Remember that old saying “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life?” Well, when too many days in a row end with you only feeling the work and none of the play, it is time to change something. Consider starting this new year with a question: Are you mostly working or are you mostly playing?

At Southern Stitch, we have been trying to figure out the next chapter for our company. After 20-plus years in this industry and more than 11 years in business for ourselves, with a half-dozen crew members and all the good and bad that comes with that, we hit a point where everything was becoming too much work and we felt the joy slipping away. We knew it was time for a change so we could get a feeling of playfulness back in our lives.

Saying “yes” too often

Like many other first-time shop owners, we started out by saying “yes” to every project that we could stitch. Trying to build a name and a business, along with paying the bills, feeding the family and providing shelter, creates tremendous pressure to say “yes” to everything that comes your way.

Our thinking was, “We have to stitch what we have to stitch to pay the bills.” But in doing so, we lost track of why we started our canvas and upholstery shop in the first place. We lost sight of the types of projects we have a passion for, which is what makes this business more play than work! We were overloaded with projects coming in, getting estimates out, streamlining shop production to eliminate re-work, and trying not to spend too much time on items the “leader” shouldn’t be dealing with. Any of this sound familiar?

Choosing a new direction

With the business model I’ve described above, along with losing team members whom we invested more than six years in, we decided to step back, slow down and get back to basics. With the new direction of the shop in focus, we started drilling down into the numbers and the markets we serve. For example, instead of doing a panel job on non-luxury vehicles, we now offer only completely new aftermarket cover replacements on those projects. Panel replacements on luxury vehicles are much more profitable. We knock out quick canvas T-tops and re-glass jobs for enclosure panels because those are also projects we love to do.

Streamlined communication is key

To do more of the items we enjoy, our shop processes needed to flow correctly to make it possible for us to strike the irons when they are hot. Those hot irons are the clients who walk in, appreciate the craft and are willing to pay a fair shop rate for the hours we will be putting into their projects. With these factors in mind, we have made some changes that fine-tune the next chapter of our business and the services we offer.

An important change we made is getting a voice-recorded phone menu that plays when customers call. We found a local communications company that sets up lines with menu options. The system is internet-based, and since most shops already have internet charges as a fixed expense, it is not an additional expense.

When clients call, they automatically hear our “Thank you for calling” message, then are presented with six possible departments and the current lead times for each department:

• Aftermarket leather
• SeaDek
• Marine canvas
• Marine upholstery
• Commercial canvas and upholstery
• Accounting

We chose these specific departments after breaking down our numbers to see what type of projects we needed to do to be profitable and, just as importantly, these are the types of projects we enjoy doing the most.

The beauty of our phone system is that when customers choose a department, they already have heard the lead times and know upfront they will be waiting “X” amount of time for a desired service. This really helps cull people who are just calling around to check prices and those who want to talk about their projects, even though we can’t help them with it. When we put this new phone system in place, our spam calls dropped by 90%.

This simple change in how we receive shop calls has freed up time that we now use to get out our preferred jobs. It also means customers hear the range of services we provide and if they are still interested, they can press a number to be forwarded to that department head’s cell phone. Which, because of another major back-to-basics step we took, is now me.

Simplify where you can

We decided to move to a one-man shop, and now every call is forwarded to me. This works great because thanks to our new phone system, we are not wasting time with price shoppers, “need it now” folks and spam calls. I think the owner/operator is the best person to prequalify a customer and to ballpark the cost of a project.

And even though we’re back to being a one-man shop, our new phone system allows us to maintain the appearance of a first-class shop with many moving parts. This is something that sets us apart from our competition.

I have now gotten back into the rhythm of vetting calls and talking to potential customers to see from the start if we will be conducting business together. This has freed up so much time from the busy system we used to have in place for dealing with our leads, estimates and administrative duties that we have more time in front of the sewing machine and with our customers. This is critical because it is where our happy place is, and it is also what pays the bills.

Slowing down and spending more time on the details has really allowed us to discover the joy of having our business again.

Make your shop a place to play

I challenge you to take a step back, slow down and think about what you really enjoy about your work. Try to schedule a manageable workload that provides some work/life balance. Improve one small operational process that you have had on your “to-do” list that you keep pushing off. This momentum will bleed over into other areas that could also use a little attention.

We all need to make sure we are still putting effort into our shops and not just into our products. Our shops are our second homes. There is no reason we should be coming into playtime with a “work” cloud hanging over us. So as this new year of business gets underway, I urge you to ask yourself: Am I working or am I playing? If you don’t like the answer, it might be time to make some changes. 

Steven Wayne is the owner of Southern Stitch Canvas & Upholstery LLC in Gulfport, Miss. He has been serving the canvas and upholstery industry for more than 20 years. He serves a large boating community, showcasing quality marine fabrication. He subscribes to the old saying “If you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life.” Wayne is a current MFA Advisory Board member.