im a 1 man band again and had enough work to keep me going for quite a while but the big projects are on hold as no one is risking traveling with a hot rod on a trailer . been doing alternate days by doing a day of proper work and another day of workshop maintenance , upgrades , painting , cleaning and all those jobs ive said i will get round to one day ...... when i get to a point of nothing i will just make headlining kits with stock fabric and templates i have to sell on ebay .....

COVID-19 has made me into a 1 man shop again; but its great as I have work and catching up on some project due to the down time of other business. Working restricted hours due to mandatory curfews and lock down. In our country we only have 18 cases, 2 deaths, 14 recovering and 2 fully recovered as of today April 21st.

One man shop too. Slowed down slightly but the boat folks have always kept me going strong. Eastern Shore Maryland Area.

Glad to hear everyone is keeping busy. That's the good thing with our shops, even when new customers run dry, we still have projects waiting in the wings.

Hopefully, this all blows over by the time that work runs out.

We're based in the Northeast, where the virus has hit hardest -- and everything is shut down.

I'm in the uk and have been furloughed for the last 5 weeks along with my three co workers.I'm in again next week for 2 weeks then possibly furloughed for another 3 weeks.Apart for a 30 minute jog three times a week I haven't been out.I did all the diy I needed to do in the first week and now just kicking my heels trying to make the day go by.

on my in between days i gave an old steel locker thats been in workshop since day 1 a lick of paint but as always i took it too far

The other day I spent an hour or so pulling nails that I chucked away from some wood that I'll also probably throw away.That's how bored I am.
Great cabinet Chris.

I feel extremely privileged in our are, we are here in the heart of the mid-west. I was uncertain at the beginning of this thing how things would go. Had work already coming in. Entering into our "busy" season and boom, 22+ million filing for unemployment. So, we got ourselves in a jam here now in april, where as the calls came in, we just bid and scheduled, "get em' on the books Crispin", I'd say to my sales guy. He's scheduling, I'm scheduling and now we are extremely behind on what we can do. I have 5 full time guys including myself, and our sixth guy is on sick leave. Looking to hire another. What concerns me is the aftershock. I know many are feeling it in the immediate, but I have been proceeding with caution on our spending, cause I believe "All" will feel it in future. You cannot print the kind of money into the economy that we are printing and not get inflation, especially with as many as or out of work, not counting all that will NOT come back to work due to getting better pay on unemployment! Personal thoughts on that, I'll refrain. Suffice it to say, most of what we work with, Glues, dies, vinyl, foams, etc. all are a patroleum based product! And when barrals of oil are selling for -$30 they will recoop thier money and the price is going to INFLATE. Just my thoughts. If we are as an industry going to stay afloat, we need suppliers and vendors/Manufacturers that will take what we do into consideration. Would like to know the thoughts on this from others in the industry...

We have been staying extremely busy installing leather on new cars, we had stopped taking in retail customers at the beginning of the Stay at Home order, now I have to go back and reschedule all the jobs we cancelled in the beginning of this crisis. We will probably have one of our best months on leather installs, although dealers may soon run out of certain models before too long, just counting our blessings.

Wow, that is a blessing. Especially in light of how things have been unfolding for you all there in Baton Rouge and surrounding area. We did not stop with our retail customers, but we did impliment a "by appointment" only policy, turned our phones off and explained our situation in voicemailbox and man, we've even gotten many compliments for the way we've handled it. They actually like our voicemail. So our from gate is looked and we come in and just go to work! Must say, its tempting to stay with that policy. I and my sales guy actually get something done! The key has been to check voicemail twice a day and return call that day. Glad to hear your doing good! I am looking for the day when we can get into that market of leather kits. Havent even scratched the surface of that revenue stream.

I’ve made a few calls and email to places in the past that may need some upkeep, while they are down. Gyms, bars, restaurants. Some have paid off, others not. But I’ve had boats coming in and some long term projects. As much as I hate boats, I take them. My wife is about to kill me too, I get so frustrated lol

Cody, That post got me questioning the whole boat thing. I've not looked in depth here on the forum, but it would be a good question to have. Why are boat/marine upholstery considered by many upholstery shops? Even the Hog Ring itself, predominately highlights the automotive side of upholstery over other forms. Not having a problem with that at all, just curious why that is so much more appreciated and highlighted over other industries and in particularly boating. All thoughts welcome. Maybe this needs to be a new post with new title.???

Because boat interiors don't use hog rings.

@Michael OdenI can’t answer for others here, but I have terrible experiences with boats in general and just no longer care for them, even outside of upholstery. So maybe I go in with the wrong mindset and they just seem to fight me from start to finish. But I live in rural Iowa where boats aren’t used year round or in the same
numbers as ocean areas or warmer climates. So the boats are usually super warn out, hand me downs, that they got for cheap or free and want to spend as little as possible. But that’s me, people probably love them and have great experiences with boat. Some of the captains chairs and designs aren’t easy and take some skill to get done.

That’s the wrong clientele you are getting for boats. You need to market more towards the ski boats owners. Boats like Malibu, and Nautique where it actually makes sense to re-do. A new one starts at 50-60K where if the boats in great condition mechanically. The customer can be better off spending like 5-7k to get a great new looking boat. Try to avoid the clapped out bass boat, pontoon where they can get new seats from cabellas for the cost of material from us.

Unfortunately for my location. The population and lakes around me are small. Bass boats and pontoons are pretty much all that’s around me.

At the very start of the pandemic, our business kinda slowed down because of all the curfews take in place but it's back to normal now. We are mainly focused on cabriolet hood jobs, we are getting a lot of calls since the summer season started. (Istanbul, Turkey)

Jesse, you are spot on. Although where I am, we have MANY lake front properties from retired sandpits turned into gated communities. With that, our marine work on pontoons is excellent. We do 7-10 easy on complete refurb. The selling point for many of these owners is they know they’re boat, mechanics etc. many only use it handful of times a year, but like to have it still and they know a new boat is starting $20k+. For them to have us refurb with 5 year warranty we can’t keep up. Never mind these boats stay on water out in elements all year long. So we constantly have work! They don’t like their boat looking like a dump. Neighbors can look out their window. And that’s great business. $300k+ plus a year I’m just marine. In our area this year boat sales is up 30%. Hog ring or no hog ring it’s upholstery and we’re thankful for the work!

I am extremely blessed, a one man shop of 40+ years catering to custom rods and Restos. I'm as busy as ever, I won't wear a mask and if it becomes an issue with a customer they lose their slot. I refuse to buy into the panic however I do feel for those who have lost loved ones. My thoughts and hopes go out to all that are struggling during this unfortunate situation with confidence that we all will return to prosperity with the new normal.

Luckily here in Florida, auto repair shops were deemed essential businesses so we were still able to work, though our traffic fizzled out. we were able to get enough work to pay the bills and weather the slow holiday period. Business has picked up in Orlando since new years and I hope it's long term. You are all in my heart as tradesmen (and woman) and I wish you a fruitful 2021 !! Cheers !!

we are now in our 3rd lockdown in the UK and im even more busier now than i was in march !!!!!!!!!!! im booking cars in as far as February 2022 ............................ yes 2022 not a typo error ...and a few other uk trimmers i speak to are all in the same position . as long as i can get supplies i can lock my door for a year

Glad to report that business has picked up for us as well.

For the first few months of the pandemic, things were touch and go. It hasn't gotten back 100% to pre-Covid days, but we're keeping busy.

I'm in Kentucky and My shop has stayed steady since the pandemic started. I have a 5 man crew (me included) and i only laid them off when the pandemic first hit here for about 2 weeks and then we were busy ever since. Now it has slowed down since the holidays are over, but this the normal slowdown period (January-february). My dealerships have been keeping us with work though.

I used to do lots of rods, customs , originals I prefer doing boats now more money less hassle boats are in and out within a week they don’t sit here for a month I still do the occasional car because boats are seasonal here. BC Canada

I'm so busy I turn away more than I do. I'm also planning on jumping ship in the next year or so. I got a new side line going on and I love it. Wishing I lived in California but I can afford to travel once this takes off. Just need to do a bit of building and selling to get me to the Cali travel point. Also the building will make me sustainable. Commercial Beekeeping. Always loved woodworking and there's plenty of the to do. :)