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Vintage threads from the first ten years

is this forum dead?

:

5/15/2003 8:26 AM
zachary vex	is this forum dead? n/m

5/15/2003 9:09 AM
Chris ( CMW amps )	maybe everybody's too busy with their business Chris

5/15/2003 1:34 PM

Not sure. I suggested it to Steve in the first place because it seemed the intended topics kept cropping up elsewhere, so why not stick them in one spot. On the other hand, it may be difficult for folks to extricate those topics from their typical choice of forum and place them here instead.

I'm curious enough about business proces that I can contribute by asking provocative questions here, but then folks have to *come* here to respond to them.

Like they say, location, location, location.

5/15/2003 3:28 PM

You gotta figure that since this is the "business" oriented forum, the people in here talking are selling, or trying to sell, their amps for money. Therefore, they will probably be a bit tight-lipped about details concerning their business.

The DIY-for-own-use postings, however, will be much more frequent, as people give and take information much more freely.

My thoughts, anyway.

I'd post topics, but I don't really have much to say that would be enlightening to anyone, other than maybe try boat restoring places for neat tolex colors.

rooster.

5/15/2003 6:54 PM

The quality and design of the product is separate from the effort and planning that go into making it viable. The libraries and bookstores are chock full of literature on business planning and the CEOs of the world are always happy to tell you what makes them competitive (Hell, find me a popular management or business book that *doesn't* try to have at least a few Fortune 500 examples sprinkled on its pages). Running a business is a skillset not a trade secret. My original intent behind pestering T-boy to set up this forum was that people would talk about the business of running a business that deals in these kinds of products to this kind of client. There is all manner of things to discuss that are somewhat unique to this particular game.

For example, let's take guys like Ken Fischer or Alex (I'm not Howard) Dumble. Both are respected for their amps, and neither are known for cranking them out like sausages. In Fischer's case, his slow production rate was complicated by serious illness.

So here's a question that comes out of their example and has nothing to do with WHAT you make or what goes into it. How does one handle the time gap between how fast people would like your products and how fast you can provide them? How do you get people to wait without having them lose interest, patience, money, etc., and retaining them as customers? Is there a certain time window you absolutely have to provide product in before you totally alienate even the devoted customer?

5/15/2003 7:11 PM

Ken Fischer had a good way of doing it. If I recall correctly, he built his amps according to his own schedule and maintained an active waiting list of people who wished to buy his amps. When he completed an amp it went to the guy at the top of the list. To get on the waiting list you had to pay a small fee which was something like $100. You could get off the list at any time and get your 'deposit' refunded. When your time came up to buy, you could still cancel out, in which case the amp went to the next guy on the list. If you canceled and later reordered, you got bumped to the bottom of the list, as would any new order. Basically it was a FIFO order entry system.

Of course, KF's amps were in great demand and so this method worked because his amps sold themselves. Dunno if it would work for someone with less of a reputation.

5/15/2003 7:21 PM

Well I found it albeit very difficult to find. I ended up reading yet another zack bashing thread and it linked to here. I bookmarked it now so I'm in.
Guy was complaining how Zack uses the forum to advertise, among a thousand and one other things. At the level of difficulty locating this place I have to disagree. In my search for the "boutique" forum I did come across this place. Seems like pretty virgin territory .

http://pub30.ezboard.com/bthecrossroads19731

They even have a link to ampage

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