Wanting to start my own company

[ichambers]

Hey every body,

I am a design Student at California State University Long Beach. For a while now I have been considering starting my own company designing aftermarket automotive parts. I have always had a fascination with cars and especially custom and concept cars. Stock cars are scaled way back from the awesomeness of their designs for the general consumer, but I want to market to those consumers who don't want scaled back bland. Off road rigs in my opinion are such a market. Consumers of off road gear want more aggressive style and performance. I already have a logo for my design work ( can be seen in my signature ).

My question to all of you is where should I start? I would like to start with some simple products that are in slightly higher demand, then move my way into broadening my product range. I have some cool ideas for my own rig that I will post at a future date, but if there is a rule about being profitable in design it is to not design for yourself but design for what others want. So what do you all want?

Any ideas would be appreciated and if it is a truly original idea, I would love to help it come to light and make sure the person who came up with it gets due credit ( could work out a deal )

 

[priestsallore]

Go for it dude. If you start your own company, let me know, maybe I can help you out on the business side, as I can definately excel.with.management, etc.. Do you have the tools necessary to start building bumpers & everything?

If you are serious about starting one, pm me about everything, details, & a contact number for you.

 

[foxrider56]

I a. Just starting a business its a t shirt printing business, if you need any tees or anything I can do that, it's scary thought at first investing a lot of money into something that you don't know for sure will work but it should pay off in the end.

 

[momo.75]

If you can get the funding to get you started i say try it out. I went out on my own about 11 years ago and haven't looked back.......:thumb3:

 

[KidVermicious]

I would say you've got some market research to do. But if you can't do that, I'd pick something simple that the market isn't saturated on (fender flares?), see if you can build a revenue stream, and go from there.

I will say, though, that designing is the easy part. Production and marketing is whole 'nuther ball game.

 

[Atlanta_man]

I've started a couple of successful companies as sole owner but was fortunate to already have customers lined up. That's the best way, pays its way from day one. No need for subchapter-S or LLC in that case. These were service companies. A third company I'm a partner in involves both services and a trade secret (chemical) product which we apply.

I really wanted to be in products rather than services. Even had patents. This was long long ago in the '70's. Just no way for a small guy to make a go of it in the product business without heavy front end investment. Well, I thought so... I gave these products/patents away to a friend and he has made a living off them for over 30 years now. So I suppose there's a way, but he had a rough go of in in the first few years.

I have a friend who has a couple of specialty electronic items made in China and he sells them through specialty magazine/websites. Still pays him enough to keep it going as a side business, even though the designs are over 25 years old.

Read up on what you want to do, even if it is just the general concepts around getting a business going. Do NOT pay any company to help you start up.

So what do I want for my 4Runner ? Something to fix torn leather seats, they have torn on the sides - not even where anything on your body touches them.

Can't help with off-road, I don't understand the fascination of taking a big ole 4Runner off road and then breaking it.

 

[ichambers]

Go for it dude. If you start your own company, let me know, maybe I can help you out on the business side, as I can definately excel.with.management, etc.. Do you have the tools necessary to start building bumpers & everything?

If you are serious about starting one, pm me about everything, details, & a contact number for you.

I would love help on the business end, like i said I am a design student, not a business major. I know a couple guys who started their own aftermarket parts company specializing in flywheels and brake lines for nissan 240s and sell through a Nismo dealer. They designed the parts and found manufacturers to make them. That is most lieky what i would do, because it is one thing to make a prototype one off by hand and another to crank them out yourself for production. I am sure within my network I can find plenty of places to put bids in on manufacturing. I also work with 3d modeling programs so once my design is finished i can send those flies to the manufacturer for machining or whatever other manufacturing methods need to be used. As a design major we study much more than just drawing. We study everything that goes into making good products from customer research to prototyping, customer feedback, branding, manufacturing and especially things like ergonomics and human interaction.

Thanks every one for the encouragement!!

Even if you have a product already that you don't like something about that is a great place to start. The example about the sides of the seats cracking is a great one, in fact i plan on reupholstering my seats for that same reason in the future. The reason that they crack like that is because they are actually synthetic leather, like vinyl. Actual leather does not crack and peel like that, if you look close there is a grid like texture on the back side. I plan on Reupholstering mine in a sued or something just as durable.

 

[priestsallore]

Send me a pm brother.

 

[priestsallore]

Just pm me brother.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Not to discourage you but a lot of very good off road/fabrication companies went out of business during the great recesstion. There are a lot of very highly skilled fabrication people looking for work. People are not throwing money away on custom parts like they did in 2006. You need a product that really stands out from the crowd and is reasonably priced to succed.

 

[RandyDaytona]

Not to discourage you but a lot of very good off road/fabrication companies went out of business during the great recesstion. There are a lot of very highly skilled fabrication people looking for work. People are not throwing money away on custom parts like they did in 2006. You need a product that really stands out from the crowd and is reasonably priced to succed.

+1. Thats the reality of the small business world, today.

This is just me, but I would focus mainly on quality-built aftermarket parts, perhaps starting with ones that may not be so easy to find. Then build a reputation on making stuff that's bulletproof, yet can appeal to everyone - not joust the people who want to be "stylish." Some consumers favor function over form.

When I say "quality-built..." Keep in mind that every other company talks about quality, but we've all seen rusted grille guards that had a "rust-free" guarantee and stuff that may look good, but falls apart soon after you get it.

I'm talking about making things that are overbuilt - like any anal-retentive 4Runner owner would be making to put on their own truck and have it there forever. Some of the people with these "build" threads have not only some great ideas, but the attention to detail they're putting into some of this stuff, and the monkey and time they're spending - that's the kind of quality a lot of people would pay extra for. I know I would.

Then, when I say "function over form...." Make the stuff generic enough that everyone can use it; so it can be "stylish" or not. There IS some quality out there already, but the thought of a lot of that stuff on my truck makes me cringe. I don't want to look like a pimp or a 20-year-old with more money than taste. Nothing at all wrong with it if you like to attract attention and that's your thing, but a lot of people don't. They want quality without the fashion contest.

So trying to make the highest quality possible, plus making the stuff generic enough that it can appeal to everyone. I think that will get you into a business situation where people will be coming to you instead of the other way around.

 

[jrm]

You might consider

beginning as a manufacturers representative of domestic or international companies with unique products that arent currently being offered by current dealers with chinese manufacturing connections. This wouldnt need to be a final product either. it could be a secondary or value added part with an direct or adversary relationship to one or a number of products that are currently offered today.