newbie!!!!!!!Question??

[bigern26]

Hi all I am new here. i have a few questions that you might not be able/want to answer but here goes. I am thinking about opening a fabricating shop and i was wondering how about doing that? Where do I find jobs? How could I go about getting contract production jobs from other companies?
I weld mig and arc
Any help would be greatly apreciated

[tacmig]

Your question is well received but unfortunately very loaded and all of us here have helped in many ways to this exact question. However, I will tell you that perhaps the best advice you can get is from a small business adviser. Welding in itself as you may already know is very broad and covers practices like art to aeronautics and much more in between. Knowing your skill and how you want to apply it is one thing, having a business strategy is entirely another. Both have many, many considerations you must ponder and I feel this is best left between you and a professional small business adviser who can learn much more about you in person than you could receive on these boards and spend the time necessary to help guide you in the right direction. With that said, any type of help you need in the trade of welding can be found here. There are experts in lots of fields that I have helped and in return helped me.

Good Luck,

TacMig

[tnjind]

Hello, welcome.
I work a "normal" 40+ hour/week job and fab. on the side. I work alot. Going to work were I am responsible for the plant equipment and possibly my workers lives, then coming home and working in the shop, even when I am dead tired is normal, but very stressful.
7:00am to 10:30pm gets old, like tonight. But I enjoy doing what I do and having companies using me, in my side fab. work, because of my quality is very rewarding to me.
I guess what I am trying to say is , it isn't easy but if you really want then it is worth it.
Beat on bussinesses doors, be persistant, do ONLY quality work, and most important take pride in your work and be professional in appearence and attitude.
My advice may not help, but I hope it does.
Good luck.

[KBar]

Bigern26

Welcomne to the board

Tac and Tim gave very good answers. I would also like to add that you might want to come up with a business plan. How you want to start, where you want to be in 5 years from now, etc, etc. There are many books to help with this. There are so many things to take into consideration, supplies, insurance, utilities, rent, equipment breakdowns, sickness just to name a few.

I always said the best form of advertisement was by word of mouth. Does your town have craft fairs or trade shows, anything where you could sell or show off some of your work ? Another option which I have used, each town decorates their Main St somehow whether it be holidays or springtime by putting things on utility poles. Find out who is in charge and offer to make a few things, donate them and have them run an ad in their newsletter with your business name.

As far as production jobs, make up a form letter explaining what you are capable of, your location, how you would be of importance in helping a company out by doing their welding, anything else you can think of. Call the companies you plan to visit a week ahead of time and make an appointment to stop in and see the person you need to talk too. You could even weld up a little trinket type thing to hand out, like a business card holder or something, make sure your name & number is on it though. I have salesmen stop in unannounced at my job and to be honest, it is very annoying.

I hope this information helps you