Since you express some concern about going full time, I would hesitate to recommend that you do so.

You do not say if you are working out of your house or a shop.

In my opinion, unless you live in a large metropolitan area with little competition and have no rent or mortgage your are courting with disaster.

There is no way to guaranty that what you need fiancially to survive will be available every month.

You will also need to advertise and if you are working out of your house, may need a permit, especially if you are going to put out a sign.

Are there any other full time repairmen in your area?

I can identify with you.
I live in a rural area (small towns of about 12,000) and have been working out of my home for several years. There is no one else left in the area that does repair. The only advertising that I do is to hang up signs with the tabs that can be torn off. It may not seem that professional but they are always gone within a few days.
I think a lot of people have a clock that needs service and haven’t gotten around to it and the sign makes them think about it.
Word of mouth does the rest.
I ask that they call before bringing me the clock and before picking it up so that I don’t have to set hours.
I also sell quite a few clocks when I show my collection.
I turn down a lot of work from tall case clocks with modern German movements. I stay as busy as I want without them. If you want to make house calls, you might reach your goals by just doing that.

If you are working out of your home with almost zero overhead ---what do you have to lose if it doesn’t work out? I think it’s a no brainer--go for it.

Allen--I absolutely agree with Mr. Conover that starting a new business to make a living doing repairs would seem daunting.
But like you, if I make an extra $1000/month, that is fine. I would not want to rely on it as my sole source of income, as you had also stated. I also started as just a hobby and to maintain my own collection and then friends and family found out and then people found out etc. etc.
I enjoy working on clocks and I enjoy the customers. My wife and I had gift shops for 25 years and if you interact well with people and treat them right, they will want to refer everyone they know to you.
I am not trying to be a bragger when I say this--we have had 8 (all successful) retail stores over the years and I really believe that enjoying what you do and having a good attitude going into it goes a long way towards your success.
Mark

Mr. Allendk,
Now is the time for planning. The advice so far is “Don’t quit your day job!!!” Wow, that is the best advise so far. I absolutely agree Allen. You sound like my kind of guy. Want to succeed!?You can absolutely succeed with drive. Do not gamble though.

My background: I plan “everything” in my life. If my wife, all of the sudden today announces that she wants to go out for lunch. I will probably be opposed. I have not had time to think about it.

For now Mr. Allendk, do things that cost little or even nothing before you jump into a business.  You can slowly move ahead from there. Don’t put yourself and your family in jeopardy or on Food Stamps. That is not necessary, my friend.  That is very clear. Gambling is for Las Vegas. Not for your business. Obviously you will have to abide by local laws and ordinances to proceed further. Check that out! That costs little. Just your time and effort. Be sure to cooperate.

I operated a successful clock repair business out of my home for twenty plus years. It can be done. My original goal was $20K annually. I raised that to $30K three years later. As time progressed after 10 years, $70K was my goal. Set a goal and work for it. If you do not have a goal, how will you know when you arrive?

Did I have competion? You betcha Kimosabe. Our area of around 150K total populations, in two counties that were adjacent. There were two storefronts that had been in business servicing clocks for many years, even also selling clocks on a small scale. They had yellow page advertisements and a street address. Like most business, they had become complacent. i.e. Build it and they will come. I visited both of them and told them I was the new kid in town and did not want to be an enemy but, I would be an aggressive clock repair competitor. They both were apparently not worried. They had plenty of business. It is a funny thing (I am originally form Texas) but, when you shake a man’s hand, they don’t seem to attack you as they would if you were a complete stranger. I never and I mean absolutely “never” have spoken ill of any competitors.  You just look like a bitter person if you do.

When I say aggressive? I mean just that, AGGRESSIVE!! I made a legal note pad list of “every” business in the area that even “Might” be interested in my service and shook hands with the “store owner” not the employees, and left business cards. Any store that sold clocks, interior decorators, antique dealers, and furniture stores, and even condo associations. You get the idea. Allen, I purchased the “top of the line raised letter” colored background (don’t go cheap here Allen), business cards with a clock outline logo.  I copied the logo from an old clock book. I also bought clear plastic business card holders or stands that hold 25 cards each and gave to each of them. I told them of my qualifications and that I would “very much appreciate” any business they could send in my direction.  As an aside, at Christmas time, the next year, I sent combination, what is called fruit and goodies baskets to the ones that were very helpful to me. That sealed the deal, my friend!!! They were my friends forever. It only took one time.

If you have a question, please ask? I will try to be helpful. Been there, done that. Your humble fellow clockmaker. I am now retired and spend time travelng in the summer months.
LeoW

After re-reading my post. I need to make an addition. Truth is, I never did reach the $70K goal.  Made a good try though! Reached a little too high.

LeoW

If you want to  make money being a repair person than I advise you to take in the non real clocks. I am assuming by real clocks that you mean nice antiques and high quality clocks.
The average person has a few antiques, mostly sentimental family pieces.
Today's clock owner has a cuckoo clock and is likely to have clocks by modern manufacturers like Hermle. This is enough to keep you in business. I get a lot of business from retirement homes. The people usually have a modern grandfather clock  that needs work  and perhaps a mantel clock or two. If the owners did not love their clocks they would not have them repaired.
This makes them "real" clocks.

Hey all -
Been lurking for a good while and decided to reply to this message as it's timely for me.

I am currently in the process of cranking up my clock business after a hiatus and a move to a new location.
My last shop was in a more rural area with (surpisingly) a high level of competition (mostly "plumbers" and hobbyists). In a 5 county area I had maybe 125,000 potential customers - I did pretty well with that.

My "new" shop is in my home which is now located in one of the largest metro areas in the south. Daunting? Yes. Am I optimistic of my success? Absolutely!!
I think the main things to worry about are how many potential customers, how are you advertising your existence to those customers and (most importantly) can you perform the work required in a professional manner.

If you have those the customers, you advertise effectively to get them AND you outperform your customers expectations you'll do fine.

Also - I saw a great deal of wisdom being passed along on the board. Thank you to all those who contribute!!