Joe Portale
New member
I mentor a young man as part of a Youth at Risk Program conducted by my employer. This is a good kid, that has had some bad breaks in his life. He has a strong aptitude in mechanical skills and we have tried to capitalize on this. To try to help him find his nitch, he worked as summer help in my motorpool garage and the guys loved him. My mechanics are a bunch of rough necks that drive out any student aid slakers pretty quick, but this kid cut the mustard. Unfortunatly, or fortunatly the kid learned that he hates to work on cars. (good to find out at 16 and not at 46 I guess) On one of our outings, I took him shooting a few weeks ago and he loved it. He started asking questions about a career in the shooting sports. I really do not know anything about the business end of the gunsmithing trade and was hoping to get some input from the 'smiths on this group.
I would like to know things like, industry income expectations, how long it took you to build your business, did you work for a master gunsmith before hanging your own shingle, if yes, how many years, future trends for the trade, job expectations in the future, and is the generalist gunsmith a dying breed?
If you feel more comfortable discussing business related things in private, please contact me off the list at my personal email. jportale@gci-net.com
Hopefully, after the holidays I can get this kid to sit down with one of the better self-employed gunsmiths in town. And arrange for him to tour the gunsmith school at Yavapi Community College in Prescott. But until then, I would like to hear what you guys have to say.
Thank you for your time.
I would like to know things like, industry income expectations, how long it took you to build your business, did you work for a master gunsmith before hanging your own shingle, if yes, how many years, future trends for the trade, job expectations in the future, and is the generalist gunsmith a dying breed?
If you feel more comfortable discussing business related things in private, please contact me off the list at my personal email. jportale@gci-net.com
Hopefully, after the holidays I can get this kid to sit down with one of the better self-employed gunsmiths in town. And arrange for him to tour the gunsmith school at Yavapi Community College in Prescott. But until then, I would like to hear what you guys have to say.
Thank you for your time.