Posted By Jon Olson on 12 May 2009 06:24 AM
Will work for beer

REVEREND!!!  


In knew I liked that guy.....

Jonathan,

I just read the post with the link. Are you an experienced fabricator or do you really need help getting started? I guess I am a little confused now.

Thanks for the response.. the ads where in the mag and online... it was under dke and probably under douglas klotz.  i am comfortable with deals but it kills me that i am paying $10 a sq ft... then linear foot of edging with is 7-15 depending on the edging!  i think i can help my bottom line by going to az rock or utah for surface fab!

thanks

thanks... i really have no overhead.. i sit at home and go to sales calls.. right now i have someone fabricating for me and then I install... i have a guy to help me install and i pay him by job... i dont have equipment fees, lease, bills etc, and i get to write off 500 sq ft a month out of my house... it is a good deal but i think if i fabricate i can make soooooooo much more... thanks for the reply!

sincerely

Jonathon Klotz

thank you so much david

i am looking to go to az school and the place in utah to make sure i know what i am doing... i have a good thing with my people fabricating they do good work but slow... and i see that a third of my money is going to fabricate that is why im looking to switch..

thank you for the help

Jonathon Klotz

sorry andy for being so vague,,,, i am a former importer who is getting killed by the economy so I am hoping to get into fab.  I have a place to cut it for me but I am thinking about doing it myself.  Just seeing what I can do or if it is worth it.  By the way this is a great site.. been a fan since last year!

Jonathon,

Reading your post you say you have a good thing with you people fabricating for you and then you install. IF it's working good for you why not continue with it the way things are. If your good at selling that may be your strong point, trying to do it all may just be the thing that does you in. Don't be greedy. The grass isnt aways greener.
You say they are slow at fabrication, slow for who? If the tops come in and there flawless making your job all that easier and you in turn do as equal a good job on the install, sound like a win win.
The money your making is all realetive to the work your doing, you think you can make more by doing it all. When your doing the fabricating who's gonna be selling and installing?

House,

I kinda agree with Steve. You can make more money in sales than you can fabricating. The tools alone are expensive and material handling for one man is going to be tricky. Some manage, but it is typically better for a two man operation.

Glad you like the FabNet.

I agree with Andy, I would much rather sell than sand

No doubt by now you have figured how long it will take to fabricate a kitchen.

Double It.

 

Unless you plan to let the sales calls and client service phone calls go unanswered.

If you plan to fab with hand tools, you are may well change your mind about this process quickly.  I did.  The only sane way to consider bringing stone fabrication in house on a micro scale is by incorporating automation.  Let the machines be your partner in fabrication.  Work more between the ears and less with your back. 

Material handling will be an issue unless you have a helper who is always right there, or a good overhead crane set-up.  I can fabricate solid-surface  (even EOS) and rarely need help handling.  But stone is a different animal.

 

just my 2cents.

Thank you all for your comments. As of now I have 3 different companies doing fabrication for me! They have at least 10+ years experience. To me I am paying a lot to have the countertop fabricated. I do the sales, and have my own crew doing the installations including myself. I just feel that the money that I am spending on fabrication can be better put to use by putting it in to my own fabrication and facility. Especially right now where people are fabricating and installing material for $25 a square foot. Was just trying to figure out if getting the tools or buying a going out of business fabrication shop was a good idea for me and my business! I am still on the fence. Im better at business and sales than actual work hahaha.

And to clarify, I do have overhead but I meant that I dont have a shop yet and I pay the other companies to fabricate and my guys to install when I Have jobs and that is usually absorbed by the down payment, or at least the majority of it!  Just looking for advice if it is good to transition to sales and farming out work or going head on to Fabrication, sales etc!

House 66, I would suggest buy one of those slabs and a starter kit of tools..maybe use the ones you use on install and fabricate you first showroom piece...make a u-shape, etc..I am not rich enough to buy a shop to see if i would like it..Its kinda like this I did just that I was an installer of exhibits and CT's, etc..Love to do alot of laminate work, then SS..Then I just decicded to fabricate and control a little more...I wanted to make my type of countertops..not what everyone else was having me install..so i did it and its tough and I love the hell out of it

I still cant tell if Im doing business or enjoying my hobby..but thats for you to decide..we got your back as far as experience and advice goes..but your gonna have to foot the bill...

Posted By Gene McDonald on 28 Oct 2009 05:30 PM

I still cant tell if Im doing business or enjoying my hobby..but thats for you to decide..we got your back as far as experience and advice goes..but your gonna have to foot the bill...

Gene.  What you said struck me as being funny as hell.  Someone ask me yesterday, What i did for a living, and for the first time, I just paused and said, I really don't have a clue, I guess just make people happy.

I have had a run of working for the most fun older people ever. It started out working for this 92 year old lady, she has her scotch every night, and plays bridge 4 times a week. I tore out her old Corian top, cracked and yellowed and replaced it. She ask me if i was wondering why she would replace her countertop at age 92. She told me it had been on her to-do-list for years, but after she watched "that" movie... she decided to put it on her "bucket list" . The fun only got better when I told her how to file her 15 yr warranty!!!!!

Kelsey, Thats great.. Wow..thats something to put on your resume...'Our Countertops are so great they are on many customers Bucket lists"

who da hell can compete with that??