There is probably no one thing more important for a company starting up than being able to deliver in a timely manner. Satisfied customers are the keystone of a success and can make or break the startup. Money is going out fast and there is a need for cash flow in. Being able to serve customers fast and reliably is therefore vital.
As I said in Investment strategy for startups and leather workers part 1 the investment strategy should be simple. Mine is very simple and again I am not talking about stock investment of your future income but about tools and other material needed for production.
When it comes to investment strategy it should be simple. When I Talk about investment strategy I am not talking about how you are getting investors into your company nor am I talking about how you should invest the enormous profit you are going to make in the newly started firm. No I am plain and simply discussing the cost of a start up and how much you are willing to invest in that startup. Further more, I am thinking about what you invest your money in.
There are not all to many new books on leather work that have been published lately. Actually I have found non. My main reference in learning how to deal with different things has been the net and youtube but I felt it was not enough so I have been doing some research into what options you have regarding books and reading material for leather workers. I am willingly leaving out any special books about tolling as I am not there yet and feel that is an completely different area to enter and should only be entered after getting the hangs of other things first.
Lately I have been moving all my design sketches and ideas into Adobe Illustrator some thing I should have done sooner as it helps a lot with all pattern making. Design redesign moving lines and testing things become so much easier especially when you are not to good at drawing. I do like to make sketches physically with paper and pencils and draw up patterns with all kinds of rulers.
Building a beautiful large stitching pony for leather work is not as hard as one would think and there is a good chance that the material needed is somewhere right in front of you. Now I do not recommend that you start shopping up your furniture like I have done previously, but a chair is the solution just like before.
Before I took the final decision of plunging into the leather work business I did a preliminary market research. First I scouted the world wide web to see what was cooking and then I used the opportunity to go window shopping. It was late November and all the Christmas goods where out in the shops. This gave me a good head start on seeing what was considered salable and the pricing of it. In january I have been visiting shops again. Now after the sales are over to see what products are considered “timeless” and not only seasonal.
"What now”: a co worker in the national library in Mo i Rana up in North Norway asked when I was leaving. "What are you going to do now". "Find work”: I answered swiftly. A simple plan. As simple as plans can get. I was to be reunited with my wife in Bergen after living for 6 months in my motorhome up there in the middle north of nowhere. Life was to be simple. She had work in Bergen and I was going to find some work there to. Nothing special to it. But life had other plans.
