The Hub

First timer setting up a website for Looth business... I am looking for recommendations for creating a website. Purchased the domain through godaddy but need to get a website up and running... Wix, godaddy, wordpress... others? Thank you for any suggestions!

Back story: I work as a Repair Tech at a Guitar Center in Florida. A gentleman brought in a 50-year-old vintage banjo where the tuning peg on the neck had broken off. I don't have the equipment in-store to do this type of repair, and I told him I'd try to find him a shop that does. I'm looking to refer him to someone experienced in these repairs where he'd ship the instrument to you (i.e., you don't have to be in FL) for evaluation, quot…

So, I’m a month and a half into this repair business and so far so good. I think I’ve got more than adequate skills to handle the physical, customers have been coming in and balancing a relationship with starting a new business is going well. But…… The scariest thing is how to handle customers and the things they love. So far, I’ve been able to test the waters on repairing fairly inexpensive, not too attached to instruments, easing my wa…

Hi everyone, I was hoping to get some advice on training opportunities. My background and situation (briefly), I’m a self-taught guitar tech and electric luthier with 3 years experience (after 20yrs office work). I have a job in a high volume guitar shop doing setups and quality checks on outgoing/sold guitars. The store does repair work but I have not been included in this, despite many requests. I do not believe this is due to skill le…

Straight Frets started an expansion into a second city with a second Plek machine at the start of 2024. The initial spot had the wrong landlords that would not honor their HVAC agreement, and subsequently the failing HVAC units made prior to 9/11 never allowed the Grand Opening Event to happen. After bailing out of the wrong spot 7 months later, we are now up and running in a much cleaner location with a brand new HVAC, much closer i…

Hey everyone. I build as a hobby but in the last couple years have been selling more and taking on commissions. As my clientele starts to branch out from friends and friends of friends to people I don't actually know, I realized I may need to consider protecting myself from a legal standpoint. The worst-case I want to avoid is someone suing me as an individual, and potentially going after my house or assets. I'm not doing repairs, so I'…

Including yourself and your employees/contractors, what is your labor cost percentage? For me it's 54%, but I'm thinking that's high? Curious what others see in your business.

I just finished a new video. Its a PowerPoint slide show with scripted narration and commentary by me. The topic is my business model and workflow system. Its about 12 minutes long. Take a look and let me know if you have any feedback good or bad. It's easy enough to edit if there is anything anybody wants me to include that I didn't think of on my own

Hey Everyone! I am on the cusp of starting my own little repair shop from home. For around 8 years I apprenticed for someone who lives about an hour from me and has maintained a busy shop from his home for close to 50 years. The experience was great. I had a never ending supply of stuff to work on and was always watching someone else work on things throughout the day. In the first few years I was going on both my weekend days and would wo…

Gibson R&R in Nashville is looking to expand our repair team. To learn more and to apply, please visit the job post on our Careers page. https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Careers/9200654307272_1/Repair-Technician-Repair-and-Restoration

I was recently contacted by a popular independent guitar in my town asking if I'd be interested in taking in some repair work from them. They do their own basic set-ups and electronics work in-house, but the owner is looking for someone to pass along the structural repairs, body work, restorations etc. that pass through his store. I'm not super-enthusiastic about the store taking a cut of the repair cost, but the increase in work volume…

I’ve heard a Facebook page can do more good than a business website for bringing in business. I’ll spare everyone my feelings about Facebook but needless to say, I’m not on it. You can’t have a Facebook business page without a personal page. I’ve thought about a simple alias just to create a business page but, it will be yet one more thing to take care of and post to. Probably not that hard but, I can’t stand Facebook. Curious to hear…

We are looking for a luthier to handle all aspects of body construction for our Professional Series instruments! Formal lutherie training or previous experience preferred. Send questions or Benedetto Employment Application (https://www.benedettoguitars.com/customer-care/#careers) to Damon Mailand, [email withheld].

Hello fellow looths! I'm in a pickle and am looking for some advice, hopefully you can help me out a bit. I currently have my own shop, repairing, doing maintenance, and an occasional build once or twice a year. I love doing it, but it's not generating enough income at the moment to be doing this full time. So far, I only get 5 star reviews and always get positive feedback from my customers, but I just don't have enough customers at the m…

I have decided to implement a fee for time spent researching and sourcing parts or project management beyond the 30 minutes I currently offer at no additional cost. Anyone else doing this? I'll report back my results for anyone who wants to subscribe to this thread.

I turned 60 in January and started wondering about retirement. I can't decide if I should retire at 62 or 67. Waiting for maximum S.S. money sounds better, but its not all about the money for me and who knows if that program won't go the way of the Dodo by then? I'll probably keep working in this biz after I retire, but at a very leisurely pace and not enough to jack up any possible retirement benefits. Are any of you out there officiall…

Entry level luthiers wanted. Looking for 1-2 new hires at each of our Lacrosse, Madison, or Milwaukee Wisconsin shops. Full time, great health/dental benefits, 401k matching. Contact Carl at [email withheld] Dave’s Guitar Shop 608-785-7704