Don't go into a partnership with others, especially family members.
Get premises that you can make VERY secure, on a short Lease with option to extend the lease as you see fit.
You will not make a profit in the first year, most likely a loss, so have plenty of cash to cover this period.
Organise an Accountant, Book-keeper [part time] and a Bank account, don't use the Bank where you have your personal account.
Decide if you are going to operate as a Sole Trader or a Limited company.
Choose a business name that relates to your company.
If you sell products you will most likely need some form of third party insurance as well as insurance on your premises and equipment.
The list just goes on and on... Most important thing is DON'T PANIC when everything seems to be going horribly wrong, usually in the first 3 months.!.
E
If you want more, just ask.
Not really. I plan on building custom-made devices for specific customers. Repairing comes next when the item I built is damaged or malfunctioning and so on.From your post, it seems as if you want to be a "Repair" electronics company...
I see. I did watch a scene in "Gone in 60 seconds" where the brothers working together are quarreling and then another guy said "This is why I don't do business with family". Haha. But I wasn't sure if I was to take that scene that seriously.Not a boss here in ETO in any way but, relatives in your business could turn out being the worst of the ideas. You will keep meeting them out of the lab whether your relationship is good or bad with them.
Don't go into a partnership with others, especially family members.
In the realm of electronics repair
Consumer electronic repairs now days are are a no no
I owned my own repair business for Fifteen years; and tried 3 startups and I was successful for the first 7 years. I worked Part-Time in a TV repair shop as a Manager for 10 years and ran the shop by myself for 2 years. I've done in Warranty Repair and when I stopped.
Whirlpool and Kitchenaid still owed me money; the parts you buy from them is 10 days net; yet they pay for work on 90 net. Large companies will also reject claims long after the work is completed; it can be difficult to get them to see it your way.
I learned the hard way; it's not a win win. In the beginning it was worth it; but now it like pulling teeth to get your money. I got out 16 years ago; maybe it's gotten better?
The ever declining prices of Electronics and Hard Goods and the decrease in shipping weight costs has led the repair industry to falter; customers want new and purchase using credit over time.
I agree with "Eric" on all points and I will add "this" if it's something you believe will run itself; you might be disappointed.
Doing business analytics of your potential market and calculating the incomes of potential customers in your general area. Plus, knowing how strong your competition is; gives you a margin of success.
Not knowing these things could determine if you make money or loose money along with your time.
I know I sound harsh; but thats just business.
Nothing wrong with dreams; I do it all the time.
Good Luck
kv
Are you in a locale where a 3D printing business would thrive. One just opened up near me. They are also offering classes. They claim you can print a small part for like $20 USD.
Fix for me is becoming impossible. The sources of info just dried up. No Sam's Photofact of yesteryear or driving 10 miles for 2 or 3 suppliers.
Everything has custom parts. A retired embedded engineer friend may actually re-invent the programming for an old piece of audio equipment because it doesn;t behave right. Two units will not respond the same when facing one remote control, It skips commands and won't stay in sync.
I maintained stuff where I worked like DEC PDP-11/2 and 11/23 system, DEC had levels of support. We used "module exchange". They sent a price book, so you knew what it would cost. I think you also had to pre-pay something, like escrow money. Generally, it was the same repairs over and over again: replace floppy drives, fans and power supplies. Sometimes we had to call some one in.
I had to lube X-y recorders.
A vacuum gauge would typically have the same failures. A fair amount of re-lamping was done.
Sometimes, I did upgrades and sometimes I told the manufacture things like, "You know a 10 A rectifier should not be used in a 40 A power supply". They re-engineered and fixed it free.
Nearly everything became module or "instrument swap" and we took that mentality to vacuum pumps even. The same connectors on the inlet/outlet and power. Pumps were sent out for re-build.
At times, we found it cheaper to make our own than to buy the part from the manufacturer. This company charged $80 for a radiator used that they re-branded as a vacuum hose and $125 for a switch.
A hoist switch was a difficult re-wire.
Sometimes I would engineer and.or build electrical, electronic or elctromechanical systems.
None of this was full-time. As we shrunk - more stuff was sent out.
In one case I designed an entire remote "demand side management" platform for a instrumented house a little further than across the street.
Problem #1 was figuring out why the inverter for a solar demonstration never worked. The arrays were not matched to the inverter. I designed and ordered all the major parts and someone else put it all together and yet another group did the study. This was pre-internet.
At one time I did all the electronic repairs on an Scanning Electron Microscope and set-up a cheap EDAX (Energy dispersive X-ray analysis) system. I set up an ebic system or electron beam induced current https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCcQFjAB&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_beam-induced_current&ei=4go-VJ-QB_T-sATy4IC4CQ&usg=AFQjCNE7JNbglcR_CvN05fVz1kzrhc2V6Q&sig2=I1lsJdauZqOKx0zZoRihxA&bvm=bv.77412846,d.cWc system.
I did audio amplifier repairs at my convenience. They were basically subletted to me, but I didn't have to deal with getting parts or service info. Even then, I made changes so the amp would stay fixed.
Okay, aside from the other points, this one seems to be quite agreed upon. Gulp. However, do you mean I should work sorta, alone while having the book keeper and the rest?
A friend of mine, an electronics technician, in a partnership with another colleague, managed to create a very succesful company dedicated to power generation worth a lot of $$$ nowadays.
Years ago he told me: do not associate with people that is only going to do the (technical) work; only with those capable of atracting more work or new customers.
There are many retired engineers who would be willing to help with technical matters for a small fee.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?