I’m looking for your advice.I make my blanks hotwiring EPS.A have another guy (backyarder as well) ordering from me some custom rockers once in a while.He’s sending the rocker file and I tranfer it to masonite to cut the rocker. He does not have access to EPS and seems to prefer it lately, because PU blanks need to be ordered from overseas and are expensive.The thing is we’re both trying to build our “label” in a fairly new market where shapers and board building suppliers not exist. So the dilemma is, should I continue cutting blanks for him or see it selfishly and get rid of him?What would you do?
You make no money on slack time. It sounds like you manually hot wire EPS rockers. Maybe consider building a hotwire machine that youy can load with whatever rocker Boardcad or AKU shaper kick out. This would improve your production efficiency over the longer term but depends on the volume of work you can get. Maybe specialize in EPS blanks and shape as a side business? You could probably expand the EPS blank business quicker than expnading the shaping business.
I would charge what it is worth to cut and add a premium to do it. Everyone wins. If he really wants to use eps then you saying no won’t stop him from getting it.
In my town, there used to be only one auto parts house.
Another one opened literally across the street.
I was in the older parts house the other day asking how/if the new store was robbing them of business.
To my surprise, the answer was NO business was booming.
It seems that folks would come to that part of town looking for autoparts knowing that they were sure to find what they were looking for at one of the stores.
I told one of my first clients, to make money initially, he would have to distribute and selll the product of others so he could sell his own. He discovered that distribution and sales of others’ products was much more profitable than selling his own.
aside from shaping my label, I am used by many other companies, custom blanks, wood and foam, shapers that CANNOT do a tail or nose block, laminated wood fins, every one can put food on my table, too small of an industry to be a turd in the punchbowl
