Really Could Use Mentor Advice on Starting Shop

[little bubba]

I haven't read any of the responses from the OP so that I could give my own thoughts without intervention.

First, what grabbed me was "how do you quote a job". If you don't know that you are screwed. You may have been in machining for 15 years, but do you see the POs? do you order and/or quote materials? Do you know how long stuff takes to do on what machines, and how much that is worth? You seem at a serious disadvantage here, 15 years in the biz and you don't know how much stuff costs, just being honest.

The other thing I see, is that you are worried about loans, leases, big dollar software. The thing you should really be worried about is CUSTOMERS. You can have the biggest and best machines, the biggest and worst loans, the biggest and best software, but without CUSTOMERS, you are screwed. No work = No money = You are screwed.

Things you do have going for you, experience, and a 40 hour paycheck. The rest can come if you work it right.

I don't think I'm alone, going out on your own is SCARY, I'm confident, but I'm still scared. All I need is to pay the bills, put some beers in the frig and feed the critters. Even that gets tight sometimes.

3K comes in, it doesn't go in your pocket, it goes to a new to me/used forklift. 15K comes in, not in your pocket, it goes to a new/USED machine. 4K comes in, not in your pocket, goes to rent and electricity and heat. 2K comes in, it goes to taxes, SS, business license. 10K comes in, it goes on the American Express for all the stuff you couldn't pay for last month because you bought a new/used machine.

Its a tough road, but it sure beats working for the monkey f**k I worked for before.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by little bubba .......3K comes in, it doesn't go in your pocket, it goes to a new to me/used forklift. 15K comes in, not in your pocket, it goes to a new/USED machine. 4K comes in, not in your pocket, goes to rent and electricity and heat. 2K comes in, it goes to taxes, SS, business license. 10K comes in, it goes on the American Express for all the stuff you couldn't pay for last month because you bought a new/used machine. Its a tough road, but it sure beats working for the monkey f**k I worked for before.

Hang in there bubba. When you get past that stage the rewards are worth all the effort.

P.S. I used Visa and discovered how to keep getting my credit limit up; let it get near the limit then make a big payment...often times then I found my limit had been increased which gave me access to a bit more money. Now this is a crazy way to finance a business but if you have no other choice.

Eventually I paid everything off and it has been years since those days.

[little bubba]

Geof, Thanx, its getting better. We are finally in a real shop, been here about 4 months, lease to buy, dirt cheap, 3500sqft, 1 acre fenced and barb wired, and there was already a compressor and air lines here. The work is rolling in, we've basically stopped quoting, and when we do its really high, they keep coming back though.

The bread and butter since June has been a '84 Acroloc and a '78 Wells-Index with a bandit controller. The next step is 3phase power, we can't run everything at the same time on the phase converters(at least there is 400amps of 220 coming in).

For those who say you can't do it on the cheap, you can, its just slow and aggravating, and you need to be able to fix your own stuff.

For under 30k
Acroloc with tool holders and collets, 4th axis, runs great, but limited.
Wells-index with bandit controller and tool holders.
Mazak qt20
Star swiss machine with collets, tools and 2 hydrobars (only one hydraulic unit)
Fadal 4020, thru spindle coolant, extended Z, 10k rpm
GMC cabover diesel, 18ft flatbed (delivery truck)
15k lb Clark forklift.
and for fun an old Van Norman.

If the Fadal didn't come in last week, we would have been under $15k, you just have to be lucky and smart. Its not the best way, or the fastest way, but its a start, its worked so far.



A piece of advice for the OP in response to a previous post on quoting.

You can absolutely eat your shirt on stuff that looks easy. Just because there are only 4 dimensions on a print does not mean it should go for a dollar. Where I used to work, it happened all the time, the owner saw an easy print and undercut everybody, then we got to spend 27, 10 hour days on a job that totaled $1875, plus we had to buy material, twice, because he ordered the wrong stuff (restock fee plus shipping was more $$ than keeping it), ate up over $1200 in inserts just for the drill (on the phone with the tech people almost every day). It looked easy from the print, but it sure wasn't, what a waste.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by little bubba .... The work is rolling in, we've basically stopped quoting, and when we do its really high, they keep coming back though. ..... For those who say you can't do it on the cheap, you can, its just slow and aggravating, and you need to be able to fix your own stuff.....

The one thing that cannot be cheap is the quality of what goes out the door and if you cannot discourage people by quoting high you have got that side tied down.