what would you do at my age?
Discussion
dazm said:
...didn't all work out as planned, the guy doing my website disappeared ...nothing's really progressed...I'm now looking to expand
The problem is I have no idea about marketing or website stuff!
shiny new website ...an online shop ... what do I use to make the website and keep it updated
Can anyone recommend anyone to create the site?
Also name suggestions would be good.
where do I start when it comes to marketing?
Hi Dazm, The problem is I have no idea about marketing or website stuff!
shiny new website ...an online shop ... what do I use to make the website and keep it updated
Can anyone recommend anyone to create the site?
Also name suggestions would be good.
where do I start when it comes to marketing?
About 8 weeks or so back I offered to meet with you to discuss these very things.
We had a couple of emails go back and forth and I had the distinct impression you thought I was a nutter from the tinter-net who was planning to murder you at the meeting I proposed.
I can confirm this is not the case; I did, at the time, feel that you were going to make a success of this and that I could help you along the way by creating –
- The legal entity
- Website
- Ecommerce platform
- Automated email marketing
- Adwords campaign
- SEO strategy
I’m not proposing to do this out of the kindness of my heart, but for an equity share in the legal entity – ie if I believed that what you create is as good as you describe, I’ll do the above for free on the basis that I’ll get a reward further down the line.
The offer still stands – you have my contact details, or alternatively you can contact me via –
www.carbonclone.com
I thought it was a rather good domain/brand name at the time.
All the best,
Don
Just to unite the younger end of the Business forum a bit, I thought I'd say hello too! I'm also 21 and looking around for the right business to get into, although right now I seem to be heading through a few twists and turns towards the blinds and lampshades market haha.
Carbon wise, someone has already mentioned the possible cycling market, but I think it's worth mentioning again, as I think it could tick both your boxes of carbon overlay and the more creative design work. It's almost needless to say how popular carbon fibre is in the cycling world (light weight + strong + exspensive enough to show off) so I don't think you'd hit any trouble with finding the market there, whether it's overlaying on seat posts etc. or creating custom handlebars. I'd have a look into it if I was you.
My long term plan is to make bicycles anyway, so maybe I can offer something a bit more business related in a few years! Good luck for now though.
Carbon wise, someone has already mentioned the possible cycling market, but I think it's worth mentioning again, as I think it could tick both your boxes of carbon overlay and the more creative design work. It's almost needless to say how popular carbon fibre is in the cycling world (light weight + strong + exspensive enough to show off) so I don't think you'd hit any trouble with finding the market there, whether it's overlaying on seat posts etc. or creating custom handlebars. I'd have a look into it if I was you.
My long term plan is to make bicycles anyway, so maybe I can offer something a bit more business related in a few years! Good luck for now though.
TotalControl - of course you can contact me any time. I'm interested in hearing any suggestions or requests be it business related or if people want parts made. I've had plenty of people emailing me already and I really do appreciate them all.
Don - I do recall the emails and thing's have been just as crazy as before, hence the reason I haven't had a chance to arrange a meeting with you just yet, but I hadn't forgotten about it and I certainly wasn't worried about you being a 'nutter from the t'internet'! My only concern is creating a larger legal entity than I need to start with. Personally I'd rather stay small and stick to a sole trader rather than go straight into a Ltd company with all the accounting responsibilities it entails, at least until I am drawing an acceptable income from the carbon work alone.
Lawrence hello - I have absolutely no clue about the cycling market but if you're involved in any way or even just a keen cyclist I'd appreciate a chat regarding what avenues I could explore and where to market my work. If you've got a bike that you'd like some carbon work done on I could even do that for a minimal fee as long as I could use the photos.
I would still like some recommendations for website designers who can produce what I want for the right money, I simply do not have the time or skills to produce it all myself, but updating it once the basics are there would be fine.
Don - I do recall the emails and thing's have been just as crazy as before, hence the reason I haven't had a chance to arrange a meeting with you just yet, but I hadn't forgotten about it and I certainly wasn't worried about you being a 'nutter from the t'internet'! My only concern is creating a larger legal entity than I need to start with. Personally I'd rather stay small and stick to a sole trader rather than go straight into a Ltd company with all the accounting responsibilities it entails, at least until I am drawing an acceptable income from the carbon work alone.
Lawrence hello - I have absolutely no clue about the cycling market but if you're involved in any way or even just a keen cyclist I'd appreciate a chat regarding what avenues I could explore and where to market my work. If you've got a bike that you'd like some carbon work done on I could even do that for a minimal fee as long as I could use the photos.
I would still like some recommendations for website designers who can produce what I want for the right money, I simply do not have the time or skills to produce it all myself, but updating it once the basics are there would be fine.
dazm said:
I would still like some recommendations for website designers who can produce what I want for the right money, I simply do not have the time or skills to produce it all myself, but updating it once the basics are there would be fine.
Plenty on here I expect, what sort of thing are you looking at and what is your budget? I can probably put something presentable together fairly quickly, but if you want flash graphics or something very artistic you probably want a full on design studio.dazm said:
Lawrence hello - I have absolutely no clue about the cycling market but if you're involved in any way or even just a keen cyclist I'd appreciate a chat regarding what avenues I could explore and where to market my work. If you've got a bike that you'd like some carbon work done on I could even do that for a minimal fee as long as I could use the photos.
I would still like some recommendations for website designers who can produce what I want for the right money, I simply do not have the time or skills to produce it all myself, but updating it once the basics are there would be fine.
Unfortunately I only fall into the 'keen cyclist' category for now other than a bit of previous work in cycling retail and mechanics, but I'm happy to have a chat about what the interesting options are. I would recommend making a thread in the 'pedal powered' forum here, I think my bikes are all a bit too rough to deserve carbon work, but the cycling forum has some very impressive bikes floating around which I'm sure you could work with.I would still like some recommendations for website designers who can produce what I want for the right money, I simply do not have the time or skills to produce it all myself, but updating it once the basics are there would be fine.
Design wise have you looked at a crowd sourced option like 99designs.com ? The standard of work is always pretty professional.
dazm said:
TotalControl - of course you can contact me any time. I'm interested in hearing any suggestions or requests be it business related or if people want parts made. I've had plenty of people emailing me already and I really do appreciate them all.
Hi Dazm.I'm currently working on a fair few designs and need to talk to some large companies regarding this matter of moulding their products. However, when I am ready, I will definately give you a shout.
Just out of curiousity, on average how long would it take you to complete one product mould with a simple shape?
Hi Dazm,
A bit random, but I cam across these posts when searching on the web for a Carbon Fibre toilet seat which would be the ideal addition to our car themed bathroom. Is this something you would do with your "Wrapping" service. The ones I have found on the web have all been quite pricey around the £200-300 mark. Please let me know if you do this and approximate price. Thanks
A bit random, but I cam across these posts when searching on the web for a Carbon Fibre toilet seat which would be the ideal addition to our car themed bathroom. Is this something you would do with your "Wrapping" service. The ones I have found on the web have all been quite pricey around the £200-300 mark. Please let me know if you do this and approximate price. Thanks
BobbieJ - you have an email.
Regarding my composite knowledge, I learnt a bit at uni which is where my interest started, I then put myself through a few grp and basic carbon laminating courses, followed by lots and lots of trial and error! Ironically I found a trainee composite engineer job at one of the best motorsport part manufacturers in the world just a few days after I last posted on this thread, and I've been working there ever since - I've learnt an unimaginable amount so far and it's been a huge change in my life but as I'm now settled in and comfortable I am beginning to think about starting some side projects and producing my own parts again. At least now I have much more money to throw at it and a massive amount of knowledge and the facilities available to me, all while having the security of the salary too.
My plans for world domination still haven't changed, I'm just taking things slow and learning as much as I can whilst someone else is paying me!
PS. No I do not produce any pre-preg parts at the moment. My opinion of pre-preg as being the ultimate in composite technology has been completely turned upside down. At the very highest level of motorsports, yes it is an amazing material, but the vast majority of what is made with 'pre-pregs' nowadays really isn't all it's made out to be.
Regarding my composite knowledge, I learnt a bit at uni which is where my interest started, I then put myself through a few grp and basic carbon laminating courses, followed by lots and lots of trial and error! Ironically I found a trainee composite engineer job at one of the best motorsport part manufacturers in the world just a few days after I last posted on this thread, and I've been working there ever since - I've learnt an unimaginable amount so far and it's been a huge change in my life but as I'm now settled in and comfortable I am beginning to think about starting some side projects and producing my own parts again. At least now I have much more money to throw at it and a massive amount of knowledge and the facilities available to me, all while having the security of the salary too.
My plans for world domination still haven't changed, I'm just taking things slow and learning as much as I can whilst someone else is paying me!
PS. No I do not produce any pre-preg parts at the moment. My opinion of pre-preg as being the ultimate in composite technology has been completely turned upside down. At the very highest level of motorsports, yes it is an amazing material, but the vast majority of what is made with 'pre-pregs' nowadays really isn't all it's made out to be.
Speak when I was spoken to.
I would definitely keep working wtih the kit car manufacturer. It sounds like an interesting job that fulfills most of what you are looking for.
How critical is a degree to pursuing a design career? If it is important then I would go back and finish it, or better yet get onto a course at a better university. I think your experience is fairly typical, however the point isn't so much what you learn from the course, as demonstrating the ability to stick with something you are interested in for a reasonable period of time, develop and awareness or the discipline and not least make a bunch of contacts that will potentially be useful for the rest of your career.
Many employers, rightly or wrongly, use this as a filtering mechanism when looking for trainee/graduate staff and will only look at people who have showed this level of commitment, basically because they can reduce their workload dramatically by doing so.
If that is not really the case with design then don't worry about it.
I would definitely keep working wtih the kit car manufacturer. It sounds like an interesting job that fulfills most of what you are looking for.
How critical is a degree to pursuing a design career? If it is important then I would go back and finish it, or better yet get onto a course at a better university. I think your experience is fairly typical, however the point isn't so much what you learn from the course, as demonstrating the ability to stick with something you are interested in for a reasonable period of time, develop and awareness or the discipline and not least make a bunch of contacts that will potentially be useful for the rest of your career.
Many employers, rightly or wrongly, use this as a filtering mechanism when looking for trainee/graduate staff and will only look at people who have showed this level of commitment, basically because they can reduce their workload dramatically by doing so.
If that is not really the case with design then don't worry about it.
PS. No I do not produce any pre-preg parts at the moment. My opinion of pre-preg as being the ultimate in composite technology has been completely turned upside down. At the very highest level of motorsports, yes it is an amazing material, but the vast majority of what is made with 'pre-pregs' nowadays really isn't all it's made out to be.
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Because its so damned exspensive thats why. Proper pre preg should be autoclave cured, thats what the f1 boys demand, but your right, alot of the stuff on sale isnt quite what it seems. It is still the pinnacle of the trade though, I used to work for the advanced composites group, and the customer list was like a whos who of the motorsport world.
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