You won't get finished if you don't get started.

When surface cleanliness is absolutely critical The way to test it is to run distilled water across the cleaned surface. A clean surface will be fully wetted. The water will not wet any part that has traces of oil or grease. 

Lean Manufacturing by Stephen Ruffa 

My form of inspiration.  I've started to listen to books in the shop while I'm by myself. 

Resist the urge to goto a discount tool store. If you must, 2 times max per year. You're only as good as the tool your holding. Eat shitty food, buy good tools. 

Don't bro deal. "Awe man you'll get so much exposure!" 

Develop a Sixth sense when it comes to order taking. Don't take an order when you get the feeling you should pass. It will turn out badly for both parties. It gets messy.

It's 6AM and I'm sitting in this dank warehouse thinking about how to answer "How did it all happen so quick?" This question is always asked. "How did you get so many followers?" Looking back now it's hard to grasp how much really has been done. I don't ever really look back. Sometimes it frightening sometimes its satisfying. It's been the constant focus and selfless (selfish, depending on whom you ask) dedication to maintain the vector. Always moving forward. This game is tough. There are new entrants every month. Entrants that water down the market to the uneducated.

I've never been able to find that work balance. Most small business owners relay the same story. Ultimately if you want to do this you need to understand you're starting a business. This means you need to lay a solid foundation, you need to plan, you need strategy. Read books about business principles. Understand for the most part "followers" don't translate to being able to eat, pay the rent or buy tubes next month.

If you think folks are going to come knock you better reconsider. You'll get an initial hit of orders from your local buddies but you wont be able to pay yourself. I'm not being negative. I'm being real.
Start on the points below. I planned for almost a year before starting to build. Your situation may be different. I've never had a second revenue stream or dual income from a wife. It's been either make a frame and pay the bills or don't make a frame and scramble to figure out how to make ends meet.

• Develop professional branding. 
• Spend a considerable amount of time developing and considering your trade name. 
• Develop a friendship with a local machine shop.
• Develop a friendship with the local paint shop.
• Read everything possible about the mechanics of running a business.
• Get legal with the country and state in which your doing business.
• Buy insurance. 
• Begin searching for an Accountant. 
• Study the market, find holes. What can you do that hasn't been done? 

As a disclaimer: I’m not a writer in any shape or form. 

In 09’ I was living in a double with a full basement. Whoever built the house in the late 1920’s had built a huge workbench and shelving downstairs.  I knew I had a place to begin building.

The space was warm and dry which was great. Looking back it was probably warmer than my current space. The downside, it was underground.

There were no other options. It had to be the basement. In the beginning I remember watching that (first?) video that Marty put out and dreaming of having a freestanding shop. I still do. 

It’s always been easy for me NOT to over extend.  Which has carried the business through the lean months.  I had an Apt and a shop for 650USD.  Score. DON’T OVER EXTEND YOURSELF! No matter how cool everyone else’s shop looks there is no way your going to be able to replicate it and survive. Start Small. 500sq ft is all you need.

I was spending quite a bit of time on frame forum (RIP).  Looking around I started to get an idea of what tools I needed to make a lugged bike, where to buy the tubes, where to buy the bits, the silver and the flux. At this point I started to reach out to an original American builder, Doug Fattic.  

Growing up I had always messed with hand tools, motors, tractors, guns, and plastic models.  Spray-painting matchbox cars in my papaws basement were a favorite pastime when I would visit his workshop.  I would shoot a 22LR Rifle into a dead stump retrieve the bullets and melt them into trinkets with a propane torch. I taught myself how to skin rabbits and tan the hides. I guess my point is I had a concept of how to use tools early in life. 

I was able to find a second hand copy of Paterek . It was really old. The thing looked like it had been typed on a Remington. It was really outdated.  Didn’t really have a clue how to design a frame. I remember reading somewhere that the inside angles of the main triangle should add up to 360°.  Fact or Fiction? All I knew was that I needed to get a copy of Bike CAD stat.  Bike CAD wont make you a better builder. What it will do is save you money. It’s always a trade off in the beginning. What should I buy? A or B?  Looking back I wish I would have bought bike CAD first. It’s a very powerful tool that allows a builder to be efficient and professional.