BattleRifle's State of the Union

[BattleRifleG3 16]

The past year and a half have been an interesting story for my specialized items for Saiga and other AK type firearms. I have made and sold enough to keep me very busy, and like a maniac I keep coming back for more. As soon as I think I'm slowing down I get more orders. Sometimes they just have a way of coming in droves. I currently have a stack of about 15 stock sets to complete. The fact that they all came in within a short window of time means that I can line them up and streamline their production. Quality is almost always improved through uniformity, and it improves average turnaround time.

 

Past problems of non-paying-buyers have been solved thus far with 100% effectiveness due to the taking of deposits. People said at the beginning that it was necessary and frankly they were right, but the fact was that I had to develop the products first and build a reputation before soliciting deposits for items not yet made. Now that I have made a little bit of everything, I can firmly represent what I can make and quote a firm price. "Made-to-order, pay when it's done" was nothing more than a self-imposed probation. I was determined not to expose myself to potential accusations of stealing or taking too long without communication. A long list of feedback and a consistent presence on the forum has made that a non-issue.

 

This forum has been kind enough to allow such a small operation as myself to list on the site without a large vendor fee, and I have been able to contribute to this forum in proportion to my sales here. For future orders, I do prefer E-mail for communication so that my inbox does not fill up, and so that I can access them more often, but please note in your E-mail that you got in touch with me through the Saiga forum so that this forum can be credited for the reference. The Saiga forum mailer is a good method to ensure that. You can E-mail me directly at BattleRifleG3@hotmail.com. I used to contribute X% of total sales, but what I am currently doing is establishing a certain proprietary % for custom orders where advertising on this forum has just been a reference, and all the details were discussed off the forum. (This can be disclosed to forum staff on request.) Ready made furniture will be listed with disclosed commissions to the forum and/or other organizations.

 

Satisfaction of buyers matters very much to me. I can't offer a "blank check" satisfaction guarantee because sometimes people have revisionistic criteria or want to return something because they just wish they had the money for something else. But I do stand behind what I make and promise to honor the terms of my quote and fix any problems that come from my end. In only two cases have customers been dissatisfied. One was objective about the issues and we were able to make a satisfactory arrangement to take care of things. The other complained about areas where I was as good as any seller and on the items that were actually my fault he made it clear that he didn't want any sort of remedial action from me.

 

My success here has not come without a cost. It has been very stressful at times, balancing this with a day job and family life (some might say I don't balance it well). Even the best projects in life have their share of stress. Nothing to complain about, just something to keep control of. And while sales are quite good, expenses are quite high too. Material isn't cheap, and modern tools are consumable items. Sanding materials, saw blades and such flow through me pretty fast.

 

To say whether or not I made a profit is a grey area. If I look at it as an employee, it's a sweatshop. The saving grace is that it's a hobby that I like, but it's very easy for a hobby to become unenjoyable when it goes professional. Another area to keep careful control over. If I look at it as a business manager, I'd say it's doing fine for a start-up business, but that it needs to improve if it is to continue. The good news though is that I didn't put a ton of work into it AND lose money. I put a ton of work into it and didn't make a ton money for the work involved after considering all costs.

 

With a home to take care of, gun rights under attack, and the need to take care of one's health and career, there are a lot of things on my plate that I will have to make the time for. So I will be pursuing a fourfold strategy in my business operations to accomplish that.

 

1.) No raises in prices. I will be offering some higher end options, but base prices will stay the same unless specific costs go up. I will find other ways to bring my time and costs down as much as possible. The only thing I may ask more of from customers is patience. But this would be up front.

2.) Improving efficiency through strategic production scheduling. Instead of estimating turnaround time based on current backlog and completing in the order received, I will schedule a production run on a given timeframe, and then accept orders to fill it. I will then complete all scheduled orders in assembly line fashion. Future orders will be scheduled for a production run to be completed by the end of August unless good fortune allows them to be done sooner. A cut-off date for placing those orders will be announced later, but you should have at least until June. This should cut production time in half if not more, and the end result will be a better product.

(IF you need an item on a shorter timeframe, feel free to ask. The worst I could do is say no, what's more likely is that there would be an expediting fee related to breaking sequence. This will not delay standing orders, just interrupt my schedule.)

3.) Increasing production of ready-made items. Along with individual orders, stock sets configured by my initiatrive will be made in scheduled production runs. This will serve two purposes. One is to cover those people who would rather buy my choice of styles and options than wait 2-3 months with a deposit in my hands. The other is to serve those people who are just more open minded about styling and make it possible to purchase without competing for priority with other custom orders.

4.) Including pro-gun and gun community activities with my business operations. Through increased and streamlined production I hope to begin participating in gun shows, where I will not only sell gun items but distribute literature defending the RKBA. I'm not talking about the same old flyers, I mean new ideas and arguements to complement others that we all know and hold. And financially, certain ready made stock sets will be sold with a partial donation to various pro-gun organizations. These will be identified per item, and instead of devaluing the item by lowering its price for quicker sale, I will increase the donation to the given organization at the same sale price. I have a Galil style set in progress for the Saiga-12, and true to the Israeli style I hope to donate part of its proceeds to the JPFO. I will be inquiring with each organization to see if I can use their logo for such sets. I may be enlisting the services of a local wood carver, as my woodworking skills are mechanical, not artistic.

The way a partial donation set would work is that you'd send me two payments. One to me, the other made out to the organization. I would then pass on the latter every couple weeks as they add up.

 

In addition to furniture, I am considering delving into other projects. I've talked about them from time to time, but won't talk anymore about them until the current stack of sets is nearly done, which will probably be the end of June.

 

Questions and comments are welcome. Specific item questions should go in their specific threads if the threads exist.

 

 

And last but certainly not least, in fact this is the most important part -

 

THANK YOU to the excellent members of this forum and to the staff who keep this forum going. This is both for those who have dealt with me, and for those who contrubute in various ways to this forum and make it a place people want to visit, some of whom find their way to doing business with me.

Edited April 19, 2007 by BattleRifleG3

[busy_squirrel 1]

1. If a business tells me up front that they are not raising prices but are extending expected dates, that does alot to foster loyalty.

 

2. Production in batchs. Frankly, I couldn't figure out how folks like you did side jobs that weren't in batches. Makes it so much easier to have a life. It's alot easier for me to tell the little lady I can't stay and gotta head off to school if it's only for X more weeks. Keeps me more sane too.

 

3. Not exactly what I'm looking for but every business has to customize a little less as it grows.

 

4. Just a suggestion but maybe you could consider metal inlays of an organizations emblem in the wood stock, etc.

 

 

KUDOS!

Edited April 19, 2007 by busy_squirrel

[BattleRifleG3 16]

1. If a business tells me up front that they are not raising prices but are extending expected dates, that does alot to foster loyalty.

 

2. Production in batchs. Frankly, I couldn't figure out how folks like you did side jobs that weren't in batches. Makes it so much easier to have a life. It's alot easier for me to tell the little lady I can't stay and gotta head off to school if it's only for X more weeks. Keeps me more sane too.

 

3. Not exactly what I'm looking for but every business has to customize a little less as it grows.

 

4. Just a suggestion but maybe you could consider metal inlays of an organizations emblem in the wood stock, etc.

 

KUDOS!

 

Volume and uniformity are the main things that affect doing stocks in batches or not. When I did a grip here, a handguard there, and a stock set about every month, and my ETA was as short as 3 weeks at some points, it made more sense to get the items done, photographed, and in the hands of the buyers. In roughly a month's time I received about ten orders, which makes everything different. In that bunch there are plenty of variations but plenty that are similar too, and the basic processes are the same.

 

A metal inlay would be exactly what I'd like to use if they were available.

[ArcFault 4]

A metal inlay would be exactly what I'd like to use if they were available.

 

I am set up for small scale investment casting, my flasks are in the 3" diameter range so I should be able to cast medallions 2" or maybe a little larger. I am a wax model maker I can also make molds off of existing metal models and I can make any design imaginable for production within the practical limits of the process. I am a carver so machined look designs are a little tough for me but I can do very close aproximations if I must, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I have pics of my work that I could post or email.

 

PM me if you are looking for this sort of thing.

[BattleRifleG3 16]

Now that certainly interests me! I would be thinking about 1.5" for something on the side of a buttstock, and maybe 1" for something that would go on a buttplate, grip, or handguard. I wouldn't say my furniture would be exhibition grade, but commemorative would be a go. Feel free to contact me, as I'd be happy to discuss the possibility.

 

My plan is to approach these organizations to see if they would be amenable to having their logo used on a stock sold professionally. Even if they didn't, I could still sell unmarked stocks with a donation included to them.