Business partner wanted

I'm looking for a Business Partner for my Mid-Michigan Shop to grow and
take to the next level.

Here's what I have to offer.

I have over 20 years as a Journeyman Tool and Die Maker. Last 10 years
as the owner of my own business. I design, build and run injection
molds. I have experience with stamping dies, fixtures and gages.
Product developement, CAD, CAM, CNC, EDM and custom machining.

The shop is well equipt 2400 sq/ft with 600 sq./ft office space located
at the end of a quite street visible from US-10 hwy. Area is well known
in the thermoforming industry.

The equipment is Haas VF-2 machining center, 3 bridgeport mills, Large
engine lathe, Charmilles EDM, Pantograph and cutter grinder, surface
grinder, various support equiptment saws, bench grinders, Air comp. 220
ton injection molder, 80 ton injection molder, and support equipment,
Water tower, dryers, grinders, Fork truck, Pick-up truck. All equipt
lean free.

Software is Mastercam Surfcam, Cadkey, SolidWorks and several others.

Company is debt free, and has been in the same location since
inception. Room for expansion possible. Some contracts and customers in
place. Has employed as many as 10 people but is currently run as a one
man operation. Has established vendors and credit lines.

Ideal candidate would have either or contracts/product line, cash or
expertise in sales and marketing.

Sweat equity arrangement possible. I'm not intersted in million dollar
ideas where I have the only investment. I've tried this before and
found that I am stuck with products I cannot leagally market and
partners that have little incentive to succeed.

I have told you what I can offer. Please contact me to tell me what you
have to offer for a successful partnership opportunity.
__________________
Mark Reynaert, President
Mark Mold and Engineering
PO Box 407
773 W. Beamish Rd.
Sanford, MI 48657
Phone or Fax 989-687-9786

http://members.aol.com/MrMold

 

That was a bit uncalled for Max. A guy asks for help and you slap him
across the face?

Ben

 

Don't be so glib. He is smart enough to know he can't easily do it
all.

I realize the same thing. I've seen good & bad partners and good ones
who turned bad.

The biggest issue of all is finding the right partners or employees in
a small operation. One sourpuss that you can't easily get rid of
becomes a nightmare. It is one of the biggest problems a small
business can face, but it is not usually called a "problem", but a
decision. It is semantics maybe, but true. Get one heck of a good
shareholder agreement that allows the Board to dismiss executives for
cause, etc. and a share buyback plan that kicks in when anyone gets
fired for same.

Paul Allen was a shareholder with Bill Gates, and when Paul (who wrote
much of the code as I recall the story) got sick with Hodgkins disease,
Bill was looking for ways to kick Paul out and take his shares away.
Bill Gates is NOT the type of guy you want for a partner, unless you
have incredible huevos, and lawyers to back you up all the way.

Bo

 

Don't you have homework to do? Or is summer school already out?

 

Tough crowd here.
I'm sure someday you'll all accomplish what I have. The partner thing
was more of a succesion plan, perhaps someone to compliment my
strengths. I'm single, in my 40's and have no heirs. I built the
company from scratch most days I work at least 12 hours. I thought this
would be an opportunity of a lifetime for a motivated individual. It
would take a few hundred of thousand dollars to duplicate my operation.
I would have killed for a oportunity like this when I started in my
garage 10 years ago. I've met very few people that have enough skill to
do all the things I can do. I have much to teach and I still learning
every day. I never have to worry about doing the same thing day in and
day out. I'm never boared, I never have to put up with office politics,
I come and go as I please. Isn't it time to light a fire under your
ass. I'd love to hear your great occomplishments.

 

I reread you original message and feel that Max's response was out of
line.

But saying that, you sound tired. Tired of being the only motivated
individual in the organization. I can understand as I've been there.
As the years roll on, the dull throb behind your eye's only get's
worse. Unfortunately today's labor market is full of people who want
to sit behind a computer all day and make $100K a year. Finding good
motivated people out there is exceedingly difficult nowadays.

Have you looked at selling your organization? This could put some
cash in your pocket, and perhaps you could join another organization
in a supervisory role. It seems like you have a wealth of experience
that could make someone money. The downside is an awful lot of the
manufacturing you are knowledgable in is migrating to China. This
will definitely make it more difficult.

Maybe you should take a short break and get away from the business for
a while. Take an extended vacation. Clear your head. Then think
about what you want and how you get there.

Good luck.
===========================================================================
Chris

 

Considered a commission-only salesperson or a merger with someone local?
IIRC There is a section in some Almanacs on trade organizations and I
think I recall seeing one for independent sales folks ....

Also, don't forget asking your local Chamber of Commerce, SCORE, the
SBA, etc. Or contacting local business brokers .. they too may have ideas.
HTH

 

Thanks for the advice guys. Landed a few jobs today. I don't want to
make it sound like its all doom and gloom here. Alot of guys in this
industry are alot worse off than me. I can alway sell my expertise and
make a living. I'm trying to build a business and there's only so much
of me to go around. I've trained apprentices and thats a long process.
The help I've hired in the past just want a paycheck. I need someone
who see the "Big Picture" and wants the pride of ownership and a shot
at the "American Dream".

 

the big picture is that the American Dream is over...join the global reality
)

 

Neil, just a note to say that you look in your area of expertise hard
enough and you may well find something here that is even more valuable
than you could imagine, and maybe valuable "over there" & you design
something better and patent it. It takes guts and some small gambling
money, but if you pick a small enough project, you might be able to
pull it off. If the first project doesn't cost too much, and doesn't
fly, you try a 2nd project. Treat it as a serious hobby that may pay
off one day.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty has allowed for foreign filings in
something approaching 150 countries now, and even China is starting to
see the need to protect their own 'inventions'. Self-study can make
you as good at patent searching and understanding patent claims as is
needed to get a real good feel if your concept might be patentable or
worthwhile. The U.S. Patent office web site allows easy searching of
Patents by a large amount of criteria, making it truly easy compared to
the 'old days' where you virtually had to go to WDC to quickly search
patents.

The amount of goods that is shipped into NICs (newly industrialized
countries) and the 3rd world countries in general is huge, and just one
tiny crumb to a small company in the U.S. can be a large size order.

Take a look, keep your eyes open for newer materials and machine
processes and simplification to allow "all-in-one" product
opportunities. Things like overmolding with TPE rubber, allowing one
piece 'springy' products is a perfect example. Whenever there is a
product that doesn't work well on some level, that represents an
opportunity. It could be improved function, reduced pieces, reduced
cost, improved quality or hopefully a combination of all improvements
that makes your product more valuable than others.

Naysayers are always around. "The next market crash is just a few
months away." was a type of statement my father continually reminded me
of which some persona on TV or radio was touting in his newest book,
and my dad said "but I kept making money in the stock market throughout
the time those books kept coming out."

It is not easy or quick, but it only takes one hit in a lifetime to be
truly worthwhile, and just like so many things, one good hit is all it
takes to improve ones standard of living considerably. It takes
training to be a good hitter, indeed. That is part of the game.

Bo

 

Something like less than 5% of all patents ever earn their
inventor a dime.
And they can easily cost $5,000 - $10,000 just for starters.
In the US there are also periodic renewal fees over their life ....

 

If I was US based I'd have been knocking on your door a couple of days ago.

Good luck

John Layne
www.solidengineering.co.nz

 

How much can shipping be?

 

gosh long reply to a short jibe ;o)
seriously though times have changed.
either you will persist with the old beliefs or adapt to new situations.
personally I think the US psych has some way to go to realign itself with
the world in C21 but there you go....
what ever the truth of the matter though it is abundantly obvious that there
will be a vigorous scrap for $ and you can expect very tough competition
from all quarters including NZ ;o)
yeah we can learn to play the game and pitch a hard ball too...

 

Yeah, take a look at a little New Zealand company MasTip which makes
hot tip bushings for plastic injection molds.

They seem to have done a pretty good job forming a good size business.

Individuals are behind all new concepts though, regardless of country.

Bo

 

I one comes up with reasons "no to", it is easy not to justify going to
college, or not taking that job with an industrial design firm because
it pays less, or not to move to LA or Chicago because home prices are
too high, and thereby never make the stretch to put yourself in the way
of learning from, and making use of really talented people who may
become your partners as some point.

If you can't spend some money on developing and patenting a new
product, then don't do it, and don't complain that "other people have
all the luck".

Before you decide to fully develop a product, do the patent research
yourself and the market research to really understand the costs,
markups, so you can estimate whether your idea is really viable
economically.

If you wish to research patents heavily and virtually write your own,
generate your own basic drawings and then get an amenable patent
attorney or registered agent to work with you for a better rate because
of all your preparation, you can get the initial patent done for less
than $5k.

Work? You bet. Worth it? Only you can answer that.

Bo

 

That's what I was thinking when I have read MrMold post.

Igor.

 

<Sheesh>
Find a *CUSTOMER* !!

 

Is there anything actually new about them?

Hot runner systems & the parts needed are not new ....

 

Don't have to be entirely new to be better.

I've used about 4 of them in recent molds, and they were better than my
prior DME hot sprue bushings and available in far more sizes.

Bo