In a message dated 11/4/98 11:51:29 AM Pacific Standard Time, fcahill@erols.com writes: << Hello Clyde, I live in the suburbs of Washington DC. There are more two income families here than ANY place in the USA. I tune every monday, tuesday, wednesday, and thursday night. Those night appointments book up first; day appts are much harder to fill. Could I charge extra? I doubt it. If my rates are too high, they will find someone else. Yes, there are some tuners who work M - F during the daytime only, but not many. Most either work nights or weekends or both. If you have more work than you can handle, to worry about it. If you want to work extra, charge extra if you can. Here, there is too much competition. Also, there are quite a few "tooners" from the various miltary bands. Some may be ok, but most don't seem to have much of a piano technology background, judging from the repair work I have seen. Even so, they are still competition. So it just depends on where you live. I understand that RAndy Potter, who lives in central Oregon, has only one or two competitors. Our PTG chapter is the second largest in the USA. No shortage of techs here! -- Frank Cahill Associate Member Northern Va Build the business the way you are comfortable. When I started, I would tune any day except for Sunday, unless it was contracted concert work. As my business grew, I tailored it for tuning M-F, with Sat and Sun off. Since I do rebuilds as well, I tune M, W, F, and T, Th in the shop. Sometimes it varies, but I do my best to balance out the rebuilding and tuning. I stay busy this way, and besides, I have a life besides pianos. I do not worry about the competition. Most of my work comes through referrals, and there are plenty of pianos out there to work on. Food for thot. Dave Peake, RPT Portland, OR
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