Custom Work: I QUIT.

Can I tell you a story? 

Last week, I was fitting the glass into some cabinet doors. I got the glass mostly secured in a door and then realized I had only stained one side of the trim. I thought "Hmm, maybe you can see the unstained wood from the front. Better check." So I lifted up one side of the door to look around the front..and the glass fell right out and shattered on the bench. 

In an instant, I lose $30 and 90 minutes replacing glass on a piece that I'm already not making much money on. 

Here's another story: yesterday, I finished a big, bird-shaped sign for a local coffee chain. I've worked for a week spackling and priming the piece so I could spray the color and get a smooth finish. I dreamed up a fancy mounting system with magnets. I was ready to install and get the payment that I really need for things like food and the mortgage. 

The client is just down the street, so I walked down to check out the install site. The wall where the sign is going looks good. There's just the old sign that needs to come down: 

 No problem, right? Well, I went to take it down and I find out the sign is glued to the damn wall.   Deep breath. 

I pull out my knife and pry up one corner and a HUGE bubble of paint comes with it. If I take this sign down, I'm going to take half the paint with it. My new sign will not cover the damage. The owner will need to have a painter pry off the old sign, skim the wall to fix any damage and have the whole wall repainted BEFORE I can install my sign. Before I can finally get paid. 

How long will this take? Who knows. 

I've been making my living with custom work for over two years and it's a real grind. Things always take longer than I expect. Clients can be picky. Deadlines are stressful. But I love the work. I love making things with my hands. And I'll be honest: I don't mind the long hours; I don't mind hard physical work; I don't even mind the stress. 

What I mind is putting up with all of that and barely making a living. 

I mind getting to the end of the month and not having money for supplies.

I mind not knowing if I'm going to be able to pay for summer camp for my daughter. 

So you know what? I quit. 

If I'm not making enough money at my current business model, then it's my job to pivot to something better. The good news is that I already have something better: I make content. 

YouTube has been a money-maker for me for the last 6 months. I started just for fun, but the money I get from adsense and my patrons has kept me afloat many months. This month, YouTube and Patreon are going to be about a third of my income. 

I'm not giving content anywhere close to my full attention. Lots of the videos I make are just by-products of custom work. I rarely make the videos I want to make; I make the videos that I can squeeze in around my client work. This would be fine if my client work was a real living, but it's not. 

So now, I'm bailing out on the commission work and giving content my full focus. Here's what it's going to look like: 

More, better videos. Starting in August, I'm going to do at least one video a week and my videos are going to be about the things that interest you and me: tools, techniques, creative fabrication. No more videos about stain-matching. No one watches them anyway. 

More teaching. Last month, I taught my first class in spoon carving and it was a blast. The students were great, the projects looked great. Oh, and I made decent money. 

More media. Have I mentioned I'm writing a book? I am. It's called One Week to Wood Turning: A seven-day guide to setting up a turning studio on a budget.  And when I say I'm writing it, I don't mean some hazy plan that might not materialize. The manuscript is done. It's written. It needs pictures, copy-editing and a cover. Then I'm releasing it as an ebook through Amazon. Should be ready by the end of the summer. 

More for Patrons. For a long time now, I haven't been happy with the way I'm connecting with my Patrons. You guys make a lot of stuff possible and I want you do get more from me. So, what do you want? More blog posts and book reviews? Exclusive vlog-style videos? Or, would you like live updates via the Patreon app? I can do any of these, but I want to hear your thoughts. 

So there it is. I love being a craftsman and I don't think I could quit that even if i wanted to. But I'm also a businessman, and my business isn't working. I believe in my content, largely because all of you believe in me enough to give me money every month. You all make me feel like I can do this for a living. 

So I'm going to. 

Big changes are coming.