I have decided once my current inventory is depleted I won’t be restocking. I will only do group buys based on demand. It has become too expensive to warehouse 10s of thousands of dollars of inventory to sit for 6-12 months. It’s a state of the economy no doubt. I will continue to build off of demand only. If you want a good deal I posted pricing in the classifieds. http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=369834

Good call Ben.

I appreciate all the awesome products you’ve created for the community and totally understand not wanting to carry that inventory for such a niche market.

I’ve generally tried to get in at the time of group buys when it’s most economical for you to make parts in quantity.

You’ve been nothing but an asset to the community!

Thanks. It’s not that I am going away but once inventory is gone the big change happens

Not only that, but your products are literally works of art. I have one of your last (I think) quiet 2.0 mufflers, bought directly from you in September 2020. Still sitting in the box you sent it to me in but slated to go on my BB soon. I keep thinking I should display it on the wall rather than store it in the box.... I guess it is human nature to like shiny things, but this transcends the "shiny object syndrome."

Trying to be helpful not critical.

Not sure I understand your plan or how it meets customers needs for these specialized parts. Group buys only on a specific item...say an oil tank. So you make 5, 10 or 20 oil tanks by pre-order. That assumes multiple folks need an oil tank at the same time or they are willing to wait for it. If a customer wants a bumper mod, or an engine tin set, they need to wait until a GB for that? What will be the minimum group sizes to make this work for you?

In my experience most customers want an item right away, they won't wait very long.

Yup you’re right. Bumper mods are done with customer owned bumper typically. The rest of the parts are currently make I have a ton a money just sitting on the shelf and the economy/ possibly the market has changed. I will probably just collect names of interested people and order laser cuts based on that. I have enough inventory to make it through the end of the year or about 20-25 cars worth but after that I will reassess next steps

I’m sure it’ll work out for you, your stuff is in high demand.

The main issue seems to be the need to inventory materials? Can you just order materials as needed to build to order, or there must be more involved than that.

Might be an option. I don’t think I will ever do filter consoles again though as that requires me to order 150 and they sit for multiple years.

We've been in an unofficial recession for 2 quarters now, due to the rising cost of basic living expenses. Sales of non-essentials is down everywhere.
Can't tell you where we'll be a year from now...

Yup for sure I can see that in translated sales.

In those cases, money talks, walks.

I also got one of the last quiet mufflers, which is indeed a work of engineering art. After admiring it on the floor of my guest room for more than a year, I did finally bolt it into my car. And it works as good as it looks.

Love you Ben, what works for you and your family. You have great products. Best, Mark

Ben you have been doing this long enough to know what products have the longest shelf life. I own a custom mfg business so I only build to order. You products are held in high regard. You would probably be way ahead to just build to order and charge the appropriate premium. Get the money up front so you’re not out of pocket (or at least half down/balance before shipping). That way you’re in control of your cash flow and production cycles. Building to inventory as you have stated is costly. Best of luck.

Right on. 20 years in business many ups and downs. Got some great deals on parts right now and will update my website with pricing

agree with the change Ben, with your skill it should be build to suit, not stock and hope someone will want the exclusive parts you make.

maybe inventory less?

What is most profitable?

+1

You have to get a decent qty cut or machined to make it even affordable. Like I said oil filter consoles are done period once I run out. I still have inventory from 3 years ago.

That’s what I was thinking. Some of our favorite parts might go away since they have to be made 100’s at a time.

For sure. I have adjusted my website prices to wind down inventory

Try to not lose too much and moving forward stick with your most profitable items. There will be a market for your high end stuff for many years, just work on managing it differently.

Making niche parts for 50-year-old sportscars REQUIRES a love for such vehicles.

You SHOULD be doing custom welding on Audi R8s, GT3s, Gallardos, etc.

You SHOULD be charging 400% of what you are...

You should be welding on the very most expensive...

Blackbird Fabworks was Ben's equivalent in the Miata rollbar world.
World's best hands down. I have one.
You can't even talk to them anymore. They went high end and instead of making 700 on a Miata roll bar they make 20K on a R8 roll cage. They're scheduled multiple months in advance. This should be your target customer base IMO.

My first mentor Corky Bell took me aside 40 years back and said "Whatever you do don't try to make your living off of working on cars. Do something else with a higher salary potential. Don't ALWAYS be working on other people's vehicles..."

I didn't take his advice...

I should have!

I'll make some pieces for the 914 AC system because I need them, and I can help others.

I will not try to pay my bills with them.

Makes sense. As they say, GLWTS. On the other hand, I hope that you still come up with new parts for us lucky few. It would be a shame if you didn’t get to create new designs as time permits.
Warren

All good advice. I should be clear that I am not going anywhere and will still be making new parts. I just don’t want to have 40k worth of parts sitting on the shelf for a part time business. The past year has been slower than usual and I hearing that from many others in similar businesses like mine.

I do think boating products would be a better market but not to leave 914 products behind but again less sleeping dollars.

Well hold tight things have actually developed a little this week while talking to a digital marketing /porsche enthusiast . It may change things a lot

This guy's posts seem a bit strange to me.

I'm starting to be able to differentiate between AI and a real human.

That last post seems AI to the max. Long posts that don't really say anything...

@Midnightbast Are you human?

I may end up back peddling on this. I have some options now.

We'll never know ...

One has to adapt when in business....I made a decision about 8 months ago to drop a product line because sales had slowed considerably while it still proved to be 90% of my headache.....while the other products I deal were only 10% of my headache but accounted for 90% of my sales with solid growth every month.

As soon as I shelved everything....the calls started coming in and now I'm digging all that stuff out and getting it ready to sell again.

It's a dynamic market....you have to follow where the market takes you.

Right on