Upholstery work

Great Lakes Greg

Great Lakes Greg

Well-known member
This may be akin to beating a dead horse, but I still have this yen to install LB or Classtique interior kits for a living. I truly dislike my current job, and today was especially bad.
I have done two cars with fairly good results. Nobody's perfect at first, but they are certainly very presentable to the casual eye.
I have talked to Elizabeth at Classtique, and have emailed LB for some guidance, but it seems that, and rightly so, a reputation in this field is earned, not bought.
I am searching for some words of wisdom on how to break into this game, and again groveling for cars to upholster for the experience.
Am I naive to think that after a few cars, word will spread and the phone will start to ring?
 
Advertise my friend. Social media (picts) and show your work at shows. Hand out cards. Your work will speak for itself. You gotta go get it when you're working for yourself!
 
join a few clubs. Do some jobs at a very reasonable charge and advertise in your area. that is how it is done. Start part time and when you are expert charge the going rate.
 
Get an ad in the national magazines. Apprentence in an Upholstery shop near you for a while to gain additional experence and tricks and tips.
 
Having started a very successful business 12 years ago when my job was shipped to mexico (Thank You NAFTA!) I have found that you can spend $$$ advertising, but the best way to grow your business is word of mouth.

If you are to advertise or market, you have to reach your target audience for example, by posting here in the swap meet and on the main page of this site if not to expensive and other classic car sites.

A website is also a good idea as you have a advantage as you are providing a specific service for a specific market. You should have no trouble getting ranked high in the search engines if search engine optimization is done correctly on your website.

I would also suggest a "Refer a Friend" campaign with an incentive of a cash payout to the referrer and a discount to the friend/client. This helped me in the beginning. I made business cards with the "Refer a Friend" message on the back.

Go to all the car shows and body shops you can and hand out these Business Cards/"Refer a Friend" cards to everyone you see. If I am in the grocery store I will hand out a card to the person in front of me, behind me, and maybe even the cashier. If i'm in a public crapper and there is a guy in the next stall, I will throw a card underneath his stall to him. You get my point. I also give folks three or four cards and ask them to give them to their friends if they have any <-- amazingly they like that joke and laugh.

Always answer your phone no matter what. If you let a call go to voice mail because you are on the crapper, you probably lost a client. They are calling the next interior shop on the list. And yes, I answer my phone if I am on the crapper, in a attic, at a wedding, and while I am in a dentist chair getting a tooth pulled. If I miss a call I literally get sick to my stomach so it does't happen unless at church, at a funeral or special times with the wife (she put a stop to that).

I will say that it takes a good while to develop a reputation in any field. As you already know it doesn't happen over night.

If you have the patience and you are really good at what you do, the word will get out eventually and then you will be posting here that you can't keep up with the demand and everyone wants their interiors done in two days, and you can't find good help and so on and so on. I can't even go out to eat with the family sometimes without a line literally forming at my table with folks needing something or asking a question.

One more thing before I get off this soapbox. You can build a stellar reputation over years and years, but it only takes one bad decision to ruin it in seconds. Treat every client as if they were your family and do whatever it takes to make them happy, even if it means taking a little hit in your profit margin once in a while.

Hang in there, be patient, and do exceptional work. The clients will come.

Hope this helps a little.
 
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Junior said:
One more thing before I get off this soapbox. You can build a stellar reputation over years and years, but it only takes one bad decision to ruin it in seconds. Treat every client as if they were your family and do whatever it takes to make them happy, even if it means taking a little hit in your profit margin once in a while.

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My father and grandfather were business owners they would say that any business looks good when things go right, but the mark of a great businees is how they handle things when they go wrong.
 
Well, let me say I think your thoughts are cool but if I may ask a question first, ...can you sew? To me, you need to be able to sew first and own a commercial machine with a walking foot. My machine is a Consew 226 which is a commercial machine. Owning a machine allows you tailor the kit to fit the car. The 2nd question I have is do you feel you can make a living learning a new trade while simultaneously charging someone to learn on their car??

I hope you don't take this the wrong way but learn your trade first under a Master Craftsman until you have at least reached a Journeyman level. There is definitely a need for a great upholstery craftsman in the restoration industry however I definitely do not feel you can be considered a great craftsman or a professional after completing just a couple projects.

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BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
Well, let me say I think your thoughts are cool but if I may ask a question first, ...can you sew? To me, you need to be able to sew first and own a commercial machine with a walking foot. My machine is a Consew 226 which is a commercial machine. Owning a machine allows you tailor the kit to fit the car. The 2nd question I have is do you feel you can make a living learning a new trade while simultaneously charging someone to learn on their car??

I hope you don't take this the wrong way but learn your trade first under a Master Craftsman until you have at least reached a Journeyman level. There is definitely a need for a great upholstery craftsman in the restoration industry however I definitely do not feel you can be considered a great craftsman or a professional after completing just a couple projects.

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I agree somewhat, but when I started my onsite technology support business, all I had was a screwdriver (I was broke), a passion for technology, and a very dire need to support the wife and two little girls. I had very limited knowledge about computers, networks, printers, etc. My first commercial call was a business that had a receipt printer that would not work. They had another support company that came out before me and could not get it to work and the tech told them to buy another one. They called me in for a second opinion and I had never touched a receipt printer in my life and had no idea how they worked. So I looked at it and noticed there was no power to it. Checked to make sure it was plugged in. It was. How about the power button. Flipped the switch and the next thing I know the printer started printing and I am getting hugs from the ladies that worked there. They are still a very good client 12 years later.

I believe if you have a sincere passion for the work, and have the motivation to it well, you will find a way to make it work.

Before I started the business, I went to the local computer repair shop that was looking for help and told them I would work for free if they would train me and once I got trained and liked my work they could hire me. They turned me down flat and wouldn't even discuss it. I then decided to take matters in my own hands and started a business. That local shop shut down a few years later due to decline in business. They should have accepted my offer. I was hungry for success and eager to learn, but they failed to see that.

Most businesses that would let you work under them in a specialized trade make you sign a non compete agreement for 2 to 5 years. I would think if there are any Master Craftsman in the area they might hesitate teaching someone that would compete with them later. Maybe I'm wrong.

I would say work under someone if you can and gain experience, but don't let it be a deal beaker. Anyone can do anything if they want it bad enough.
 
Yo, Greg, Dog:cool: here, Our Gregg spels his name Gregg, anyhow,
When you pass out cards, carefully staple two together! Thet= DOUBLE BIZZNESS:D Buster T.:cool:
(When Ol' Bill passes out his "funny" cards, he jist gets "funny" looks, but he ain't in a reel BIZZNESS, he jist "monkeys" around.:D)
 

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Greg, you said that you put in 2 interiors? I know LB makes for many Ford and GM products but what if you came across an interior that wasn't readily available? Could you make one from scratch?

I had my speedster seat done by a shop that was recommended to me. The son did mine and didn't do what I specified and had asked for. Absolutely no redoing it and no yield by the father. It was " take it and pay me the full price or I'll rip it off your seats and you can pay me nothing". Six years later I still don't like the job that they did.

4 weeks ago I saw a full interior in a 52 Chevy that was 1st class all the way, stock appearing but all Naugahyde, just beautiful. I asked where it was done and they told me about 70 miles from here. I put that in my memory and if someone asks for good upholsterers I will bring up his name. My feeling is a great upholsterer can do it all.
 
If specializing in model A's, is there really a market near you?? Transporting a car any distance for upholstery work gets expensive. As others have said, can you sew?? Just my thoughts especially in this economy and don't give up your day job just yet.
Paul in CT
 
I've also heard a few comments about wrong panels or incorrect pieces included in the purchased kits. How can you explain to the customer thaty it will take an additional week and a half?

I don't want to rain on your parade but these are all things to consider. As said before, work your way into the upholstery business and then display your work and have 8 x 10 signs displayed on your customers cars with a $25-50 referral fee give to the previous customer. Your word/reputation and satisfied customers is your least expensive advertising.
 
Great ambition, I admire great ambition. I would do as many jobs as I could on projects that are not intended to be "show quality" but good quality. I should think that Boats, Motorcycle Seats, would all be fair game, and good practice. Pick up some worn, damaged seats, re-do them, bring them to a local upholstery shop to show them what you can do. They may occasionally sub out work on some projects, after you show them the first seat, go back in next month with another. If you do them right, you can always sell them on line. Bring them to swap meets to show folks what you can do. There is always demand for upholstered seats for old vehicles. Even snowmobile seats if you are in that part of the country are good business. And you will get experience with sewing and different types of materials that you will encounter. And I agree with the others, you will need to be able to sew, have a machine, and work from scratch with different materials.
 
I wish you lived in my town, even my county. I have several small upholstery jobs, no kits, scratchbuilt. I made my own springs and wooden bases, they just need fabric, padding and piping and lots of expertly applied thread!
Terry
 
That's an ambitious project to start a business particularly in a field as specialized as classic auto upholstery but I do hope it will work for you.
There's a big market out there for auto, boat, motorcycle and custom car upholstery to be done.

Junior raises some good points in that a very good website is an absolute must. The more professional and informative you can make it will pay off in the long run. Make sure you do your homework in setting the site up so that it ranks highly with the major search engines. Many hosting companies and or web site creators will help you with that for a fee.
Google, Bing and others can truly be your friend as so many people turn to a search engine to find what they are looking for now.

I started my own business in an unrelated field in 1999 and have had very good success in a targeted mailing program. It has been amazing the response I have had from a simple post card sent to a specific list of people in my target market. A mailing list purchased from one of the Model A or classic car pubs, if available, would be a super place to start.

Advertising in the right places is important to become known. Maybe start economically by placing ads in some of the classic car club publications in your area and see what response you can generate.

Brent is right in that if you're going to install more than kit upholstery packages you will have to have some sewing skills to be able to come up with what your customers will want.

It takes guts and commitment to make something like this work but can definitely be worth it all in the end.
Best of luck!
 
If there is a trade school near you, check it out they may offer an upholstery class you can take. I did Saturday classes at a trade school by me and enjoyed it and the cost was not bad. of course this was back in the 1980's
 
Greg, my words of wisdom are to make your current job as bearable as possible until....something else comes along or as you get solid in the upolstery work. Best to give yourself the best possible chance to suceed. Best of luck:)
 
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