[MRM]

Freddie, it should be apparent from your many, many complaints about how hard your business is to run, that you are pursuing a broken business model. Your business plan just doesn't work. You have the choice of taking real stock of what you do and why you do it that way, and then make fundamental and meaningful changes.

You decided to go the route of having the absolutely smallest overhead and lower prices with fewer services. This is a good and valid strategy, but it's not working. Here are a couple of points that you should consider.

First, I can tell just from reading your posts that your pricing is out of whack. You need to raise prices and reduce your work. You are killing yourself doing work that costs you money to do. Raise your prices and get more selective on handling work. Don't confuse working with making money. Many small business owners (I suspect you included) think they have to be busy all the time or you're not going to make it. This is not true. You need to be [I]profitable[I] all the time - not busy. If you chase away half your customers but make twice as much on the ones that remain, you will make twice the money with half the work. Don't be so afraid of having down time that you fill your time with unprofitable work.

Second, figure out where you make your money. Then focus on that. Specialize in what you are most profitable at.

Third, do not be penny wise/pound foolish in saving payroll. Pay someone to do stuff that frees you to be more profitable. Your most valuable comodoty is time. You only make money if you're working. If someone takes you away from working, it costs you the amount of your hourly rate. If you pay someone ten bucks an hour to cover your phones and do your books, but you're able to bill an extra two hours a day at $80 an hour, you're foolish to not take on the additional overhead.

Fourth, consider repositioning yourself into a specialty independent shop of some sort that charges a premium but limits your work to something difficult or unusual. Increase your rates to make up for the reduction in work you see. Spend enough to make your place professional and look nice enough to atract the higher dollar work, but don't go crazy.

Above all, raise your damn rates. There is nothing worse in this world than not getting paid for the work you do - except when you pay someone else to work for them. If you do work that is not profitable, you are paying someone to let you do their work. You are far better off doing nothing than taking on unprofitable work.