Myron Wooley's Blog at LumberJocks.com http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:30:20 GMT Woodworkers are the best. http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/11210 Phildo92027 stopped by this afternoon with an envelope. Inside was a much-appreciated gift that he had collected from the Cabinet & Furniture Technology Department students and faculty at Palomar College.

Thank you very much. I am blessed to have such friends.

Myron

]]> Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:30:20 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/11210 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Throwing in the towel #4: Found a job today! http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/11188 My old employer threw me a bone today and hired me back. It’s a contract position for a year or so, at a lot less than what I was making when I left, but believe me, I’m grateful for the job. Now I can look at my shop as a hobby again, instead of the reason for my misery. It’s a whole different outlook.

Providence.

]]> Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:40:54 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/11188 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Two years as a LumberJock! http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/11069 Today is my second anniversary as a LumberJock. Thank you to all of the great folks out there- I’m looking forward to many more years!

]]> Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:34:33 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/11069 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Throwing in the towel #3: Update http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/10927 I’ve had several good interviews, but no offers yet. Something has to give- being broke is a new experience, and not one that I care for.

]]> Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:09:31 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/10927 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Debadging the truck http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/10208 Wanna know what solvents to use to remove vinyl graphics from your truck?
Beer and turpentine.
Apply beer liberally to the debadger, apply turpentine to the adhesive residue. Works great!
Took me nearly five hours to clean everything off today. Smiled the whole time!

]]> Sun, 26 Jul 2009 02:01:03 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/10208 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Throwing in the towel #2: Clearing my shop (and my head) http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/10203 We have been busy this week tying up loose ends. We still had a little backlog in the shop- a dining room table to refinish, 2 antique rockers, a couple of nightstands, and a few other pieces. We have not taken on any more work- no appointments, nothing, just work on these jobs and discuss the future.

One thing that is dawning on me is that I will get my hobby back! The whole reason I went pro is because I love woodworking. Man, that is a quick way to kill your hobby. Instead of working on a project on my timeline, being pro puts you on your customer’s timeline, and that one is always shorter.

The job search is going very well. I have a couple of interviews coming up with some very nice companies in the area. All the old Quality Engineering stuff is still in my head, as is the old Process Engineering stuff. I can easily wear both hats. Tommy (my son and partner) has put in for a nice job at a local church camp. If you’re the praying type, a couple on our behalf would be appreciated.

We have had a lot of good conversations about the business- what went wrong, what we should have done differently, will we ever try again. A lot of what went wrong was just the economic downturn. Folks started hanging on to their money. We kept spending more and more on advertising and marketing- at one point we were spending nearly $2,000 a month. In good times, that should have brought in $20,000/month worth of business. Instead, we were doing a fraction of that.

What would I do differently? Start on the side, working nights and weekends. No franchise. Build a good website and use Adwords to pull traffic to it. Work the commercial market- residential sucks, plain and simple. Network locally and on-line. I got a lot of traffic from social networking sites.

Will I ever try again? Maybe…

]]> Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:57:13 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/10203 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Throwing in the towel #1: Bagging it... http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/10141 We’ve had enough. After trying to survive on hit-or-miss work for the past year, we are done. Dead broke, retirement gone. I’m going to get a job in my old field and make furniture in my spare time.
At least I still have my health and a really cool shop!

]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:16:48 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/10141 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Peace and Harmony (I hope!!) #3: Still at it... http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/8798 I’ve been away from Lumberjocks for a while now, and I thought I’d better check in with everybody!
We seem to have weathered the economic storm, but not unscathed. We came real close to throwing in the towel a few times, and things are still pretty dicey, but business is picking up.
We have shifted our focus away from residential work, and are now concentrating on commercial jobs. Residential work is usually a few hundred bucks for persnickity customers, but commercial is usually several thousand for not-so-picky folks. We just finished a large job for a local bank. Over eighty pieces of office furniture came through our shop. We cleaned it, touched it up, and topcoated every piece. We were thrilled to see the last piece leave!

]]> Sun, 17 May 2009 21:57:10 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/8798 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Peace and Harmony (I hope!!) #2: A lot of lessons learned! http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/5776 Well, we’ve been in business since July 1, and it’s been quite an experience. I’ve learned a lot more about business than I thought.
First, there are not enough hours in a day. After we get back from appointments, there is the admin side: billing, sales calls, payroll, reports to write, and on and on.
Second, if you don’t market, you don’t sell. I have internet ads going, newspaper ads, postcard mailings, Chamber of Commerce appearances, vehicle signs, anything I can think of.
Third, the shop doesn’t clean itself. And an unorganized, dirty shop is inefficient and therefore expensive.
Fourth, cheap tools aren’t. It’s one thing to buy cheap when you’re a hobbyist, but as a pro, the equipment must be reliable and effective. Brands like Festool, Grex, Accuspray, and others of that high echelon have started to appear in my shop. Lesser brands cost too much in the long run.
And fifth, being in business for yourself is really, really scary. When you can no longer count on that fat corporate paycheck to pay the bills, a new sense of urgency appears, and it tends to dominate your thoughts. I have had to be careful to spend time with my family, and not let the business be all-consuming.

]]> Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:54:21 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/5776 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley Peace and Harmony (I hope!!) #1: A new start as a pro http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/4539 Today was the last day of my career as a Sr. Quality Engineer for a medical device manufacturer. This day has been a long time time coming, and it brought up a lot of mixed emotions.
I am now a professional in the field of furniture repair and restoration. My son Tommy and I have gone into business together and purchased a Furniture Medic franchise.
We will be traveling to Memphis in June for training, and our shingle goes up June 23.
Wish us luck!

]]> Sat, 03 May 2008 01:27:16 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/MyronW/blog/4539 Myron Wooley Myron Wooley