Understanding Our Custom Sheet Metal Business

The custom sheet metal business has many facets and can be thought of as many different things. Because of this, we receive emails and calls for many different types of fabrication that we, as a sheet metal shop, may or may not be able to accommodate. However, this does not mean every job is something that is right for our fabrication shop or business in general.

With that in mind, I did something earlier this week that I hate doing. Especially in the business environment that we and many others find ourselves confronting daily.

For the first time in a long while I gave up a project that I would have given my left arm for just two years ago. However, the project had one major flaw that, up until now, I had never payed attention to and it drove me to stressful, anxiety filled places where I never want to be again. The kind of place that made me question whether or not trying to keep the doors open was even worth it in the end. The kind of job that, honestly, was too big for our tiny custom sheet metal shop to handle. A job that would have payed well, but stretched our time frames and kept the stress throttle to the maximum it could handle. Like I said, a place I never want to go back and visit.

K & E Sheet Metal is a niche custom sheet metal business that focuses on the residential HVAC markets. We are a job shop that caters to customers that need something in a pinch or small HVAC contractors requiring custom transitions or plenums when replacing a customers dwindling or broken forced air furnace.

My father and I knows this.

The problems arise when the big projects come down the pike, the rose colored glasses move down off the brow and dollar signs fall from the skies like showers in April. The lead times seem perfect and the voice on the other end of the telephone, in reassuring tones, makes everything seem like nothing will be a problem. We have plenty of time. Nevertheless,time passes quickly and small items are slowly finished. We are a one man operation pretending to be the robotic armed assembly line of the Ford Motor Company.

I take care of a few old, returning customers and before you know it the phone is ringing, the time window is closing fast, I'm working late now and on the weekend. The stress builds and nothing seems to satisfy the beast of time because there's none of it, never enough time in the day to accomplish what you need to. Why did I take this job? This is too big for our shop. I can't do this all by myself and we don't have the resources to hire any help! Get me the fuck outta here!!

In my drinking days, these kind of scenarios ended at the local pub. However, I am older now and understand this is not the way to run a business. Something needed to change and it started with me understanding what we were all about.

There is a market for the kind of custom sheet metal work we provide. K & E has been providing this service in the Greater Glens Falls area for over twenty years and we continue today. The things that I, as partner and chief fabricator, never focused on was understanding what we do. I didn't pinpoint my efforts toward the strengths we possess. K & E Sheet Metal provides a necessary service for the little guy and we--and I-- need to be proud of that fact. Not shy away from it, but embrace it. The stress of trying to be something we are not made me lose interest in the business as a whole, leaving gaps where we may have been able to grow. Instead I tried to find easy ways out, looking for ways to expand where we didn't have expertise or the money to make the proper impact. Sometimes breaking it down and starting from scratch is the best way to find your identity as a business and as human beings. Getting rid of the clutter and focusing on yourself, what you do and how you can focus your skills to help others is the best avenue. Personally and in business.

My father and I have learned the hard way that trying to be something you're not isn't the best way to find business success. Bringing a positive attitude, focusing on your strengths and producing quality custom sheet metal fabrication is what will ultimately make us successful. We may not be millionaires, but we will run a quality, well functioning business in our local community of Glens Falls, NY.

When it Rains, it Pours

After what seemed like an endless summer of dry, scorching heat. September and early October have brought the chilled, damp rains leading to the brilliant colors of a northeast autumn. For the last week there has been a steady dose of sprinkles and short, driving rainstorms. Leaving most of us miserable and wishing for the drought like conditions of June and July. For every deluge of precipitation there is an equal part of humid stillness that resides under a ceiling of clouds. The rains are lingering daily, but not consistent in any real way. You know it's there, it just may not be as heavy as you originally thought. Today I felt as if these conditions were a metaphor for what has been going on in my business for the last few months to a year. The work is there, right in front of us, but for some reason the phone stays silent, mocking me with it's shaded digital screen. And sometimes, just sometimes, there is a cascade of work for a solid week, maybe two, bringing in work from regular and new customers, only to be snatched away for the next two or so weeks. Trying to plan ahead or invest in something that may help grow our micro business becomes difficult. Pulling the trigger is a scary proposition that usually ends up tumbling to the floor like a notched sheet metal scrap.

This particular week, for example, has been stellar with quality orders, good flow of work and some decent quality leads. But will the party last? Can I expect this will continue through the winter or are we destined to be searching for work in the near future. Like anything in this world, only time will tell and we will continue to fabricate the best bespoke sheet metal that local money can buy. But can we count on a bountiful winter? We shall see.

The rains are here now, making up for lost summer watering. However, will the torrent of work and income continue or will Murphy's Law take the reigns of a few years ago. At this point, things are good and my positive mantra's will ring true for the time being. Busy is good.

Let's just hope it continues.

To Market or Not To Market?

That is the question. What do you do when your budget is consistently prefaced with the same moniker as your category of business...micro.

For 20 years our company has been void of any kind of marketing with the exception of the age old, word of mouth. Where satisfied customers roar from the hilltops of the family barbecue, regaling their guests with stories of how great an experience they had with K & E Sheet Metal.

O.k...enough with the melodrama. However, word of mouth can be that powerful if your work ethic and quality of product can back it up.

Sometimes though, like the last few years has taught us, things can slow down very fast and like African Elephants in drought, we search the desolate lands to quench our growing thirst. That's when smaller companies like ours can suffer a slow and painful death, lacking the working capital to increase things like a marketing budget to help us find those stingy springs of profitable water.

So today when I received a call from a nice, well spoken young gentlemen I withdrew from my usual speech of no thank you and listened. He was looking for the marketing department of our little company and with a chuckle I remarked that he must have found them because I'm the only one here; the other possible choice was on a job site. He got to the point, explaining his general company function, words meandering through very professional--but unnecessary--sounding lines of this and that. All he really needed to say was niche SEO.

Not surprisingly, these are the majority of sales calls that get thrown our way recently. The days of trying to sell me the commodity or equipment I use to make a living seems to have gone by the wayside, online is king. That doesn't mean I don't receive calls from the former, they're just the minority in the monthly phone log.

My problem and dilemma is focused on the immense scope of online marketing, when K & E Sheet Metal can only realistically serve a 50 mile radius. This doesn't mean we don't understand the importance of a web presence, but is it the best choice for us. We love technology and the ease it brings to everyday life and business, but can our micro business thrive by focusing marketing dollars on the web.

In regards to this blog and getting the word out about what we do, the answer would probably be yes. Who doesn't love traffic to their website? However, this isn't exactly saucy women in thongs, posing erotically with sheet metal tools--although maybe it should be--so clicks will be at a premium.

When it comes to gaining and keeping new local customers, I'm not exactly sure which would be the best avenue. Newspapers, especially in this town, have drastically declined in readership, putting a big dent into who's eyeballs will see what services we can provide. Young people read the web, searching for what they need when renovating a house or office building, not the newspaper. Hence my dilemma. For now, I'm not sure how many of these iPhone wielding youngsters are searching in the Glens Falls, NY area for HVAC sheet metal fabricators. This is where I start to lean toward no when thinking of an online marketing budget.

Nevertheless, I will meet with this particular marketing company and see what they have to offer. They are local and willing to make the trip up this way to visit the fabrication shop. That says something and is a giant step up from most of the cold calls we receive on a weekly basis. Can they convince me that slapping down cash for online SEO marketing is the way to go? That is the ultimate question.

 

A Work in Progress

For maybe the 200th time since I started running a website/blog for the company I have gone ahead and changed the entire setup. Moving the site from a scratch coded monstrosity, to a smooth running Wordpress version that's effortless to update and supremely easier to read and navigate. The biggest problem is the amount of work I created for myself in the process of these undertakings. Seeing that we are a two person company and a single computer literate, the odds are stacked that I, the younger fabricator, will be the one running anything with the words, online or website.

So the new kesheetmetal.com is easier to navigate with everything finally residing inside the same site. No more venturing into the outer reaches of the internet to find our blog or photos page. Thanks to the wonders of Wordpress themes, I have found a way to keep everything in house. This however takes time. A lot of time. Therefore the current website is a work in progress with daily changes and updates to many of the existing pages and ones that will follow. We thank you for your patience and please visit the website and blog often to see what's new.

The web is a great place to find a new and growing customer base no matter what industry you work in or how local you are. With everyone carrying a computer in their pocket these days, finding companies on the internet is easier than it ever was. Having a quality presence online is a must have asset in the business environment we work in today. Even for a couple solitary tin knockers, tucked away in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of Glens Falls, NY.

 

Completed Custom Y Duct Fitting From Earlier Template, Sheet Metal Fabrication

Earlier today I tweeted a photo of the template for a Y duct fitting that I was starting to fabricate this morning.

These fittings don't come around all that often, so many times I will have to relearn the process when asked. The process is not overly difficult, but because much of our work is done by hand and there are no computers to hold a file I can just punch up, it can take some time. Many of the custom duct fittings I make are specific to measurements for any one job, so many things are fabricated only once and the process forgotten.

Our stock items are easy to fabricate from templates and make the same way every time. The custom fittings are much different and really the reason we are here in the first place. We fabricate fittings that can't be found in stores, so there is a level of customization and care that goes into every piece.

Below are a couple photos of the finished Y duct fitting I fabricated this morning.

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Slowing Construction in Glens Falls, Queensbury Not Good For HVAC Business

Not surprisingly the local construction numbers in Glens Falls and Queensbury were down in 2011. The Post Star reported today that construction in both areas declined by roughly half the level of 2010.

From The Post Star:

The city issued building permits for $13.81 million of construction in 2011, compared with $25.26 million in 2010, according city Code Enforcement Office annual reports.

Queensbury experienced a similar decline in construction activity, dropping to $28.6 million in 2011 from $41.2 million in 2010, according to the town Community Development Office annual report.

Read more: Construction Activity Slows in 2011 for Glens Falls, Queensbury

We are seeing the same thing in our business with the majority of our work coming from people remodeling a room or basement, not building new homes. There is much less demand for full duct systems and more for furnace replacements or repairs. There has been minor demand for some movement of duct work for better air flow, upstairs heat or new additions. However, this has not been something to be counted on like it may have been in the past. The jobs are scare and competitive.

Because we focus on sheet metal fabrication along with heating and cooling installation, we have a good idea of what's going on locally. Granted, we are very small in comparison to other companies. However, we have been in the area for over 20 years and know many companies that have been seeing the same things. Much of the trickle down fabrication for these companies comes our way and last year was much slower.

If the 2011 trends continue through 2012, business in the local residential HVAC market will continue to feel the pain of the last few years. I don't see many of our customers on as regular a basis like before the financial crisis. Many have found jobs in other fields or signed on with larger companies in the area. This can hurt us a bit because a lot of our business comes from the micro business service and installation professionals.

We can only hope for a warm summer and good air conditioning sales because the mild winter has not helped the beginning of this year. A summer with last years cool temperatures and we could see some lower revenues through the middle of the year as well. Last year we noticed a lot of customers asking about widow units rather than a new central air system.

If that trend continues, it would not be good for business throughout 2012.

Replaced Your Furnace Filter Lately? Visit Our Tool Shop to Stock Up Today! Visit kesheetmetal.com/toolshop

My Memories of Gary 'The Kid' Carter

I was sad to read about the passing of Gary Carter on the twitter feed last night. My family and I are life long New York Mets fans and the teams with Gary Carter behind the plate were what I grew up with. I never missed a game. Those Mets teams made me love the game of baseball.

I remember my cousin and I would play in the backyard, him as Gary Carter and me as Dwight 'Doc' Gooden. He was infatuated with Carter and I with Gooden. My cousin went so far as to model his batting stance and swing after 'The Kid' and used it all the way through high school. Every time we played against each other it was like watching a childlike Carter impersonator. I loved it.

We lived and died with those Mets teams and I loved watching Gary Carter play the sport. I was always the rough, hustle everything out type of player and I learned it from watching Gary Carter play day in and day out. He always looked like he was having fun playing a game that most little boys grow up wishing to play.

I never knew him as a person, but when you grow up watching and loving certain people and professionals, it's tough not to feel like they are a part of your life. Everything I've ever heard or read about the man has lead me to believe he was a good person. I'm glad that a gentleman like Gary 'The Kid' Carter existed and he will obviously be missed in the baseball world.