More about this forum

[sofadoc]

Elsie pointed out on another thread that the members of this forum are usually more helpful than any upholsterers that you might know in your own community.
That hadn't occurred to me, but it's very true.

Elsie speculated that it might be due to a competitive nature. After all, why would the stitcher down the street give away his techniques to you? Whereas members of this board are all far apart from each other. So there's no chance that you might give your competitor a "leg up".

I've had personal correspondence with more than a dozen members of this forum. But my own locality? The only time that I meet a nearby upholsterer, is when they're closing their shop, and want to sell me their stuff.

I have one competitor in town that I've known since I was a teenager. He's about 10 years older than me, and got his start working for my grandmother when he was a teenager himself.
We have a very good relationship, albeit a bit one-sided. He gets a lot of supplies from me. He would gladly help me out if he had something that I needed, but for the life of me, I can't remember that situation ever having come up before.

I've always made it a point NOT to bad-mouth other shops, even if their work IS sub-par.
I think that it only serves to give the entire trade a black eye.

So just wondering. How many of you have a good relationship with neighboring upholsterers?
Would you loan them your last tufting needle? Would they do the same for you? Do you ever give, or get any tips from them? If they were too busy, would they refer work to you?

[JDUpholstery]

My only competition in the area is a guy that will only do boat seats, he will not do canvas work or autos, so he sends me those jobs and since he is retired and working out of his house he also sends the big jobs to me, we have a good relationship, I prefer friendly competition as opposed to competition in general. while he is not really competition in the general sense of the word, he is a fellow upholstery guy and I have been known to pick his brain, and he mine

[gene]

No. I don't know any upholsterers personally in my area.

I don't' think it's because of competition. If anything, it's paranoia. Most upholsterers are old guys who come from the old school and the only reason a competitor would want to talk to you is because they are trying to screw you over on something. I'm talking about furniture upholstery. Boats and cars may be different, I don't know.

Up until Obama started having success with destroying our economy, I never felt like I was competing with other upholsterers. I always felt like I was competing against the homeowner deciding to buy new furniture.

People share on this forum because it's nice to help folks out when it doesn't cost us anything but a few minutes of our time. It's fun to share experiences, and things we've learned to do, with others who will understand and appreciate what we are talking about.

There is also a 'give and take' on this forum. I'm sure there's many lurkers, (or do they call them trolls now a days?), but I know that if I throw my 2 cents into the pot others will do the same.

I also think that most people who post here are nice people to begin with. Folks who are looking to constantly piss and moan or be abusive just don't get any attention here and they quickly go elsewhere.

gene

[sofadoc]

Another thought that I forgot to add.
From time to time, a newbie will post here that they would love to apprentice for free, if a shop owner would teach them the business. But by and large, most owners aren't interested.

Count me in that demo for a variety of reasons:

1. Teaching is a skill. Just because you have command of the subject matter doth not make you a teacher.

2. You might waste several weeks before it becomes obvious that the student simply doesn't have an aptitude for this type of work.

3.Teaching slows you down, and therefore costs you time and money.

4. If you DO teach them to some degree of success, there's IS the possibility that they will compete against you.

Just a few additional reasons why this forum might seem more inviting than face-to-face.

[JDUpholstery]

I don't think I would jump on the teaching wagon either, mostly for fear that I am training my competition....I have one helper, he cuts and keeps things clean but if I get to where I think I need to teach him to sew, I believe I would require a no compete contract! Call it paranoia, but I would hate to see my business wane in the wake of my "apprentice" opening his own shop.

If this business required a substantial start up cost, it may be a different story, but I started with nothing and built up over a years time, reinvesting profits and keeping the books in the black over the entire course of the adventure so far. Of course, I have yet to make a dollar personally, it has all gone back into the business so far.

JD

[Mike]

Same with melts my brother alway says I do t explain what I want to do  it just faster if I go and do it.  
As far as competition there is a member on here Doug "creative canvas" on the west side of the. County  here
And I have sent peoplhis way. I've never met him I'm just to busy when I'm over that way I did meet shaggy doo from my town once.  
And I can think of 3 other hobbits from my area who popped  on here  

[byhammerandhand]

I have great relationships with several upholsterers and could probably do more if I was more interested in shaking the trees.   We regularly work jobs back and forth with each other, ask and give advice, etc.  In fact, I have 12 chairs in one for reupholstery while I do cleaning of the wood parts and on-site cleaning and repair of the overstuffed furniture.

I do the same with a couple of other guys that do repair and refinishing work.

However, mostly the work we do is "orthogonal" and don't necessarily compete head to head.    Even if we did, I'd consider it "co-op-itition"   Put it this way:   If there were three shops in town and two of you were friendly, who is better off, the two of you or the lone wolf?

On the other hand, I've done some semi-professional picture framing.  You want to see a closed society?   Most framing shops will think you are going to steal their last customer if you buy a sheet of mat board from them.   I even had problems buying a box of glass from one of the major suppliers.   Unless I had a storefront and did $25K of business with them a year, they don't want to sell to you.  When I showed up and proved not to be too much of a threat, the guy did sell me  a box of glass and even took me in the back and showed me his "chop" room.   They've dumbed down the process enough so a frame shop can just say, "I need a 24x30 frame with stock #239."   It will come pre-mitered and joints cut in the back so all you have to do is put on a dollop of glue and push in the little plastic connector.  Fortunately, there's a large "mail order" (now internet) supplier that is willing to sell supplies, tools, and materials to anyone who meets their $25 minimum order.

But I don't loan tools.

So just wondering. How many of you have a good relationship with neighboring upholsterers?
Would you loan them your last tufting needle? Would they do the same for you? Do you ever give, or get any tips from them? If they were too busy, would they refer work to you?

BTW, I have done several google searches and results have led me to a post here.   
dictum sapienti sat est.   (a word to the wise is sufficient. )

[sofadoc]

I always felt like I was competing against the homeowner deciding to buy new furniture.

One thing that I love about doing a lot of e-mail estimates nowadays is that I don't have to hear "I'm trying to decide if it would be cheaper to recover, or just buy new" over the phone.
It's not just furniture either. People would rather trade their car in on a new one than spend any significant money fixing it. Same with electronics, appliances, even your house! Out with the old.....

[kodydog]

When we first moved to Mt Pleasant (Charleston) I stopped by the only upholsterer in town to see if they needed any help. I felt he was rather short with me when he simply said no. Later I found they were a family business and rarely hired outside help.

We started our own business and were soon swamped with work. Two years later a fellow stops by my shop.  He had closed his shop in Savannah Ga and was looking for work. I told him I wasn't hiring but there was plenty of work if he wanted to open his own shop. We became good friends, even went to his church a time or two, and I helped him as much as I could.

When I moved back to north Florida I worked for an upholsterer for 2 years and we remained good friends. 12 years later I am now working for him again.

The last three years I've worked for 2 other upholsterers and we stay in touch through e-mails.

To add to your list Sofa, It took me years to find reliable and consistent suppliers. And at the risk of sounding selfish, I hold this list close to my chest. We have a do-it-yourself decorator in town that is always asking about suppliers and upholstery tips. And if its something simple I don't mind helping but I could spend hours explaining some of the more complicated procedures. My wife usually answers the phone and tells her I'm not there. ;)

[sofadoc]

I had an upholsterer from the Boca Raton area come in my shop a few years ago asking for a job (he had moved back to this area to be close to a dying relative). He was willing to work in my shop, or I could "sub" work out to him that he would do from his garage.

I decided to "feel him out" as to what kind of salary he might expect. 
His "labor only" expectation was more than I charge "out the door". I understand from reading one of June's posts that Boca Raton is a very affluent area.

Anyway, I wished him well, but told him that he would have to settle for a lot less if he was going to make it around here. He promised me that if he had to open his own business, he would do so, and he would succceed at the expense of me, and any other competitors in the area.

That was at least 3 years ago. I haven't even heard rumors about him since.

[kodydog]

There was a fellow in Charleston who used to come to my shop for supplies and such. He would wear dress shirts and pants and boast that some day he would be the top upholsterer in Charleston. He didn't know a whole lot about reupholstery or running a business but I would always wish him the best and send him on his way. One day a supplier came in and I asked about the guy. He said, "Ya, he was going to set the woods on fire wasn't he", He said last he heard he was out of business.

What is it about this business that makes a person stick it out through the good times and bad? Is it a certain personality? Maybe unabashed determination. Or, like in my case, I just wouldn't know what else to do so I tough it out and am willing to find new ways to make it happen.

The place where I work is closed for a week so I took on a big condo job in St Augustine. Busy, busy, busy.

[JuneC]

Yep, Boca is affluent and people expect to be ripped off and are all ready for the fight when they get their estimate.  If you give a reasonable estimate, they think something's wrong - you're trying to pull a fast one, hidden catch somewhere.  Can't win for losing, as my dad used to say. 

I'm the 2nd shop in a small marina.  But I'm very careful to not step on their toes as I'm the late-comer.  I've subbed out to them.  They do VERY nice work as well as another canvas shop about 20 minutes up the road.  Lots to do here so it hasn't become a problem.  I've bought small hardware parts from them and they from me.  PITA when you're about to deliver a job and ALL you need is a $.75 part, and we all recognize that.  Canvas is boring me lately so I'm looking at new sewing projects that require similar skills and equipment but deliver more $ per hour.  We'll see...

June

[Mojo]

Paul is the closest upholsterer I know in my area. If I get any furniture requests I would send them to him in a heartbeat. I have also recommended Mike and June before to traveling RV'ers who own boats in their area.

I prefer my own little specialized area in RV's and stay clear of everything else. I will do solar screens and custom covers for motorcycles, grills, etc. but if it is auto, furniture or marine I will always hand those jobs off to someone else.

Chris