Breaking from the 9 to 5 mold helped my gunsmith shop do better
I hear a lot of gunsmiths say you need set hours to run a good shop, but I found the opposite after I let my team pick their own times. We keep a short window open for customers, from 10 am to 2 pm, but my workers come in when they feel most awake and ready. My main stock fitter, for instance, starts at 7 am and leaves by 3 pm, and his work has less errors since the change. I once believed a tight schedule meant we were all on the same page, but it just made people tired and rushed. Now, jobs get done faster, and my crew is happier because they balance home life easier. Sure, it took a few weeks to get used to, but with simple check-ins and respect, we make it work. I would not go back to forcing everyone into the same old clock in and out routine.