Homebrew PCBs

>CyberMace wrote:
>I'm curious about how well you homegrown gadget-builders do. I have
>quite a few ideas of my own sitting on the shelf, and have never been
>able to get anyone to tell me how well their business actually does. 
>I don't want actual numbers, but basically there are three possible
>ranges: 1. If I counted the effort I put in on these, I'm losing
>money. 2. I'm breaking even or making a reasonable profit, not enough
>to quit my day job but still worth it. 3. This is going so well that 
>I quit my day job and am concentrating on expanding my product line.
> 
>I just need to know what kind of a market is out there, I have no 
>idea how many people own soldering irons and are interested in 
>building kits.

Garrett,

You'll find that there are folks --happily-- in all three of your 
described levels. That's the nature of business; and you won't really 
get an idea of how YOU'LL do... UNTIL, YOU DO!<G>

Reading your message I thought of several folks I've worked with, or 
hung out with; all with "electronics" products and "home business" 
thinking. Among them are members of all the levels you describe. Even 
on this list we have folks like embeddedtronics.com who say on their 
website that they're really just paying for the new projects with 
revenues from the old; and yet we have others who are most certainly 
doing something more akin to "production". Jeremy doing throughholes 
comes to mind (Hope I remembered that name correctly; apologies if 
not) And we have a member in South America who posted that he's 
making 200 boards a week...

Like the song from Everlast, which says "You know where it ends, yo
It usually depends on where you start..."

Not so much that you have money or not(which may be what the SONG is 
saying), but rather what you set out to do... Knowing what YOU are 
trying to get out of making, selling, marketing that thing--whatever 
it is-- is the first step.

I've designed and sold products my entire adult life(my entire life 
actually<G>) and sometimes I've fit your #1, other times I fit #2 or 
#3.

The second step is to DECIDE. Then take action on what you decide to 
try to accomplish. (Being willing to modify your decision based on 
results can be a good thing. OR a bad thing. Sometimes you're better 
off staying at level #2. A whole lot of folks have destroyed 
themselves by trying to grow something that really was suited to the 
level it was at.

As the song continues: "Then you really might know what it`s like"

Hope this helps,

Ballendo

P.S. I know of several guys who quit their day jobs to continue 
their "sideline business". A few are millionaires. Others are well-
off. And others are doing about what they were doing before; but 
enjoying it more. Just to mention three: One made pc boards at night 
as an engineer at Atari. Soon he was making boards for the whole 
engineering dept. Now he owns a very successful PC Board house in the 
CA mountains, and works three days a week. 

Another used to work in an electronics store, doing midi conversions 
for organs as a sideline, and last time I saw him he was driving a 
new truck<G>

Another is currently pedaling in preparation for the Athen 
paraOlympics--he's a cyclist-- and has a growing online business 
selling cnc related peripheral products. He hasn't left his day job 
yet; but it appears he has what it takes to do so in the not too 
distant future...

There are lots of others who've started small and now have major 
presence in the marketplace. Roger G of musclewires fame recently 
wrote a couple of articles about how a piece of wire from his hall 
closet ended up on Mars (in Servo or Nuts and Volts magazine)

You're wise to want to know how others are doing; But it ultimately 
won't say A THING about how YOU will do... From what I've seen of you 
online; you can make a good living selling stuff that you've 
designed. But realise that it is FAR more work in the beginning than 
working for someone else. 

Here are Four good books: 
The secret money machine by Don Lacaster (tinaja.com)
The E-myth by Michael Gerber
The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki
Growing a Business by Paul Hawken

  

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "cybermace5" <cybermace5@y...> 
wrote:
> > And I am sorry that I blathered-on, for so long, *AGAIN*.  (This
> business has basically "taken over my life", as you can probably 
tell,
> hehe.  But it IS *quite* enjoyable...)
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > 
> > Tom Gootee
> 
> 
> I'm curious about how well you homegrown gadget-builders do. I have
> quite a few ideas of my own sitting on the shelf, and have never 
been
> able to get anyone to tell me how well their business actually 
does. I
> don't want actual numbers, but basically there are three possible
> ranges: 1. If I counted the effort I put in on these, I'm losing
> money. 2. I'm breaking even or making a reasonable profit, not 
enough
> to quit my day job but still worth it. 3. This is going so well 
that I
> quit my day job and am concentrating on expanding my product line.
> 
> I just need to know what kind of a market is out there, I have no 
idea
> how many people own soldering irons and are interested in building 
kits.