Motivational speeches on the shop floor are usually short and to the point. They go something like this: "A good machinist wouldn't have a problem with that job." "What do you mean you want a set up part?" "Just make it look like the picture." "If it was easy, women would do it." "Come on, it's not brain surgery."

Well, no, it isn't brain surgery but it isn't driving a bus either. Even a novice machinist must possess a vast array of mental and physical characteristics that most normal people don't have. Mechanical inclination comes to mind first (righty-tighty, lefty-loosie) good at math (the capacity to divide small numbers by big numbers in his head), physical dexterity (able to operate a pair of pliers with one hand). Creative, abstract and psychic, the budding machinist must be proficient at deciphering lines on a paper and creating a 3-dimensional model in his mind.....all this while his Walkman is blasting in his ears!.... The list goes on.

For those machinist that decide to take the leap into the next dimension (business ownership) there is another, longer list of things that must be mastered before success can be realized. The University of Hard Knocks for Machine Shop Owners is loaded with courses that cover such things as finance, taxes, sales and marketing, psychology, advanced mathmatics, physics, chemistry, computer science, metalurgy, electronics, competition, goal setting, production control, negotiations and this list goes on also.

What's your point? The point is this, owning and running a machine shop is a complex endeavor that can be richly rewarding while concealing total catastropy at every turn. In this series I will attempt to present new and unique ways of making more money and how to hold onto it longer. We will start out next month with "The Quote" Followed by "How to Skin a Polecat"

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