what would you do at my age?

[EINSIGN]

dazm said:

EINSIGN - You're talking about water transfer printing. I looked into that a few years ago while doing something at college, it's incredibly expensive to start up purely because of the equipment costs, and it's really not as simple as it looks, but it certainly can produce some good effects when you do it right! It wouldn't be something I'd be interested in getting involved in though.

I have seen this done in China on a couple of occasions and the end result was fantastic quality. You could easily have fooled people into thinking some standard plastics were genuinely carbon fibre. Agree I wouldn’t consider the process in the UK due to costs etc. You don’t need to do all of the work yourself remember.

[danj3000]

I've just started up a creative agency after having graduated, summer just gone. If you were serious about expanding your business then I would look up local business courses via the Business Link website. They are all free to attend and cover all basics to being self employed, well worth doing.

There is a lot of free help out there which isn't all that hard to find.

[dazm]

Jaguar steve said:

Sounds to me like you are doing very well anyway, but at your age and relative lack of experience of the big wide world it's an easy trap to fall into thinking that there's somthing not quite right, or maybe you should be doing somthing else with your life.

I'd have a long think - and try to develop some depth of awareness of the relatively fortunate situation you are in and the talents that you have. Once you have done this it'll probrably become clear which opportunities you are best exploiting.

Remember the real goal in life is peace of mind. Out of all the things you do what makes you happy?

that's the reason that I posted in the first place, I've been thinking for a long time now and I'm really unsure as to which path will be the most beneficial in the long term. I want to get an established business going that will help me grow and get involved in other things too. I don't want to be stuck doing one thing my whole life and my concern is that the carbon stuff I do, whilst it makes good money, it's not scalable to anywhere near where I want to be in 10 years time.

Design is what excites me. I absolutely love designing and building furniture/sculptures/jewellery or whatever else it may be. If I was able to design and make my own items and make a living off of it I would absolutely love it, but I simply don't think it will earn enough money to do so, and even if it did I wouldn't know how to get started doing something like this. I would want to do bespoke pieces which are pretty straight forward, but when it comes to producing multiple items and getting them manufactured externally and then getting the items into shops... HELP!?!


Regarding the design studio stuff - they usually ask for CV's to start and then portfolios at the interview stage. I'm much more interested in establishing my own studio than working for someone else anyway.


danj3000 - I'd be interested in hearing exactly what it is you do, how well it's going, how you got it started, costs involved, etc.

[danj3000]

I've started up a creative agency, specialising in web design but also providing branding and print design. In terms of costs, then they were very small, we already had our macs and other equipment. Me and my business partner (also a graduate) invested a grand each to help with initial cash flow and cover start up costs such as relevant insurance and accounting.

If you are looking into a career in design then there is real possibility for low startup costs as on the whole it is a service based business. The obvious exceptions are when you get into product design, where the need to invest in all the right tools and machinery is required.

The best advice I could give is to get out and network, network, network!! Also in terms of your work, will you want to be selling business to business or to consumers?!
Prices that you can charge can vary wildly between the two.

Let me know if there is ought else you want to know. (I am not someone who confesses to know it all!! haha)

[RJDM3]

dazm said:

Thanks for all the replies, it seems you're all pretty much pointing me in the direction I was already heading by expanding my carbon work. The only thing I am concerned with is that the market could already be saturated, hence the reason I am starting to look at doing overlays more and more - the only competition would be from a company in Singapore, although they may be able to beat me on price (unlikely at this stage with my very low overheads) I think a lot of people would prefer to deal with someone closer to home.

I do need to get a website up really (any web designers here that can do something for a reasonable price?), and then I'll have to do the whole accounts thing and look into the tax issues. I've always been PAYE so I'm really struggling with setting up something from scratch - I think that's the reason I haven't taken it any further than a hobby until now...



As for the comments on getting into a design studio; have you ever tried doing it without completing the degree? They won't even look at you unless you're a graduate. Very frustrating when you know your work is well above par. I would have loved to have done this as soon as I'd finished Uni but now I've kind of got my heart set on going it alone, working for someone else will never allow me to enjoy my work and have the free time to pursue my other interests

The market is saturated with companies working in carbon, problem is that the vast majority is shiiiite , as i am sure you aware.

Many of the manufacturers i work with are constantly frustrated with the carbon work they have to out source.

Send me a list of what you can can do and i will pass to a couple of guys i work with and see if they would be prepared to test the waters

[VX Foxy]

Not much to add other than to congratulate the OP on his literacy - unheard of at his age!

...oh, and stick to what you know and enjoy. May also be worth reading a book called the "E Myth" by Michael Gerber - could help to focus your ideas of what you want to achieve.

Good luck.

[davidd]

You are in a great position whereby you have what could be a business which you can build, make mistakes, learn what works with etc then move on in a year or two and use the cash to fund your ideal startup.

D

[Frik]

dazm - YHM

[Goochie]

EINSIGN - YHM ref. carbon "printing"

[dazm]

Thanks for everyone's help and advice. I am currently in the process of having a website made up showcasing my carbon overlays with the usual contact and prices, etc. Depending on how popular this gets I will either concentrate on this or start to push my design work a little more. I am currently experimenting with small jewelry pieces, learning the processes of getting them from sketches to the manufacturer and then to the consumer. Once I've done a few small pieces and learnt the ins and outs of dealing with various manufacturers and retailers I'm hoping to make some prototype furniture pieces and get them into production as that is my real passion (and yes I will be having a lot of composite based pieces - carbon tables/chairs/clocks, etc)

I really hope this all works out as planned and allows me to start working on my ideal projects - my very own kit cars designed from scratch.

[TotalControl]

dazm said:

Thanks for everyone's help and advice. I am currently in the process of having a website made up showcasing my carbon overlays with the usual contact and prices, etc. Depending on how popular this gets I will either concentrate on this or start to push my design work a little more. I am currently experimenting with small jewelry pieces, learning the processes of getting them from sketches to the manufacturer and then to the consumer. Once I've done a few small pieces and learnt the ins and outs of dealing with various manufacturers and retailers I'm hoping to make some prototype furniture pieces and get them into production as that is my real passion (and yes I will be having a lot of composite based pieces - carbon tables/chairs/clocks, etc)

I really hope this all works out as planned and allows me to start working on my ideal projects - my very own kit cars designed from scratch.

Well done and best of luck for the future.

Your perseverance will hopefully pay off. Just stick at it and be innovative. I actually wouldn't mind doing something like this myself later on.

[delays]

dazm said:

Thanks for everyone's help and advice. I am currently in the process of having a website made up showcasing my carbon overlays with the usual contact and prices, etc. Depending on how popular this gets I will either concentrate on this or start to push my design work a little more. I am currently experimenting with small jewelry pieces, learning the processes of getting them from sketches to the manufacturer and then to the consumer. Once I've done a few small pieces and learnt the ins and outs of dealing with various manufacturers and retailers I'm hoping to make some prototype furniture pieces and get them into production as that is my real passion (and yes I will be having a lot of composite based pieces - carbon tables/chairs/clocks, etc)

I really hope this all works out as planned and allows me to start working on my ideal projects - my very own kit cars designed from scratch.

What an interesting thread and it sounds like you have a fantastic business idea.

I fully agree with some of the previous comments, I think the ideas of carbon wrapped trim parts and the like will certainly score highly with many enthusiasts. With regards to the competition from Singapore, why not play the "Made in Great Britain" card? Yes, obviously you won't be able to undercut the mass-made foreign items on price, but as long as your quality is tangibly better and there's the element of the handmade in there too, you'll get away with charging more.

The carbon furniture sounds like a winner too, reminds me of a slightly more useful version of these: http://www.carbonart45.com/sculpture1.html. Ever investigated carbon watches?



I wish you every success - please keep us updated on progress.

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

dazm said:

then Uni to do product design. Completed the first year but really couldn't take anymore - I hadn't learnt anything I didn't do at college

The first year of any Uni course is going to be like that if you've done A-Levels in the same/similar subject - as they have to bring everyone up to the same level, even if they've not done a related A-Level before hand. It's basically the A-Level stuff but done in one year instead of two.

Other then that, good luck with whatever you choose to do.

[jarnold88]

Hi dazm,

I have the same mind set to you (from what I have read of your posts) I'm 21 also and I found a book by Marcus Buckingham very helpful, it was recommended by a friend who owns his own business and is reletively successfull.

Its called 'Know your strengths'

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-Discover-Your-Strength...

Regards

J

[dazm]

Right, quick update as things got a bit busy and didn't all work out as planned, the guy doing my website disappeared and my day job has been a bit crazy the last few months so nothing's really progressed. However, things are going well on the carbon side of things and I'm now looking to expand a bit and start selling my work to people other than friends.

The problem is I have no idea about marketing or website stuff! What I want is a nice shiny new website where people can see the stuff I make, how it's made, contact me, and most importantly an online shop on there too so people can buy the popular products instantly without having to email me about them.

The carbon work I do is mainly for lotus, ferrari, lambo's, etc. but I do also do kit car parts and more 'low end' stuff occasionally. Is it wise to create 2 different websites, one with the exotic stuff and one for the everyday stuff? Same goes for the carbon wrapping work I do, new site or all on one?

I also want to start making carbon furniture and accessories (suitcases, business card holders, clocks, etc), would this be a brand new site too, or keep everything under one roof so to speak?

My main question is what do I use to make the website and keep it updated (I'm running a Mac so no PC only software please!) Can anyone recommend anyone to create the site? Also any idea on prices? I want to be able to update and modify the content and particularly the online shop content as and when I need to rather than having to ask someone to do it all for me.

Also name suggestions would be good. The Fibre Works, etc.

And finally, when the website is all up and running, where do I start when it comes to marketing? Magasine adverts worth doing? Ebay? Forums?

Thanks for all the help guys!

[CHIEF]

I use moonfruit.

Not as proffesional as getting a proffesional to do it but it serves it purpose.

here is a couple of mine....

http://track-cams.moonfruit.com

http://www.royton-online.co.uk

http://www.electroniccomponentprocurement.com

Not brilliant but i've seen worse.

[dazm]

I don't drink and I'm not exactly a party animal so I think I'll give that a miss!

Thanks for that suggestion, the sites don't look too bad at all. I'll look into it a bit more on monday.

[TotalControl]

dazm said:

I don't drink and I'm not exactly a party animal so I think I'll give that a miss!

Thanks for that suggestion, the sites don't look too bad at all. I'll look into it a bit more on monday.

Dazm. Would it be possible to contact you in the near future for a possible startup on something I have in mind?

[bogwoppit]

I do the odd website now and again (I'm a software engineer). I just had a look at Moonfruit and, if you can get a site to look as good as the examples, seems to be decent enough. Many web designers in fact use something similar under the hood (just not online-only, and probably tweaked). This is especially true when clients need to update the site themselves as otherwise building the content management aspect takes about as much work as the rest of the site.

The snag with a create-your-own will be the flexibility - if there's something you don't like about it you can't really change it yourself. Also check out the e-commerce as I'm not sure if they do anything but Paypal. Paypal is technically fine, is gaining acceptance and is a good choice to start with (less setup) but some consumers don't like it as they think you need an account, verified addresses etc.

You were wondering earlier about whether you should have separate websites. That is very much a marketing decision and probably requires some separate research and market understanding.

Last piece of advice re: websites is make sure you keep it updated. If I visit an e-commerce site I want to see signs of very recent activity to know that the produces and prices are bang up to date and I'm not handing my cash over with no clue if the company is even still trading. Many businesses fail on this front because after a day's graft in the workshop the last thing they want to do is sit in front of the computer updating the website.

[paoloh]

At your age and experience in life, I would stick to one pie at a time.

Stay focused on one project and make it a success.