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New Company ...any tips?

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Fedupskateboards
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:35 am Reply with quote
Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 117 Location: Corpus Christi TX
yeahh well i've been working on trying to get my company together for a couple of months now and i got it pretty much set to rock n roll. I was just wondering if anybody had any suggestions or what not on anything. I just ordered my first shipment from Prime Wood and that should get here at the end of december. The guys there have been awesome, so if i had to give credit anybody it would be them and the forum here in thanks to what i've learned from just reading your guys topics. I'm still kinda iffy about the whole "American" hard rock maple thing, but i got some samples and they seemed perfect so i went through with the order. Im only 18 so i do admit to being quite the newbee in the business and i got a lot to learn so i was just wondering if you guys had any tips or suggestions. Here's a pic of the graffic i ordered:

http://www.fedupskateboards.com/fedupdeck2

Ohh and I also went with 2/3 of the decks monster molds, and 1/3 control plus. Thanks,
Josh



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Josh
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letsgoskatepool
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:55 am Reply with quote
Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 6104 Location: The wrong place
sounds cool, one thing though, the square thing that rotates reminds me of the krew logo
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Fedupskateboards
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:17 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 117 Location: Corpus Christi TX
yehh i noticed that too ...i'm working on a new one. lol. Its amazing how insanely hard to come up with a little logo.

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Josh
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skinny
Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 12 Sep 2004 Posts: 2706
Well,
I am 3 years into the game. However I manufacture my stuff from scratch. I use greatlakes maple and I have used canadian maple in the past. I have noticed that the great lakes maple is cleaner stuff a pale white veneer that makes very stiff decks. I don't know where your manufacturer gets their veneer from but mine is from ACME. I would suggest that you get cracking on shirts and stickers and start going to shops in your area. Keeping your base local is very important. Sometimes shops can be hesitant to carry new products so you will have to give away alot of free shirts and even some decks sometimes. Also keeping your costs down is super important. One way of doing this is to simplify graphics to 1 or 2 colors. Keep in mind that nothing happens when you are a 1 man show so get some people together that share your interest in skateboarding, most of them just want free stuff so keep the serious ones and lose the users. Don't give up, I still don't make lots of $ I have been at the point of no return for some time now but with persistence things find a way of working out. Don't use ebay it costs far too much to make any$. It can however be a way of showing your products to more people so 1 or 2 ads a week can be good just to advertize. Good luck!-
www.sierranevadaskateboards.com -Milt
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ThrashCan
Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 3:21 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 16 Mar 2004 Posts: 1331
I'm just turned 19 and my business bro just turned 17. Its hard when your so young to get respect from some people but its all good.

I suggest going to www.skateboarddirectory.com and suggesting your site to them. The advertising cost too much for small companies like us so dont worry about that stuff. Make friends with shop owners and try to get your decks in there. I sell most of my decks myself for $25 to the locals and $25 to shops. The shops raise the price but its still lower than most decks and it gets the name to new people. Just do what you do and dont sweat the money. Its all about experience and fun.

If you dont already, you might want to sponsor some kids. Hook them up with a discount on your decks or give a few away free.

Try to give back to the skate community. I try to help the local kids fix up their skate spot and donate wood and things.

Good luck bro, maybe we can team up sometime in the future.
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oasis
Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:27 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 28 Jun 2003 Posts: 364 Location: Hilo,Hawaii
Word.

Yeah, be patient is the main thing. From my experience you won't get a lot of respect from some people, but if you just keep at and not have your sites set on making money you will gain respect once they notice your sticking around.

I have been doing a lot of giveaways to promote my company. Get banners, sponsor shows. You will have to give alot of product away at first because people people who don't know you arn't going to just buy your stuff right away. They like sample first.

Stickers are key. Put that shit EVERYWHERE. Give them to the youngsters. They're stoked on stickers plus they advertise for you.

Get shirts. Boys and girls wear. People who don't skate or don't have enough for a deck will want to rep your movement. I have alot of bids for printing if you want me to pass them your way >>> [email protected]

Don't sell yourself short to shops. If you undercharge shops the cost represent the value/quality. If you get a good relationship with a shop stop selling out of your car. If you're undercutting shops then you are competing with them and taking away potential clients.

Good luck.
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The Green Monkey
Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 2:20 am Reply with quote
ORDER OF THE SKULL ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 15 Jun 2002 Posts: 14107 Location: Fucking a giant scorpion, duh.
How about doing a little play on words between "Fed" and "F'ed" somewhere down the line? Make people wonder whether it's one or the other. Get them talking and arguing about it. Make them wonder if it's one company or two. Perhaps even radically different looks for the "Fed" stickers which could be official looking, as in 'the Feds are listening to my phone' versus "F'ed", as in Fucked.

Just a few thoughts.

Good luck to all, and to all a good night...

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Fedupskateboards
Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 12:16 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 117 Location: Corpus Christi TX
Hey ...thanks for all the tips. I certainly need all i can. I'm not too sure what wood company my manufacturer buys from. He told me its like a mixture of the hardest U.S. maple and Canadian that they could find and just to avoid conflict they call it "North American Maple". The main reason why i ordered from them is because of their reputation as the best (or so i've heard). They're called Prime Wood and they sell to Shorty's and Birdhouse and used to make the decks for Dwindle before those guys went to China. As for local, I have one shop down here that allready said they'd by the boards from me when i get em in. I was wondering how much i should sell them to them for though. Right now i've been thinking about 25 to shops, but im really not too sure???? The decks are also Heat Transfered and so colors aren't really a problem. I also got the skateboard directory to have a link to tmy website on their companies page. Everything seems to be rolling pretty smooth as for now and I ordered Hats a while back and i got an amazing prize on em and they came out great. If any of you guys wanna try ...i'll give you some info on the company if you pm me. The hats came out to 4 bux a piece w/free shipping. As for shirts and such, Im having a hard time meeting the minimum on things. I know its a great way to advertise and what not, but i saved up every penny for the boards, so after they come through and we start selling em, hopefully there will be a little bit more breathing room. As for the decks, They run through at $16.50 and about $18.50 after shipping, so how much do you guys suggest for shops??
Thanks again,

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Josh
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skinny
Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 8:52 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 12 Sep 2004 Posts: 2706
Your cost seems to cut out a lot of profit but, because you are getting them ready to go it evens out a little. I suggest you look into printing for yourself. There is a learning period but profits from t-shirts and hats can be good if your production cost is low. As far as how much? 35 dollars is the premium wholsale price for a deck to sells around the 50 dollar mark. I am selling for a lower reatil price but I make sure there is some reduction in cost passed on to the skater. On average it is about 12 dollars lower than premium name brands. I suggest that you consider your cost and try your best to actually make a profit. This could be hard to sell but if you are spending 20.00 you wont make much whole sale. Look into selling them your self for around the 35 dollar mark. Start to collect regular customers. Good luck!
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PLYWOOD_FERRARI
Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:39 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 Dec 2004 Posts: 1 Location: NJ
where is prime wood located they have a web site? or a number? anyone with info gets big thanks

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