problem with local taxidermist

[Skillet]

Keep in mind tho, with tons of animals I’m sure your taxi is working on, looking into an individual animal is tough and time consuming.

Why is this? It seems like such a basic business requirement when a taxi takes on work.  :bdid:A super simple spreadsheet they could refer to with the click of a mouse should be all that's needed to report its current status.

Why is this a problem for taxidermists more than other business?

[BlackRiverTaxidermy]

Keep in mind tho, with tons of animals I’m sure your taxi is working on, looking into an individual animal is tough and time consuming.

Why is this? It seems like such a basic business requirement when a taxi takes on work.  :bdid:A super simple spreadsheet they could refer to with the click of a mouse should be all that's needed to report its current status.

Why is this a problem for taxidermists more than other business?

It’s not hard to let him know where and what the progress is, but it’s simply not something that is always easy to find out at a moments notice like your implying. A bear rug for instance, your saying that every single step of the process, such as fleshing, turning, measuring for forms, salting, mailing to tannery, getting back from tannery, logging of the shipped form, final prep, form install, drying, mailing to rugger, getting back from rugger, and final ‘finish’ work should all be tracked on a computer with anywhere from 50-90 bears in inventory? I would be on the computer all day updating mounts. I’m not trying to be sarcastic but for a majority of taxidermists that type of logging would be very tough to get anything done.  A lot of taxidermist, including myself, do keep logs of where stuff is at in outsourced locations such as the tannery and rugger (such as for a rug). The exact step of where the project is at CAN be attained with minimal effort for an organized shop, but it’s typically not something that can be found in a minute or two like your suggesting; however when it’s found I think the real argument and inquiry is about good communication and getting back to the client which has not occurred…so there in lies TK’s frustration and reasonably justified.
Stop in sometime Skillet if you want to see what I’m referring to.
Good conversation!

[Romulus1297]

It’s probably tanned and stored in a box in his freezer waiting for you have him finish it probably just lost in the pile of everything else he has to do.

[Skillet]

Keep in mind tho, with tons of animals I’m sure your taxi is working on, looking into an individual animal is tough and time consuming.

Why is this? It seems like such a basic business requirement when a taxi takes on work.  :bdid:A super simple spreadsheet they could refer to with the click of a mouse should be all that's needed to report its current status.

Why is this a problem for taxidermists more than other business?

It’s not hard to let him know where and what the progress is, but it’s simply not something that is always easy to find out at a moments notice like your implying. A bear rug for instance, your saying that every single step of the process, such as fleshing, turning, measuring for forms, salting, mailing to tannery, getting back from tannery, logging of the shipped form, final prep, form install, drying, mailing to rugger, getting back from rugger, and final ‘finish’ work should all be tracked on a computer with anywhere from 50-90 bears in inventory?

First off, I don't know much (almost nothing) about rugging a bear, other than it usually takes an amount of time that isn't something that the modern consumer is used to. This seems to be the frequent issues between taxi's and customer. But I do know about being a consumer that feels like my business isnt't valued.

With that many steps to a bear rug, and outsourcing as a major component of the process, I would have to imagine a step-by-step account of each hide compiled in a basic ledger would be an absolutely necessity for the business' own info alone. How does a taxi know if they're actually making money otherwise?  How do they decide what is best done in-house or outsourced?  I can't imagine a customer needs to know if it's at the "measuring for forms" stage vs. the "salting" stage, but I think they could reasonably expect to know if it's been sent out for tanning or not, and most importantly what the leadtime for completion is.  That's what I will expect when I send my bear rug out next spring. Accounting software is relatively cheap, and Excel spreadsheets are easy.  No real reasons for not doing it, and the info is invaluable for running a business.

Stop in sometime Skillet if you want to see what I’m referring to.
Good conversation!

If I can make it to Rochester before I head back north, I'll take you up on that offer. Always been curious about the trade, and the underlying reasons for the public floggings of taxi's I've seen here.  Will be with the time if for nothing else than to educate myself, and try find out what I can expect in the future.

 

[phildobaggins]

I also dropped a bear off in 2019 to get a rug. Got the rug back about a month and a half ago. My taxi set my expectations and said it would be a really long time. Might just be a communication issue.