A good problem to have - still need help!

[JohnBarton]

Well I guess this isn't the worst problem in the world but it's definitely got me staying awake at night.

I have reached the point where I have more orders than time to design and make them. I even made an announcement that I wasn't taking any more orders until October.

The problem is that I just can't turn people away. I want to be the one to make their dream case. But I can't be creative on demand and I find that I don't want to be the kind of case maker who delivers the same case in a slightly different way each time.

I really want the freedom to work on what I want to do. I want to tackle the really interesting projects and work on new techniques and new ways to do things.

I hate to say that I am bored sometimes when I have to sit down and draw a sketch for an uninteresting case. I will often give the customers a little more than they ordered just because I want to make it fun for me to design the case.

So now here is the problem: We can only make so many cases a month about 4-8 depending on the complexity. I have orders for the next 6 months or so and about 20 pending inquiries which are in various stages of design.

I need advice on how best to arrange the schedule logistically and how to deal with the idea that I am losing my ability to play and experiment due to having to "work" on only that which the customer wants.

Yes, I know Bree, I should get with the program and realize that I am in business to make money :-) You're right as always - still though........

Any help would be appreciated as to how any of you handle this type of situation.

[HorsehairBraider]

I don't know how much help this will be... I'm not in your same position because I am the only person who works for me. So, I don't have anyone to help with the labor, and my situation is quite different.

When my orders got to be so overwhelming I was working 16 hour days, day in and day out 7 days a week with no breaks, I had no choice. I had to raise my prices. I actually raised them quite a bit. This basically just slowed things down to a dull roar, but it really helped me have time to work on those special projects.

I have a line where I do the same thing over and over. And then I have a line where I take on really custom stuff - stuff where I am really pushing the limits of what I can do. I sort of do them "in between" each other. The bread-and-butter line gets precedence... but I now have enough time I can get them done and still have some time left over. So I'll set aside a day or two, although usually it's a whole weekend, where I work on the special stuff. I try and have several "sessions" a month. I tell those people ahead of time, it's going to take a while... they know what they are getting (and frankly, others who do the same work I do sometimes take *YEARS* to get an order out, so I am considered really quite speedy even when it will take 6 months) and they don't mind waiting.

I have the "special" work area at my computer desk. So when I take a break from regular work, I sit at the computer to check my emails and sort of relax, and I have the "special" stuff right here in front of me. I can't help it, I'll do a little work here, a little work there... it adds up. By the time I get ready to take a day or so to do "special" work, I've gotten a lot of the little fussy tasks done, just because they are right in front of my face during my breaks.

My bread-and-butter customers still get their work in about 2 weeks. My "special" customers sometimes have to wait a while, but since they know it up front, they don't mind - and I actually can do a little work everyday while I am taking a break. For me, this system works.

[JohnBarton]

Thanks a bunch - I appreciate it. I guess I need to stop thinking of myself as some sort of tortured artist and think of our workshop using the term I use a lot which is "custom production". Where we do bread and butter cases based off of set patterns AND also the special projects.

I need to just think of the two differently and have different schedules for each level of case.

This is the advice I was looking for because I was trying to treat each case the same as far as scheduling them.

AND I HOPE EVERYONE HERE has this same "problem" at some point!!!!

John