Job Security

Let’s face it, we have an awful lot of competition for people that might buy the products and services we make available at our gunsmith shop. The best way to combat that competition and to establish job security is in the use of the talents that you have versus that of the competition. One has to keep in mind that all Yankees think they are the world’s best mechanics.

If this were not so then people like the automotive parts houses, the building supply houses, and the publishers of the "how to do it" books and videos would all be out of business.

The blue collar and even the white collar person that doesn’t want to pay the professional rates for an auto mechanic, plumber, electrician, or gunsmith are going to buy that "You Can Too!" book and watch that You Tube video and presume he (it always seems to be a he in this case) is ready to try with the competence of tradesman with years of experience. That’s the American Way, thankfully.

It’s also the American Way to be able to freely practice your trade and this often makes for good business as the "natural mechanic" finally realizes he’s over his head and ends up calling the professional in to finish the job. In some ways, guns are different than cars or plumbing The owner of a few firearms is entering afield that in spite of the "how to" market doesn’t carry him much beyond the disassembly of any given gun.

Oh sure, he can get them apart, lose a detent ball or spring, mess up some screws and such, but fixing them right is beyond his limited ability. And so, hat in one hand, the bag of parts arrives at your shop. The plaintive plea of to get the gun back together is the order of the day. Sorting out this kind of thing is not what I like to think gunsmithing is all about, but it is apart of our lives.

We do it and usually spot the trouble that could have been fixed easily if he had not tried playing gunsmith in the first place. Don’t laugh at him for this is what you are in business for. Besides, if he’s in your shop asking for help there is no need for a reminder. By reassembling the gun with a professional persona you do several good things. Remember that he turned to you in desperation.

You are going to rescue him while simultaneously earning your reasonable shop rate that he’ll now gladly pay while thanking you for it. Be supportive and provide assurance that you will make everything right to ease his fears, even if you secretly realize you’re repairing a completely avoidable mistake.

Second, if he is anew customer you are going to acquaint him with your shop and impress him with your ability to save his gun, while possibly also upselling him on work that will be genuinely beneficial to him and improve the firearm. If you perform quality work and only sell services that are legitimately beneficial, you’ll make a customer that will likely share his good experience with his friends and bring in more work in the future.

Job security in this business is talent, ability, know how, and quality work, all provided with a professional demeanor and at a fair price. Compare your prices with local plumbers, electricians, and car shops for rates as well as to other gunsmiths to have a handle on pricing. As long you’re comparable (you don’t have to and should not merely sell by undercutting pricing) your job security will be maintained by consistently doing a good job in a timely manner.

One of the greatest and most helpful competitors we have comes in a small bottle—cold blue. Cold blue has helped me sell more bluing jobs than all the wear and rust combined. The Yankee mechanic gets a bottle from a discount store along with a few sheets of emery paper. After all, how hard could it be? He proceeds to do a nice job of polishing the old finish off and then, wonder of wonders, manages to ruin the gun with the "so easy, anybody can do it" cold blue solution.

Now he is standing sheepishly in your shop trying to convince you his kid did it. Don’t argue or criticize. Show him a blue job you’ve done and tell him you’ll be happy to provide the same professional result to save his gun. A few words on bluing. Blue jobs can be highly competitive in this industry. There are commercial bluing operations that might be able to price their work at up to half what you get. In my experience, their work usually ranges from not great to pretty sad. How do you compete?

Turn out the most perfect blue job you can and don’t attempt to have a range of prices. Charge enough so that you can

spend the amount of time necessary to do a job that you can be proud of. Remember, you are the craftsman and there are always good customers that want the best. I would rather do one $220 job than three $100 jobs because trying to undercut means either working at a minimal margin (which turns into a loss if something goes wrong) or turning out an inferior product. Let your blue jobs speak for themselves. Regardless of the pits, never buff out serial numbers or model-make stampings.

Tell your customer that is your policy. Do it right so that everyone who sees your work realizes that this is the work of a craftsman. Sometimes all it takes is a little extra step to make the work appear even better. Guns in for general repair should always leave your shop cleaned even if that wasn’t explicitly ordered. I take the little extra time to buff up the cartridge lifter or breech block a bit to give it that little extra touch. Your customer will notice it and likely appreciate it. And he will be back!

Job security comes from all of this and even a little more. It’s what you do and how good you do it, along with a smile, that ensures your continued success. What’s Needed I operate an independent shop and write all my columns with the small gunsmith and serious hobby gunsmith in mind. The larger firms have already taken into consideration business issues.

Given the size and volume of their business, bigger companies have been able to procure the protection that us little guys do not always have even though we might have just as much need. Realize that a gunsmith can potentially be opening up their business to a lawsuit with every repair and job taken in. It seems almost common that a business has to contend with small claims courts Don’t undermine a would-be gun crank turning to you for help after getting in over his head.

Your own good work is the best form of advertising. Insurance is critical as one mistake can put your entire shop in jeopardy. Get your spouse involved and keep them involved! or, even worse, circuit courts because someone thinks they have a valid legal claim for whatever reason. This might be a result of a disagreement with you charging your standard shop rate for the completed job that was agreed upon in advance to them having a negligent discharge with a gun you repaired.

Or they may simply be a plain ornery, ill informed so-andso that insists you stand before a judge to defend your business and work. This can be made worse of the judge doesn’t know anything about guns (fairly likely) and/or doesn’t like guns (also quite possible) and those feelings can hurt you, your business, your reputation, and your bank account. If it is bad enough, this could put you into the "Chapter 7/11 Club" with a levy against you and force you to close shop in bankruptcy.

It goes without saying that you need to be as sure as humanly possible to do every job correctly, safely, and profitably. Do everything to ensure that any mishap that leads to court is not your fault due to something you overlooked. As an example, let’s say you rebuild an old Damascus-barreled shotgun that was due for the wall along time ago but the customer wants it restored.

It looks nice, you want the job, and the customer has convinced you he fully understands to never let anyone ever shoot modern ammunition in it. Inevitably, somebody does, gets injured, and you’re the bad guy for putting a dangerous gun back into circulation. Even if you can effectively explain all this to a judge that might not have ever held a shotgun, can you prove it?

Let’s say you went the extra mile and have it in writing on your professional advice with the customer’s signature in agreement that they fully understand the danger and their agreement to prudence. While this provides some legal leverage, you’re still wasting time and money defending yourself. Even if this doesn’t permanently damage your reputation and lead to bankrupting attorney fees, nothing good will come of it. Unfortunately, we live in a time where suing someone seems a popular pastime.

While it is a shame, it can be mitigated with a wise dose of CYA. Realize that every job has a potential lawsuit attached and practice preventative gunsmithing as a common shop policy. The hobby gunsmith is particularly vulnerable because he is anxious to get more jobs regardless of current qualifications. It’s a Catch 22 dilemma: qualification only comes after experience and you can’t get experience without doing jobs but a lesser qualified gunsmith should avoid taking on jobs they aren’t ready for.

While caution is your first line of defense, the only real way to protect yourself is paying for adequate insurance which the beginning gunsmith can’t afford until first doing enough business to warrant the cost. But taking on even one job makes a gunsmith potentially liable. Consider this situation. You fix a sear engagement on a bolt action shotgun. The job is good with no problems. However, the customer

then takes it to the range and feeds high brass loads into it while holding the trigger all the way back when he closes the bolt. The gun fires before bolt is fully locked and it unwinds and comes roaring back. Result, physical injury to the customer and you are in court. You may face a judgment against you even though it was not based on the work you did but on the fact that you did not warn the customer this could happen. If you did warn him, do you have it in writing? Accidents happen.

You could put a buttstock on a reblue job, think you have the stockbolt in tight but for some reason it was not. The customer fires the gun, the stock shifts under recoil, and takes out a chunk of flesh from his hand. You are in court. I believe gunsmiths need a group liability insurance plan. To do this we should have a national group as a guild and be members of it to represent several hundreds (or thousands) of would-be policy holders to an insurance company.

In an ideal world, gunsmiths would unite as a professional trade guild to make available professional services such as legal and insurance. However, I’m not holding my breath. Most of us are very independent types, perhaps to a fault. Could a large company such as Brownells get something like this started, offering group type liability insurance specifically useful for gunsmiths with reasonable rates?

It would make it more affordable and could be a life saver (or, at least a business saver) be it a judgment for $5,000 or $5,000,000 along with the battery of lawyers that such large group coverage spanning the nation could provide. Ask The Spouse I know I’m showing my age in presuming gunsmiths and their customers are predominantly male but that was the case way back when I started.

Obviously, good gunsmithing and good shooting can be done by anyone and everyone willing to learn and this applies to us all, regardless of gender. This is my take and experience, but please change up the roles here to best suit you. For several years, a practicing gunsmith will have spent many hours after dinner, missed some good television, and pretty much made your spouse a gunsmith widow or widower.

You banged up the kitchen table, got lots of smelly solvents around, and dirtied up the sink with few, if any, complaints. After all, your burgeoning hobby gunsmithing kept you out of the bars and off the streets. She at least knew where you were and what you were doing. In this she was happy and the few extra dollars you gave her was a small reward for leaving you alone. Your spouse understands your dreams better than you think.

She is also smarter than you think (she married you, didn’t she?) so be open with all of your intentions. Make it clear of how you want to grow your gunsmith work, how you’ve mapped out making it a good business, and what you can both expect things to progress. A good marriage is a partnership. Treat your spouse as an equal partner and fully acquaint her with all the facts as you have them so that her views and positions may be taken in to consideration.

If your spouse is not sold on or happy with your decision to go full time, you have a hard road to travel right at the start. No sane person relishes the risk of giving up a stable job to go full time into an unknown venture. This will be much worse if they don’t fully understand or approve of your moves. One way to help your spouse believe that your desire to move ahead will be a good decision is to know before hand that you can realistically draw take home pay that is at least close to what you are giving up.

A lot of people running small businesses do not draw a fixed salary. I don’t consider this intelligent. I draw a certain amount each week and hand it to my wife as I did before I quit my previous job. This has a psychological effect on your spouse as they see no danger in loss of income and their fear of any failure starts going away. Fixing a salary also gives you an idea of what you are going to have to do business wise to produce that income. Having done your due diligence, you start.

You are able to meet your salary weekly and things look good. Great, you are on the first step of reaching that dream. As business grows some situations and problems inevitably crop up. Who do you turn to? Your spouse. First, who else will listen to you? You need a sounding board and just telling her about your problems, forcing yourself to fully explain the issue can by itself be helpful. Two heads are better than one so having someone else’s fresh perspective can also be helpful.

A spouse that was initially agreeable to your plan who is then kept in the dark about your business and your problems can’t be of help and will have good reason to become resentful. I’ve found most women have a keener perception of people and situations than men do. In addition to the useful extra insight, your recitation of the day’s happenings shows you are keeping her in the loop. You are partners, so keep it that way. AG