How many kits should you be prepared to make?

Get help, and assist others in with open source kits and running a business! Do not ask for legal advice or for consulting services in this forum, only general biz questions!

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Get help, and assist others in with open source kits and running a business! Do not ask for legal advice or for consulting services in this forum, only general biz questions!
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macguffin
 
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Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2011 10:59 am

How many kits should you be prepared to make?

Post by macguffin »

Hey folks,

I'm working on a kit idea with my father-in-law, and I'm starting to think about the logistics of fulfilling the orders. One thing I've been thinking about is, what is a good ballpark range for number of orders to fulfill in a given time period?

For example, I had read in another post that a "hobbyist" level kitbiz might have ~25 orders a month. Assuming a low level of assembly and packing effort, that's something that's easily shippable as each order comes in. But, what if you get some press early on, the product really clicks with folks - what kind of numbers could you be looking at?

I realize this is an extremely general question - I'm just looking for very rough estimates so I can think about what we'd need to do to keep things rolling. Obviously, the number would depend a great deal on the product itself, the pricepoint, etc.

Thanks!

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macguffin
 
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Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2011 10:59 am

Re: How many kits should you be prepared to make?

Post by macguffin »

Happy to hear even just single datapoints from folks doing this stuff. Thanks!

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lyndon
 
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Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:28 pm

Re: How many kits should you be prepared to make?

Post by lyndon »

I think the reason you're not getting an answer is that the question is too general to have a useful answer.

It depends on so many variables: what the kit does; what you price it at; what hobby is it for; how much competition already exists; how much marketing you do; getting a mention on popular places like Make or Instructables; how difficult the board appears to be to make; etc...

Not to mention that the people with the best information are often reluctant to disclose their numbers because it may invite competition where there was none.

You may as well ask "I'm opening a clothing store: how much should I expect to sell the first month?"

Now, I've been waiting to see if you got any responses simply because I'm curious. I see a lot of kits for sale and wonder how people manage to make any money since their prices are so low.

jseaber
 
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Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:21 am

Re: How many kits should you be prepared to make?

Post by jseaber »

There is no concrete answer. Business is all about adaptation. Always start as small as possible to find out if there's even interest. You'll quickly discover how many orders to expect, and that will force you to adapt to meet demand. If you're lucky, you'll be bombarded by orders. No need to worry about that problem until it's in your face ;)

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