How long have you been surfing?
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Tax ID is pretty cheap anyway, isnt it only 40something bucks?
The Federal one ( Employer ID number, get one even if you don’t and won’t have employees) is free, state versions usually free or quite cheap:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html
A good basic range of what you’ll need, including state links. The Feds figured out ( back about 1995) that if they made it easier for the little guy to deal with their info, get legit and stay legit, more little guys ( like you and me) would do just that. Although the states haven’t all understood that, so it may prove a little more challenging to do their stuff.
The other thing is, with the tax ID number from your state and from the feds, you are exempt from some state and federal sales and use taxes. Plus discounts ( you have become a genuine, legit business rather than one of the Great Unwashed trying to chisel a discount) .
You may or may not need a business license from a local or state government.
Hint: doing business under your own name rather than Doing Business As ( DBA) Something Surfboards or any company name may let you avoid such things - it does here.
Hint 2; at this stage of the game don’t bother even thinking about incorporating, you won’t be grossing what the filing fees will cost ya. Later, it might be a move, but not yet.
Hint 3; Keep good records. Quicken isn’t bad for this sort of thing. You may not be making money, but if you are not, you can legitimately write off your losses agains the income from your day job. Keep track of your expenses.
Now, there’s been a few things said about the clothing biz and I will, for the most part, agree with 'em. Except this one thing: at this stage of the game, it’s not for you. Yes, that’s where the money is. But again, you need to do other stuff first, like for instance owning a surf shop or having a reasonably successful line of surfboards. Then you have a market for 'em. Otherwise, you have a gross of t-shirts that cost ya around $10 each ( including silk screens, etc) that you have to unload somehow or use for dust rags.
If you don’t have a surf shop and you don’t have a hook like a board line, you’re just another bozo. You want a surf shop to sell your shirts? Why? No matter how nifty your artwork is, it’s all about the bottom line. Your profit on each of your shirts could be theirs on each one of their shirts.They don’t want ya.
Advertising and sponsorship - don’t do it now, don’t do it later. Advertising and sponsorship is a great thing, for those who sell advertising or those who want to get sponsored. They are parasites.
anyways - look, here’s my basic advice in a nutshell. You are getting ahead of yourself. Why not make a few boards, see if you like it ( a lot, 'cos production work isn’t fun) and are any good at it before you go and start thinking about being in the biz making 'em.
Kinda like planning on how you will spend the Lotto Grand Prize before you even buy the ticket, it’s fun and if ya do win you’re ready, but it’s a little early to plan on it, ya know?
hope that’s of use
doc…
I 've never seen the link between how long one surf’s or how well one surf, to their ability to make a quality board. But it does help in analzying ones shapes.
I personally think shaping, glassing, sanding etc. is all in the detail of handling hand & power tools. If you don’t have a high degree of attention to detail your not going to make consistent surfboard. I think that’s why so many of us either come from fine woodworking backgrounds, or automotive body shop backgrounds. Either you like that kind of stuff and are good at it, or you pay someone else to do it because you can’t
I’ve been trying to get my little surf apprentice next door to make consistent surfboards. He’s done about 25 under my eye, and about 5 on his own. he started when he was 14, now he’s 16. The 5 he’s done continue to have flat spots on the rocker, and dry spots in the lamination. I’ve shown him the entire process 25 times, so either, I suck as a teacher, or 2) He’s just doesn’t have the mind set.
It’s probably because I suck as a teacher. No patience for the lack of detail.
Go make some boards and give it a try. It’s a dirty stinky blast.
-Jay
Totally agree with Doc…My suggestion on doing tee shirts was to find a way to make money in your own business or even get a job and finish your eduction because the chances of being that one in one percent that makes it selling your own surfboard brand is slim to none. It does not mean you can’t enjoy building your own boards if they don’t sell to others. The mainstream is not about reality anyway in the surf biz. Choose your own path, you might as well, your going to pay for your education one way or the other and it might as well be your own lesson learned.
You know, Solo got me thinking-
The thing is, Scott, youre ‘into art’ as it were. Well, one thing you might consider is a summer job at a silk screener. A bigger one, where they are doing a lot of contract work. Call it a place that turns out a million pieces a year…
Generally they are Very Busy during the summer, it’s literally sweatshop work, but there’s often overtime available, you get an idea of how the money is made and how the industry works. And how art is done ‘out in the world’. The little differences that make success or failure with, say, a t-shirt or clothing line , which will be invaluable if you ever go with something of your own.
First summer you might be on the line, maybe work your way up to the art dept. Go from there. You also make contacts in the biz, at every level. You may have seen the ‘influence or isolation’ thread going over in the general discussion…well, I’m here to tell you that there’s no substitute for working in the biz to give you an education, best if you can get somebody else to pay you for it.
Similarly, working in a surf shop or for somebody making boards, though the jobs pay worse and are harder to find.
And that will also give you some bucks to buy foam and tools, no?
hope that’s of use
doc…
Just wanted to leave some info for you on this discussion. I just started shaping recently as well. I’ve finished my first EPS blank final shaping and am ready for glassing. I shaped the whole board using sandpaper and basic tools. (I listed them below) All the info posted in this discussion trail is right on and great advice. If you haven’t worked with foam prior to this, it’s completely different than any other material. I found it allot easier to work with in some areas. And, very hard and frustrating to work with in areas that would seem to be easy.
My mistakes were made by not taking enough time thinking through the cuts, finishes, etc. I found that if I rush, I make mistakes. (Mainly in the final finishing. Once you’ve got a nice smooth surface on your board, it’s really easy to mess it up with your tools.) The problem is that you don’t screw up too much, or you’ll end up with not enough thickness on your board.
I would definitely recommend doing what I did and start with the minimal amount of tools possible. I am going to shape my first four boards with only sandpaper and tools mentioned below. I invested in a hand planer and a good drill for later. But, considering its going to take ten times as long with the learning curve, there’s all the time in the world to learn with your bare hands.
I have also been saving the scrap pieces and testing my tools and materials on them every step of the way. This way, I know what it’s going to look like prior. I will do the same thing prior to glassing so I know how the resin will set and to make sure I add enough prior to sanding.
As far as the business goes, I want to eventually sell them as well. The first board came out great. I’m itching to get it in the water. But, until someone asks me down the road to build one, it’s a hobby.
Anyway, I hope that info helps. If you want more info as I am going through these next stages, I would be more than happy to share what I am learning.
The main thing to know is that it is an absolute blast. I’ve been surfing for over 30 years and am finally in control of the final product. And, living the shaping dream most surfers want to try in a lifetime.
Good luck
Equipment List I used on rough and final shape:
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Medium Block Plane (@ 5 1/2" - 6")
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Spoke Planer/Shaver (www.foamez.com / www.wetsand.com)
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Sanding Blocks (1 x 4 wood cut to 11" and I glued on some foam padding to the bottom)
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Sanding Block with handle (I bought it at home depot. It’s got the clamps on the ends to hold the sandpaper. Great for rough shaping)
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36 Grit Sandpaper (for rough shaping. It slices through foam like butter. Use it instead of planer for your rough shaping)
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60 Grit Sandpaper (Smoothing out your rough shape)
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120 Grit Sandpaper (Final Finishing)
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120 Grit Sanding Screen (Rail finiishing)
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220 Grit Snading Screen (Rail Finishing)
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Safety (dust mask, glasses)
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Basic Wood Handsaw (for cutting outline)
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Brick wrapped in a towel (to weigh the board down)
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The thing is, Scott, youre ‘into art’ as it were. Well, one thing you might consider is a summer job at a silk screener. A bigger one, where they are doing a lot of contract work. Call it a place that turns out a million pieces a year…
I do believe that Steve Walden has a silkscreen business in Ventura, which kept going between storefront surf shops…somebody more in the know locally could probably verify…potential all over the place via the silk screen avenue in most any urban coastal area I would think…
How have things been going for you since you made this post?
Not even going into the subject of shaping or board building…
Depending on where you live and if you have a HOA, you need to be careful on what you do out of your garage.
I’ll use myself as an example. I do full time professional ding repair out of my garage. When was applying for my license, the county (Volusia) gave me sh!t due to the fact that I had hazardous materials that they thought could blow up half of FL. After some phone calls and explaining im not storing 50 gallon drums of resin or gallons MEKP, they cooled off a bit… however gave me the 3rd degree and 50 questions on how I store my stuff, ventilation, personal safety equipment, fire safety, what sort of materials Im throwing in the trash, yadda yadda to which I was all in check. The woman who I spoke with was very focused on the MEKP and kept asking me how much I kept onhand…probably due to how corrosive it is.
Even though Ive passed all requirements (fire alarm inspections, fire extinguisher, etc) Volusia has kept an eye on me, to which they said up front they would. In some ways, this is good due to for a long time I didnt keep my work area sparkling clean…now I do. In fact, I keep vehicles in my garage when Im not working…thats how clean I stay.
Most, if not all HOAs probably do not condone surfboard manufacturing out of a garage…the smell being the biggest giveaway and irritant to those who live around you. While the HOA rules in my 'hood dont exactly say “no surfboard repair/manufacturing” there are other rules that directly apply to which Im technically breaking and it only takes one complaint to be shut down. Hopefully you have cool neighbors who dont care or no HOA at all. I have my business plastered on my vehicle, its no secret what I do and when I do work during the day 98% of the neighbors are at their desk jobs anyhow, so I have no one to disturb with any noise or smell. I find most people tend to be curious and just want to see what your doing. Be curtious and show them your not causing trouble and trying to make a living, they tend not to give any probs.
Good luck… working for myself and owning my own company doing something I love has been one of the best things ever.
I’m about an hours drive out of the city so neighbours aren’t an issue for me. Nice to know there’s some money in ding repairs. I found I just ended up doing people a favour and that was about it by doing repairs. Your website looks nice but maybe some examples of repairs you have done?
Thanks for the compliment. I actually co-own another company doing automotive web design. Honestly I need to redo SBM, due to I hacked it together almost overnight when I needed it up and it is not representative of the web work I actually do, shame on me.
Yeah, been meaning to do repair pictures, but when boards are stacked up, leaves little time to take pretty pics. Ive got some here and there, just not enough to justify putting up a gallery. More than likely, after the summer passes and things slow down a bit, I’ll put more into rebuilding the site and adding a gallery for both the repair work and the boards I retail.
Turn around and run the other way!!! Go spend the money on school or something… Picking up cans and bottles could be more lucrative. Build some for yourself in your garage and forget about it.
Livin the dream…