Closing Down The Workshop I Just Finished - Again!

[Archie]

Hi all.

This footage is from late 2024 and goes over the closing down of my last workshop. When I received the news that I had to leave, I did not have enough time to find anywhere else and any money to move so this was the end.

This was a really difficult period. Everyone was telling me to stop and that this whole thing would never work (which is totally fair), but what was I going to do with all these things I'd learnt? This was my dream! I used to be a decorator on building sites which is one step up from being a labourer. I have no qualifications. Now I was a specialist in 3d scanning, a CNC operator, a CAD designer, a workshop builder. This has given me so much, as well as improved my sense of worth. I would never have believed in a million years I could have done any of this. If it fails, that’s ok, but not because I gave up before hand. After discussing with my partner, she said I have to carry on.

The main problem was a disagreement between myself and the workshop owner, who did not agree with my approach (and he’s probably right, or at least has a fair point).
Our increasing arguments went something like this

“ You need to make a component, anything; it's been two years and you haven’t made anything”
“Yes but you’re the one that keeps moving me around, I never get the chance to settle in”
“ Just make anything”
“ Ok shall I go outside get a stick and whittle it into a neck shape for you”
“ Yes”
“No”.

Mixed in with,

“This contraption you're making will never work”
“ I made that thing you said wouldn’t work and it works really well”
“Oh yes so it does”
I’m going to make this thing next”
“that will never work”
“I just made that thing you said would never work”
“Oh yes, it works really well”.

Then came the,

“You should have had this guitar manufacturing plant up and running within a few months”
“ I didn't know anything, I've literally had to learn all of this from scratch and you expect me to have done all this in 8 weeks”
“yes”.

In spite of all that, the person was incredibly generous and kind to even let me get off the ground at all. Yes they have created some huge problems and why this has all taken twice the amount of time it needed to, but they've been the only source of my opportunity. You just have to deal with what you've got and as I said, the person is not wrong in many ways. I was just not prepared to sacrifice on quality. You only get one chance and you have to get it right. Manufacturing isn't about the component, that is the outcome of the process. The systems and process are the important bit and hence why it looks like what I’m doing is… well nothing.
Approaching a customer and giving them a bad quality product is the real waste of time and it goes against my values.
Many business take years to get off the ground, years to make any profit. I don't want to be one of them but I also need to be careful because I am naive, inexperienced in business and what this person was trying to do, was make me understand the importance of speed. If given to my preference I would happily stay in RnD for ever.

Onwards & Upwards.

[Cunamara]

This is 2024? I confess I am really confused about the timeline of all of this.

[Archie]

This is 2024? I confess I am really confused about the timeline of all of this.

I don't blame you.

Over the last two years I took footage of nearly everything that was going on (which was a lot), but I didn't have the time/energy to edit it all the footage. The harder I worked, the less time I had.
I stoped uploading to youtube for the last year whilst I built the new workshop because I needed to get some time back.
All the videos I put out over Xmas leading up to the new workshop, took me 4 weeks of 12-16 hour days, 6 days a week, hence why I had been putting it off for so long. There was over 2000 hours of footage.

I’m just finishing up the new workshop now and as soon as that is done, I will stop and make the video for that, which will then bring us up to date.

I would really like to keep things up to date because I want you guys to be on this journey with me but I've had a run of bad luck over the last few years with workshops and I’ve taken on a huge task, probably too big.