call me Mr. celeste

     A celeste is an instrument with a keyboard like a piano but instead of strings there are bars that are struck like a bell set.  A full celeste has four and a half octaves and a sustain petal like a piano. There is a tabletop version that has a smaller range and no petal but damper pads attached to the end of the keys. When people ask what it sounds like I refer to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker and most can remember the sound which is played on a celeste.
     I began working on these instruments in 2006 when I bought another tuning business and expanded.  Colleges and sometimes high schools have them but the Jenco company that used to make them is long out of business.  Besides myself they can be found on the web site of  themalletshop.com.  Individuals own them too and they are used for a variety of music genre besides holiday music.
     I am always looking for used ones to work on and can be contacted at my cell # 708-488-8901.  With the holidays coming up I am hoping for a large amount of work.

The ministry of work

     Christians are told in scripture that whatever we find to do  we should do it with all our might as unto the Lord.  Our culture tends to compartmentalize work by regarding work done in the context of a church ministry as ministry and the same task done either as a help to a fiend or someone in need or  even something we are paid to do as not ministry.
     I have driven the church van for many years and when I first took the job I was asked to do it and offered pay for the work.  I regarded it as a job like driving for a limousine company which is something else I have done.  After driving for a number of months, my pastor said to me one Sunday as I was heading to the office to return the keys "The Lord appreciates your ministry". I never regarded the work the same way again and have often thought about this subject.
     I get paid now to tune pianos and I have on occasion had the opportunity to share the gospel with a customer but I believe all of my work is ministry as I do it all for the Lord.  I have been given a job that I really like which is a blessing so it is not hard to give my day to the Lord as I set out to do this work.  We all spend a lot of time at the work we do to make a living.  I have done many different types of work that I was paid for and having this attitude about work with jobs that I did not like was not as easy.  For a christian, however, this line should not exist as all labor dine for the Lord would be ministry.

Improving economy?

     I would love to believe the economy is improving. The "recovery" is a very popular topic with the media and I suppose there is some hard data to support this idea.  As far as the recovery effecting me directly I have trouble seeing this for these reasons.
     1)  I am in the piano care business and I send our reminder post cards to customers when their piano is due for service.  I still have this experience many times with customers.  I will go to a service call and ask if they received a reminder card and the customer will say they received the card and also the card from last year and the year before but are tuning now because the piano is really bad and the money is finally available.When money is tight and the customer has my reminder card in one hand and the estimate for the car repair and the car is the way to work I completely understand the piano work being put off.  My bottom line just has not significantly improved.
     2)  When I drive through my small community in Florida or the Chicago area when I am there I still see roughly the same number of empty storefronts.  I also see no new commercial construction which would be expected if empty store fronts cannot be filled.  The media talks of improvement in the rate of foreclosure as well as sales but buying a house to live in is a different thing than opening a store and consumer confidence in terms of opening a new business still is not there.
     I know what I personally see and experience is not hard data that would prove anything but consumer confidence is another hot topic the media like to explore and this consumer remains very unconvinced that the economy is going to come roaring back to life very soon.  My last comment about this would be that it is a fact that a smaller government spends less money and it is a fact that the government is too big already and continues to grow.

Training Quality Customers

     When hiring a service professional how do you select quality workers and how is trust built over time?  The tuning business is like many other service businesses.  When I hire someone to work on my car of another mechanical item that I use often I do not really understand how the machine works.  The repairman is the expert and I can only appreciate the result of the repair.  The repair hopefully will last unless I have talked about several repair options and I have selected a less expensive one that I know will only be a temporary fix.  
     The fact is that I have some wonderful customers that want the piano cared for and there exists a level of trust so that I have the freedom to make the piano perform to the highest level possible in a regular visit.  I encourage customers to ask questions as I work and watch me as I work if that is desired.  The fact is that much of the work on the mechanics of a piano are repetitious as there are actually 88 separate machines in a piano and so if I am doing a regulation step I am doing it 88 times.  It is sort of like tuning in that I am doing the same thing over and over so the customer quickly gets bored.  Most, however appreciate a demonstration of a specific step and an explanation of what I am trying to achieve with the whole process.
     In the end when the customer sees the result of what I do in addition to the tuning trust is built and the customer can see that the piano is being cared for over time.  I explain things with as much detail as the customer desires and try to interject some new information to educate the customer about this complex machine.  This openness is the real secret to building trust and then of course doing quality work. Developing better customers I believe rests on my shoulders.

Still In Business but Some New Directions.

     Everyone who goes into business does so for some specific reasons.  Many want to be their own bosses and have more control over their own destinies. There is the myth also that someone who is not very well informed might buy that it is easier than working for someone else.  There is the wrong idea that CEO's just sit around an office and plan the next vacation while others do all the work.
     The truth is that running a small business involves much more work than working for someone else.  There are many things to manage and you can't just go home because the clock says your workday is over.It has been very hard going for my business especially since the economy turned.  I keep at it because at least in part I want to leave a healthy business for my kids.  A CEO who is a Christian also has a sphere of influence not often touched by any other Christians and the CEO who really lives the christian life can reach many with the gospel that have little other exposure.
     At age 59 the Lord has called me into the ministry and I am beginning work on a Master of divinity.  I spent most of the 80's overseas as a missionary and I think that is where this training will take me again.  I still have many of the same motivations for being in business but the business will now be a source of funding for my seminary education.  The flexibility of controlling my hours and having the freedom to be in Florida taking care of my mom and being able to get to Chicago to  work in the business there when needed could not happen working a regular job.  I also love the work.
     Things for me have been hard but the Lord continues to be at work in my life.  I look forward to becoming a better communicator of the gospel and seeing many com to know Him. in the next chapter of my life.

Cash is King

     No business is immune to failure but being the CEO of a small business does present some challenges not found in managing a bigger company.  The obvious difference in these two hats is that running a small business requires one to wear many hats.  

     One thing often overlooked about running a small business is that the CEO has to at least oversee the sales, marketing, Pr, etc that might be delegated to others in a larger business and at the same time not get buried in these tasks and not monitor the grease that makes everything run and that is the cash flow.  If the funds are not there to advertise there are no new customers and with the piano service business that is especially important as there is a natural attrition in the customer base.  People die, the kids grow up, etc and the piano is not played so that customer stops calling.  Most service businesses are that way.  Some businesses require raw materials and if you get behind on payments to suppliers life can become very difficult.  That is what I mean by cash is king.  

   One can also be working very hard and sending out adequate invoices but there can be excessive receivables out there and if the person doing much of the work gets bogged down on chasing customers to pay promptly the whole business can suffer.  

     It seems like my business needs to expand so that cash flow does not impact the business to the extent it has in the past.  Whether the business is big or small, however a CEO needs to be driven by the truth that as far as cash flow is concerned the buck stops here.

The business Traveler and Lodging

     I just returned from yet another 10 days in Chicago.  I had left my van there for the last couple of business trips and flew to Chicago and then drove back to Florida.  I have been a very faithful customer of the Red roof Inn.  I have never had a surprise as far as a room that was not clean or less than excellent service by the hotel staff.  This hotel is upgrading all the rooms.  They are replacing carpeting with hardwood floors, new washroom fixtures and flat screen TV's which are things that make the rooms more attractive and comfortable which is a good thing and the rates will likely go up but it will still be a great value for the money.
     Some business travelers demand a certain level or comfort or even luxury.  A business traveler needs food and shelter and to some extent to be comfortable.  I would even accept that the more comfortable accommodations help the business traveler be more productive. 
     When I travel, however, I try to consider whether spending more money on accommodations does directly make a trip more profitable.  When I am more rested I can do better work.  That is a bit intangible, however, so things like a breakfast can be valued at whatever the breakfast costs wherever one would eat breakfast out.  A shuttle service could be valued at whatever transportation would cost if you were paying for it in whatever way one usually travels.
     For most of us lodging is a pretty big piece of the budget, so making good decisions about this can make a big difference in what stays in the bank after expenses.  My last trip returned a very good profit, but if the work will support it I am always considering an upgrade.

Business travel: the mindset of turning a profit

          When one travels on vacation the mindset is to relax and have a good time so one can feel refreshed and ready to resume the work.  Hotels and attractions try to make your travel comfortable and the stay enjoyable.
     When I travel for work, however my overriding mindset is the bottom line.  I stay in Red
Roof Inns because with my corporate discount the price is good as is the uniform quality of the room and service.  I know what the lodging is going to cost and there are no surprises or unexpected problems.  The length of my stay is extended or cut short because of the income taken in and the expenses that are being incurred.  I book the work in advance and do not travel unless there is the prospect of a profit but I evaluate how things are going and eventually have to make a judgement and buy a ticket home.
     I am not sure that hotels for instance understand this.  When hotels remodel or offer different services things like flat screen TV's or expensive bathroom makeovers mean very little to me.  It is not that I don't want to be comfortable but something like a breakfast or shuttle service or a business center can be translated into dollar values that might justify a higher rate.  A breakfast might be worth $10 so I can deduct that from a competitors rate and make a decision in favor of another hotel. 
     I just returned from a trip to Chicago and I had to make some pretty hard choices to insure a profit like sleeping in the car a few nights to save some lodging costs. The Lord blessed, however and it was a profitable trip.

     Rebuilding a piano:  what is to be gained?
There is talk now about the economy getting better but I don't think anything dramatic will happen very soon.  I still see empty commercial spaces everywhere and not much incentive to lease by the owners.  I have never been a commercial property owner but if I were I would think it would be better to have a space occupied rather than empty.   If the lease is price is below the cost of owning I would still think it would be better to have some income than to bear the total cost .
     I am planning to open a rebuilding shop in the coming year and am looking for a space for rebuilding.  When a good rebuild is done one gets all new working parts in the piano action.  When you do even some pretty extensive repair and regulating you still have new and old parts in the piano and when you regulate you have to regulate to these variations of response to playing the instrument.  You also have uneven wear taking place in the piano.  Old parts are continuing to wear at a greater rate than the new parts. 
     If your goal is an even touch this makes a good regulation impossible.The chief benefit is that with everything new you can do a very fine regulation and the piano will operate like a new piano for a long time.  You also have both new strings and new hammers so the piano will really sound like it was new for a very long time.
     When I talk to someone about a rebuild I can also compare the cost of a rebuild verses a new piano of the same size and the new piano is several times the price of the rebuild.  I have to conclude that most have never seen a very good rebuild so my challenge will be to educate my customers about what I know to be the affordability of the rebuild.