this has been a very difficult year so far. My son has been having physical problems and has finally been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome. We have been going to doctor after doctor and finally have just got back from a 10 day stay in the hospital for treatment.
At the same time I have to take on work to keep pace with rent and phone etc. This has been a constant battle to get thru the work to finally get a minute to work on the hulls. Its extremely distressing as the time keeps getting longer and longer and while the patience of the two gentleman who are waiting has been generous, I am sick over not being able to stay on it. I have at this point both tops, bottom, bilge walls and one hood top and liner made. I have the bar stock for the inserts on hand and the inserts machined for at least one boat.
I have one nose piece to make and then am caught up. I have just put rent and phone for the month on a new credit card to buy time to do nothing else but work on the 2 hulls and finally get them done and end their long wait and put me out of my stress at the shop.
I have had a situation where a customer forced me to split my time between the hospital and making his part or risk a chain reaction of financial problems that I wont be able to overcome. I have to change the way I conduct business now and will be switching to more like a store setup which I have been trying to do since I started. Time and money, I never have either and have always been chasing one or the other or both. I cant continue like this and its not fair to have people wait either. So I will make parts ahead and sell what I have. If someone wants a part not in stock they can put a wanted post or pm. but I will be switching to making parts before and not after. If I cant get it done in time and lose out that's just how it will be. If this results in my not being able to support the shop then that's that. Its not worth the 12 to 15K I make to have people wait and stress over making parts especially when I don't know what the future holds and when I have to drop everything for family.
99% of the people I have sold to in the past have been great and when I have been slow most have graciously cut me slack. Some squeezed a bit and I don't blame anyone for wanting parts they paid for. I am not sure how people perceive me but the truth is I have 2 single car garage spaces that I work from. One holds molds and hulls and parts, basically storage. the other is the work area. its full of shelves on both walls and is basically a narrow space of 6 x 18 feet and is a nice hot florida garage. I work alone. So every part is made by me. all paperwork, materials gathering, parts making, boxing, and dropping off to shipping is done by me. Its not a manufacturing facility with multiple people making parts its one guy. When I get sick parts don't get made, when I have to do family things parts don't get made. I haven't been on my skis for over a year. I didn't even bother to register them this year.
I am not trying to get sympathy, I am just stating the facts. this is what it is and this is what I do. Life has been changing and I have struggled to keep pace. I have to get a regular paying job to have a steady paycheck to start paying back hospital bills and maybe this will work and maybe I can finally get time to work on the many project molds I have already started but never finished.
At worst I will have to find some way to downsize to one unit and sell just enough to be able to make parts still.
I am very thankful to all the people who have purchased parts from me and most have taken the time to drop a line and tell me they were pleased with them. Quite a few have spread the word and gotten a lot of their fellow riders to order parts too. I cant tell you how grateful I am.
thanks
Tom
