How to get started?

[jeepdoc]

Well my wife lost her job I do have a regular 8-5 job but would like to bring in her lost income doing some  upholstery work. Ive done some jobs for friends hoping to get referals but not working so good. I dont have 20 years of exper. but seem to put out a decient product. Cant get better without doing it, so how does one get started?

[seamsperfect]

Pictures and trust will get you business.   Check CL for people looking for upholstery work.  If you are good from the start and get a few projects under your belt then you can start to build up a portfolio.   Check local car clubs and see if you can do a members car at a discount.  If you do well, referrals should follow. I started 7 years ago with 2 of my  cars and a new machine.  I have been doing it full time 4 years there is not one day (unless on vacations) that I do not cut something, patttern or sew.
Kevin

[SHHR]

  Word of mouth works best, however what you described as doing "work for friends" has never worked well for me.
  Let me explain; when I was starting out (and very similar to your story) I did alot for friends, family and gave big discounts just to get work coming in. 
  I would tell people not to advertise what they paid for the work and all of the friends and family said they would pass on my name for referals to everyone they know. 
Well, I'm still waiting for the masses to show up from all the advertising my friends and family "helped" me with. Also, it seems the only thing other customers did tell people about me was "take your stuff to him cause he's cheap" A huge drawback from giving special deals to bring the work in.
  The positive side is everyone I have done work for that wasn't an aquaintance or who I charged a "fair" but more in line price with the industry has helped me greatly with word of mouth advertising.

Another thing too is to print up cards and flyers. They're cheap to do and easy to pass out. Leave some at Marinas, Auto parts stores, car dealers, Even hot spot restaraunts usually have a bulletin board to leave some on.
   One thing I did was since I know the owner of the local Napa store, he invited me to leave cards and flyers there so I made up a miniature custom panel (like a door panel) so people could see my work.
 
  I recently attended a small business seminar and they said to frequent events that is hosted by the local chamber of commerce. You can meet new people and talk up your business. They may not give you work but will remember you to tell others. I've found that local buisnesses here in town take care of each other that way.
Kyle

[lruthb]

I started by advertising in the local and district papers. Never again.

I also went to every furniture store, auto places, motorcycle, marine and recreational business's that I could find in the 50 mile radius and introduced myself. Still to this day they call and ask for more cards and I get equal business from them as word of mouth.

The only other way I have received call was from the advertising on my vehicle.

Sometimes when I started out it seemed like I would be slow all the time. That changes over time. I would also urge you to cost out your jobs so your not the cheapest, but your the best that makes money.

Good luck!
Lynn

[Mojo]

I used to advise my clients to not sit back and wait for " word of mouth " sales to come in. Get out there and beat the streets and to get your business up and going.

My suggestion is to take some money and budget it for advertising. Go to Vista Print and make up some business cards. Also take a look at their post cards as well. Once you get these, hit the streets. Attend car shows, fairs, introduce yourself and your business to car dealers ( especially used car dealers ), boat dealers and marinas. Make up some flyers as well and hand them out.

Carry a stack of business cards in your car and wallet and pump them into anyone and everyone's hands.

You can sit back and wait for word of mouth and be 70 years old and still wondering where the customers are at. So take action and go after the business aggressively.

Be sure and get a web site setup as well.

Chris

[Jim101]

A few suggestions that have worked well for me in the past:

Contact your local fire departments.  Let them know you can repair their bunker gear, a.k.a. turn out gear, and other materials that frequently rip or wear out.  Hose covers on the truck are something that requires periodic replacement.  Be sure you have Kevlar, Nomex or similar type thread.  Also, they're smoke mask bags wear out often, mostly from chaffing.

Police, Constable, Sheriff or Mounties have tactical "tac" gear that they use.  These things can range from bullet proof vests to holsters, to bags of various sorts.  Frequently they need repairs and many of the officers have ideas for items they would like to have made. 

Prototyping is a great way to make a few bucks and you never know if the design will take off and make you a million bucks!  I'm still waiting...

Tarps and covers.  Everyone needs covers for something.  The blue tarps that you can buy in the stores last about six months, if that, or until the first big windstorm.   After which they are junk.  A good quality vinyl mesh or Weblon, Herculite will last a long, long time.  We make a ton of them.

Covers for windshields could be an excellent opportunity.  A quick and easy way to keep the ice and snow off the windshield.  Who couldn't use something like that in the Winter.

Boat canvas repair.  This is a great time of year to have bimini's repaired or complete enclosures re-sewn.  Sail covers seem to wear out quickly and are fairly easy to make.   Put up a few flyer's around shopping centers or where the boat people hang out.   

If you have a heavy enough machine horse tack is always something that needs repairs.  A Singer 111 will stitch a horse bridle handily and there's plenty of other work needs to be done with reigns and horse blankets.

Hiking & camping gear... tents, backpacks and the like always need repairs.  Zippers mostly but it gets your name out there and people will flock to you with all kind of ideas.

Hope this helps...  Good luck to you!

Jim

[jeepdoc]

Those all sound like cool ideas things I didnt think about. Ive picked up an odd job sewing some leather pouches for a lady, I dont know all the details but will earn me some more machine time
Thanks for the Ideas

[sawdustar]

You "go" jeepdoc..!!!!!

I'm rooting you on and praying the best for your business adventure. I hope you will become very successful at your endeavor.

I hope to do something along this line as I'm sick and tired of IT work (working around the clock every day, all year long is burn out) and I'm desperately working on venues to get me out of IT and into doing something I like doing.....custom furniture, upholstery, and my daughter and I are now doing custom leather items.

All the best to ya..!!!!

[Mojo]

Dennis:

I believe June is a corporate / it convert. I am sure if you ask her she will tell you the same thing. She hit the burnt out stage and left the IT work behind.

Lets hope your work takes off and the same thing happens for you. :)

Chris

[JuneC]

There have been a number of us ex-geeks on here.  Interesting transition going to working with your hands.  Luckily for me, I've never lived beyond my means so the financial hit just meant I had to buy more ground beef and a LOT fewer tenderloins.  Small price to pay for being unchained from a desk.  You can do it. 

It helps to be a "people person".  If you're the IT guy who prefers the company of a computer to people it will be a tough transition.  My biggest problem when I got started was being too much of a people person.  I'd spend hours talking to customers about a $75 cushion (most of the conversation revolved around boats, who they were, where they were from, etc).  I made a lot of friends, not much money.  BUT, in the long run, those friends brought me lots of other work and referrals.

June

[Mike8560]

Ive worked with my hands all my life but doing this has been the longest now at 20 years sewing. And it getting burn out for me. its lost the fun. now i just do it for the money. just wondering how long it took to burn out in the IT field?

[stitcher_guy]

I HATE TIES. always have, always will. And when I was a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and marketing and public relations idiot for a trade association, I had to wear the damned ties. I got burnt out on those on day one. Also, when I was made to sit in an office, I was the first one out the door to the parking lot if someone needed jumped, or had a new car to show off. I had pictures of cars up on my office walls when everyone else had those stupid babbling brook posters with the "you can do it" poems overlaid. UGH.

Now, fast-forward 12 years (two years at the auto restoration shop, and 10 years having PRO Stitch Auto Interiors) and my definition of dressing up for church is putting on jeans and a golf shirt in lieu of my Aramark shorts and Tshirt. I'm like President Bush, I don't like ties, I don't want to wear a tie, and I'm not going to.

I don't know that I've ever had burn-out for the upholstery or for PRO Stitch. I've gotten discouraged, I've gotten overloaded, and I've gotten fed up to my eyeballs with it. But at the core of it, it's still cool. I used to write articles or do pamphlets and magazines. Ehhhhh, they're temporary. They get put on a shelf and forgotten about. The things I build now get used and appreciated and I can see the fruits of my labor at car s hows and all over town.

I'll see where I"m at in another 10 years.

[sawdustar]

Ive worked with my hands all my life but doing this has been the longest now at 20 years sewing. And it getting burn out for me. its lost the fun. now i just do it for the money. just wondering how long it took to burn out in the IT field?

Mike,

It doesn't take long any more to get burned out in IT. Most companies put associates on "salary" instead of paying by the hour. Used to be, my short weeks were 80 hour weeks and some every reach 120 hours in a single week, then add in the next weeks 80 hours or so and you have 200 hours of IT work in a 2 week period and nothing but a paycheck to show for it. Coming to work every day and hating it every day isn't fun. Now we are expected to work longer hours, do more work, get more done, with far fewer people.

I get called when I'm on vacation, when I'm on my "weekend off" as well as when I'm supposed to be "sleeping" only to help someone through a problem or having to get back in to work because others on your team can't do the work or simply refuse to do the work because it's too "hard". Give me a friggin' break.!!!! These younger punks have no idea what it's like to have to do any real work or to need to fully analyze a serious computer system problem on their own. They are the ones that are college graduates....not me. Shoot, I'm supposed to be totally stupid....because I don't have a piece of paper that proves I suffered through college long enough to get that piece of paper. Every day, I find clear proof that a college degree does NOT mean you know how to do the work.....and many prove every day that they do not know "how" to think through a serious problem to devise a real solution. You try and teach them how....and they don't want to know...because it's too hard and they don't want to know any way because "you" are always around to fix the serious problems.....and all the ones that they don't want to fix.

So....no......it doesn't take long to get burned out. More and more IT shops are nothing more than high tech sweat shops. I know....I work for one.

[JuneC]

I get called when I'm on vacation, when I'm on my "weekend off" as well as when I'm supposed to be "sleeping" only to help someone through a problem or having to get back in to work because others on your team can't do the work or simply refuse to do the work because it's too "hard". Give me a friggin' break.!!!! These younger punks have no idea what it's like to have to do any real work or to need to fully analyze a serious computer system problem on their own. They are the ones that are college graduates....not me. Shoot, I'm supposed to be totally stupid....because I don't have a piece of paper that proves I suffered through college long enough to get that piece of paper. Every day, I find clear proof that a college degree does NOT mean you know how to do the work.....and many prove every day that they do not know "how" to think through a serious problem to devise a real solution. You try and teach them how....and they don't want to know...because it's too hard and they don't want to know any way because "you" are always around to fix the serious problems.....and all the ones that they don't want to fix.

So....no......it doesn't take long to get burned out. More and more IT shops are nothing more than high tech sweat shops. I know....I work for one.

OMG... You just reminded me of what I left behind.  Sooooooo glad to be out of that.  Gimme a rounded out stainless screw any day of the week.  I'll have at it with my angle grinder  ;D 

June

[sofadoc]

After more than 30 years, I can honestly say that I'm not "burnt out". BUT, I can't really say that I still get that warm fuzzy feeling about my work like I used to.
To me, it's a means of income doing something that I enjoy.
I actually envy some of the noobs who post on this forum. They seem so enthusiastic about their first project. They post pictures, and talk about how they can't wait to get started. I wish that I had that feeling just once more.
Back in the day, I used to take pictures of everything that I did. I would drop a 35mm roll of film into a mailer envelope, and wait 7-10 days for the developed pictures to return in the mail to me. Boy, how times have changed!
I'm not saying that you guys will ever suffer "burn out" as badly in the upholstery biz, as you may have in the IT field, but the day may come when you no longer get all giddy inside about a job.