My best advice is to build good jigs and buy good tools before you get too busy to build them. Take the time necessary to build them right and make them durable.

If you have something that you have to baby along, finesse, or otherwise spend a lot of time getting right, then do whatever is necessary to repair/replace that tool or jig.

buy quality materials, woods, purflings, fret wire, tuners, rosette materials. Cheap materials will cost you more money than they are worth in the long run. Learn to buy wisely to save money.

My band saw, thickness sander and table belt sander are the 3 tools I use most. I would recommend buying the best you can afford. Get yourself a couple of quality hand sanders and buy loads of sandpaper of varying grits. I Use a LOT of the self stick rolls of sandpaper.

Once you get a few guitars under your belt, get them into the hands of local musicians and get honest candid critiques from them. Dont be offended by their critiques either. My best sales have come from word of mouth referrals from bluegrass players I met at bluegrass festivals.

do it because you love making guitars, not because you want to get rich.

Yes, that's a good idea to have a background to the question.  Guitar making school, a few years at a small production shop, a few years on my own.  Can build an instrument 'worthy' of being sold. Let's keep this particular topic more toward the business aspect of setting up and selling and not so much the building. 

Thanks for the replies so far.

Matty, I'm not a professional luthier by an stretch of the imagination and this is my first post so please ignore these comments if you choose.  I started building guitars in the mid 70's.  I sold the first few and decided that I really didn't have the skill or experience to be selling guitars to the public.  Since then, I've practiced, learned, tried and failed, tried again and still have not sold anything I've made.  Just don't feel right about it.  I have so much to learn and the bar is being raised higher and higher by the great builders who populate this forum.  So, I continue to build, learn by mistakes and by the examples of folks on this forum and thank God I don't do this for a living.

I agree with the advice so far, get the best tools you can possibly afford, cheap stuff usually produces cheap stuff.  Hold yourself to a high standard and don't expect to be perfect, the best folks here make mistakes from time to time.  Hang around people who know what they are doing, at least as much as they'll let you.  Be patient, do what you know is the best and see where it takes you.

I'm beginning to have a collection of "experiments" which I'll never sell but guitars I take pleasure in having built, and that's enough for me.

I feel lucky to be around these pros and hope to learn as much as I can.  That's probably the best any of us can do.

Lance thanks, I agree that the best builders are not those who make no mistakes, they just know how to deal with them.  None of us are perfect.  I think the trick is to learn to minimize them and then deal with the ones that come up in the best way possible.

There's never been a time when we've had to deal with woods that represent such value and rarity.  It just makes sense to be as careful as possible, if you don't think you are ready for these kinds of projects and these rare woods, try something easier until you get that confidence you need to do a good job.  I had a set of great old Brazilian that I was itching to use but held off because I just didn't feel right about building with it.  I finally used it and I'm glad I waited, it's what I had in mind for the wood and it came out well.

Again, thoughts from an amateur, listen to the pros.

Start with TWO million dollars.

Dan

Start with TWO million dollars.

Dan

Thanks for the welcome, Bill. I really debated with myself, whether to toss a few smily faces onto that post.

No, no relation, but my first experience with making stuff up, when I was five, and he had just landed.

Dan

Thanks, Bill, and thanks for dispensing with the smilys (I almost typed slimys)

Dan

I want to add something here because I feel that it needs to be said:

Make sure you understand that I am "officially" retired. I have retirement income and I have money that was earned from the sale of other businesses to rely on and to live on. The past business ventures have taught me how to successfully run a business and deal with people and the tax man.

I now build guitars and sell them because I love building guitars and love music. I wish I could play the dang things better than I can, but I am happy to hear some of the beautiful music that is made with the instruments I build. One day Hesh and I are going to have a competition of who can play the better rendition of "smoke on water"

All kidding aside, I think you have got the best advice from some of the world's best luthiers. I hope that you really understand what each one has shared and the value of each piece of the puzzle. If you still want to be in the guitar business, I wish you the best of luck.

Heck yes I do. I really appreciate the advice from the perspective 'this is how I did it, what worked and didn't' as opposed to 'this is how you should do it in your situation'. I think the previous perspective can benefit more people than just myself.

Much appreciated, y'all.