Syd Bridge
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| posted on 27/10/08 at 05:02 PM |
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A lot of what Scootz said is right.
But to add, ...the biggest mistake that people make when coming into the kit industry, is thinking they are going to be part of the motor industry.
Put simply, this is very wrong thinking. I made this mistake myself, and learnt the reality very quickly. When the thinking was readdressed, then
things progressed very well.
The kit industry is part of the leisure industry. 99.9% of kit builders are doing so for recreation. They don't care if they can use it in the
rain and winter, in fact, they would much prefer not to get their 'pride and joy' wet or dirty at all.
Customer service is paramount, and priority no.1, no.2, no3, .....
Be prepared to spend most of your day on the phone talking to customers. I got my days' work done after 6.00pm, and even then the bloody phone
kept ringing!!  (Things aren't much different now, just the content of the phone calls.)
If like me, it ends up a stepping stone to other and better things, then go ahead, but veeeery cautiously.
And learn to be very tolerant of stupid questions, and endless phone calls. 'How do I drill a hole in fibreglass? Was a regular question.
Cheers,
Syd.
[Edited on 27/10/08 by Syd Bridge]
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mr henderson
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| posted on 27/10/08 at 07:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Disappointed you felt the need to refer to his nationality whilst making disparaging comments about him. The inference being that the fact he is
Scottish is somehow linked to his shortcomings!
My objection to his being Scottish is that he is effectively in charge of the English parliament. As long as Scotland is regarded as being a country
in its own right, that just ain't fair.
John
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mr henderson
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| posted on 27/10/08 at 07:21 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by scootz
But anyway, back onto the subject... Manufacturing a kit-car for the 'everday / all-weather' user???
Financial suicide in my humble opinion! If there was a market for this kind of product, then one of the 'big' manufacturers would have
had a determined 'go' at it. .
That all depends on the type of vehicle that is being offered. If I was intending to make a two seat sportscar then I might be inclined to agree with
you, although rain happens in summer too!
The type of vehicle I am making would be much less marketable if it couldn't be used in adverse weather conditions.
To my mind, commercial suicide would be to offer yet another version of the LSIS even one with full bodywork. It's time for something
different.
John
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scootz
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| posted on 27/10/08 at 09:27 PM |
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Sorry John - your 'parliamentary' posting seems incredibly naive... either that, or as I suspect, you are indulging in a bit of
'baiting' by making reference to the 'English' parliament! Can never tell with your posts! Anyhoo... don't want to
hijack your post with my grumping, so will just agree to disagree.
Right... back to cars!
Can you tell us more about your (project) thinking. Not looking for a full design brief - just a general description of what you envisage producing.
Would make it a whole lot easier to pass comment on.
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mr henderson
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| posted on 27/10/08 at 09:34 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Sorry John - your 'parliamentary' posting seems incredibly naive... either that, or as I suspect, you are indulging in a bit of
'baiting' by making reference to the 'English' parliament! Can never tell with your posts! Anyhoo... don't want to
hijack your post with my grumping, so will just agree to disagree.
Right... back to cars!
Can you tell us more about your (project) thinking. Not looking for a full design brief - just a general description of what you envisage producing.
Would make it a whole lot easier to pass comment on.
Is there an English Parliament other than the one at Westminster? I know there is a Welsh Parliament, and a Scottish one too, so where is the English
one? Why are Scottish people allowed to make decisions about English affairs?
I need to get a bit further with my prototype before I will be ready to publish anything about it, and in any case I certainly don't want any
comments about it, as I find fulsome praise too distracting.
Maybe in a month or so I will have enough done to be able to start a thread about it
John
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scootz
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| posted on 27/10/08 at 09:59 PM |
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You missed out the Assembly in NI... 
Of course it's absurd that Scot's, Welsh, etc. MP's should have a vote on predominantly English matters. Don't think for a
second that most Scot's people wouldn't agree with that - we also think it's stupid!
You forget that the devolved Governments were set-up as the 'locals' had had enough of being controlled by a London-biased Government and
made a noise about it.
You want an English Parliament? No problem - a perfectly acceptable proposition, but it's up to you and your fellow Englishmen/women to make
the necessary noise to achieve it. Bleating about the Scot's, Welsh, etc. will get you nowhere!
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scootz
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| posted on 27/10/08 at 10:08 PM |
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Back to the point in hand... you asked the question 'is now a good time to start a kit manufacturing business'?
Well, unless you KNOW you have a dead-cert winner on your hands and can self-finance, then the answer is a resounding NO! We are entering recession
for goodness sakes - the banks will not want to know!
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RK
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| posted on 27/10/08 at 10:11 PM |
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I think the reason there is a Scottish Parliament in the first place is that people are tired of being told what to do by the English - even if it
were not true, this is perception. But it all gets out of hand before you know it, so be careful. Remember, I live in Quebec, where it is truly out of
hand, so much so that one of the major federal political parties is a separatist organisation that wouldn't want a part of the government if it
were handed to them (except the pensions, they'd keep that).
Back to the question: what's wrong with making/buying a hood for the 7? Doesn't cost much and keeps some of the rain out, much like any
60's era English sport car. Would people pay 25,000 for an all weather kit car, because that's what it would cost? I suppose there is the
Ultima and the like already being produced.
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mr henderson
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| posted on 28/10/08 at 08:22 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Back to the point in hand... you asked the question 'is now a good time to start a kit manufacturing business'?
Well, unless you KNOW you have a dead-cert winner on your hands and can self-finance, then the answer is a resounding NO! We are entering recession
for goodness sakes - the banks will not want to know!
Well, as a great man once said "can't choose to go back five years, or wait til times get better"
Although I could well do with another 2 or 3 K, the restricted cash is focusing my efforts on ensuring that not only the prototype, but subsequent
customer versions will benefit from less expensive options having been chosen.
For instance, pedals and hydraulics- the easy route would be to simply buy a pedal box, bolt it in and pipe it up. £300 odd quid. But what about the
donor components? Perfectly good condition and entirely suitable, just needs a bit more work on the part of the kit manufacturer to ensure they can be
fitted. Similar choices present themselves all through the project, and my being short of cash slows me down but ensures a cheaper but equally good
product.
I must admit I hadn't thought about the bank lending thing. Although having very little spare cash I can just about bring a prototype to market
without having any external funding. Then, if I find myself with a queue of potential customers I will just build the business up at whatever rate the
inflow of cash allows.
If there are no customers then that will be a bit of a drag, but at least I will have tried, and don't have much else on my agenda at the moment
anyway.
One of the marvellous things about kit cars is that the potential customers are enthusiasts. A kit manufacturer doesn't need an expensive
showroom or other costly marketing. As long as the manufacturer has a product which is interesting (that pretty much rules out yet another LSIS) ,
functions well and is offered at a good price, then the chance of sales is good.
John
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scootz
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| posted on 28/10/08 at 10:33 AM |
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Well, good luck to you. Keep us posted on your progress.
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