I’m an entrepreneur with my own machining business but I also work full time at a job shop. I have conflicting thoughts with quitting my day job and going full time. I work nights and weekends like crazy and some months are great and some are slow. I have good customers but job difficulty/part amounts vary and cause inconsistent/unpredictable cash flow. I’m sure if I had the extra time I wouldn’t be so worried. Just risky.
There will always be that conflict whether to jump off the dock or not. From my experience, jumping and never looking back was exactly what I needed to fully commit to making workholding products exclusively.
Do you have a family? If not, then I wouldn't hesitate. Go for it. If you do, save up like 6-8 months worth of money that covers your base living expenses and take a crack at it.
Your in a lucky position that your producing your own product but that in its self takes balls to design and develop and sell, so when it comes to investment on new machines then if your product not selling you don't buy machines, most of us are job shops with in some cases repeat work but at the back of everyone's mind is another company under cutting to get new work for no fault but the customer wants a reduction.
I'm sure I've had some luck along the way but luck wasn't a factor in deciding to produce my own product. It was a high risk decision to fire all my job shop customers and go all in with making cutting edge workholding products. Here's my full story: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tZd2Bj-wfqk.html
@@PiersonWorkholding kudos to you for taking the risk, you solved a in house problem that helps others and created a business. I've been a job shops since the mid 80s but specialise in food production press tooling and over the many many years we try to develop our own ideas and products but then get put on the shelf because we got flat out busy on paying jobs, we've just brought our first mini mill mainly for the beauty of a tool changer, we have cnc machines but not tool change, we've been in that perpetual loop of a carrot been dangled as in we develope and prototype a part for a company then they give the production to someone set up with fancy machines even though we say we would invest if we get the work, we did a range of bits for a company in development and we costed out a doosan lathe duel spindle and duel turret and driven tools and bar feeder for 80mm dia bar and when we told the customer we can do it but want a 4 year contract because £350k tooled up would brake us they said they would do a 6 month deal but to make the 4 parts in the quantity they want would take 7 months at 6 days a week, so I still have a lathe with no tool changer and the other company that agreed to the stupid deal folded in a year. Like I said you had the balls and it's payed off 👏👏 I don't know why I missed that video, All the best with your new shop 👍.
