I wanted to get a thread going since I noticed that this portion of honda-tech is made up of several entrepreneurs. It seems to me that a majority of the guys here are either running fabrication shops or making manifolds out of their garage and trying to make a profit.

It's important to improve your fabrication skills and I'm sure that its the reason that alot of people are here but I think this might also be the place to discuss improving our respective companies.

Small background

I currently work a full time job and run a small fashion accessory company online. We are one year old and a part of a handful of companies building a new market. We will be at 100k in sales both online and through a few small boutiques by the end of 06' at our current rate. No profit is being taken and all gains have been reinvested to date. The operation is too small to take a salary but I hope to be able to take something small by the end of next year.

Biggest challenges

Our biggest challenge has been raising market awareness. A very small portion of the population know our product exists and bringing a new product to light has proven to be very difficult with our small budget. We can only reach so many people over the internet and its hard to bring retailers on board with such a short track record.

In the last month a major manufacturer also noticed our tiny market. It led this multi-billion dollar company to partner with one of our competitors. This is both good and bad although the reasons are not always completely obvious to everyone. I may loose some sales to them but their marketing budget will help raise awareness and move the market much farther than we could alone. I believe this is a small set back but we're smart enough to overcome it and beat them... we did invent this niche.

Current Project

The project that I am currently trying to get off the ground is launching a kiosk in what is regarded as a "high end" mall called "The Galleria" here in Texas. Rent is 1500 monthly and jumps to 7-10k Nov/Dec. We only have a few products in our lineup and we have some difficult decisions to make in the next few weeks but we feel it might be time to take some calculated risks.

What is your company doing?

My little company is unique and not fabrication related but I know there have to be one or two fab companies who would be interested in doing a type of case study on this board.

I would be happy to add insight and I'm sure other would enjoy this as well. We're not score.org but alot of people here have been in motorsports for many years and can offer years of experience both in fabrication and business in general.

It wont be perfect but I think it can be refined and will benefit everyone on this board. I realize that competition is pretty fierce in this market but it is also pretty naive. I am not saying you should release your trade secrets or advantages but there isnt much that your competition doesnt already know(I could be wrong here). Allow people to reflect on some company projects and ideas, I think the return could be pretty immense.

I hope this is not too far fetched and there are one or two interested in participating.

Just hoping to open this up to discussion... anyone up for this?

Skimmer notes:

Is anyone interested in posting about their company and offering up projects for this board to comment on? A company bio with a challenge that you're interested in seeing comments on. I would offer up my company as the first but we are not a fabrication shop and not relevant to h-t weld/fab forum.

I apologize if you were looking to find an existing case study in this thread, I'm trying to generate interest so that the next time you do click you more find interesting information.

 

I live in Austin and have been in marketing/advertising for over two decades. I have built several companies from scratch and have helped several others (in a consultative role) grow faster than they ever thought possible. Shoot me a PM if you want some input.

 

what exactly do you want from this thread?

i can post but what are you looking for?

like company bio and market and whatnot?

-derek

 

just looking for a bio, current company projects any major challenges you are having...

i want to open a thread for company discussion.

 

Company -
We sell construction materials. Right now, everything is based out of a relatively small warehouse in Denver.

Challenge -
Creating an accounting system that will take care of inventory, invoicing, reporting, etc...

 

How do you even start a company and build it to be a success? Where do you start? What's a good company to start? Home business? Online sales? Say you want to sell rims and auto parts and accessories online, how do you get suppliers? Right now I make money on the side doing body and paint and some welding jobs. I only really do it as a hobby cause I would hate to do it for a living.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 19civic93 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How do you even start a company and build it to be a success? Where do you start? What's a good company to start? Home business? Online sales? Say you want to sell rims and auto parts and accessories online, how do you get suppliers? Right now I make money on the side doing body and paint and some welding jobs. I only really do it as a hobby cause I would hate to do it for a living.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you need to do some reading about it, the internet is a powerful tool, read entpreprenur.com, inc.com, nolo.com... etc etc. there is ALOT of available information out there. to be honest i dont know how business was done without the internet in the past, seems almost impossible!


discrete, have you all looked at any off the shelf solutions(we use quickbooks)? we only have a small handful of products but we manage our inventory, invoicing, reporting etc through quickbooks software.

its linked to our online store and updates our database's inventory figures at the time of sale. they also have a retail point of sale software that ties into the same thing for additional $. we plan on using this for our kiosk...

you might be looking for a custom solution though, so it might not be of much help... check out microsoft also, they make some decent small business software as well.

 

i need to get and learn quickbooks, but now i use excel.

i have a huge spreadsheet with all sorts of formulas and whatnot, and ive made it to where i can keep track of everything i need to.

-derek

ill make a big post in my original one soon, when my internet stops sucking.

 

I use quickbooks and it works well.

 

how well do you all do in traffic to your sites? i'm just curious... the 'generalized' average sales for most sites is between 2-5% of visitors, there are places like amazon that are pushing about 8% but obviously we're talking small business.

i'm not sure if you all do it but i monitor traffic to my site very closely, including who clicks what and goes where etc. i use HBX (Hitbox Professional - websidestory.com) and just wanted to put this up since not everyone knows about being able to track behavior or follow their visitors through their site. watching the path of a sale provides great insight and is worth the $ for the software.

it really helps identify bottlenecks and also to let you know when you're not providing the right information. we have a page thats a "custom" page and we have found that people click to it but leave quickly after. i believe they're looking for something but they're not finding it and i'm trying to tailor it so people follow a path to either a sale or to contacting us. just an example of how you can use it...

what type of online/offline marketing are you all buying? whats working for you? google adwords has really delivered for us, its expensive but easily pays for itself.


Modified by 93preludes at 9:21 AM 7/12/2006

 

Well since my shop is also a gas station, I have the exposure. I actually don't focus on internet business but more on the local business.

For me buying more signage helps out as I get the traffic every day.

 

i dont have any experience with any gas stations but i saw something really clever by one that's near my home. This place is pretty much always jammed now...

when the whole gas spike happened and everything shot to 3$ a gallon they did something pretty stunning, they undercut everyone for miles by at least 10-15c. a funny thing happened since they did that though, i have noticed the place has been full ever since...

i think they put the thought into peoples heads that regardless of the price of gas at this location it is automatically cheaper than any other location because of what they did. i know i've caught myself thinking the same thing...

the place also has a car wash attached to it owned by the same people i assume and they did something cool at it also. for approx 15$(+/- not sure) a month you get unlimited car washes... and again the place is now completely jammed with people washing their cars. not sure how this pans out in terms of $$ but the place is really booming. i've never seen a gas station with this much business before.

 

That's an interesting idea. So basically put up a sign that says the next closest gas station is XX miles and it would cost more to fill up there than at this station.

 

well the area i live in has probably 5-10 gas stations in a very small region. the competition is pretty fierce here the way i see it and all he did was undercut EVERYONE (pretty much in the entire city) by 10/15c... it made people think (maybe just me?) about them the next time they needed gas. I tend to think they're probably still the cheapest if they could go that low before. Even though it appears they only did it that one time.

he didnt use any new signs at all, just the price point he setup was advertising enough through word of mouth. it just happened to stick in peoples mind because most of us wont shop around for gas when we think this place already has to be one of the cheapest in town. hope i explained that well enough... he used the price scare as an opportunity to put a bookmark in everyones head about cheap gas.

 

Well, I'm already the cheapest gas in the area. If I put up a sign saying the next gas station is 2-3 miles and their prices are X dollars. Wouldn't that bring a lot more traffic? It's a pretty interesting idea. I'm actually thinking of giving that a try and see what happens.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pikachu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, I'm already the cheapest gas in the area. If I put up a sign saying the next gas station is 2-3 miles and their prices are X dollars. Wouldn't that bring a lot more traffic? It's a pretty interesting idea. I'm actually thinking of giving that a try and see what happens. </TD></TR></TABLE>

that actually would make me pull in hah! i'd test it to see how accurate you were the first time and if it was legit i'd pull in every time if you were cheaper hah. that would be cool

 

off topic a lil bit but when i worked for a coroparate gas company everyday id take local readings of prices...we'd undercut everyonre but at least 5c/gal....doin such lead our inside convience sales up....in turn makin up the slight lost profit...but we'd also reep the benefits of sellin volumne over gross dollar...

speakin from my experience tho...if you sell good gas (only cause im boosted) regardless of price ill always fill up there....also running specials on your slow days will also help pick up business

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by discrete &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Company -
We sell construction materials. Right now, everything is based out of a relatively small warehouse in Denver.

Challenge -
Creating an accounting system that will take care of inventory, invoicing, reporting, etc...</TD></TR></TABLE>


i am very busy with my new business venture right now but my comany can effectiveley design any inventory management system that you need. what are the specific problems that you have and all of that jazz?

 

93 prelude you are totally doing it the right way by reinvesting into your company. it is really the only way to develop any longterm frowth. i knwo a lot of people that own thier own businesses that make a buck and they put a buck in thier pocket. they drive nice acrs and live in nice houses but they are affectivley broke at the end of the month and they are more or less just playing the "i own my own business" game. they will never be able to expand. they will never be able to have it run autonomously. they are married to it for the rest of thier life.

whats your companies clothing website?

 

not so much advice from a business point of view but more from a consumer point of view...

some gas stations just really suck. getting gas is a pain in the *** and it usually only gets worse. the gas stations that are super friendly always get my business. period.

you would be surprised how big of a difference that makes to people.

also there are all kinds of stupid little things that will make people return customers. i think that keeping repeat busines would rpbably help you quite a bit. maybe make something stupid like a promotion where you will wash thier windows once a month if they fill up at leat once per week or stupid stuff like that.

i currently live in orlando and there is this one gas station that is so freaking ingenious. ut is just a regualr crappy gas station owned by an individual yet it is allways packed. he has just a regular drive through car wash, only he has a guy who runs a small time detail business. this guy and the owner of the gas station have sort of arrngment worked out where the detail guy helps wash everyones cars that use the drive through washer and in exchange he gets the chance to upsell.

let me clarify. one time i went through this carwash. i didnt think it was going to be anything special. i pulled up and put my credit card in the machine and while i was doing so some guy walks up and says "hi" and he grabs a big scrub brush and starts prewashing my car with a soapy bucket of water. i was like "wtf?"

he gets some of the clumped up grime off of my car and then he gets my wheels pretty clean. he tells me to pull forward and then i pull into the carwash. the thing starts spraying my car and he is one step behind the sprayer with his brush making sure that he scrubs off whatever the machine isnt strong enough to get. he then steps back and lets the machine do the rest of its cycle.

my car looked ******* beautiful. waaaaaaaaay better than it ever does just going through the normal machine. he then says that he can clean my tires for an extra 4 bucks or something. i say sure and he sprays them down and makes them all shiny and then he towel dries the easy to reach areas of my car.

he then tells me that he offers different packages and that the wheel cleaning and so forth is included.

so now im hooked. every time i want a car wash i dodnt even think of any other place. there are always people lined up to use the car wash. the owner of the gas station is making more money because everyone that stops for the car wash also gets gas and other items, and he is selling a zillion more car washes than he ever did.

the guy who does the detailing only makes what he upsells plus a little kick back from the owner. i am seriously amazed by the process so one day i just sat there and watched him for a little while. every single person that came in either got and upsell package or they tipped him. the upsale pakcages go all of the way up to 80 bucks. so if the detail guy does just one of those and he can easily do 20 or more of the other less expensive packages and tips then this guy is probably easily making a couple hundred dollars per day. thats not going to get him rich but its more money than most people make and he works for himself.

and this guy isnt exxactly a rogue scholar or anything so to him its probably big money. i really admire when people show a little ingenuity and the end result is that they advance thier postion in life and he is helping the gas station owner make more money. its a mutually beneficial system.

now if i was in your posistion i would try to find someone that was willing to do a trial market with something like that. make sure that they understand that if you dont think its worth it after a period of six months that you will no longer do it anymore. if it goes to **** its not really any type of an inconvenience to you. but if it works then everybody wins.

you could do it yourself and hire an employee but then you will have to absorb the cost of getting it rolling, if you find someone else like the guy i was talking about, then they will run it and you can just sit back and make more money.

 

also 93prelude, you should look into advertising in movie theatres. it is very reasonable. i got a qoute a few years back for a project that never materialized and they said it would basically be 300 dollars a month per screen. it gets shown in slide show form. you are guaranteed at least three cycles before every show per screen.

i assume that your clothes are targeted toward young people and they are exactly who go to the theatre.

you will need to make an effective ad that gets people interested, but this is very good exposure and i think it would be very easy to track how effective it is.

i got that qoute a while back but i imagine its still really cheap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mr.E.G. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">also 93prelude, you should look into advertising in movie theatres. it is very reasonable. i got a qoute a few years back for a project that never materialized and they said it would basically be 300 dollars a month per screen. it gets shown in slide show form. you are guaranteed at least three cycles before every show per screen.</TD></TR></TABLE>

that's a pretty awesome price actually! i'm going to look into that more. we dont sell clothes but we do sell our products to a good number of younger buyers, looks like a good opportunity!

we just got an approval on a small biz loan which i'm pretty stoked about. we should be able to capitalize on the little extra cash... its a minor amount but it will at least get our business credit kicked off.

i've also got a good friend who does small business loan proposals in case any of you ever need anyone. he does good work and helped us out alot...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93preludes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that's a pretty awesome price actually! i'm going to look into that more. we dont sell clothes but we do sell our products to a good number of younger buyers, looks like a good opportunity!

we just got an approval on a small biz loan which i'm pretty stoked about. we should be able to capitalize on the little extra cash... its a minor amount but it will at least get our business credit kicked off.

i've also got a good friend who does small business loan proposals in case any of you ever need anyone. he does good work and helped us out alot... </TD></TR></TABLE>

my bad. i thought you meant that you sold clothes, but i guess by accessories you mean jewelry and so forth, right?

i may contact you in the future for that small business loan guy.

it looks like i may want to buy out my investors and i would need a loan to do that