That was Then this is Now

Greetings sharpeners:

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     I just wanted to share some thoughts on how I see my business and where it has taken me, from a personal view that is, not a financial perspective.  (I do Okay, enough to buy my sociables)

     I remember about six years ago when I was starting up that I was eager to get business, to get customers to give me their knives. At that time, my real goal was Executive Chef's and restaurants, I thought that this would be very cool for my Resume.  I would go out to dinner for the sole purpose of giving the waitress a Business Card for the Chef then watch my phone for their call. (It never happened that way, and I was wrong to do that, that's not the right approach but I was a sharpener, not  a businessman(

That as THEN, this is NOW:

(Random pictures inserted to keep you awake)
   

  Nowadays, I wouldn't dream of giving a business card to a waitress of even to the Executive Chef. After a lot of hard work, some chance encounters and word of mouth, mostly word of mouth, I now sharpen for some of the top Chefs in the area and I have sharpened for one of the top Chefs in Canada. I have a restaurant in Quebec ship their knives to me.

 I have a completely different mindset now. I have come to realize that Chefs, not all of them know knives or how to sharpen them.  The sad part is that many cooks and Chefs use dull knives on a daily basis which is very irresponsible in my opinion. Now many probably do their own which is very cool. Or they get someone else besides me to do it, cool as well. What bothers me is that chefs know a very highly respected knife sharpener is in their midst and many, too many,  still continue to use dull knives.

    The way I look at it now is that I don't need their business, now don't get me wrong, I WANT their business but I don't need it enough to go begging:)

    My priorities have changed as well, my most important customers are the little old ladies that get in a taxi to bring me the one knife that they own. Or the fella that tried to sharpen his own on a grinder, he knows he screwed up and asks me to make the pain go away. The everyday customers are the ones that I love to work for now.

     Yes of course it is very cool to sharpen exclusively for some Chefs and I do a few. Chef Jason Lynch for example is very meticulous about his knives and I have been doing them for years, I am the only one who sharpens for him. He will never know how grateful I am for that. Chef Michael Howell and Chef Craig Flinn and Chef Mark Gray are also extremely important to me. They know how to reach me though and I let them contact me when ready.

   I have passed all the tests, run the gauntlets and sharpened for Chefs while they watched, just waiting for me to make a mistake. I did all that and it really built up my confidence, to the point where I can write what I am writing here.

    Don't misinterpret what I am saying, I am always eager to sharpen for any cook and Chef and I don't care how bad their knives are, I respect them because they are at least getting them sharpened. What I don't have time for are the folks who refuse to get their knives sharpened, the ones in the business who know better.

I'm not venting, just sharing, some of you have been here since "the old days" Thank you so much for that.


I have always stated that knife sharpening, learning to sharpen and keep sharpening is a journey, a journey filled with stepping stones. Each stepping stone represents a lesson to be learned and they extend to the horizon, there is end to the learning. There is no summit to reach and say, "Yes, I have done it, there is nothing else to learn"

If I ever got to the point where I think that, I would want someone to put me out of my misery.  I am good at what I do but so are others, I never want to give the impression that I am all that. I am confident in what I do, I have done my homework but I still know my place.

The Stepping Stones

Peter