Getting Over Your Fears
One of the fears any employer, any master craftsman, has about agreeing to put a new apprentice to work is the fear of a bad experience. As a master tradesman you want to share what you know hopefully helping another person along the way. But what if the apprentice you choose exhibits a personal attribute you cannot live with and you have to send that new apprentice away from your business. Do you really want to risk that problem? Maybe it is better to just do what you have always done—get along without the help—work around your need to obtain an assistant.
I have been there. I know the feeling. The last thing you need in any business situation is a big headache, lost time and lost money. Yet the call of the apprenticeship concept badgers you and you keep thinking, “Maybe God is calling me to step out and test the waters.” So you find yourself wondering, “How can I find a great apprentice?”
It’s Easier to Do it All Myself—or is it?
I cannot offer a fool proof plan or answer to this problem but I can tell you what we did. I worked alone for years. Building new furniture and refinishing old pieces is work that often can be done by just one person (except when it can’t). I was botherationing my close family members to assist quite often in moving, loading, and lifting awkward furniture. Oh sure, I was working alone as long as you did not count the endless requests for just a little help. My family was quite gracious about it but still, I was not truly working alone. Something needed to change.
Tim, now eighteen was only three when our families met. We knew his family first from our church. But we also had gotten to know them as they helped us with yard work and through developing personal relationships. We shared meals back and forth and were in each others’ homes. Tim and his older brother had both helped around our place providing chainsaw services. All these relationships went back quite a ways. Plus, Tim’s father taught him to work by having him work in the company warehouse, teaching him good work ethics, and getting him going with lawn mowing jobs at an early age. So when I told Tim and his parents I would like to have him work with me as an apprentice I had a pretty good idea as to what Tim’s character was. I was not just hiring a guy off an application. I was hiring a young man with, what I believed, were sound Christian ethics. It was that personal character that convinced me to put Tim to work.
Your Network is Your Greatest Resource
If you can find an apprentice within your familiar group of Christian friends it is a great way to get started. God provides those relationships for all of our good. If you cannot find the person you need so easily then there are ways and means to discover a great apprentice. But those ways and means will be our topic in a different blog post as we continue to talk about tips and tactics for apprenticeships in our small businesses.