[pianotech] repeat busines--Daniel

Susan Kline skline at peak.org
Wed Aug 18 12:45:04 MDT 2010


Daniel, this may not be an entirely bad thing. Piano tuning can be 
quite amazingly flexible as a way to earn money. It combines very 
well with other things. And if you've managed to take the 
eye-blistering shine off your reputation as a tuner, it gives you the 
chance to surprise people by being better than they expected.

If a lot of promotional effort and a good business model can be 
likened to releasing the brakes on a vehicle, speeding everything up, 
then one has to remember now and then that brakes are there for a 
purpose. There's a kind of weed killer, with plant growth hormones in 
it. The dandelions grow like mad in a disorganized and uncontrolled 
way, till they run out of steam and drop dead. A business with 
advertising which is TOO good might do the same thing, especially if 
combined with platinum standard work willingly provided. As I grow 
older I increasingly want the feeling that my business is under my 
control, and not vice verse.

At the moment, I'm not working at all. I'm sitting around getting 
over Miller Fisher Syndrome, waiting for the neuropathy to leave my 
hands. It is coming pretty well, it just takes time. If one really 
wants to see the state of one's business and reputation, stopping it 
dead in its tracks at a moment's notice isn't all that bad a way to 
find out. But, as I told some of the concert folks awhile back, "I 
managed to get your attention, but I doubt I could get it to work the 
same way a second time." <grin>

In the meantime, having no commitments at all except getting 
groceries (now that I can drive again) and going to an occasional 
doctor's appointment is very destructive of excuses. If the place is 
a mess and the garden unweeded, now there's no blaming my work 
schedule and chronic fatigue.

Susan Kline

At 11:19 AM 8/18/2010, you wrote:
>The reputation of being hard to get and way too busy spreads just 
>like any other kind of reputation (like being prone to nag about 
>repeat tunings, or not returning calls, or being slipshod, or always 
>coming late, or charging a lot more than others...
>
>This is hard to admit, but I can pretty much check this whole list 
>for myself:
>being prone to nag about repeat tunings
>not returning calls
>being slipshod
>always coming late
>charging a lot more than others
>
>I didn't do these things all the time, but enough to make a 
>difference probably. I've had lots of people schedule with me 
>regularly who are actually still calling me regularly and still feel 
>I'm one of the better technicians here, but the lack of business 
>sense or even some just plain common sense has hurt my business. But 
>I've also had just as many not call back again, even though I've 
>left messages, etc.
>
>I think some of this is why I'm in the middle of a possible career 
>change. It's a painful lesson that anyone else who needs to, should learn from.
>
>daniel




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