A General post

[purpledragon]

Hey all
this isnt a post asking for help or complaining about suppliers or customers to be honest im typing it as a kind of therapy i suppose im not evan expecting replies as im not really saying what its about .
Im kind of out here on my own in our little town being (english in a welsh town doesnt help lol) But yeterday a guy walked into our shop with a business suggestion for which if im honest has tunred me on my head it could be the best ever thing to happen to us or could be the worst thing we could do and quite frankly i have no idea what to do . As the saying goes if it sounds to good to be true then it isnt and if im honest im not sure it sounds to good to be true . It could be as bad as take up the offer or someone else will which could see the end of the dragon .....maybe......
take up the offer and the dragon could still end up slain .....maybe.....
Tried talking things through with my usually very logical wife but i think shes as much in a quagmire about it as i am and doesnt appear to be as logical as normal.
ahhh what to do what to do what to do
wish i had some one to bounce off !!! its a lonly old life working for yourself
sorry if ive wasted five minutes of your time witha very vaugue and pretty unanswerable post like i say just needed to get it out my system
hey ho back to work
Brett

[James990]

Purple,

I am sure we are all agog as to know what the offer was, so why not tell us and then we can perhaps make our comments?

James

[socialgiraffe]

Hi Brett

there has been times over my career when offers or potential work has presented itself to me which I have thought would make me millions! Trust me, none of them have. However I did pursue every one of them because I was never going to make any money by ignoring them.

If you think it is a good idea or something that is worth investing time in then go for it. Obviously always proceed with caution, but as you say in your post, if you do not take up the offer it could see the end of dragon.

Reading your post, the main factor is if you take up the offer you could still end up with problems (or slain as you put it). This is the key point of your post and that is the part that you need to resolve. I am not prying and do not want to (it is not my position to) but most of the time there is always a way of reducing the risk to the bare minimum while taking on the potential. Perhaps go back to the guy and see if there is a way to test the market, if its machinery that will cost then see if someone is out there who will trade print so you can see if it works.

In my opinion the main point is to work out a way to broker the deal.

I wish you well in this and good luck

[purpledragon]

Sorry james i honestly couldnt put it all down in text and get it accross in that way id end up typing an essay!!!
Social ...wise words as usual i suppose slain was a bit dramatic what i meant was is part of the deal would be trading under someone elses name hence the end of the dragon and i dont think youre prying posting stuff on here isnt the best thing to do if you dont want people to pry in away what you suggested ie trade print is almost hitting the nail on the head although not quite as simple as that needless to say i cant really see a way of reducing the risk its a kind of do or die situation my suspicious mind says hang on theres one main winner here and it aint you the optamistic side of me says ahhh but you ride along on the crest of that particular wave
thanks for your good luck wishes anyway

[John G]

I've had a few of these but have always err'd on the side of caution - why does he need you, why can't he do it himself?
Can you not put it to the OP that you're interested, but would like to run it as a test, say one months trial without burning too many of your bridges - is that possible?

Edit: Sorry, just read SG post and repetaed what he said.
OK - how about setting up another company to do this new project and still running your own company with the help of family etc.

[socialgiraffe]

Well if it is a case of trading under someone else's name that's B2B printing which is exactly what I do.

90% of my work is for merchandisers to the music industry and everything that leaves my building is dispatched under plain cover. Their mark up from my items is incredible, as an example I quoted for 100 items the other day at £3.50 per unit. They came back to me and said "if you sell it to us at £3.50 then we would have to sell it at over £20.00"

Do I get angry or peeved at their mark up, no. I give them a price and if they want to double, treble or make a ten times mark up it doesn't bother me as I have set my original price that I deem fair. I think this post comes back to one that was done ages ago which asked what are the key factors for a successful sublimation, or any other type, of business. In my opinion the key factor with any industry is customers, if you do not have them then no matter how good your prices or products are you are not going to sell them. By ignoring this guy you could lose your customers, I am not saying you would as I do not know the full extent of your business or your offer, but just reading your thread I think that is the crux of it.

You obviously need help in deciding what to do (please do not take offense to that). I have in the past used Business Link which I have found to be fantastic. They once told me to get rid of one of my customers which created about 70% of my work (Blackberry) but were always nailing me down on the price. I thought he was mad but I did what he said and my profits doubled. They have some great business advisers who are at the end of the telephone. I know that the government got rid of this service but I think they introduced something similar but slimmed down. It might be worth giving them a call.

Also, if you know a lawyer they would be a good port of call. Surprisingly I have found lawyers are very good at giving advice on stuff that is nothing to do with the law. They have to, by definition, consider all the points. It might be worth calling round the local companies, explain the situation and popping in to see one of them. It may cost you £100 but could be worth every penny.

Kind regards

Simon

P.S. I love B2B, no advertising costs, a website that has not been touched since 1996, minimal invoicing and accounts, and no dealing with the public :biggrin:

[purpledragon]

ok this is going in odd directions so ill try and condense what the oppertunity is sorry to those who are execting world changing examples its really not that interesting

The best way to describe it is a kind of franchise
man has existing embroidery service (i dont do embroidery) he also has mug machines but concentrates mainly on embroidery school uniforms etc which in his area he pretty much has it sewn up (excuse the pun)
he has opened another shop in a town not far from me apparantly under the same conditions that he is suggesting to me (its worth while knowing the guy who has taken this offer up is also a friend of his so im not going to get a true and honest aprasisal from him )
what he is suggesting is
he buys building and rents building to me (i already have a shop so it would mean moving premisis)
i source the work ie advertising etc and give it to him to complete taking a cut myself obviously
initially he suggests i spend 10 grand on stock which he will embroider with school logos in the hope i get the school trade
the name above the shop would be his company name
theres a lot more to it but thats it in a nut shell .
Now to my mind i could go to someone for instance on this forum who does embroidery and get a trade price and do this anyway.
so in my suspicious mind
1. will his name bring in trade ... well id heard of the firm but they aint exactly sainsburys
2. the rent on my shops pretty good why do i have to move obviously this generates him more income which is faire enough i suppose but its more expensive and im established here anyway
3. 10 grand in the hope i can get the schools trade ouch ! thats my money which he will earn from through doing the embroidery

so thats it in a nut shell as i say it will happen its just will it happen with me or someone else which could in turn force my buisiness out if they go more into the personalised gifts market i suppose in the cold light of day hes offering a shop (which i have already) and trade price embroidery(which i could probably get anyway)
likei say its very condensed but thats basically it

[socialgiraffe]

Immediate reaction...

Would not touch that with a barge pole....

[John G]

initially he suggests i spend 10 grand on stock which he will embroider with school logos in the hope i get the school trade

i source the work ie advertising etc and give it to him to complete taking a cut myself obviously

Seems he wants you to do a hell of lot, for very little in return.

[Scotty@BMS]

I believe the catchphrase of a popular, business related TV show is; "I'm out." I would be too!