Cottage Vendors- How Long is Too Long

[Ilovebeer]

I'm reading a lot of reduntant answers.
Ilovebeer you asked your question and I believe you got many answers and opinions should we move on and close this topic?

I agree, most people here gave very insightful commentary and I did learn a lot about the way the industry works. I hope others here did as well.

[nothermark]

I understand, but you were stating the obvious. It appears that some people here have picked sides, and that was not the point of this thread. What I am wondering is this model we currently have, where lead times get extended due to not being able to keep up with demand, a sustainable way to grow a business? I understand that not everyone wants to grow their business, but the industry as a whole will be growing.

I don't see sides all that much. What I see is you seem to be concerned about shorter lead times for custom work. What you don't seem to want to hear is that the lead times are not all that long on one hand and you have decent off the shelf options on the other. You also do not seem to want to accept that not all small business people want to be big business people. Smart one's often do not. As long as they can keep a backlog of active orders they can work at a pace they can handle, make a sufficient income to be content, and overall have a lot better life style than most other people who are sweating how to manage their people or sweating what some manager will do to screw them next.