WORK

 

Notes to myself on Work: 

These thoughts originated in relation to a small craft business, but many would apply to all businesses.

                                                                                                            ------T. D.              

  

 One has to decide clearly what you want to do. Is this a hobby or do you want to make money doing it? Either or both are acceptable goals, but approached by very different methods. For either goal one has to have a mastery of the skills of the craft. But to make money adds an entirely different skill set, skills many crafty people do not have nor seem very interested in learning. Don’t confuse the thrill of creativity with the business of making money. To succeed as a business you have to excel at both, artistic skills and financial savvy.

            

            A hobby is a wonderful way to spend time and money exploring things we are interested in. If we are lucky, others might enjoy our efforts as much as we do and be willing to pay us for our efforts. But generally finding and filling the needs of others for products or services is the best way to attract customers. Find an area or niche within your interests that others are willing to pay for. If one is really talented, creating a need in the market place can provide demand, but this is added effort, especially for the beginning business. Find a need and fill it.

                  

We become like those we associate with.  Find others who you admire and who excel and spend time with them and learn from them.

Every job is a self portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.

You cannot compete at the bottom of the quality scale. There is too much cheap competition at the low end.  However, there is very little competition at the top of the quality scale, largely because few are willing to put in the time and effort to achieve a quality reputation.  Work towards the top.  In the end everyone will feel better about your efforts, and it is the only arena to make real money in.

If average is good enough you might as well work in a factory. Why settle for average work. Strive to excel.

Record your work. Take pictures, keep records of time in making, sizes and ingredients. These will be valuable for promotion, future repairs and reproductions.

Spend time around quality objects/crafts.  Observe, handle and inquire about these objects.  You have to have an intimate knowledge of quality to know it when you see it and to be able to produce it yourself.

Try to learn and make your beginning mistakes on someone else’s time.  Find a job or volunteer with a shop where you can learn the quality skills directly.  Trying to stumble alone and discover the trade practices on your own is painful and slow, and in the end, very expensive.

While a formal education or training program may seem expensive and time-consuming, in the long run it is cheaper than being self-taught by trial and error.  Your doctor went through a formal education…to be a professional, you shouldn’t expect anything less of yourself.

Good intentions can conveniently mask your ignorance. Educate yourself enough so your good intentions don't fall victim to unintended consequences. You may think you can fool yourself or your client into thinking that your service is good enough. Remember someday someone else is going to look at your work with perhaps a more truthful eye.

Read everything you can on your subject. Starting a book collection on related subjects is one of the best investments you can make in your career.

While reading and talking with others is very important, there is no substitute for time doing your work.  It is the actual hands–on practice, successes and failures that teach you your trade.

Learn all you can about the related background of your career, history, social and style influences, alternate techniques etc. Slaving away doing the same old thing day after day can get monotonous. Realizing the breadth of your field will enhance your knowledge and interest in your day to day tasks.

Be sure you truly enjoy the act of practicing your work.  Can you spend hour after hour, day after day for years at it?  Are you now spending this amount of time doing it?  Many people are in love with the “idea” of being their own person…but don’t actually enjoy the many long hours required to master quality work. What we love is what we actually do with our time, being it napping or dreaming or actually working.

If you are looking for a way to make money and have decided to go into self employment for this reason…DON’T!  Very few people actually succeed in making money this way.  However, if you love your chosen work  and this process is what drives you…. money can be made.

When in doubt,  do your work.  When time seems slow, problems insurmountable, money scarce, morale down…do your work.  Only out of actual production can any reward follow.  Wringing your hands and worrying does nothing but breed more worrying.  Do something…anything.   You are not being paid to worry.  Creative actions generate product, and only products generate growth, education, experience and money.

Be careful about criticizing your competition. You may not have all the facts about why something was done with "less quality" than you would do. Perhaps what you criticize wasn't the responsibility of those you criticize. Maybe the owner/client wouldn't pay for proper work. Maybe the problem you see was not the issue the client wanted attended to.  We all are entitled to a mistake; maybe this is one that slipped through the cracks. Perhaps the best lesson to be learned here is that this flaw you see in other's work is an education in what you don't want someone to be saying about your business.

Don’t be afraid to turn away work that is beyond your skill level or area of specialty. You cannot be an expert at everything and you are not a magician. While a challenging project can be good, some projects (and customers) are just not worth the effort required.

Learn to use basic hand tools and methods first, until they are comfortable and proficient for you.  These skills are the basis of all other work and the founding principles of advanced tools.  They are also usually safer than power tools and much more enjoyable to use in a quiet shop.

While having an impressive shop with the latest sophisticated tools may be a goal, be careful about spending too much on capital overhead (tools, shop, rent, trucks, advertising etc.). Think first how many hours/jobs are required to pay for these luxuries.  Success at the end of the year is how much money you have to spend or save, not how much money you spent. Don’t be fooled into thinking that at the end of a career you can sell off your wealth in tools and retire rich. The return on used equipment is usually pennies on the dollar.

Be generous with your time and information with those sincerely interested in your skills.  Few of us created all we know from original thoughts. We got it from someone else too. For these crafts to survive there has to be a continuing educational sharing.  And besides, the camaraderie created between like minds can be what makes this work worthwhile. What goes around comes around, you will be rewarded in many indirect ways.

Use your eyes to look at your fingers each morning before you begin to work…. and be thankful that you have these wonderful body parts still functioning.  Never attempt any procedure that will endanger your health.  You cannot do your craft with a maimed body.

Honesty is always the best policy…to give less is cheating not only your customer but in the end yourself.  Your success, your future, your reputation is based on this principle.  You can fool some people some of the time…but it will always come back to haunt you.   There is nothing more powerful and attractive then an honest person.  This perception and reputation will carry you and your business through when nothing else will.  In the end, you are your product. 

The paralysis of perfection:  Perfection comes from practice. Do something. Use what you have and know. Imagine the goal and focus on the first step. Most people will never see the flaws you see. Nothing will be accomplished if you let perfection prevent you from acting.

If you would spend one hour a day, every day of the week, just one hour focused in study and research on your one particular area of interest, within a year, you will know more then almost anyone about that subject.  Find a specific area of interest to focus on, and become that expert. Just one hour a day. Get up earlier or stay up later. Just one hour of focus every day.

 Make yourself necessary to someone.   (In business matters, this is your employer and ultimately the customer).

You are now, and you will become what you think about.   Whether you think high possibilities or low…you will attain them.

When in doubt, do your work.  Doing your work, is the ONLY way to accomplishment.

Do what YOU do best.  Don’t be afraid to seek out others who do what they do best, to help you when needed. You can't be good at everything.

It helps to understand (and if possible imitate) the lifestyle of our customers. The more your customer can identify with your lifestyle the greater the possibility the bond of comfort can be built between the two of you.  This bond goes a long way to building a willingness and trust to transact business.

When the days at the bench become long and tedious and doubts arise, as is at times inevitable, remember that your craft is a privilege. Few of us are forced to do this work. We are able to choose our own profession and run it the way we choose. We are privileged.

Eye training:  learn to train your eyes to see the essence of an object. By looking and focusing on many similar objects we eventually learn to see the differences that show what is great, OK, or forgettable about the nature of such things.

Money is not your work, quality is your work, money is the by-product of quality work.

            

               Balance is an important concept to apply to all parts of our lives including work and home life. Try to see the whole picture and each part's role in that picture.  Stay in balance.

God is in the details. In the end, the details are what make the difference.

Good, Better, Best. A convenient way of categorizing objects is to rate them as good, better, and best. Strive to understand the differences and know why.

If you want more, expect more FROM YOURSELF.

"Most of the problems with the bodies and minds of the folks occupying the current culture involve an unwillingness to do anything hard, or anything they'd rather not do. I applaud your resolve, and I welcome you to the community of people who have decided that easy will no longer suffice."  Mark Rippetoe


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