Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello everybody.

First post here, but I was a part of the group on Facebook for quite a while, am relatively familiar with the website, and have watch a good amount of the videos put out from here on YouTube.

Moving on to the post, sorry it's so long winded. It's a bit of an introduction included with my question. But it all comes full circle and relates.

I'm 25 years old, and I've been in and out of school welding for the better part of 2 years, taught by 2 instructors who were (for 40+ years) and are (currently) very successful Union Steamfitters. I believe they are the only two instructors in the entire state that actually teach outside of the Union itself. I myself, beginning with one of their urgings, got information on the union, loved the thought of it, and then went through the interview process, where I was accepted and began looking for work. During that stage, I kind of had a change of heart and have very, very much slowed down on the search.

A little about my background before welding, from the age of 16 I have worked almost exclusively retail in direct customer service and sales, but I moved up the ranks pretty quickly. It was never necessarily hard-selling in the sense of used car salesman, but sales nonetheless. I was heavily involved in day-to-day operations of a somewhat large store for multiple years at one job, and trusted to do so at another as called upon, but was never specifically given the role. After simply deciding I didn't want to make that type of work my future, I started exploring the trades and settled on welding, primarily (at first) because of the travel potential involved in such a line of work. I was very much into art metals in high school, thought this might just be the same on a "larger scale", and so I figured it was something I would try to sink my teeth into for at least one semester, and see where it took me. Turns out, I absolutely love it.

Skipping ahead a bit, 2 years later, I have taken time with all processes from Oxy-Acetylene welding/brazing/cutting to MIG/FCAW, TIG, and Stick. I have had a couple of jobs out in industry, but they haven't quite been what I'm looking for. One job was through a temp agency (I had zero field experience and took what I could get) doing exclusively FCAW... for a while. I was relegated to painting and loading structural beams on to trucks. Absolutely not what I wanted to do, so I went back to school and my retail work. Currently I work for a different company, and I weld from time to time - all MIG on aluminum, carbon steel, and very seldomly galvanized. But probably 70-75% of the job is building generator and electrical component housing. It's not bad, and I've learned an absolute ton since being there, but I also realize that I'm not really happy with it nor will I be long-term.

Now to the main point of this whole thing. I would like to start my own business someway, somehow. I want to run the show again. That's what I want out of this. I know that I'm green, but I also feel like I know my... "stuff" and how to use my resources and maximize my time to continuously improve. I'm not a Journeyman by any stretch, but I know what I'm capable of when I invest myself into something, and the time and effort I'm willing to put into this. What I'm primarily asking is what I need to get started if, say, I want to create a small fabrication business. My basic thoughts are the obvious things such as decide what I would make and for whom I would be making it, make sure I have the tools I need for the products I plan to create, and don't take on more orders than I can fulfill once the ball hypothetically starts rolling. I live very close to a reputable steel supplier (who will even cut/bend/etc stock for you upon request), so that isn't an issue. And I even know of a couple places to start looking into if I were to work with aluminum at all down the line. But what about things I really can't know without being told, or things that maybe you picked up as you went that are just generally good advice? This is a big bet on myself, as it is for anyone, but I'm in a good position in my life to try and start something like this - single, no children, etc. After the obvious task of deciding on a specialty and market, what the first step of the portion that translates an idea into a business?

My first instinct is to fabricate utility trailers - in Wisconsin it's something that is useful year-round with a seemingly large enough market to sustain itself while I could expand into other projects (I'm only a few days into this idea, I still have research to do on all of this stuff). I do have fabrication experience between school and my first welding job, plus the other "basic" building experience I'm picking up daily right now. That can be spoken more about later, but just pointing out that I have some background in this besides just sticking metal together.

Just out of curiosity, how will you compete in the utility trailer market where large companies put out finished products for less than you will pay for the materials?

Welcome. It seems you might be in a unique position to look into taking over a business that’s already established. Occasionally there are people who would like to retire, but have no one to take over there business, and don’t want to see there hard work sold on the auction block for pennies on the dollar. You might be able to buy into some sort of a partnership, and along the way learn, what you don’t know, that you need to know. I don’t own a full business shop but I too am working towards that direction. I know that there are statistically a larger number of people retiring in the trades then there are people looking to start out. Good luck.

@ jkremis - your background appears positive towards executing the technical side of your future business. Strongly encourage you to focus full energies on developing the business acumen and discover what it means to actually own & operate a company.

Recommend you prove to yourself, on paper first, that your business will be "ROI Positive". A systems approach that will force you to think through the process is the Business Model Canvas. Think of the BMC as a table of contents for the business plan that you should author before launching your business. The products and services (value proposition) you ultimate decide to deliver will illuminate from your BMC and business plan.
In addition, understand your "Why?" Have had many owners tell us their "Why?" is to make money. That's just an outcome or metric.

Think through it, over think through it, and then drive onward based on your passion and research. Elicit business advice from actual business owners, vice family/friends/others who don't run businesses. Face and voice conversations with entrepreneurs/owners will certainly be beneficial to you. Devour open-source media content on running businesses, developing products, and delivering technical services.

The "software" (mental, training, tactics) will always triumph over the "hardware" (tooling, equipment).

Best fortune with you future endeavor.

If you plan to perform anything that is structural as a welder running an independent business, you'd better darn well have insurance AND a WPS/certification for that. Else, you open yourself up to enormous legal and criminal liability.

I encourage people to own and run their own business at least once. But there are a tremendous amount of downsides to it. Money is not as good as you think until sometime later (if ever). Headaches for insurance, equipment, taxes, customers, etc all fall onto your lap. What you don't know about welding, you won't learn on a customer's dime and get paid for it. The technical judgement of welding is, in my opinion, equally important to all the things you learned. Knowing what to do, when, why and how is a requirement for safe welds. Schools can teach a process, some of the critical aspects, and they better have taught you how to read a WPS. But few customers will come to with a WPS so its on you to know the safe and approved method for welding something (utility trailer as an example).

There's money to be made for someone who is industrious, hard working, competent, and willing to do what companies don't/won't. Making custom trailers is one of those things. But it takes real estate and tooling and equipment to make a trailer. And extra hands.

There's lots of money to be made in the Service/Maintenance industry too. A truck, a welder, and certifications, and you can bounce between companies offering welding services to experience and expose yourself to all types of situations and jobs. With the infrastructure dollars being spent around the US, this is a great market to saddle up and make some dough, some contacts, and learn while you earn. Gigs can be 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year. The more time under the hood, the better prepared you'll be to succeed.

Food for thought.

Start repping for a couple of manufacturers and open a welding equipment and consumables business.

The fact that you know how to weld will set you apart from MANY and can only help.

cj737 wrote:If you plan to perform anything that is structural as a welder running an independent business, you'd better darn well have insurance AND a WPS/certification for that. Else, you open yourself up to enormous legal and criminal liability.

I encourage people to own and run their own business at least once. But there are a tremendous amount of downsides to it. Money is not as good as you think until sometime later (if ever). Headaches for insurance, equipment, taxes, customers, etc all fall onto your lap. What you don't know about welding, you won't learn on a customer's dime and get paid for it. The technical judgement of welding is, in my opinion, equally important to all the things you learned. Knowing what to do, when, why and how is a requirement for safe welds. Schools can teach a process, some of the critical aspects, and they better have taught you how to read a WPS. But few customers will come to with a WPS so its on you to know the safe and approved method for welding something (utility trailer as an example).

There's money to be made for someone who is industrious, hard working, competent, and willing to do what companies don't/won't. Making custom trailers is one of those things. But it takes real estate and tooling and equipment to make a trailer. And extra hands.

There's lots of money to be made in the Service/Maintenance industry too. A truck, a welder, and certifications, and you can bounce between companies offering welding services to experience and expose yourself to all types of situations and jobs. With the infrastructure dollars being spent around the US, this is a great market to saddle up and make some dough, some contacts, and learn while you earn. Gigs can be 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year. The more time under the hood, the better prepared you'll be to succeed.

Food for thought.

Right out of college I started my first business with a partner. It was thrilling but not particularly lucrative. When my first paying job was done, I had earned just $.38/hour. But, I didn't lose any money since everything we did we did by ourselves--no employees.

I have since started and run nine companies from service (landscape architecture, construction and maintenance) to wholesale sales, light manufacturing and real estate development. Every business had elements that I loved (passion) but as the decades rolled by, every one also grew in complexity caused primarily by a hostile government attitude toward business.

The advice from Arclight Ironworks is sound--first assess your interest and passion in running a business. You know you can weld and apparently you love it which is a good first step. However, I've seen many craftsmen start a business and do nothing but struggle and ultimately end up hating it. A highly skilled framer for instance starts a framing company, hires other carpenters and then the headaches begin. From the government regulatory system of licensing to worker's compensation insurance, to taxes (you get absolutely no reprieve from payroll taxes from the government--they are a personal liability to you if the company fails to pay) to finding new customers and keeping the beast fed becomes a daily grind. If you're unwilling to put in 10-14 hours a day in the grind, running a business other than as a one man professional shop is not for you.

I admire any person willing to take on the grind of starting and running a business. But go into it with your eyes open knowing that with the reward (ultimate control with ultimate responsibility) and the potential earnings (that'll come later since the first decade you'll be plowing virtually all your earnings back into growing the business) comes some sleepless nights, a fair amount of stress and putting yourself last in line to be paid. But for those willing to delay the gratification, the gratification can be great in both finances and satisfaction. Good luck.

I unfortunately have no advice to offer but from your post if you were a horse I would bet the farm on you !!!

I have a state license in another trade that was a pretty tough test to pass and then decided I didn't want to deal with the government BS.

you will make it.

creek.