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I like machinery and would like to start my own factory. Worthwhile endeavor?

yosimba2000

Plastic
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
TBH, I don't really have manufacturing experience, but I've always been curious about how things are made and love watching videos like How It's Made.

I've got about 40k saved and am wondering if it's worth attempting to start a factory/manufacturing. I'm looking into packaging, like cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, etc.

The plan is to start small, say selling homemade cardboard boxes, but scale if it grows. Do you think it's worth trying?


My alternate plan would be to start a hot-dog stand.
 
If you save a bit more money, you can start a small spaceport in the hood. It may be more lucrative than a factory or even a hot dog stand.
 
Maybe making bubble wrap if you buy in material....as for cardboard boxes there are people doing that on a large scale making them from recycled paper ( rubbish ) they have made a large fortune doing it.
So i suppose they started relatively small but small maybe in the million dollar mark in machinery at a wild guess because they don't say how they started. In one generation they are billionaires.
So yes there is money in it if you have the knowhow and funding lined up.

Best wishes...
 
First you need an Idea, Not just something you saw on TV. Even the people on Kickstarter started with an idea. So you say "Maybe" corrugated cardboard or tubing and bubblewrap. OK, have you done any market research on this? Have you checked how many factories they are in your area already doing this that you will be competing with? Have you priced any of the equipment you would need as a start up to even make you competitive? I know of one huge startup packaging company in Duarte California that is growing in leaps and bounds and would be almost impossible to compete with as a start up. They are even paying their machinist $45 an hour to start in the maintenance machining.

I get it, you are interested in machinery. Just because you are interested in something doesn't necessarily mean you will be good at it. What has your trade been that allowed you to save $40K for investment? How much experience do you have running a business?

I'm not being negative on purpose but just laying out some very basic questions you should be asking yourself before coming off of a little fallback money. Can you live with losing it all? 30% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 50% during the first five years and 66% during the first 10
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]according to the SBA.

What that statistic doesn't tell you is many of those that made it needed additional funding to stay afloat. Maybe family investment, Put up your house for collateral, Cash in the kids college fund. Again, Ask yourself, Are you the kind of person that can walk away without hesitating, Knowing when to cut your losses? Ive seen people sink their life's savings along with family and friends on a gamble. No different than Vegas. You start thinking "Ive came this far, Just a little bit more money" only to crash.

I'm not saying you won't be the next Bamboo Socks startup and become a millionaire overnight but just don't get your hopes up.

And if you are thinking of a machine shop with $40k in California? Maybe do some hard research on that. One member on here got a Kickstarter campaign funded over $150K in California and failed before he ever started. Now his campaign page is full of people hunting him. Don't be "that guy".




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"Helium filled Bubble Wrap" would help hedge
against the new flat rate box increases....:skep:
 
40k isn’t much in the terms of “factory” perhaps a hobby grade laser engraver cutting cardboard in your basement. Need to be creative on design side, lots of very creative packaging designers out there. Just go to retail and look at boxes. Find it unlikely that starting your own corrugate plant to compete against the big guys would be smart,
 
If you like machines, get a job working with machines. Once you start a business, your number one job is to be a businessman. Nearly perfectly opposite goals.
 
perhaps a hobby grade laser engraver

Perfect example of my previous post about an "Idea".

Had a buddy in Atlanta that bought an Epilog laser engraver at an auction. He was always hanging around my shop and one day saw us part marking with an ink stamp. He ask if I would buy my stamps from him if he could do same day turnaround and of course I said yes. He was getting $10-20 per stamp and could knock one out every five minutes or better.

I never had to wait more than two hours for a hand full of stamps delivered to my door so I turned him on to some other government suppliers and eventually it became a full time cash machine. He supplies many of north GA and Tennessee shops with simple ink stamps made on a $5000 desktop laser and a copy of Corel Draw set up in his kitchen. Home based business at its best.
 
Hahahaha

Who was it that started the hot dog stand thing? George something? I think he's been gone 10 years or so.

Gary E, I think he has only been gone a couple years. He never told the whole story of the hot dog cart. Permits for the prime locations are auctioned off by sealed bid. Some of them can push six figures a year.
 
Based on your statement that you don't have manufacturing experience I would say forget about it.

One thing about food service is that it remains in demand even during economic downturns. If you are looking for a business to earn money a hot dog stand in the right location might be it but usually you'd have to buy out an existing vendor as you can't just buy equipment and open up anywhere you want. $40 k might be a little light to buy an existing location though. I remember decades ago it cost a friend about $100k to buy a food truck route.

If you are fascinated with how things are made start a small home workshop and fool with things as a hobby outside of work. I started as a kid in dad's basement shop dismantling broken things to see what was inside before they were tossed out. Eventually I was even able to repair some of them.
 
If only I knew how to do it in 2019 the Chinese stopped taking in any more recycled plastics from the USA which is causing a huge huge issues for recycling centers around the country.

I think the best business to get into would be one to find a use for all that waste plastic. I wonder what a startup company to make plastic railroad ties would cost to form. I bet that would cost a lot more than $40k though.
 
I started as a kid in dad's basement shop dismantling broken things to see what was inside before they were tossed out. Eventually I was even able to repair some of them.

I see where I went wrong as a kid. I didn't wait for it to be broken before I tore it apart.

The good old days.
 
Hot dog stand. Purchase half of ALL supplies on account with a solid vendor. Buy the other half with green cash, no names other than John Doe. How you report income is up to you.
 
Manufacturing of paper is a low-cost business idea. It is a known fact that paper market has huge potential. Papers are widely used in education and other industries. So, chances of getting success in a paper making business are very high. Before starting this business you need to decide paper size and volume, based on size and volume you need to select equipment and space for the manufacturing.
 








 
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