Upholsterers Year 2009 in Review

The one man upholstery shop survives another year. That makes thirty one of them in a row! And I’m only fifty four years old. 2009 might have been the toughest and most interesting year of them all. The tough part was not having much of a backlog of work throughout most of the year. A few times I ran out of work and once I had a two month backlog. That’s a tough business environment. The interesting part was how the Internet became my business lifeline. With the help of all the search engines, Google and Yahoo Local, Merchants Circle, and Upholsteryblog, Joe Gramm Custom Upholstery has become an easy place to find on the Internet for upholstery on Cape Cod. Another interesting change in the business in 2009 is the younger customer base I’m developing. In 1990, my customer base was fifty to eighty years old. In 2009, my customer base has widened to thirty to eighty years old. An expanding customer base is a welcome surprise. Thank you to all my customers who trusted me with their furniture and all who visited my sites and asked questions.

I even managed to have some fun in between. Ultimate Frisbee and the beach were my favorite outdoor activities. I even mixed Ultimate with business by coordinating estimates with Ultimate Frisbee pickup games from Wellfleet to Falmouth. I had a lot of quality time with my family and expanded my knowledge of photography for both business and pleasure.

I hope 2010 will bring new and exciting possibilities for the upholstery shop. My business New Years Resolution is to bring the use of video into my work as well as a shopping cart at joegramm.com for specialty, upholstery related items. If the economy can achieve a sustainable recovery, 2010 could be the greatest year ever for this one man upholstery shop on Cape Cod.