WE sure don't have to pay as much taxes!

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Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717 L2
semroc.com

Yes that...but it depends. Some things are deductable.

I own another business so I've been doing this for a while...

Most computer hardware, software, paper ink, office expenses, millage...heck even meals are deductable.

Technically Phred and my trip to NARAM are deductable as well as NAR dues and believe it or not the subscription to Launch magazine.

Esentially anything related to the business or if it somehow helps your business is probably deductable but I always check with a professional first.

This is all from my tax accountant so I'm not making this up as I go.

The best part is being your own boss.

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

Carl, It's not all that great...you have to have a profit before you pay any taxes!

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

If you were starting a model rocket company the best thing to do is to start small. If I was starting a company I would first decide what your niche would be (as other posts have said). You could keep your normal job and with a small loan start making models in your off hours. Also it would be good to get a web site. There are numerous inexpensive web site builders that come with domain names. From there you could advertise in rocketry magazines such as Sport Rocketry. If it begins to work out you could slowly expand and hire various workers. If it did not work out you could try again at another time and you would not have lost all that much.

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"The secret of my success is that I always managed to live to fly another day."

--General Chuck Yeager

tome0, I think you have the right idea... start small, and remain "agile" (ready to change as demanded by your customer base).


This is exactly the thing I was speaking against in the other thread. Making engines in production runs, then warehousing them. I think it should easily be possible to build a machine able to prepare a variety of engines on demand; the engine wouldn't be made until the customer ordered it. Certification rules might need to be amended (it ought to be possible to make and test some of each thrust/nozzle combo and then consider the machine certified to make those engines) but I think it could be a very viable business model.

Make one machine, a relatively small unit, capable of MABEL-1 output levels perhaps (but with all the added flexibility I've mentioned). If the business really takes off, build another.

This is the wave of the future... fabrication on demand. Already I sell a book that is made that way (on a non-rocketry subject) as well as T-shirts and other promo items.

__________________
NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org

Even bookstores are looking at this as a possible model. One copy of a book upstairs on display. Customer takes it (or a barcode slip) to checkout, customer waits a few minutes while book is printed/bound downstairs. Busier stores can print popular books in advance, but only as needed.

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Roy
nar12605

I agree with this idea.

I believe that this is how Vern and Gleda started out in the beginning of what we all know as Estes.

I don't know where all the... you need a VP and marking dept. came from as that is overkill when starting a company from scratch. Set realistic goals and know your limits. And don't be afraid to make mistakes. You will make mistakes oh, you will.

Profits should not be a concern at first. Your system or process will help you create a profit if you stick to your goals.

What do I mean by a system... Henry Ford developed the first assembly line for cars. This is now used to make TV's, toasters, pop cans, etc... you get the idea.

Create a system to keep track of everything down to the nickel. Yep, I said nickel.

Example: Can I cut these body tubes and use the left over 5 inch's for another kit?
sure you can. What were you going to do... throw it out?

That is the mind set that you need to have.
Good luck!

When starting any small business, I believe you must:

Be very good at your job. Understand the work before you worry about the business, because if you aren't good at the work the business can't be built (or saved) in the first place.

Know what you can, and cannot do. Admit what you cannot do to your customers up front, and direct them to someone who can.

Don't expand into new areas while your core business is still growing; and don't expand unless you are sure you can handle the additional business.

When you do expand, make sure you hire competent managers, and then let them manage. Don't second guess everything they do, or make them bring every little piddly decision to you. Make sure they know what you expect, and then let them do it. And fire them if they can't.

Focus on the customer. Understand what they want or need. Give it to them.

And for Heaven's sake, do NOT call them "consumers." Consumers are a sort of creature just slightly above a cow, because, unlike a cow, a consumer can carry money around. Corporations compete to herd the consumers into their pens to milk them for money. Cater to a higher form of life... the customer.

__________________
NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org

Good advice! We have not gotten to the part about hiring managers yet. I did during the first life of Semroc in the 60's. I did not follow your advice.
We call them friends.

Side story... When I was 16 and worked at my Dad's tractor dealership and repair shop, I was trying to learn how to charge customers for various jobs. When a customer came in and wanted a new point welded on a plow, my Dad worked on it for about a half hour and when the customer came to pick it up he asked how much. My Dad wiped his hads, thought a bit and said, " about a dollar." That sounded cheap, but now I knew how much to charge to replace a plow point. Since a new one was about $30, it was a good deal. About a week later, another customer came in with the same job. My Dad worked on it just as hard and put it aside. When the customer came to pick it up and asked how much for the job, I KNEW what my Dad would say! He surprised me, however, by telling the customer it was $5. That seemed closer to what I thought it should be. When the customer left, I asked my Dad why one job was one dollar and the other was five dollars. He said Mr. Worthington had three acres and had to feed his family from his farm. He said, "I would have done it for free, but his pride would have been hurt, so I charged him a dollar." Then he told me that Mr. Moye owned a thousand acres and was in farming as a business and he expected to pay a fair price, so he was happy to pay five dollars. I told my Dad that I would never figure out how much to charge people if the prices kept changing. He said,"Get to know your customers and their family and make them your friends, then it will be easy to figure out how much to charge." He died last November with thousands of friends, but very little money. He might not have been the best businessman, but he had business figured out.

__________________
Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717 L2
semroc.com

Excellent story, Carl. My father would have been a customer... or perhaps, as your Dad said, a friend... since he was a farmer.

I like the word "customer." In the old days they spoke of someone "giving you their custom" or even "bringing you their custom" as if it were a thing. A valuable thing. Of course, it simply meant that it was their "custom" to do business with you.

Notice one thing... that puts the true control in the hands of the customer. They decide, and calling them "customers" emphasizes that. Perhaps that's why corporations call them "consumers." No decision-making is really implied by the latter term.

__________________
NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org