Since I'm waiting for the first pass board wash to dry on the 2 "lab queen"
MOTM-490 uVCFs, I'll address this.
Last year, just about this time, the backlog hit about 275 *kits*. So, I
hired 3 people at $12/hr, to each work 20hrs/week. Remember, I work out of
my house, so there is a "creepy" factor and I made sure these folks were not
going to murder me during nap time.
All three, BTW, 2 were recent graduates of DeVry Tech school.
1 assembled for me, and 2 packed kits. The assembler was great, and 1 packer
(who happened to be my neice) was great. 1 packer was a disaster: I had to
fire him.
They did help reduce the backlog, but at a high price: wages, taxes, Texas
unemployment insurance and Social Security was about $17,000 total. This
caused, "on paper", for SynthTech as a whole to lose about $5,000 for the
year. The assembler left for a "real job" at Bell Helicopter in Maryland for
$22/hr plus benefits.
Many folks, have suggested from time to time, to "let me build kits for
you". There is a drawback: I *already* put the *same equivalent time* into
the kitting process! Meaning, the assembly time, for most kits, is about the
kitting time (the '300 and '320 are longer assembly).
Now, I have a "Plan B" in discussion with someone, and we will see where
that leads (to help in the assembled area). Also, not to demean anybody, but
I am *very picky* about soldering as those who buy my assembled modules can
attest.
For NEW modules with lots of parts ('130, '480) I have Plan C. This is to
pay a local assembly house to pre-stuff, but NOT SOLDER, all the axial
parts. The downside is they REQUIRE 100 BOARDS per run. The first 100 is
OK.....what if I sell 108 of something......OK, I'll stufff 125 to
start....what if I sell 137......This causes me to lose sleep.
Last year I did a calculation, to farm out EVERYTHING and in order to *break
even* (that is, to make the same money without farming it out), I would have
to raise prices 35%. This comes from 2 areas: what they charge me, and in
turn buying parts to meet their minimum requirements.
When I started MOTM, assembled percentage was less than 2%. Now that I am
"famous" (cough cough) people like REM and Joe Walsh call up wanting
assembled modules ASAP.
I *really* don't want to raise prices to make the same amount of money in
the end. If MOTM sales were say 2000 modules/yr, instead of the current
1300/yr, I probably could farm some out and not "lose as much" money. I
never *intended* MOTM to be a "business", ironically, the prices are TOO LOW
to support a "real business": rented office, workers, etc. Last year, not
counting the $5,000 loss, MOTM made less than $40,000 BEFORE TAXES. Let's
see....I made, after it's all said and done, an AFTER TAX profit of about
$28/module. Recall, I spent over $157,000 on PARTS last year.
MOTM is my dream, but it's just a *hobby*. I rely SOLEY on the patience of
my customers for my success, what I call the "Serge Business Model" :) It's
worked 22yrs for him, maybe 22yrs for me, too.
OK, back to soldering Queen #1 and #2.
Paul S.