Setting up a carbon business

General Composites Discussions Composites Talk
#1

I was just wondering what peoples opinion was on setting up a carbon fiber business? Particularly with how the economy isn’t exactly buoyant.

I don’t have any formal training/education in composites. My idea is born out of a hobby and obsessive desire for pretty much everything to be carbon fiber! I have plenty of ideas regarding the wide variety of things I’d love to make, but don’t want to fully commit if the market simply isn’t there.

Should I do it as a hobby and sell bits every now and again, or get a little unit and have a stab at it properly or just put the idea to rest for the time being until the economy picks up in which time I may wake up and face reality and get a ‘normal’ job?

Regards,

Kyle.

#2

Do it as a hobby, selling what you make (that comes out sellable) as a craft… And that way when (if) the economy turns around, you will have just about mastered what you do enough to take it seriously.

#3

I agree…

You can do anything you want to do…and the only thing holding you back is your self…
Doing something you love takes away half the effort needed to succeed.
Do it as a hobby and once you are happy in making quality parts , sell them. Walk before you can run…
Composites alway’s take money to make money , like many things in life, And is a forever changing landscape. You need to be able to evolve and adapt to the way thing are created and built , also the product and techniques used can make the difference about making money and breaking even.
Nothing was ever achieved with out a dream that turned into an idea… You have had the dream and now you have a few idea’s…only you can Finnish the job.

Tim…who has taken the exact path.

#4

Luckily for making composite parts, the amount of money needed for setting up is not that much.

There are basicly 3 things you should become good at:

-making parts
-finding customers
-bookkeeping

If you fail at one of them, hire someone to do it for you. Many small businesses start with the wife being the bookkeeper.

The trick is to get a steady amount of work, which can support you and your family.
You will also need support from your friends and family, and if possible one or to people who you can discuss your ventures with.

I would say: If you have the customers, go for it. There is room for people who make quality stuff.

#5

I started a bit more then a year ago. I had a nice starting point with a 6 week project, no financial responsibilities, and some good references. There where a couple of slow months, and now again, but I’m waiting for a project to start soon for this summer. I’m mostly freelancing, but I’m doing some production in house too. As a side project I’m starting to fabricate longboards (skate) and skimboards. I have the tools,place materials and knowledge, so I only need to sell them :P. That way I hope to fill up the hours without paid work, to get a bit more of a stable income. we’ll see, I could always get a real job, or go to a university or something :wink:

#6

start as a hobby , and do some basic accounting stuff , you dont need to make it a business , but act like one , just in case your business prosper into a proper business

get yourself some Entrepreneur reading and prepare to bootstrap , so that when the time comes , its just a matter of state patent and business SSID and you could run a DBA ( Doing business as ) in your house :slight_smile:

i dont know if this applies in UK , but it gotta be something similar :smiley:

…ah , and i almost forgot , find a necessity first , some carbon fiber car roofs ( people seem to be interested in this in my area so far ) … some carbon fiber trims for cars ( these dont need to have lots of layers and could fill them with fiberglass )

#7

Thank you all very much for your help!