hmcleay
Likes Bikes
Hey Mate,
Great design, you've nailed it!
I reckon your best way to make some money out of this would be to sell a detailed instructions booklet for, say, around $200.
This booklet would include a materials list, dimensioned drawings for each of the members to cut/fabricate, fabrication instructions, etc etc.
I see the pros of this strategy as:
Minimal effort required by you.
You could sell your design over the internet, with instant product delivery (pdf download). Thereby taking advantage of the "I'm drunk, I'm gonna order bike stuff on the internet" market.
If you were to just sell fully fabricated units, then you'd be pretty much limiting yourself to the local market only, as delivery would be quite pricey.
The customer can then incorporate any of their own ideas to customise the trailer to suit their needs (rather than you having to come up with every conceivable model type).
Cons:
You miss out on making some profit via the materials/fabrication process. But I think that the profits of this step would not be very much at all, given how much hard work it would be.
People are likely to copy your design and share it to their mates for free. There is software available to prevent sharing of PDFs (google FileOpen plug-in).
Not sure how the customer would register their finished product with the local authorities. Is it possible that they could register their trailer through you, and then you arrange for it to be registered with local authorities, thereby giving you a bit of control (i.e. you'll only register their trailer if they have actually paid you for the designs).
there's a big loophole here... but it's just a thought.
I reckon most people with some basic fabrication skills would prefer to have a crack at it themselves... rather than paying for a fully fabricated version.
And you're bound to get plenty of customers who never actually end up building a trailer.
Thats just some of my thoughts.
Good luck with the venture!
Hugh.
Great design, you've nailed it!
I reckon your best way to make some money out of this would be to sell a detailed instructions booklet for, say, around $200.
This booklet would include a materials list, dimensioned drawings for each of the members to cut/fabricate, fabrication instructions, etc etc.
I see the pros of this strategy as:
Minimal effort required by you.
You could sell your design over the internet, with instant product delivery (pdf download). Thereby taking advantage of the "I'm drunk, I'm gonna order bike stuff on the internet" market.
If you were to just sell fully fabricated units, then you'd be pretty much limiting yourself to the local market only, as delivery would be quite pricey.
The customer can then incorporate any of their own ideas to customise the trailer to suit their needs (rather than you having to come up with every conceivable model type).
Cons:
You miss out on making some profit via the materials/fabrication process. But I think that the profits of this step would not be very much at all, given how much hard work it would be.
People are likely to copy your design and share it to their mates for free. There is software available to prevent sharing of PDFs (google FileOpen plug-in).
Not sure how the customer would register their finished product with the local authorities. Is it possible that they could register their trailer through you, and then you arrange for it to be registered with local authorities, thereby giving you a bit of control (i.e. you'll only register their trailer if they have actually paid you for the designs).
there's a big loophole here... but it's just a thought.
I reckon most people with some basic fabrication skills would prefer to have a crack at it themselves... rather than paying for a fully fabricated version.
And you're bound to get plenty of customers who never actually end up building a trailer.
Thats just some of my thoughts.
Good luck with the venture!
Hugh.
