Hmm... you might need to ration. For example, I could use eight 1U,
eleven 2U, a 3U and a Milton. That alone is a good chunk of your next
planned run.
Rationing could be fair. Or do a bigger run. Maybe get deposits, so
you're not stuck with time and money in unsold panels. I dunno. This
is a problem for all small custom order businesses, and I'm not sure
how to solve it. Build to order can involve such long lead times that
you lose sales or irritate customers and SDIY types are notoriously
impatient. :) But unsold stock can sink you financially.
When I did the cable buy (which required a number of custom colors,
heatshrink, lengths and connectors), it was a real chore to keep it
all straight. I ended up fronting the money at great risk that folks
would drop out. Fortunately, everyone came through, although I don't
know that I'd do that again without at least a deposit.
Enjoy your vacation, knowing you can fulfill our SDIY fantasies when
you return. ;)
--- In
ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "Doug Wellington"
<DougWellington@...> wrote:
>
> > Doug, tell us about the first Stooge panel run!
>
> Well, I made what I thought was going to be a decent-sized batch - 20
> 1U, 20 2U and 5 3U panels - mainly to make sure I had the process
> working properly. I've been using sort of the x0xb0x sales model to
> start - when people email me expressing an interest, I put them on my
> list, then contact them when the panels are ready and they can order
> as many as they want. Then I go to the next person and let them know
> and they can order, etc. In this case, I only got to the fourth guy
> before they were all gone! (Looking back, I suppose it might have
> been better if I limited orders to five or something, but this whole
> thing has been quite the learning experience for me...) My real goal
> is to build up a stock of painted panels over the next couple months
> so that I can take orders at any time and silkscreen on an as-needed
> basis...
>
> --
> -Doug
>
> http://www.analognotes.com
> http://www.stoogepanels.com
> http://www.dougwellington.com
>