At what point do you just jump in and go for it??????

[Brucer]

I also learned how not to do business.

Care to expand on some of the pitfalls of the milling business? I sense a story in there somewhere.

My one-time boss and I have fundamentally different ideas on how to do business. I have always tried to see things from the customer's point of view. He sees things from his own point of view. I watched how he dealt with customers and could not fathom how he'd stayed in business for 9 years.

I've posted some of this elsewhere, but here's how not to do business.

• Surprise your customer by asking for a lot more money than you quoted. Wait until you've offloaded the product at his site.
• When your customer asks for an impossibly early delivery date, tell her you can do it. Once you've got the job, don't bother starting it until she's bugged you at least three times about being late.
• When you're buying (logs for example), round your payment down. When you're selling, round it up.
• If you make a mistake that costs you money, expect the customer to pay for it.
• Don't pay your bills unless the creditor keeps bugging you. You can save thousands this way because lots of people will give up.

That's exactly what I don't do. I'm now sawing full time and my former boss saws part-time.

[Coalsmoke]

Wow, and he still has a customer base? I know a couple of my competitors when I was in the metal fab business who ran their shops like that. As soon as the recession hit, they went belly up. I am always amazed that people can treat their business relationships like that and call themselves businessmen.

[customsawyer]

This question is like asking when is a good time to get married, it will be different for most.

[ljmathias]

Probably more like "when should we have a baby," which involves more expense and commitment than getting married (well, a different kind anyway- you can't "reason" with a colicky baby at 2 am and you can't "divorce" a child).  The answer, of course, is that you can never justify a baby on economic terms- they just don't have much return-on-investment for a long time, at least in real dollars.  But then again, the emotional return is priceless, and a baby changes your life totally, making you into a new, and hopefully better, person.  I would guess a sawmill can do that, too; probably does most of the time; did for me.  So it should not be ONLY the economics that drive your decision.

I teach (or try to teach) my students in the non-science major's science class I teach how to reason some; tough to do with art and business majors but it's good to have a challenging job: in any major decision, list all the pros and cons, being as objective and critical as you can be, and at the very bottom add the "emotional" components.  That is, how bad do you "want" it?  It may turn out that, like a baby, the pros and cons add up to less than what you want is worth- you have babies because you want, even need, to, not because it's a rational decision.  Problem with this approach is, how to value the "want?"  How many points do you give it to add in or subtract out?  Sometimes you subconsciously "want" something because you really "need" it- you know you want/need to change your life/job/situation and you "choose" a path that will make you do that even though consciously you know it will cause lots of pain and require enormous hard work.

Sorry, didn't mean to ramble; good luck on what you chose.

Lj

[southpaw]

When you decide, I thought about it for almost 3yrs. when I had a good paying job, been out of work for the better part of the last year, so now this is when it was right for me  ???, have only made/cut for two custumers, haven't made much $, but having the best time  8). Its better than work  :D ;D.

[Oregon_Sawyer]

I had wanted a sawmill every since I saw a "portable" when I was 13 or 14 years old.  When I was 18 I worked in a mill one winter.  One year the place we bought had some trees fall down in a winter storm and I had the excuse to buy a used WM.

No body to teach me I just jumped in.  That first lumber I would probably hide from somebody today.

I had a full time job hauling groceries.  I started cutting stuff for myself and pretty soon people were asking me to cut for them.  New side-line business.  When we decided to build a log home I begin the process of cutting all the lumber for it.  It took 5 years to do that.  But,  the business paid for itself and all the lumber for our home.  I did a lot of the work in trade.

Before I finished the house I upgraded to a LT70.  Business was good and I thought my adult (age anyway) son might take over.  He had the skills to run the mill but not to operate the business.

Getting older and having to many irons in the fire I decided to sale the business.  I sold it to one of my customers at a below market price to keep it in the area.  He is younger and is doing very well cutting as his full time job.

One time after I was asked how long it took to learn to cut good lumber.  My answer was after 100,000 bd ft I am just getting the hang of it.  We cut close to a million feet before I sold the mill.  Anytime I miss it I can just go down the country road and help Matt out.

I enjoyed the mill.  Maybe I will do it again when I retire.  (All the bells and whistles)

[zopi]

I am at the point of decision now...when/if we sell this extra house I am trying to upgrade from lt-15 to lt-40 hyd...probably a used one..too many smoking deals not to..but I intend to have a job and cut on the side in addition to a couple other sidelines..one of them will take off..I really want to make the sawing thing work though...there is alot of timber in our area, and most of it leaves on trucks...I want to show these folks how sustainable timber can stay in the community and boost our economy from both ends...could care less about the big box thingies...

Anyway..I won't jump off in business until I have work stacked out the door..I don't really want to sell lumber, except incidentally...hope to make the mobile custom work pay for the most part...

I am retiring from the military in a couple years...19 months almost to the day,
and I am scared to death...never been anything but military and don't really know much about the civilian world...had my head up my butt driving ships for years...but whether cutting grass, working shipyard, painting motorcycles or sawing lumber I'm gonna face it like everything else...just have to want to work.

It's risky, being a small business..but you'll never have the satisfaction or the chance to make real money unless you work for yourself doing something you love....

[Coalsmoke]

It's risky, being a small business..but you'll never have the satisfaction or the chance to make real money unless you work for yourself doing something you love....

Actually, statistically speaking, the majority of self employed people only earn 60-70% of the hourly wage equivalent that their counterparts working as employees for a company will earn. The payoffs are in other areas (non fiscal), providing a person wants it bad enough.

[tyb525]

I bought a sawmill in January, on a whim compared to most people (although I did do a little research), and I love it. I do it part-time. My "day job" is school, which I get no income from. I am able to support my hobby from the few customers that I have. I could have more customers, but I don't have the time for much work yet.

I am only 17, I am making it work with an LT10, and I love every aspect of milling. Besides sawing for others, I am sawing for myself. I use some of the lumber for myself, and sell some.

Bikedude, my advice is to go for it! Maybe start with a smaller like an LT40HD mill, but I know if you do a good job and charge what you need, you can make it, and upgrade to a bigger/better/faster mill after some time.

[bikedude73]

No you all did not scare me away.  I went to Indy wm for another open house.  Ran a lt10 and lt 15 and have decided the lt 15 is for me.......  Any more info would be awesome...... :P

[customsawyer]

The only thing to fear is fear itself. I have 2  LT70 mills and have a have trouble sometimes keeping them busy. Then there are times like now that I can't get it all done. You will get out of it what you put in it. IMHO.

[Magicman]

Welcome back.  You've got to admit, you were gone for a long time.

It's has to be good to be able to get touchy/feely with different mills so that you can make the correct decision.  There are several "15" owners here that should be able to answer any questions that you may have.....

[Cedarman]

When running a sawmill business you are balancing 3 things. Raw material supply, production capability, orders.  It is a rare day they are in balance. Look at Jake.  Not too long ago, worrying about work. Now stress because of a deadline. Same for my cedar business. That's why we make the BIG bucks. Right!! :D :D  Right, Jake? :D :D

[backwoods sawyer]

Just don't marry to many wives. ;D