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I am just wondering..Curious is probably a better statement. If you had to assign a number to the hours your machine runs per day/week, what do you think it would be ?

With our machines it all depends on orders. Some days the machines will run 6 hours and other days 2 or 3 hours. Sometimes they will run 6 and 7 hours a day, 7 days a week during our busy season and a lot less in our off season. On days when we are doing cutting the machine will run less. On days when orders are cut and need to be sewn they will go all day long. Average stitch length is probably 12 ft. so when the machines run, they are stitching long lengths.

How often is your machine running ?

Chris

Have any of you ever been attached to a certain machine ?

I just got my old Chandler up and going last night. It had been relegated to the corner of the shop and was collecting dust since we got the new long arm. Now that we have moved into the big shop we have room now for 4 sewing stations so last night I got my old Chandler out.

I had robbed a few parts off it and it was in desperate need of a really good oiling. I oiled the hell out of it, rotated it several times by hand and then let it sit over night. I then oiled it again the next day, replaced the take up and tension assembly, threw a new needle in it and fired it up. Still sews like a dream.

I yelled " My Old Girl still works like a charm ". My wife who was close by turned thinking I may be talking about her, realized I was talking about my Chandler and just shook her head. I have a special attachment to this machine because it was my original that I used to build this company with. It has been a workhorse, never failed me ( except when I did something stupid with it ) and made us a lot of money. It was our only machine for several years so it has a special place in my mind.

Have you ever had a machine you would never sell for love or money and have a special bond to ?

Chris

( I am sure some of you probably think I have lost my mind.........lol..)

I have been out of touch here for a while now. Just been so busy I have had time just to check my e-mails, post a couple updates on Facebook and Twitter and that is about it. I have been going since April 19th, non stop, no days off. First with our major show we do every year in Indy and then building out this new shop we are leasing.

Yes we finally pulled the trigger and leased a new building. It was an empty 1,600 sq ft shop with just a lobby. I built two new offices, installed a break room and kitchen, gutted the bath and remodeled it, installed new plumbing and ran new electrical circuits. I also built a new massive cutting/sewing table - 12 ft x 24 ft. We are bringing our other table 8 ft x 16 ft with us so we will have 4 sewing stations.

Also on the news front, the wife retired from teaching and is now going full time in the business. It is about time since it is HER damn company that she owns outright. I am starting a new company and will be getting into manufacturing hard to find parts for Carefree awnings as well as other parts for Monaco, Holiday Rambler and Beaver coaches. Our old shop which is attached to our house will be converted to our music studio.

I am converting an attached shed to my new workroom where I can have some of my power tools.
What a massive undertaking. I am just blessed I have all the carpentry, plumbing and electrical skills to build out this shop. Otherwise I would have had to hire it done and the cost would have been astronomical and probably the work crappy. I will be posting pictures soon of the new shop.

On the health front, the new chemo drug has kicked into gear and is a rock star. I am back in remission and am feeling better then I have in 15 years.

Hope all of you are doing well. Will be participating more once this big move is complete.

Mojo

What a crazy month March was. Business has been outstanding and we set new sales records. I attended 2 different rally's in Georgia and conducted seminars there. On the last day of the first rally I was reaching into the basement bay of our coach and wham......... I got nailed by a pygmy rattle snake. He hit me on my right forearm and true to their word of being nasty aggressive snakes he tried hitting me again. No I didn't go to the hospital. I went inside the bus and let it bleed out for 5 minutes into the kitchen sink. Thankfully a guy was right there and he ran and got his first aid kit. He put a pressure bandage on it for me which helped control the bleeding. It bled for 24 hours straight.

The only thing it did was bleed and caused some vision problems. Pygmy rattlers do not have neurotoxins but cytotoxins instead. I am right as rain now and have no after effects. I am sure I left a  bitter taste in that snakes mouth. :)

On the plus side the second rally was massive. 2,500 coach owners showed up and our booth was busy as heck. Overall it was a great rally. I found that many bus owners had never heard of us before which is why we did this show.

I started this business in an enclosed trailer 10 years ago. We then expanded into a back room of our house. Things kept getting busier so we again expanded and took over the garage so we ended up with 600 sq ft. Things got busier and we finally ended up signing a lease on a 1,600 sq ft building this week. Once we get moved we will be in tall cotton. I am putting in 1 - 12 ft x 24 ft wide sewing table with double machine stations ( twin and long arm ). A second table will intersect that table and will be 8 x 22 ft with one twin needle station. A third table 4 x 12 will be used for project work and welting. This will allow us to run 4 machines at once if need be. We are also putting in a work station for manufacturing small arts for awning assemblies using a 3-d printer.

This will probably be our last lease deal. The next move will be into a building we own in a couple years. I hate leasing anything. The other good news is this new chemo drug is working wonders. My lab's look great. They should since this new drug is $ 10 K per month. ( Thank God for insurance ). So outside of a new building, a pesky rattle snake bite and preparations for the big move, things are fine down here in the Swamp.

Chris

It has taken me a couple months to find my place in our New Company. Mindy has turned out to be a rock star and is now 100 % in command. She is up to speed, has learned the vast majority of the business and is a bundle of energy. I am now working with her on marketing and teaching her how to make strategic moves in the market place.

I would be lying if I said I am not enjoying myself. I have finally let go of the reins and am sitting back and taking it easy. I handle technical calls and work directly with customers on technical issues and that is about it. That workload is also tapering off due to our educational programs we have.

I do try and sew now and then to keep that skill set honed but the ladies prefer I stay out of the shop and out of their way. I had a bit of a hard time letting go but this company is in great hands and I am finding it can function without my hands in the mess. Actually, it functions better when I stay out of things and Mindy will chew my ass if I get any where near her production schedule. :)

I am still doing all the strategic planning, marketing and PR but am no longer running the day to day operations. I will still handle the rally's and seminars but my involvement in production has come to a screeching halt.

I am really enjoying this part time status I have worked myself into. It is coming at a great time too as my chemo regimen has been increased and I am having many more days of weakness and being tired. I have waited so long for things to slow down and now that they have, I am going to sit back and enjoy these times.

Business is continuing to grow, sales volumes are up and things look very good for the future. Time to go fishing. To heck with this work stuff.

:)

Chris

I had a customer come in the other day wanting a new awning. He asked if I did coach interior upholstery. I told him I didn't but my buddy does. So he headed over to meet with Catalina Rick
and I guess Rick got the order.

Now here is the kicker. I asked Rick a couple months ago if he could do my coach interior. It was essentially the same job as this guy booked with Rick. He said he was booked out 3 months which wouldn't work with my travel schedule. Then he goes and takes this guys job ? WTH ??

All kidding aside Rick is doing this guys work in a couple months ( during my travel schedule ) but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a jab at my buddy on here. :)

It works out great for me as I have Rick that I can refer auto and marine jobs to and Paul for household stuff. I love sending business their way. That is what this trade is all about. One guy/gal helping another.

Chris

First let me explain that 99 % of our business is driven from rally's and online orders. Unlike the majority of you we do not have walk in service as we work from our home. This gives me the freedom of being able to work in my gym shorts or when it is cold out my lounge pants. I should make a disclaimer here: When any of us are at a rally or out in public we wear uniforms that are dry cleaned and heavily starched/pressed.

Last week it was hot as heck out ( 80's ) and I was working on our coach replacing the flooring. It was New Years Eve day as well and because it was hot I had my gym shorts on and had no shirt on. To make matters worse I didn't have my teeth in. ( Years of chemo rotted my upper teeth out ). So there I am, looking like a sandbilly ( Florida hillbilly ), walking around with no shirt, slippers and no teeth and just shorts on.

I see a big shiny white Dodge Pickup pull into the drive and thought ( another one who is lost ). We live on a dead end road that gets little traffic and some people will get lost. Out steps a guy who walks up to me and says " Is this Stone Vos " ? Oh Sh*T is all I could think of. Turns out he was a prospective customer looking for two very large toppers. We talked a while and I even showed him the remodeling job I was doing inside my coach as he was curious. After talking a bit he said I will get you the measurements so you can give me a quote. He got in his pick up and left and I thought " I will never see him again. I probably scared the hell out of that guy ".

2 hours latter he pulls back into my drive with the measurements as well as a friend of his who also needs toppers. I gave him a quote and he stuck his hand out and said " Make Them ". Before he left he said " if you need any help with your bus remodel call me. I live just around the corner from you ".

Here is the bad part. The guy is a homicide detective and here I was dressed like one of the subjects he arrests. Oh well. Ingrid and Mindy got a huge laugh out of it. I myself am embarrassed and plan on taking him to lunch - wearing a nicely pressed shirt and dress pants.

Reckon I need to watch how I dress when I am outside and make sure I have my teeth in as well. :)

Chris

You never realize just how much you depend on e-mail service till its gone. Our e-mail system went down yesterday and Mindy and I did not have any way to receive or send e-mails to customers. For an internet based company like us, panic sets in quickly and you start scrambling to find a fix or call for technical assistance.

In my case my tech support comes from my son since it is his company who hosts our e-mail system. They have massive data centers that are housed inside bunker like buildings and located in Dallas, Wash DC and Lansing, MI. I forgot how many servers they have but it is over 400. My next problem was reaching him. His little sister or I typically have to make an appointment to talk with him as he is so busy and rarely answers his personal cell phone.

I did get on to him right away and he got the problem taken care of and moved our system on to a different server with a different company that specializes in high end secure e-mail systems. All day yesterday I was sweating it out and wondering how many lost sales we could be experiencing. It appears the damage was limited and I do not think we lost any sales. We have a back log today though of e-mails we have to answer and quotes to get out.

I never have considered just how dependant we are on internet communications. Our new web site has a " contact us " dialogue box where a prospective customer can fill out a form and send it. We test it once a week to be sure it is working properly as orders come in off those.

Thankfully my son saved himself from being written out of my will and got us back up and going without having to wait in a tech support que. :)

Does anyone else rely heavily on e-mails for your business ?

Chris

I thought that maybe the old Sgt Major may need a kick in the pants and a little motivational music.

Darren, this video was shot on the Guess Whos' return to Winnipeg. The skys opened up and the downpours began along with lightening and winds. The band played on and the fans never left. I have the entire concert on DVD and it is a good one.

The Cannucks love their Winnipeg born Guess Who. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGDGogga2UM

Enjoy my old friend,

Chris

No idea what caused this goofy summer we had. I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone yesterday and he said the same thing. He manages a manufacturing plant in MI and said business was real strange. The months he indicated were also the months we were experiencing the same thing. Way up and then way down.

His business ( and ours ) seen flat out balls to the wall production followed by a week or two of complete death in sales. Notta. Then sales would come on full tilt boogie and then die again. It did this all summer for us and for their plant as well. We maintained a steady flow of putting out orders as we we would get backlogged.

Thankfully fall is here and things are getting much more steady and orders are flying in the door. I have a " to do " list that includes making a series of DIY videos which will really be a huge driver of sales. I also have a new seminar I am going to be conducting in 2016 and have yet to write the script or build the powerpoint presentation. I have yet to do any of it. Our new website is sitting 70 % done and I wanted it launched a month ago but I have had no time to write the DOC files. Our developer is losing patience with me and is on my ass like white on rice.

I cannot rely on Mindy to do some of this work as she is buried in managing the company. And this all points to the headaches that small business owners have - Wearing many different hats. Do the rest of you get stressed out and find yourselves under water with business related projects ?
Did anyone experience the goofy summer cycle like we did ? I cannot put my finger on what caused it as the summer cycles in the past were much more gradual going up and down. This year it was full on and full off.

Chris

I see another Trudeau is now in office. :)

I have been teasing all my Cannuck friends this week. The Doc is livid and is threatening to move to Costa Rica. They are due to arrive for the winter at our place next week so I have a whole winter to listen to his bitching. :)

I typically put a quarter in him, wind him up and sit back and smile and drink my diet coke as he bashes every living ( and dead ) politician in Canada.

Chris

I am always looking for ways to expand and recently came across an idea of expanding into truck tarps used to cover loads on semi's.

I had to deep six that idea when I seen the size. It would take a pit operation to make these behemoths and take some very strong people to shove and horse around the fabric. Some tarps weigh over 100 lbs.

I also checked the prices of current tarps and it isn't worth my time screwing around with that much fabric for such little money. I am guessing that they are being made over seas or Mexico unless some companies are getting amazing deals on vinyl. We have bulk purchasing power and get very low prices and still couldn't compete with these guys.

I am still looking though for other opportunities.

Chris

It wont be long and us Florida stitchers are going to get clobbered. The snowbirds are prepping for the winter hike down here and that is typically when the flood gates open for us.

We had two weeks of slow sales and all hell broke loose last week. We are back to full throttle again and it is going to get worse as coach owners start going over their buses for the trip down south.
Our Canadian worker will be arriving soon and this is the first time we have entered the winter with two employees.

I have always said you have to be excellent at budgeting and cash management if you own a business in Florida. I have seen restaurants go belly up along with many other types of businesses because the owners were terrible at managing cash flow. They make a killing in the winter time but do not set aside some of that money for the lean summers. They run out and spend it and pull excessive profits from their businesses rather then banking it. Then summer hits and they go belly up.

We always hold back alot of cash for the summer months payroll, taxes, materials, etc. Actually we have made and then bank the entire years worth of our expenses by May and hold that till the end of the year. Any money left is split off and carried over. We try and calculate the years fabric purchases and just changed our routine and are now stocking rolls beyond what we need. I sleep alot better knowing we have our expenses covered for the summer and we do not have to worry about payroll.

We are already seeing a big uptick in orders and it isn't just for the florida crowd. Our West coast sales are starting to take off as well as some of the bus crowd from there who winter in Texas and AZ.

I am sure Mike, Paul, Ed, Rick and other Florida stitchers will be getting real busy soon.

Chris

I know we needed a complete revamp of our website but have put it off till now. Something that is very professional, upscale, classy and a little flashy. I am so burnt out with doing our website and it still looking like a homemade site done in publisher that I decided to turn to the pro's.

I went out looking for web developers and found one company in Tampa that had a great portfolio. I sent them the link to my site and asked for a quote. They quoted me $ 30 K. Really ?? They were also going to structure it so I had to go back, pay another fee anytime I wanted a change made. I told my son and he laughed and pointed me towards freelance sites and said stay away from web development companies who employ multiple developers and have teams. They will nickle and dime you to death.

So I placed an ad ( free ) on Guru.com. I specified what I wanted in regards to site requirements in addition to being up front and saying " You must be based in the USA and exceptional with grammar and the english language ". I listed our website and asked for quotes. Within 8 hours I had close to 20. The prices ranged from $ 350 - $ 2,000. Of course I got quotes from companies in India and Pakistan along with one from Vietnam. Actually the Indians do great work and cheap. :)

I went through them all, checked their portfolios and chatted with a few through private messaging on the Guru site and by the end of day I narrowed it down to the top 3. One I found that has the edge is located 20 miles from me. He is a young individual freelancer and quoted me a fair price and has a great background in web development with an awesome portfolio. His quote was $ 1,300. All of these quotes included a CMS or better known as a content management system which means I can go in myself on the back end and make changes such as text and pictures. ( You cannot change the layout of the site obviously ).

Everyone is submitting all the technical aspects of the job and then I am submitting those to my son as well as Miami's consultant ( Miami agreed to allow their consultant to be involved ). They will pour over the portfolios and specs and then recommend to me who would be the best candidate for the job. I haven't a clue as to what some of the specs even mean as you have to be a developer to understand them.

I am so relieved and will be even more so once this job is done. I have struggled with building and maintaining our website since we went into business. It has been a frustrating experience because I have years of marketing and advertising experience and a hundred great ideas but completely lack the skills to put my vision onto a web site. I am plain and simple not a tech guy and web development is now a very complicated business. Some of the better programs are extremely difficult to learn and I also do not know HTML code. You need speed in loading and it has to work across numerous platforms, laptops/desktops, Windows, Linux, Apple, Ipads, notebooks, android phones, apple phones, etc. not to mention the thousands of apps out there. I also got tired of or website looking like someone with little experience using a cheap developers program made it. ( which is true ). It was time to call in a pro to take us to the next level with our website.

Our web traffic is growing every month so we really need to step up our game.
This is what $ 1,200 can buy you. This site was submitted with one of the quotes and included in his portfolio:  http://thebellevue.com/ I myself liked it. Very professional, classy, clean and crisp.

Will post more info on this adventure once I get it. You might say I am a guinea pig for the rest of you and I will be sure to post my experiences here. :)

Chris

Anyone own one of these ? Just curious as to how it works. Looks like it would work well.

https://www.facebook.com/miamicorp/photos/a.75167500885.80536.73632155885/10153103290660886/?type=1&theater

Chris

We get all of our marketing materials, rack cards, business cards, banners, hat's and t-shirts through Vistaprint. I typically stock up on all of these items when they run these sales. We go through 1,000's of rack cards and business cards each year as we have rack card displays set up in many RV business locations.

I just got a card in the mail and they are having a 50 % off site wide sale starting July 20th - 28th.
use this code when you check out - SAVEBIG.

For those of you who have never used Vista Print, it is very easy to design whatever you want. Their prices are also very good.

Just thought I would pass this on. :)

Chris

Here is something I never knew and learned recently while working on a project with a couple industry experts and manufacturers.

All Polyester thread fibers are now owned by one corporation. This company bought up all other polyester fiber companies. So regardless of what poly thread your using it all comes from the same manufacturer of poly fiber. The only difference is when using certain thread brands they may mix a UV ray inhibitor or binding agent into their process. This we already knew as we have seen this ourselves but the life expectancy of Poly thread has gone downward as well and studies and tests have indicated the average age before degradation of Poly thread has dropped nearly in half.

Here is something else I didn't know but gleaned from another phone conversation. There are only two acrylic fiber manufacturers in the world. Recacril and Sattler use Turkish fibers which are all mixed in house in Spain and Austria. Sunbrella uses a another fiber made by another manufacturer which is mixed in several locations including China.

So, between these three companies and because of mergers and buyouts, these manufacturers are the sole producers of Polyester fibers or acrylic fibers.

Chris

I have always considered myself a bit over the top with my OCD but I have met my match. Our new manager, Mindy makes me look like a slob. Everything has to be neat and orderly. Every spring clip has to be placed in order in the storage trays. Fabric has to be stored perfectly and in order and she now keeps a written log on all fabric scrap's, calculating what can be used for door and window awnings. The log cannot be hand written either but rather has to be orderly, type written and categorized.

My wife and I have given her more and more authority each week testing her limits and ability and each week she gobbles up more independence, skill and education. We have been bumping her pay along the way as we considered her initial salary a training salary. I have pretty much taken a back seat, made her our manager and have essentially turned the day to day operations over to her. My wife owns the company so what this means is that I am now the peon and work for two women.

I really need to thank Bobbin and Kodydog for us reaching this point with Mindy. I read about their problems over the years with their former bosses who were cheap, unorganized, controlling and  micro managers. I told myself if I ever found a good employee I would teach them and then stand back and let them excel. So thank you Bobbin and Ed for sharing your past experiences with us. You taught me alot about being a good employer.

Mindy is loved by our customers. She is polite, bubbly and professional and an asset when dealing with customers. She takes her job seriously and trust me when I say she cuts me no slack. If I screw up she lets me know, nicely. She is working 3 and 4 days a week and on her last day she gives me my To Do list. It always includes shop vacc'ing the work areas, winding bobbins, cutting fabric and getting orders ready for sewing. She drives the production schedule and that is her domain so I follow her directives. I do find it quite humorous and my wife gets on me about setting an example and making sure my " Mindy List " is complete before Monday.

One of my buddies who also happens to be one of our dealer customers is really getting a huge kick out of it. He gives me sh*^ about making sure I stay on task and threatens to tell the Boss on me if I don't. He deals with Mindy all the time and knows what she is like but he cannot help teasing me.

I just feel blessed I found someone to take over the company for me and allow me to do my chemo runs, slow down a bit, smell the roses and pursue some marketing projects. Life is good, business is good and I am enjoying this employee thing.

Chris 

My phone call to Bob Kovar this week was actually pretty expensive. I ended up buying a new machine from him. We have been talking about buying a long arm machine for doing certain awnings that require the clearance. We have gotten by without one but it eats up alot of shop time rolling and moving fabric to get it through my current Chandler which we use for top stitching.

Bob made me one heck of a deal on a new Chandler 18 " which will essentially double the arm clearance for us and work perfect for what we intend to use it for. The great thing is that we have a large assortment of attachments for our current Chandler which will fit the new long arm. The other nice thing is that I have had my current Chandler for several years now and know it like the back of my hand. I can time it, adjust it and do alot of the repairs if I have to. My Chandler 406 has been a real workhorse. It has sewed daily for several years and outside of a few stupid mistakes I made it which caused the machine to go down, it has performed reliably and flawlessly.

The old Chandler we will use strictly for the binding portion of our operation. The Juki 563 we will park for the time being. The wife said sell it which I was shocked to hear her say. Bob just went through the machine a year ago, updating and replacing any worn parts so it is ready to go for another 20 years. I really hate to let it go but may follow the bosses orders and sell it.

I will give a report on the long arm machine when I get it and let everyone know what I think. Bob is going to set it up next week, go through the factory settings, make adjustments and then sew it off before crating it and shipping it to me.

Chris

For some of you this video will bring back alot of memories. I watched this and was reminded of
all the people who have passed who once graced our living rooms throughout our childhood.

Take a stroll down memory lane here and see if anyone looks familiar to you. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evSC-WZFw1c

Chris