Search found 238 matches

by Jekul
Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:43 pm
Forum: Aprés Ski Building
Topic: Business Plan
Replies: 25
Views: 22695

Sounds like, for the most part, we're all of similar mind. It's a nice dream/hobby, but I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon. At least not for this business.

Now...for the other 12 ideas I have floating around in my head; maybe...someday.
by Jekul
Sat Nov 22, 2014 7:10 am
Forum: Aprés Ski Building
Topic: Business Plan
Replies: 25
Views: 22695

DTrain - even at those calculations you're ignoring any money invested in capital equipment (your ski shop), taxes, benefits you'd have to pay for/to your employees, scrap (yes, there will ALWAYS be some scrap), cost of capital, and insurance costs. Most importantly, there will be very large adverti...
by Jekul
Fri Nov 21, 2014 6:13 pm
Forum: Aprés Ski Building
Topic: Business Plan
Replies: 25
Views: 22695

You got it. Super hard to make a decent amount of $$ doing this. It's a side business until 90% of the people decide to get out...and I don't envision that for another 5-9 years, if ever. (Mainly b/c it's fun and people like to do it on the side - and can).
by Jekul
Fri Nov 21, 2014 7:42 am
Forum: Aprés Ski Building
Topic: Business Plan
Replies: 25
Views: 22695

Dtrain - Awesome for you! By your description you're certainly committed and it sounds like you're already getting in the black. Selling low quantities takes no work at all, like you said, they sell themselves. And customers are MUCH more interested in talking skis than they are in paying for them. ...
by Jekul
Thu Nov 20, 2014 6:28 pm
Forum: Aprés Ski Building
Topic: Business Plan
Replies: 25
Views: 22695

What I've learned: It's definitely not a receptive environment for trying to make this a full-time business. As a side-business, 5-50 (or whatever you can do in a garage after work) is appropriate, and you can probably sell most of them. Me - I'll probably try to stick to around 5-7 pairs per year. ...
by Jekul
Tue Nov 18, 2014 5:44 pm
Forum: Aprés Ski Building
Topic: Business Plan
Replies: 25
Views: 22695

Straight from the SIA report.

~450,000 pairs of skis sold IN NORTH AMERICA last year. I wasn't able to determine worldwide ski sales, but figure 400k - 600k in addition to the worldwide market.

Sotto - where did you get your information from?
by Jekul
Sun Nov 16, 2014 11:56 am
Forum: Ski/Snowboard Design and Layup
Topic: Wood sidewall preference
Replies: 28
Views: 23081

It was a full paulowina core on a pair of BC ultralights. Risk of them in the park or crushing ice is low.
by Jekul
Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:59 am
Forum: Ski/Snowboard Design and Layup
Topic: Wood sidewall preference
Replies: 28
Views: 23081

I've used poplar, maple, granadillo, paulownia and cedar. I've tested all of them for 10+ days (except the paulownia) and have had no issues. For the porous woods I make sure to put a couple cotes of Teak oil on them to prevent any water from seeping into the sidewall. Wood is good. I talked to some...
by Jekul
Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:54 am
Forum: Aprés Ski Building
Topic: Business Plan
Replies: 25
Views: 22695

One of the reasons I asked is because I'm getting my MBA right now. We have a class where we "have" to write a business plan. After taking a few marketing classes so far, I would disagree with the thought that writing a business plan is for obtaining outside financing. I would argue that h...
by Jekul
Sun Nov 09, 2014 6:34 pm
Forum: Aprés Ski Building
Topic: Business Plan
Replies: 25
Views: 22695

Business Plan

Hey fellow ski builders. Just wondering how many of you have thought of taking your business a step further? I'm working on writing a business plan for a ski making business and was curious if anyone else had gone through the process and rigor of the exploration process? I'd be very curious to know ...
by Jekul
Wed Jun 04, 2014 4:24 pm
Forum: Ski/Snowboard Design and Layup
Topic: Cedar Cores
Replies: 15
Views: 14169

I bought 100 bf of pawlonia earlier this summer. Waiting for a good week free of work, school and obligations to finish making the cores. I have oak under the bindings so retain the screws. Will be sure to weigh the cores prior to layup. Then see how light the C/F skis turn out. Pair with cedar was ...
by Jekul
Wed Jun 04, 2014 12:32 pm
Forum: Ski/Snowboard Design and Layup
Topic: Cedar Cores
Replies: 15
Views: 14169

Yes, soft and weak, but cheap and light too...

Still searching for the perfect balance...
by Jekul
Wed Jun 04, 2014 7:51 am
Forum: Ski/Snowboard Design and Layup
Topic: Cedar Cores
Replies: 15
Views: 14169

When looking at the end of the core the grain ran from bottom to top, sloping slightly to the left (or right, depending on perspective). Probably at a 30deg angle from horizontal.
by Jekul
Mon Jun 02, 2014 5:47 am
Forum: Ski/Snowboard Design and Layup
Topic: Cedar Cores
Replies: 15
Views: 14169

Desmond - It was not that difficult to peel apart, at least once it was started. For reference - I have no baseline to compare to. I've never had an issue with delam before. In total I rode them about ten times in total this winter, and didn't have any issues afterwards. I've glued up some new cores...
by Jekul
Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:34 pm
Forum: Equipment and Tools (e.g., ski press, core profiler, etc)
Topic: wood burning or stamping with a stamp
Replies: 11
Views: 9717

I've had some trouble burning post-press, since the veneer is saturated with hardened epoxy.