I know it can be a shock, I know the timing’s wrong (it’s always wrong), but I can’t help but join the chorus of “probably for the best”. You were a dead man walking if you hadn’t got out of all that shit sooner rather than later mate: stress and misery kill better than anything this side of a .303 to the cranium.
Personally, I’d rather be happy shovelling shit all day, than dying from stress.
Time to re-evaluate - especially talking with your fambly to see what really matters to you all, see what the non-negotiables are, and what they can live without, that’ll help steer you on a new path.
And if all else fails, you’ve always got us lot…
…to call you a cunt and heartlessly mock your every endeavour…
Kerri and I have been talking about what is going to happen for weeks. We went through a similar thing last year, sometimes it feels like wasted directionless energy but here and there we get excited and it feels right. Seriously, there isn’t massive amounts of business around but I reckon, with a fair wind I could do all right with Loads of hard work.
I’ve been feeling like change is coming and since lockdown have been waiting for this. Sometimes, doing nothing and waiting is a thing! I’m not surprised, the job, ridiculous at the beginning has become impossible, the politics, the bonkers control freakery…
All the same, I’ve absolutely tried my best there and at times (too fleeting) there has been magnificence. I feel a bit of sadness too…
I’m glad I’ve had the experience but it is time to move on. Like I said, we’ve been waiting for this and it’s been obvious that things need to change.
Sorry Kev, missed this. I have a few things yes. The Chilean nutter has some crazy shit that needs finishing. At the moment it looks like I’m going to travel to Miami to meet him sometime in September, he is then coming here in November. At which time I should “get as many things as possible finished.” apart from that there is very little in hand, just odds and ends.
@Wayward have you independently secured all your current and past clients contact details etc, and order history of what you made for them over the past few years?
This makes it easier to make more personalised contact with people along the lines of ‘how did you find those shirts I made for you last year’, ‘hope you got some wear from that sparkly cape’ etc.
Also a ready reckoner basic business plan of what your income might be in different scenarios, based on assumptions of how much you would charge and upside/ downside volumes would be helpful to give you an idea of what it would take. It’s not that hard then to estimate business expenses, tax, insurance etc.
I imagine ‘suits you sir’ as a business name might already be registered with companies house but I’m sure the many creative abattorists will be able to suggest alternatives
Not got all the customer’s addresses yet, we are getting a list together of people to contact and I shall be approaching a few of them soon. Because the bespoke was a small thing there, there aren’t all that many clients, so not hard to remember them all. It’ll be easier still when I can actually get into work.
A friend was the sales manager for a high-end jewellers, mainly concentrating on watches.
When he decided to leave and strike out on his own, the company were horrified that his phone was his personal property and didn’t belong to them. He basically walked out the door with the little black book of all the best customers FWIW he’s never looked back.
I know this thread has turned into “middle-aged men give unsolicited advice” (c.f. umarell) but my 2 pennorth is social media.
I know you don’t rate their work, but Cock of the Walk on Twitter and Insta do a good job of the niche sphere of bespoke tailoring social media. It’s also a billboard for when they’re next doing days in London and Manchester (strangely the world doesn’t beat a path to Hull).
I guess the crassness of PR may be itching powder to your integrity. However there are a number of obvious ‘stories’ that would gain coverage in the trade / consumer arenas. It’s whoring, but could be done tastefully if you are considering striking out on your own.
Bespoke tailoring is an odd thing to show on social media. As a tailor you are making what the customer orders by definition and that isn’t always tasteful. Photographs of the fat balding cunts wearing it doesn’t look all that either. However well cut and made the clothes are, they are still fat balding cunts. Still life shots of Suits for fat balding cunts on mannequins tend to look worse. Some tailors make it all about themselves, prancing around in their finery. In fact there is a whole subculture of dandy tailors and their customers taking pics of themselves in their posh threads. Them and the tailoring Internet influencers make me feel more than a little queasy…
In your position I would look to be as reasonable I could be with work. I would look to service the clients as well as I could, and offer a seamless (sorry) transition to the clients being yours for bespoke tailoring, and discuss how you could work with them to ensure their standards are maintained and staff protected. For example, they could transfer the tools etc to you, pay junior staff in return for a cut (oops) of profit.
The last time I left a company that is exactly what I did, I developed a detailed schedule of how it could work to mutual benefit. It would ensure that their clients were well serviced, transition notes were created and I’d get some cash and a couple of weeks off. It was a total win-win. They told me to take the rest of the day off, then phoned me at 5.30 and told me never to darken their door again.
With no budget this may be the caliber of the communications arsenal. I am beginning to suffer visions of the first photo opp…A well dressed man riding a Llama drinking cold brew coffee with a giant horn protruding from the beasts anus in Belgravia.
I’m not surprised, the job, ridiculous at the beginning has become impossible, the politics, the bonkers control freakery…
FWIW he’s never looked back.
