--Wondering what the best methods might be. I run a *very* small machine shop; the real money is in production work, where parts need to be made in quantities of at least several hundred, so finding folks who need this kind of volume, as opposed to the onesy-twosies needed by crackpot inventors, is proving to be difficult. Any advice appreciated.
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SF Bay Area
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Unsu...
Re: Trolling for customers
Wed, April 5, 2006 - 1:37 PMhelp me to understand you further - you're looking to do "...quantities of at least several hundred..." at a pop?
i really don't know so the only thing i can think of is that you might call around to local colleges & see if their science labs or whatever have any extra work they could sub-out to you.
every industry has trade journals / magazines or whatever - do you know of any in what you do? whomever's placing ads in there might be a good place to start too
maybe car dealerships?
lots of art colleges do metal workings / sculptures & might could use your talents
i don't know man... sorry i'm not more help! -
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Re: Trolling for customers
Wed, April 5, 2006 - 2:01 PM--Yeah, I've been in the trade as a prototype machinist now for decades, but I moved to a new locale a few years back. That, and the downturn due to the dot-bomb thing and the only folks who come thru the door now seem to be in the "crackpot" category. Yes, I've got all the trade pubs, etc, but it's proving to be difficult to find out who needs what made in quantity. I'm just trying to get beyond the "parts-and-labor" paradigm to something that scales up better. I "advertise" in the Yellow Pages, of course, but that's not adequate nowadays. I'm needing to do a little proactive searching, but am at a loss how to proceed. I hate the idea of cold calls, but that may be my only chance..
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Re: Trolling for customers
Wed, April 5, 2006 - 2:23 PMhmmm, what kind of stuff do you make?
one area to investigate would be antiques: f'r instance, some years ago a fellow I knew had a 150 replacement parts made for old victorolas (hand crank antiques), he bought the broken ones for a song, repaired them and sold them for $$$. Another idea like that would be replacement parts for antique guns - sell the parts on ebay,etc. just make sure you stay square with the Feds. Are there already people out there making parts for 1956 MGs or early 60s porsches? or older? Challenge is to find something that was made in enough quantity that people would need it, but not so many that their are a bunch of other suppliers.
antique/collectible cars - Hemmings Motor News would be the place to check/advertise
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Unsu...
Re: Trolling for customers
Fri, April 7, 2006 - 1:17 AMHave you advertised on craigslist ? Place a recurring ad in Skilled Trades under Servicves.
check this out - www.craigslist.org/pen/sks/...8279.html
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Re: Trolling for customers
Tue, August 8, 2006 - 11:41 PMContact trucking companies, bus companies, shipping companies, etc...
These companies need large quantities of parts machined and if you can do it cheaper than who they use now, with a good degree of accuracy, and guarantee your work, I'm sure you'll get lots of business. -
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Re: Trolling for customers
Sun, August 13, 2006 - 9:21 PMI'll be more direct. Start marketing your assets. Prospect for buyers.
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Re: Trolling for customers
Wed, February 28, 2007 - 11:52 AMDid my advice help you at all?
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