[Jewelry making - Article 01220] - Re: [Orchid] [Michigan] Repair trade shops?

[David L. Huffman]

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Hi David;

    Thank you for the compliments. I have often referred people to buy
    your pricing book and CD's, thinking that this would save me the job
    of educating them on how to take in and price repairs and custom.
    It's got to be one of the best, if not the only tool of it's kind out
    there. I know a lot of retailers, and trade shops for that matter,
    are just guessing when it comes to prices. 

    No, I'm not getting anything for endorsing here, and I was even one
    of the skeptics when David first came out with his book. I only have
    one account now that I know of using it, but I haven't asked some of
    the others. It's worked out well for both of us. 

    I must confess, part of the reason I get paid a little more than
    most trade shops isn't the quality of work. I hope it's a big part of
    it though. I field a lot of the work that the retailers don't know
    how to do, like diagnosing what repairs are needed beyond the simple
    and obvious, and also handling all the aspects of custom work, from
    design to manufacture to pricing. Whereas I'm not the cheapest, I
    might be one of the more helpful. My customers do like my work, but
    I'm sure there are other jewelers running trade shops who are just as
    good. I just don't see how they could be any cheaper than I am. It
    just takes too much time to do careful work. 

    I remember David saying that you could go broke running a trade
    shop, and from what I found out from experience, yes, he was right,
    you definitely can go broke, or else you can work yourself to death
    to eek out a meager existence. That's about when I got lucky. 

    I don't deserve a lot of credit for my success. Before I had time to
    accumulate a lot of basic repair accounts, I found a lot of new
    kinds of customers coming to me, and I saw that it was the kind of
    work I could charge more for. In fact, I needed to charge more for
    it. I had designers who didn't know that much about making jewelry,
    or wanted to design beyond what they had learned to make, so they
    needed somebody who could work out the technical parts and still keep
    the character of their creative work. And I got jewelers who had
    pretty good skill sets, but they'd heard I had a lot of experience,
    so they send me work when they think I can do it better than they
    can, for one reason or another because of some of the things I'm
    particularly good at. Finally, there are jewelers who get buried in
    custom work for their own customers, so they send me repairs to get
    them out of their hair, knowing I won't keep them too long or screw
    anything up. I'm kind of a worry-free pressure valve for them. It's
    all worth a little more for these people to have me solve problems
    for them and do it consistently. These people pay me a little more
    because I'm picky about the work, and I'll spend a lot of time with
    them to get it right. And, of course, the accounts that do send me
    basic repairs count on the good turn around time, the quality, or
    accountability therein, and, again, a lot of problem solving. I guess
    they don't feel shopping for a cheaper trade shop is worth the risk.
    And I really do try to give them price breaks every time I can, and
    try to find options to help keep the price down, and I think they
    know that. 

    So it's all a kind of balance. There's a certain minimum level of
    quality and speed people expect, and I guess the better you can do in
    both departments, the more you can expect to charge. But, I believe,
    if you are charging more, you may also have to sweeten the pot a bit
    by being willing to extend yourself. If you're charging more, your
    accounts will expect a little more personal service, just as their
    customers expect of them. 

    I think you'd agree with me on these points that make running a
    trade shop challenging. These are things I experienced, and maybe
    I've heard you say some of them. I'm not a stickler, I'll lift
    anything useful anyone says. 

    1. You really need to know what it costs to run YOUR business and
    what you want to earn to determine what YOU need to charge for your
    work. (please excuse the caps/shouting, can't use italics). This I
    know is one of David's. 

    2. You need a lot of experience, which equates to being fast and
    efficient, or you'll either earn too little or have to charge too
    much. And you need a lot of experience to know what you shouldn't
    attempt, or you'll have to fix it when it goes ka-blooey and you
    can't charge for fixing it (if you can even fix it). . 3. You need to
    be able to make people respect your policies about payment, returns,
    turnaround and quality expectations, etc. And to do that, you need to
    keep your promises or you won't have any authority to expect people
    to play by your rules. 

    4. Just as with your home economy, beware of your debt level. You
    can underestimate how long it will take you to get out of debt, and
    it's like wearing shackles, hobbling along paying interest. Better to
    stay lean and be patient. 

    5. Expect a couple years of low pay and really hard work. Unless
    you've got a bankroll to start with, this will be your start-up
    capitalization. After that, it should get better, but if your prices
    are too low, you won't get out of the woods until you fix that. I
    actually figured this out while I was struggling along, barely making
    ends meet while people were telling me my prices were too low! Duh!
    Raised my prices... voila! I was afraid I'd lose all my business, but
    I got to the point where I was going to lose it anyway. I try to be
    smart, but thank God I'm lucky. 

    Oh, and by the way, yes, I do spiff up to meet new potential
    clients. Business casual. Jacket but no tie. Dress slacks and shirt,
    leather shoes and belt... stylish but age appropriate, shave,
    haircut, deodorant and mouthwash but no aftershave or cologne. No
    sunglasses indoors. Pretty much like a toned down Sunday Presbyterian
    out to dinner in J.C. Penney off-the-rack. Dress of choice for CIA
    agents, confindence men, and most middle age busniess types from the
    midwest. Shows that you are respectful enough to go to the trouble,
    but not in the habit of trying to impress people. I'd like to think
    it's calculated, but in reality, it's conforming, and, uhm, probably
    sincere. C'est moi. 

    Best of luck you future trade shop gladiators. 

David L. Huffman
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