The economy has forced many companies out of business recently, and many people are out of work, but there is still welding to be done. This may present an opportunity for enterprising individuals who can achieve a high level of efficiency, quality and productivity.

Starting your own small weld shop could provide the advantage of reduced overhead and employment-related costs that can burden larger shops. A leaner, more responsive shop can often provide a quicker turn around on orders and find profit in one-off projects that would be a wash for other shops.

Another reason this might be the right time to start a weld shop is that there are some very skilled welders out there looking for jobs. As we’ve reported in the past, companies often had a very difficult time finding skilled employees when there was a welder shortage. If you do need to hire on some additional help, you’ll be more likely to find experienced welders who can start producing from day one.

And, the economy will rebound. There is no doubt about that — only uncertainty about when it will happen. Embarking on a new business venture and taking on small accounts now could pay out major dividends when the economy picks up and those small jobs grow into significant revenue sources.

Of course, there are some things to consider before quitting your day job. How experienced are you at welding?  Have you written a business plan? Do you have enough money saved to support yourself with little to no business income for at least a year or more? Are you prepared to do the networking and door-to-door selling to land your accounts?

Starting a new business is always a risky endeavor, right now possibly more so than any time in the last 75 years. But where there is great risk, there can also be great reward for those who plan carefully and wisely.

Have you started your own welding business in the last two years? If so, what has been your experience? What advice would you give to someone considering opening a weld shop? Do you believe that now might be a good time to start a weld shop business? Share your thoughts on this topic by posting a comment below.

Most of us have a hard time defining why we are passionate about the things that we are passionate about. For those in the skilled trades, it often has something to do with the rewards of working with your hands, the intellectual stimulation of solving practical design challenges and seeing the tangible results of your labor at the end of the day.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that our educational system often leads students to believe that the skilled trades exist as career options for those students who can’t get admitted a traditional university.

If ever there was someone to put this myth to rest, it might be Matthew Crawford. With a PhD in political philosophy, Crawford quit his job as the executive director of a Washington D.C. think tank to open a vintage motorcycle repair shop.

Crawford discusses the satisfaction and fulfillment that he finds working with his hands and his mind to repair old motorcycles in his new book, “Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work.”

In a recent New York Times article, Crawford wrote:

The trades suffer from low prestige, and I believe this is based on a simple mistake. Because the work is dirty, many people assume it is also stupid. This is not my experience … I have found the satisfactions of the work to be very much bound up with the intellectual challenges it presents. And yet my decision to go into this line of work is a choice that seems to perplex many people.

Crawford’s experience seems to echo that of many people who enter the skilled trades not out of a lack of options, but out of a passion for the work.

Will we ever reach the point where the skilled trades are appropriately recognized for the intellectual challenges they offer? Do you know someone who quit their ‘white collar’ job to work in a ‘blue collar’ trade? Share your thoughts on these subjects by posting a comment below.