Starving Framer in DFW. HELP!

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rainey daze

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Posts
3
Loc
Dallas, TX
I just found “the grumble” and have to say I’m glad to be here! :D

Lots of good info, but I’m in desperate need of a job. Please help; don’t make a fellow framer be forced to go to work at Hobby Lobby. lol.

I have just moved back to the DFW area from Austin.

I have over 12 years experience in custom framing/design/sales. I have worked all sides of the framing world from managing, design, cutting mats, mounting, chopping and joining, ordering, hand made frames, high end and everything else in between. PLEASE HELP!

Thanks so much,

rainey
 
Maybe it's time for rainey to think about opening her own business. With all that experience you should have no problem getting one going. True, you may have to start in a garage with some old junk equipment. You will probably have to start pounding on doors, you may even miss a meal or two, but I'll bet you would make it, assuming you have the grit to stick it out.

It really does not take all that much money to get a framing business going. The thing that stops just about everyone in their tracks is, that they try to figure a way of starting their business with the one they will end up with in thirty years, if they are lucky. Everyone wants the best, right now. If they can't have it, they don't do it.

You do not need a fancy location or a big new store. Actually, you don't even need a business plan. You do need a space to sell, you need some corner samples and a work bench. You can pick up an old manual mat cutter for next to nothing, probably right here on The Grumble. You need a few assorted hand tools, also inexpensive. You can order your frames chopped and joined to start with, heck, you could even order your mats pre-cut if you wanted to.

All it takes is some creative thinking and the willingness to work really hard for awhile, like the rest of your life.

John
 
Um, JRB, have you lost your mind?????

Oh, I get it, you were being sarcastic.

Oh, and even though I'm blonde I think I figured out where DFW is. Took me a minute but I finally got it. :icon9:
 
Deb, what I described is pretty much how I started my business with a total of $250.00 cash to my name. By the time I opened my door I was down to $35.00.

I could not afford a fancy fictitious name, that was around thirty dollars in those days. My sign was hand painted on white butcher paper. I did miss a few meals, I did pound on doors. If someone just gave me the equipment I started with now, I'd probably just haul it to the dump.

I did have one major supplier, the owner, stop by my little shop. After he finally stopped laughing, he gave me his assessment of my survival...less than six months.

His business is long gone, Padre Moulding Company, and so is he from our industry. Nothing matters more in business than determination. Anyone can make it, if they are willing to do a little struggling along the way.

And no, I am not being sarcastic, nor am I joking. I have been there and I have done exactly that.

As far as losing my mind.....I guess that one is still up in the air, so to speak.


John
 
I agree, John, she could do it if she got hungry enough.

Hey RD, I don't mean to come down on you but Hobby Lobby is probably the least disastrous of the chain store framers to work for. You do what you have to do when the going gets tough. I managed a HL frame shop for almost a year and I didn't walk away with any permanent scars or personality flaws. (At least none that I didn't have before.) They paid me 12 bucks an hour to start and I had to convince 7 college kids that framing was a noble trade and that they had to produce to collect their checks every 2 weeks!! Most were working there for beer and gas money anyway.

You could do much worse than HL, I will vouch for that. Hang in there, take what you can get for awhile, and keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground. You will hear those thundering hooves sooner or later.

And welcome to the Grumble!!!
 
Believe me, I'm not putting down the HOB LOB. I put in my time with them years ago. What gets me is that sad walk of shame back into the shop knowing that I would work under someone I trained.

Opening your own frame shop is almost always in the back of every framers head. It's not for me at this time. Some day just not right now.

Truthfully, I was in a panic yesterday. I've never gone more that a week with out a job. So, since I found the job I wanted in Dallas and had an interview with the promise of a call back ....and hadn't go one...I was worried, thought I had lost the framing mojo. GOOD NEWS: I heard back for the shop late yesterday, and I won't be starving or have to pimp frames on the side of the road. lol.

Thanks for all the Welcomings!
 
Someday comes and goes before you actually know it came. That realization arrives when you discover your too old to do anything about it.

The only thing I have ever regretted since I started my own business at the age of 34 was not doing it in my early twenties, when I had a whole lot more energy, and probably more brain power.

John
 
Actually, I heartily agree with John's sentiments.

For a craftsperson like a framer running your own show has to be the goal. You can work for wages all your life and if you are lucky, one day, the boss will shake your hand, give you a gold watch and show you the door. If you aren't lucky, it will be a kick in the a### instead of the gold watch. If you have an established business your options are much better - you can sell up as a going concern, take on a partner who will eventually buy you out, employ someone to allow more free time as retirement approaches......

If you have already worked in a few frameshops and have the physical skills you have a head start - all it takes is some capital and a bit of faith in yourself.
 
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