---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Over the years I have hired people to work in my shop. I got pretty good at training people to do action work. You just have to break down the steps to manageable, understandable elements like polishing capstans and front pins, cleaning parts, bushing keys, etc. I left the more complicated stuff like drilling a set of hammers or hanging them for myself. I did manage to train one gal who had been a housekeeper at a hotel (making minimum wage) to do very basic regulating and paid her double what she had been making. Stay at home Moms and retirees like to do something and are really flexible with their hours in that they don't really want full time jobs. In my area we have lost several active techs for various reasons and I am really covered up. The dealer that I work for two days a week (because he sells very high end pianos and gives me total control over what I do to prep them) was making demands that exceeded my time so I am training a less experienced tech who had not had the chance to train on high end pianos. The deal that I have worked out with the tech and the dealer is that he comes in one day a week and I supervise his tuning and regulating work. He works for free and I get paid my usual rate while I supervise/teach him and also work on other pianos. In exchange for the new tech's work the store and I give him the lower end work (and take no cut) that I don't want to do. The new tech has had a giant jump in his business, gets trained and I don't have to try to beg off on older uprights and spinets. The dealer gets more work done for the same money and is also developing a good relationship with another tech who can fill in for me when I have other obligations. I expect that this arrangement will stick through the summer when things are slow and we'll return to our normal working arrangements when things pick up in the fall. By the way I don't see the business slowing down at all. In fact I think that this particular dealer's business has picked up considerably in the last 6 months. TP ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/4b/59/5b/9b/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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