Running a successful business means being on the same team as your customers and employees. During the busy season, this can be challenging. I was reminded of this by my son who works at a restaurant that’s open seven days a week. The food is wonderful and the place is always packed, but the restaurant is on the brink of failing because it’s simply too busy to give the staff any breaks, the chef/manager is overwhelmed, and workers are threatening to leave. 

This issue of Marine Fabricator is about caring for and about all of your customers—both internal and external—so you are producing high-quality projects while running a business that is sustainable and profitable for everyone. “Averting Trouble on Land and Sea” discusses how to keep your team safe no matter where you’re working. In “Quality Start,” Steven Wayne, Southern Stitch Canvas and Upholstery, discusses the top business lessons he’s learned in the decade he’s been running his shop. “Well Upholstered” presents detailed solutions from veteran fabricators that solve tricky upholstery challenges.

Keri Ames, Yachtsman’s Canvas and Marine Canvas Training, provides dodger design tips from a sailor’s perspective. Mike Boatman, Boatman Marine Canvas, offers tips for removing boat interiors for upholstery jobs and our business column discusses the future of teamwork and employee talent.

It’s easy to forget about individuals—employees and clients—when you’re up to your ears in work and feeling pressured to get things out the door. But the success of your business depends on those individuals, and they depend on the success of your business to achieve their goals as well. As former NBA athlete and coach Phil Jackson once said, “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”