Business Subforum

[user 9328330]

Hi,

I haven't been here much for several years. There was a time when I spent a lot of time on this forum, but as it has grown and evolved a LOT of repeated questions continued to come up...about starting a welding business. I and other business owners at the time (we're talking 5-10 years ago) grew tired of answering the EXACT SAME questions from new people who continually got the cart before the horse....asking about what machine they should buy when there were much more basic 'business' type questions to be answered.

We suggested, REPEATEDLY, that as welding is an incredibly popular type of startup business (low barriers to entry and all), that we have a business subforum. It's purpose would be for people who were interested in starting their own welding business to be able to ask successful business owners and get straight talk answers. And for business owners to talk to other owners peer-to-peer. There is a metric ton of stuff about running a successful welding business that has absolutely nothing to do with striking an arc, and it needs a discussion area all to it's own. To my knowledge there wasn't anything like this back then, and if there is now, I don't know about it.

Again, if WW wants to be different, then create an environment within for actual welding business owners to talk. There are any number of places where anyone can go to learn about how to build a welding cart or the difference between oxy-acetylene and oxy-propane. Make this place something deeper than that. If you do, I'll come back.

Please remove that silly band-aid fix of a "business owners sticky," which no one even knew existed and was always covered up by more important things like how to do horseshoe art and how to build a welding table, and create a proper business subforum like we originally asked for years ago.

Thank you for your consideration.

[Robb M.]

This seems like a no brainer of an idea. Can you link me to the 'business owners' sticky that you refer to please?

Do you have a preference for where in the list of forums this new section would be best suited?

cheers,
robb

[_Dom]

This is it.
https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthrea...usiness-owners

[user 9328330]

This seems like a no brainer of an idea. Can you link me to the 'business owners' sticky that you refer to please?

Do you have a preference for where in the list of forums this new section would be best suited?

cheers,
robb

Hey Robb,

That's actually kinda comical; makes it obvious how little-known the thread truly was. It was always buried. _Dom has it linked.

As far as location, I believe it would fit in best in the General WeldingWeb Forums section, because most business questions are asked in the "General Welding Questions" subforum. Being seen in the same section of screen as this one, maybe right under it, would probably get most business-type questions properly funneled there (as opposed to locating it much lower in the WeldingWeb Disciplines section).

You could name it something like:

Ask a Welding Business Owner
Business Owners' Advice
Welding as a Business
Etc

Thank you SO MUCH for finally making this happen. I could never understand why we were repeatedly denied this request years ago.

[_Dom]

Glad to see you back tbone. I appreciate your business advice, thread should be easier to find now!

[psacustomcreations]

Thanks to Tbone for remembering this and thanks to Robb for trying to do this and all the other work he has done on the site.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[farmshop]

Nice to see t bone back. Now more importantly did you ever realign those exhaust clamps so Duane can rest easy

[user 9328330]

Hi Y'all,

Yeah, I've missed being around...a lot has happened in the last few years and I'll share the business end of that in our new subforum whenever we get it. Finally moving equipment back home after finishing up a 2-year project I was on; tonight I moved 2 big job boxes, my old TB325, and my Piranha 90T ironworker out to a staging area for pickup tomorrow. During my time on this job I lost many of my previous customers, had an uncle killed in a farm accident, was nearly killed myself in an accident involving my customer's forklift and one of his employees running it, and have separated from my wife with divorce on the horizon. I've been working on picking up the pieces from all of that these last months. It hasn't been easy, and I'm a different person than I was a couple years ago, but I'm making it...there's light at the end of the tunnel if I can just make it that far.

Glad to see some familiar names still around.

[leightrepairs]

Good to see you back TBone, sorry to hear of your troubles.

[MetalMan23]

Hey TBone, sorry to hear about your troubles, there's always light at the end,

Thanks for bringing up the business subforum, I think it'll be a good addition

[Robb M.]

Here you go fellas:

Ask a Welding Business Owner

[user 9328330]

here you go fellas:

ask a welding business owner

Thanks man!!!