starting a layout builing business

I,ve just being pondering about custom layout building busniness. does anyone know what is involved. i mean i know all business have their difficultis but im wondeitng what tyype of probelm one might encounter strting something along those lines. What cost are suually involved, what type of demad can someone be faced with, what type of charging / amount of work has to be done...what expereicne in the field is required, what are people looking for mostly ( ready to run or start -up?) what are the basic cost of getting into such a business?

well if anyone can help me id appreciate

 

I don't pretend to know much about it, but I do know some professional model builders who have built MRR's for people.

First you have to expect you won't make any real money for some time - or ever. You need time to establish a reputation. The other problem is will your area support a custom builder (enough clients)?

Next, you will have difficulty getting paid for the value of work you put into the layout. Layouts are very labour intensive and if the client isn't aware of just how much labour goes into a layout, your prices will look bizarre.

I asked for a single deck HO layout in my study and was quoted $3000, which didn't strike me as "high" at all, but I felt I could do more that amount of money, which of course was true.

I saw another layout that was that large, but contained in a very nice cabinet; the guy wanted $12,000 for it. I knew by what he had done that the layout was worth it, but I doubted it would sell as most wouldn't appreciate the details he had done - to date (3 years) it hasn't sold.

You almost have to be prepared to go national with your idea, not local. I would try to visit the web sites of professional builders and take your cue from them on how they do business.

You will make your most money from smaller layouts. From being in business for myself, it is always better to have 30 small contracts, rather than two large ones. If you have two large contracts and you lose one, it could be financially devastating for you; if you have 30 contracts and lose 3, it isn't such a big deal.

Its definitely something I would do on the side for quite a while until you have references built up and pics of what you have done, and a quality web site that people can access with examples of what you have done, and what you have to offer.

There's an old sales saying I would take to heart if I were you: "Inch by inch is a cinch, yard by yard is very very hard."

 

Are you crazy? I've sold six layouts, five prebuilt and one custom built. The prebuilt ones sold easily at train shows (GATS) especially around the holidays. All were bought by grandparents wanting to spoil grandkids. That being the case, the secret is portability, and simple track plans. These layouts sold for $300-$750 each and all but one was built on a three or four foot circle of MDF from Home Depot. One was built on a piece of plywood, cut to fit where the top bunk goes on a bunk bed. In each case, I probably made $4 an hour on the layouts.

The custom built one started out easy, but turned into a nightmare. The problems can be summed up like this:

If the layout is already built, they know what they're buying. If it's built to order, regardless of the communication, the buyer and the builder NEVER have the same vision of what the layout will be.

If you're going to do this, know that you'll never be rich, and unless you enjoy arguing with clients, never build a layout to order.

Ed