part that has gotten me in a pickle. I started my business and luckily was very successful straight out the box but as I grew I couldn't put the trust in anyone else to help do the work and what I feared would hurt my business ended up hurting me in the end I couldn't keep up with it all and a growing family and it ultimately hurt me cause I couldn't keep up and I burnt myself out on 7 day weeks doing all my outside work during the day and working half the night at the shop and trying to be a good husband and dad I ended up having a reputation for doing great work quality work at a fair price but taking to long to get it done , so now I've taken another job while trying to rebuild my business on side work . So I guess my advise would be is if you want it big you better be willing to grow with the demand hire people to do certain jobs and put your trust in them the one great thing I can say is I was able to be hear to be a good dad and it's wasn't anyone fault but mine I had no one to learn from so I guess my mistakes is what I've learned from and will get it back together good luck and go for it the biggest failure is failing to try!!
Reply:would it be a good idea to work for someone for a while to gain knowledge of running a business?
Reply:Originally Posted by nick121would it be a good idea to work for someone for a while to gain knowledge of running a business?
Reply:One of these days I am going to quit my corporate job and hang out my shingle...I will specialize in helping guys run their businesses, set up their accounting systems for them and maybe do quarterly tax returns.Miller Multimatic 255
Reply:Also set up accounts with LWS and other supply places, many will give you wholesale discounts on products you will use. You will be surprised at how fast the savings will add up.HF 90 Amp Flux Core Customized.
Reply:I am self employed and it sounds as if you don't know what type of welding you want to get into. Let me be a big help to you and tell you that you will be doing the type of welding that there is demand for in your area. Best to figure that out early on, incase you don't like that type of work you won't be open very long. Remember, the customer is king, your only choice is whether to do the work or not. Lots of guys think they will open a business doing what they like only to find out that there isn't enough market to support the program. Also, if you can't afford insurance you can't afford to be in business, and if you manufacture something don't forget to mention that to the insurance agent as that's different than just repair or construction. Hope this helped.