rims for wheels business

[speedyexe]

many people are making that business anyways so what a hell i will share with you guys what im planning:

im planning to make aluminium rims for cars
and im planning to learn open source 3d software like blender 3d

what do you think about it?
and did anyone had that kind of business on this forum?
im planning start from scratch so i will make models myself and send to manufacturer (any advices would be great)

1)I have one problem - how to get customers to my website
(i can learn seo but I dont know any other solution to make my website known everywhere - all im thinking is leaflets or something... do you know better solutions?)

2) next problem gonna be manufacturer/factory i have to find the best one that makes best rims and afordable for me (im starting from scratch) do you maybe know some good manufacturer and I could rely on your contact?

best regards
Speedy

 

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[mkzhang]

Manufacturing rims are tough man, unless I am mistaken most of the big niche names like 360 forge and Strassforge all make theirs in house with their own machines, let alone the BBS and WORKS of the world.

Quality is everything, so when you outsource cheaply 2 things will happen, you end up with doubtful quality, and you end up with stolen designs. Quality is your best weapon because with good quality and sexy designs, you get a lot of promotion over car forums and such. I practically watched 360forge rose up over the internet by getting a few customers to do pictures, the moving on to photoshoots with their rims on Ferrari and Lamborghinis, and now they are consider a premium brand.

Or you can be like Rota and Koning(sp), make good look rims and outsource it to be manufactured in Malay and sell it dirt cheap to every teenager who just got their first car Then the question is, is it better to be the manufacturer, the USA distributor, or the affiliate marketer?

 

[77startup]

It sounds like a very cool idea. I would start with market research. How much does it cost to produce and ship the rims, and how many customers are realistically in your market?

 

[speedyexe]

My plan was:
Make design for the rims
Find best manufacturer (means quality in 101% not a cheap shit)
Seo website and ebay account and try to sell.
After getting some money my plan was renting cars and getting rims for photosessions,if some one want to go to car show let them try our rims and make it loud and of corz make photosessions with nice girls

You have right with the machines but its not cheap machines and to rent a warehouse to store it (i have no money at this moment so i need to figure something out to start from absolute zero of money)

by getting a few customers to do pictures

its a great idea BUT first i have to sell the first rims and its dificult for me...
i was wondering if i can offer custom rims, if customer want something to change i will change in design...
and after he will pay for= my skills,time,great design,and finally the rims sooo.... iv thinked that if i sell rims that are best quality and high price then at least 50% to manufacturer and 50% for me.
i have no other option but do you think manufacturing could consume 50% of the money?
the customers to atack will be exotic cars owners so no rims for low cost autos, only lamborginis for start

the best hit is that in my country many companys from east and west manufacturing here in Poland so i have near many skilled cnc operators that can make nice rims
one hour of work of good worker in factory will cost me $30 to get 4 rims it will take about 10 hours so its $300 for my designed rims.

then just sell them. (and you have to add the cost of aluminium... it depends about quality)

how many customers are realistically in your market?

hard to say but im thinking if adv.1 and 360 forged are sucessfull so i could at least try?
if i get trouble i hope if i show my 3d demo rims designs to some investors maybe i could make it happen even better than alone...

Then the question is, is it better to be the manufacturer, the USA distributor, or the affiliate marketer?

in my opinion an distributor for start then:
or manufacturer or sell this and start a fastlane business like a game development company
then sell it and put money in bank for % and have every month nice salary

I would start with market research

how to start an market search? And how to find out how many customers i might have?

 

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[BigEasy25]

Cool idea but remember that execution is most important. Start with a detailed business plan. I suggest taking a few business classes so you can learn how to properly write a business plan and learn about business law. You need to have a plan to stick to and a budget. Without these two you basically just have a cool idea but no road to get you there. Become devoted and passionate to your idea and take your time planning for the future. The auto customization industry isn't going anywhere so take your time. You will need capital so start saving and do whatever you can to put money into the bank. Once you get a nice chunk of change possibly look for investors. If you can manufacture in house you will be much better off. Outsourcing will either be extremely costly or give you poor quality most likely.

 

[mkzhang]

Right, and making rims goes beyond a CNC machine (good that you have that taken care of). Rims are either made by casting or forging. For the former, you need to have a mold and a way to melt aluminum. For the latter, you must have a forging press to hammer the aluminum into shape.

Both are expensive process, but if you have the machines in house there are a lot of benefits mainly in terms of quality, but also in terms of flexibility of products. I am not sure if you know this, but rims have offsets. Lots of enthusiasts (such as myself) go with beyond OEM offsets to fit wider wheels into the body, or have wheels that are perfectly flush. When you tailor to the high end crowd, custom offset seems like the only way to go (this is just based on what the other guys are doing). The downside of that is you can't make 1000 batches of same offset vs making 1mm batches of rims for Honda civic (way more money making rims for Civics ).

 

[Calgary]

Just a suggestion. Perhaps do something other rim manufacturing businesses aren't doing (not sure if they're doing it or not) by offering bespoke rims? You sit down with them and design rims for them. I am sure that many clients would prefer having rims on their vehicles that no one else has. For such a service, you would profit through magnitude. You can start from practically no funds as you wouldn't need to test out the market. Let the market test it out for you.

 

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[77startup]

Personally I wouldn't waste time with a business plan. I wrote one myself and it survived about 2 weeks before it was no good (lol). Your only goal now is to figure out the realistic size of your current market because if you were to dominate in that market realistically you could only hope to take over 40% of the entire thing.

I suggest you take the lean start up approach created by Eric Reis once your initial product research is finished. Lessons Learned: Minimum Viable Product: a guide

As for how to do your market research it's hard to say. Market research is something every company has to create on it's own either by paying research companies, pounding the pavement, or using government data.

 

[speedyexe]

My two other ideas would be:
-render farms
-mobile games

but first I will stick to the rims and will see.
during the week i will met my friend that have sucessfull business with car raepairs and stuff and he was cnc worker so he can tell me more about manufacturing rims bcos i need the best quality ever and its gonna be my goal - to make rims like they should be and your advices are great. (i love that kind of brainstorms)

Just a suggestion. Perhaps do something other rim manufacturing businesses aren't doing (not sure if they're doing it or not) by offering bespoke rims? You sit down with them and design rims for them. I am sure that many clients would prefer having rims on their vehicles that no one else has. For such a service, you would profit through magnitude. You can start from practically no funds as you wouldn't need to test out the market. Let the market test it out for you.

so just find a company that are manufacturing rims and after this propose them working at design with them?
it could work and then if they will pay me great for the rims designs i could start my own manufacturing (with them for start) with better prices straight from them.
interesting idea - so just ask what software machines using, then learn this (all 3d softwares are similar) and design rims i have to think more about this.

Once you get a nice chunk of change possibly look for investors. If you can manufacture in house you will be much better off. Outsourcing will either be extremely costly or give you poor quality most likely.

its also good idea to show demo and interest investors (but how it will exactly work? he gives me money then i will buy the machines then i will get money but whats is in it for Him? i have to give him 80% of the business profits? how to deal this to make it fair for him and me?)
and how to find one? just google with ceo keyword and spam some mail with my idea and demo? it will work?

Rims are either made by casting or forging

and what is the best quality? forging?

You will need capital so start saving and do whatever you can to put money into the bank.

good idea but with my polish salary it take me years and years and i dont want to go do dublin again to work and its crisis with work there so its hard topic for me.

 

[mkzhang]

Forging and casting both are not determinant in the quality of the rim, the process of forging or casting is, based on your machines, the operators, and how you control the temps and pour etc.

Because forging is like making a sword (heat up and hammer, or cold forging which is heat up less and hammer), the alloy is not melted down and thus retain their original physical structure which makes them strong. Casting requires melting the alloy which changes their bond structure so that it is inherently weaker than forging.

Forging requires more energy thus electricity, and so forging is more expensive. 99% of the rims on the road are caste metal. Only car guys with big pockets and high end sports cars use forged wheels. F1 uses forged wheels.

 

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[speedyexe]

and what kind of software are often used in industry? solid works is the best software solution?

 

[mkzhang]

Yeah, solid works or CAD. You need to design the wheel, and put that drawing in solid works or CAD into a mold design for the mfg process. I am no expert on making mold, but in order to do it you will need those software anyways.

 

[speedyexe]

first of all i want to learn making nice designs of rims after that i will try to get manufacturer and make for them

or make an shop and send design to manufacturer only if customer will pay first so im secured in case of customers will disapear (is it good solution?)

 

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[Calgary]

first of all i want to learn making nice designs of rims after that i will try to get manufacturer and make for them

or make an shop and send design to manufacturer only if customer will pay first so im secured in case of customers will disapear (is it good solution?)

Learn first. You mind could always change. Find manufacturers in the meantime that will make the rims for you.
Share your designs under your company name to potential customers and give them a quote based on what the manufacturer charges you. That way, you won't need to have any money as you're really just a middleman. If you make a shop, then you're spending more money for an IF. Spend money for a WILL

 

[speedyexe]

Iv learned 3d modeling car body to STL file type, i can do any car body or wheel you need just need exact sizes ADV.1 is my example that Im fascinated and like to copy that business plan and make it better
First im making tests in plastic but in future I will make in aluminium and will see
Wish me not luck, wish me success and motivation

 

[JEdwards]

Good luck.

 

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[458]

Saturated market, but there is hope for you in a different niche that is fairly new. In my city, the new big thing is renting rims. Not sure what the margins are on this business model but im sure there pretty good and you can easily repo them back if they default, goodluck.

 

[speedyexe]

I didnt wanted good luck