I don't see why not. Believe me, if I could make a living working 15 - 20 hours a week I'd do it in a NY minute. Lots of other things to do in this life. For many people that's plenty of time for banging your head inside a piano. As in any endeavor your goal should be the highest quality service. While there can be a relationship between time input and skill development it is not necessarily proportional--at least not after a point. How much work time you commit per week is not really relevant, in my opinion. Anyway, a sparse and uncertain marketplace may preclude a full time commitment anyway, at least one that earns income. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of david at piano.plus.com Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 6:50 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Ethics and efficacy of part-time tuning Nice thoughts, David. The situation I'm describing from my personal perspective is a bit different, though. In the 80s I was working two jobs too. Then the opportunity of a secure well-paid permanent job in teaching opened up. I felt that I would be foolish not to take it, so I did. Thus, for me, tuning has remained a useful second income, rather than being developed into a fulltime occupation. Is that bad? I fill a geographical niche, offering a service of a quality that discerning customers seem to like. Is it OK to keep doing that? Or must there be an all-out effort (in a sparse and very uncertain marketplace) to become a fulltime tuner/technician? Best regards, David. >When I started out I was working two jobs while the piano business >developed. Eventually I was working 7 days a week and at a certain point >you just have to make a choice unless your other job can be phased out >(which, fortunately, mine was able to be). Under the best of circumstance >it just takes time to develop enough of a clientele to support yourself, >your family and the other self employment expenses that go along with it >such as retirement, health insurance, etc.. The government doesn't like >self employed people and they don't make it easy. >David Love >www.davidlovepianos.com
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