need some direction going into CNC

[AL Ursich]

I once had a dream of getting a Shop Bot.... Lots of GREAT Advice here... Allot of Machine Details..... Not my Expertiese.....

So I will give some input here that falls into "Food for Thought".... I have been in Business for 5 years.... Almost went Bankrupt 4 years ago... Changed Directions and had some good luck and today I am working 7 days a week.... Doing "OK" and having fun with a one man shop.

SO... Things to consider.....

Location:
1. Zoning - Is the machine going to be located in a area that is Zoned for a Business? My Wood Shop and Laser Shop is in the middle of a old Xmas Tree Lot on our property. I am Zoned Low Impact so No Visitors to the Shop and No Show Room.... I am a Internet Business. Invest in a machine and 30 days later your Neighbor calls the Zoning Officer as you are keeping them awake at Night.... It's almost Midnight here and I am just finishing in the shop. Ran my little HOBBY CNC tonight.... Neighbor is too far away to hear it... Lucky.

2. Insurance - Add this to a Garage and have a FIRE.... You may be out of luck.... I run my Hobby CNC and listen on a Intercom next door... and have a Smoke Detector above the machine.... YES, I did have a small fire once.... Un Attended CNC work is RISKY... I have a Video Camera and Remote Kill Switch planned.... Your Insurance guy may void your whole policy.... A Fire Maker in the Garage.... You may have a big shop and this is NOT a issue...


Business License - Your Township may not let you do this and could shut you down... Better to find out before you have the machine...


Material Handling and Storage of Finished Product including ROAD Access.... Part of a Full Up business in the Eyes of MY State is getting Road Access.... My Driveway was not LEGAL until a New 2nd Gas Pipeline that went through last year paid to get it LEGAL so they could use it for light trucks. Sight Lines, Visibility the works... As a Low Impact Business I can get a UPS Local Truck NO Bigger...


Proper Finishing Facilities - Depending on your State, the Cabinet Finishing may be regulated... The old days of Spraying the stuff outside on the Ground are over... At least in most areas.... MSDS... Be ready for a Inspection.....


When talking to a Client about setting up to do this, WE may be tempted to UNDER SELL the OFFERED PRICE..... Just to get all the heads bobbing up and down... O' YES, I will order from you..... I have Tripled my Small CNC Wooden Name Sign Prices in the last 3 years.... I was Guilty of working TOO CHEAP..... I even FIRED a Wholesale Small Wooden Sign Customer as He refused to let me raise my prices to a Reasonable Level... His LOGO went on Every New Sign and HE gave the Sign as a House Warming Gift... I tried to sell the price on his 24/7 LOGO on the past 5 years worth of Signs... I had to walk away...


On that note.... What is stopping the NEXT NEW CNC Guy from Under Cutting YOUR Price.... Can you rebound and get enough work to support the machine.


Do some RESEARCH and find out "WHY did the CNC Business FAIL" that is selling the Equipment for pennies on a dollar..... Are you facing the same pitfalls....

Remember, a Business FAIL is a real Possibility and being in a position to provide for a Family could be placed in Jeopardy.

You need to go into this with your eyes wide open..... The Absolute BEST advice I see here on the "Business" side of the answers is to become a SALESMAN for the Product and have someone LOCAL make the stuff until you find out all the In's and outs.... Call the Major Players in the CNC world and find local CNC guys.... I believe it is on the Shop Bot Site that another site called 100K Garages lists CNC Guys in YOUR AREA... Yellow Pages, Search Engine.... Find the Local CNC.... With the Yellow Pages, I wonder how many numbers are OUT OF SERVICE.... due to a FAIL...

Software Training... I was in Start UP Mode for 4 years going to Trade Shows and taking Classes on Laser Engraving and Corel Software while still working a Job for Sony fixing Play Stations in Philly. Nothing stopping you from being a Salesman and learning the Software at the same time. I have a CNC Neighbor that is really BIG in the CNC World with abilities that took at least 3 MEN to replace HIM when the DUST got to HIM... and had to shift Careers... Things He showed me on a Tour Boggled the MIND.... Training is IMPORTANT...

This is a GREAT Site.... I was reading this from DAY ONE of getting ready to start my Business... You are asking the right guys.... With the Economy, making that investment and making it work will be a challenge. Having someone do the WORK and you make a MARK UP could give you valuable info.... I am looking at the Same Issues for MY business wanting to buy a small $30K UV LED Color Printer to expand my business... A DCS1024 UV. I found a used one last week... 3 months old.... A Pre Business FAIL in the WORKS.... I decided to wait... Build up my Piggy Bank.... Continue with what I make now..... Buy LATER....

I will share one of my FAILURES.... I got setup in my state to make High Intensity Street Signs.... Got the cutter, the Blanks, the 4 rolls of Green, Blue, Red, and Yellow Film to apply over the High Intensity Blanks... Went to sell my first Job to the Development that I do the Wooden Signs for. He handed me a price list of a LARGE Sign Shop that has a Truck make a Loop through the area once week.... His Retail Prices were MY Material COST.... The Company saw the High Intensity thing way back and built a building just for it and bought Materials years ago.... In 4 years I have sold less than a dozen signs... The Rolls of Film are $400.00 each.... and will EXPIRE at some point.... So I learned my LESSON.... and Moved ON....

You are asking all the right questions.

Good Luck,

AL

1 AM.... It's GREAT to be your OWN BOSS....

[Jerome Stanek]

Where I work I run one panel that takes 7 minutes on one side to machine and then 1.5 minutes on the other. That is after it is cut to size on a beam saw. Also it takes 2 people to flip it and load it as it has a finish on it and you can't drag it across the machine. Total tome is about 12 minutes for 2 people.

[AL Ursich]

I saw this in my local paper today and though of this posting. Since others looking to start a CNC Business could read this later, I wanted to add this. A Building that was a Real Estate Office with 20 employees was Grandfathered into the Township existing prior to Zoning being set up. A New Engraving Business is interested in the Property. The Problem is they call this Engraving Business a "Manufacturing" Business and NOT allowed in that area.....

So you spend $15K for a CNC and then find out that a "Manufacturing" Business cannot be setup in that area.....

So do your Homework.... Good Luck !!!!

I had to do Low Impact... No visitors... No Employees.... Just ME... Life is Good...

AL

[Neal Schlee]

I'd be will be to venture $10-15K is a little low for what you're looking for unless you stumble on "that special situation" where the seller may not know what they have nor how to operate it.

In '03 I picked up a '99 Multicam Pro 102, 60x120x8, vac bed w/MC's 20hp Turbo Vac for a pump, 2-7.5 hp Colombo Spindes for $19K. This is a servo machine 750 ipm max cutting & 1000 ipm max rapid, the Z's can be used together or as 2 seperate tools. I was working late one night and during a break was searching Ebay and lucky to see it right after it posted as a "Buy it Now", needless to say I jumped on it, as it was exactly what I was looking for and having a earlier Multicam I was familiar with the machines and the company.

I'm still running this machine daily and it's paid for its self many times over. Every now and then these kind of deals pop up, just be educated on your needs and the machines and be ready to pull the trigger.

MC Pro.jpg

Neal

[Rich Fennessey]

Al, great posts on starting a business. I'm doing the low impact CNC business myself and am just now at a point where I can start making and selling products. Luckily I have a full time day job and can just consider it a really expensive hobby if it doesn't work out but the down side is the lower amount of time I have to spool the business up. I got my machine in Feb and am just now getting ready to sell products. I was brand new to this and the learning curve is pretty steep. There is the technical know-how knowledge and then there is the business side. I was looking for the "Print Money" button on my machine but no luck. I've been an employee most of my life with some part-time businesses on the side, so this is the biggest effort to date for me. Thanks for sharing your experience. That is invaluable to those looking into starting a business. It is good to prevent the dream from becoming a nightmare.