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WORKROOM OPERATIONS

Build Your Knowledge by Sharing
Sharing your knowledge with others will increase your knowledge and your wisdom.

by Kitty Stein, CWP, WCAA

How many times have you offered assistance to others and ultimately solved their problems? How many times did you come away from the experience with a new knowledge about problem solving? How many times did you feel really glad and fulfilled to have helped someone in need?

Giving with no expectation of receiving is certainly a good way to give. However, there is nothing wrong with giving for material profit, either.

MENTORING
No matter how long you have been in the industry, helping someone else who is in need of help is truly a gracious gift. Helping does not have to be a long-term process. It may be for only one incident.

I have been in the industry a lot of years now and my greatest joy was in helping and encouraging others to develop and grow in this business. While many who were just starting out when I met them are now highly successful, that was not always the case. One time a woman who was beginning a program with a formal mentoring group that was two hours from me asked if I would mentor her. I agreed and was delighted to be able to help. I invested much of my time to help this woman work through the program and was thrilled to attend her graduation. Sadly she broke contact with me and did not follow through after the graduation.

Do I regret the time I invested in this person? No! I helped for the joy of helping and I recognize that I cannot make decisions for others. There is no price tag on the rewards I felt from that experience as well as the knowledge I gained in giving of my knowledge.

Would I do it again? Absolutely! In fact, I am currently mentoring a new entrepreneur not in this industry.

ONLINE HELP
There is not enough good I can say about belonging to at least one online e-mail list in the industry. These groups truly are composed of the more professional folks in the industry, because they know the value of networking.

You may think you don’t know enough to offer help to these folks, but you would be wrong! No one knows all there is to know in this industry or any other. Any little tip or shortcut that you can offer will help not just one person, but all the members of the group. I guarantee that you know something that could help the others. And the knowledge, insight and wisdom you get in return are priceless!

EMPLOYEES
Some workroom owners are reluctant to teach their employees the complete process of fabricating individual items for fear that they will take the knowledge and leave to become a competitor. It happens. However, for all the employees who do not leave, are better employees and bring in more profit because of the training, it’s worth the risk.

I believed in training the complete process and I thoroughly enjoyed every part of it. If I had had the time, I would have taught my employees far more than they needed for their specific jobs, just because I believe in the value of knowledge. Cross-training employees is more profitable and less demanding of your time as the owner.

SHARING WITH THE COMPETITION
Yes! When I started in this industry in the 1970s sharing fabrication secrets with your local competition was unthinkable, and in many cases still is. Then an evolution started and I believe Draperies & Window Coverings was the initiator with the introduction of this monthly magazine and the trade shows it produced with seminars. We attended seminars where successful businesspeople in our industry told us all their trade secrets. Very slowly, people—from attendees to vendors—started sharing on the national level and then it progressed to the local level. A few local workroom organizations started and then the Window Coverings Association of America (WCAA) started opening chapters across the country. Finally, competitors were organizing to share and help each other!

This industry is small and the number of independent workrooms is shrinking. Obviously, McDonald’s is not going to tell Burger King what the next new item on the menu is going to be, but there are far more fast food restaurants out there compared to the number of workrooms. Only by coming together and helping each other can we get stronger and more professional and, ultimately, more profitable.

TEACHING THE CONSUMER
While workrooms are hurting for seamstresses, there are many accomplished sewers out there among the consumer pool. Those people would not want to pay someone to make their draperies so they would never be your market anyway. They would prefer to learn how to do it themselves and will pay for classes.

If you have a fear of public speaking, this is one situation that is not quite as fearful. That is because you do know so much more than the consumer about making window treatments, and the classes are likely to be small and not so intimidating. When I taught home sewers, I had a wonderful time! They are eager to learn and you end up learning a lot from them. Although it didn’t happen to me, some workrooms have found good employees this way. It’s a great way to screen them!

Your local parks and recreation department and community college would be a good place to start if you want to offer this kind of class.

TEACHING AT A COLLEGE
Both community colleges and universities are offering Continuing Education classes. The instructors do not have to have college degrees. They just have to have knowledge in a particular subject and be willing to share (teach) it! Of course, you don’t make the same pay as teachers with degrees, but you usually can set the cost of your class, the time and the number of students you must have for the class to make economic sense for you. You also can set a maximum number of students.

I suggest that you consider finding a school with an interior design program and teaching a window treatments course for that curriculum. I did this, and it was a very rewarding experience. At the time I did it, there were not any published books that I could use for a text. We have so many good books available today. Find one that closely coincides with your philosophies and processes. No book will be exactly the way you do things, but having an already printed text will make your prep time much easier! Where the text differs will give you the opportunity to teach why your way is better! Again, you will learn so much from the class prep and from your students . . . and you just might end up with some new clients that are already trained!

WRITE FOR A MAGAZINE OR NEWSLETTER
While you could write for consumer magazines, I suggest writing for industry magazines. It’s always good to help your peers and it forces you to stay current on the industry. That alone will give you an edge over your competitors.

It’s OK if you think you really don’t have the skills to write well. That’s what editors are for! They dress it up so you look good! (Except for the first article I wrote, Howard has been dressing up my articles ever since I started writing for D&WC. Thank you, Howard!)

I have to confess that I love to write and I love to share. It is rare that I or any other writers get feedback from our audience to know if we really are helping anyone out there in draperyland. But there have been so many times when someone would see me at a show or talk to me on the phone and say, “How did you know I needed that just then?”

We all have our own individual knowledge, but sharing that knowledge, whether for spiritual gain or material gain, will bring unbelievable rewards. One person can paddle a canoe alone only so far. It takes a crew working together to go the distance and to win the race! Go ahead and help someone—it will make her day and yours!