Van Building Gone wrong
People are asking why only $25 K for a van build, two reasons, our design was super simple and We had 19 Shows / Expos planned this summer and because we have a pretty decent internet presence, I was going to promote his business
I didn’t watch the whole video or care to, but a couple of things come to mind:
- Perhaps you don’t remember that there is this little, minor challenge in the world right now called a world wide pandemic?
- 50% of the population of the world is on stay at home orders and even more are on “strong suggestions”
- At least locally, you better have a good reason to be working on a project (essential) or you can face some pretty significant fines.
- Just how “essential” is your project to the world right now compared to the risk of multiple people getting sick enough to require hospitalization? Regardless of the simplistic concept of a 6 ft safety distance, I have seen multiple simulations and tests which indicate that the real number is closer to 25 - 30 ft. How is someone supposed to have a 2 or 3 person team in a safe distance inside of a van ? Impossible.
- You said that part of the “payment in kind” is for going to various van and trade related shows over the next 6 months. Just how many of those events do you think are going to happen? Most likely nearly zero, so you are just as much in default of the agreement on your side as he is in being late.
You better plan on another marketing strategy because right now of your 19 shows, any reasonable person would bet that most will be cancelled and the ones that do go on will be poorly attended. That means that the value of your "promotion" this year is $0.
- For people who don’t own a business where parts are part of assembling into a product, do you really think that it cost $10 for a business to go out and buy a $10 box of screws? Have we all forgotten that time is money?
Go add up how much time it takes to think about what screws are needed for a project, perhaps go to a store or two, and try to buy them – and then go back to your place. Now multiply this by how much you cost your company (roughly 2 x your salary) and see what this $10 box of screws actually costs.
- I am not sure if you know this, but many businesses rely on a steady supply of pharmacy grade IPA to use as a cleaning solvent. There aren’t all that many alternatives to this. Go try and buy a bottle of IPA right now, as it is pretty much all being used for medical related aspects. Not arguing with the greater good, but it is a factor.
Thanks to our government’s concept that ethanol is a “sin”, I was forced to pay $40 for a 5th of everclear instead of the $5 of alcohol it actually contains to keep my own work going (replacement for IPA) – and I was lucky to get it.
As far as what it takes to build things:
- Your bags / products are little more than a few pieces of cloth and some straps. Pretty simple bill of materials.
- All I do is electrical stuff and I have 40 suppliers with a wide range of lead times and costs. Your little bags business is very simple compared to building something as complex as a van interior.
Yes, I do also get behind on things, but I also know that it is common for people to change what they need, when they need it, when they can pay, etc - and while in theory I could charge them for every change – I don’t and many small businesses absorb this. For better or worse.
I guess in summary – my view is that you are completely out of line. Maybe covering for your own business operations taking a hit and trying to blame someone else.
Go look up the concept of Force majeure and see if it applies? I bet a judge might think so and might not take so kindly to your prolific statements on every media forum out there.
Please don’t ever bother contacting me because there is no way that I would ever help you with any project – ever - for any reason. I have never said that to anyone else but I am saying it to you.
I am going to suppress saying what I really think because it is a family friendly forum.