Brad,
I just want to say that this thread is exemplary of how you have suceeded. I didn't want to bump an earlier thread but most people hear are probably familiar with someone not-so-slyly marketing their wares and claiming their bullets were optimized by hardness. Someone could easily copy your business plan, and perhaps match your prices (for a short time), but I can't imagine anyone meeting your level of customer service or having your work ethic. Keep it up.
Oh, and now that you will have these, I may have to pick up my first 9mm. I've always wanted a 9mm HP and these bullets should work well.
Husker_Fan, let me thank you for your kind thoughts.
You know, anybody is welcome to my business model, which is not a secret. I like to think that we at MBC did actually pioneer the hardness optimization model. Maybe not, but I will say that I have noticed that since our product has caught the attention of so many wonderful customers, many other casting companies seem to be specifying their hardness numbers. Maybe I'm imagining that, but I don't think so.
I have always been an "open-source" person, thinking that secrecy is bad for everyone. I'm happy to share my thoughts on the business and how I tend to run things. We all work hard here and we're trying to work smarter every day and we must never forget that every customer is our boss. When we make a mistake, we will move heaven and earth to acknowledge and attempt to fix it. That is all that we can do and if that isn't good enough for folks, then I can at least say that I tried. An example would be from last year when Josh, our day sizer guy, was sizing .38 Match and .357's on two sizers. Well, one of those sizers had run the 9mm SmallBall the previous day and Josh forgot to change the die in that one. So, we wound up with 118,000 .38's and .357's, half of which were sized to .356 instead of .357. We didn't realize this until 5 days after the fact when one of our customers called and alerted us. I made the decision that we would replace every .38 and .357 that we had shipped since the day the sizing error was made and we made and shipped out 118,000 replacements to over 75 customers. That took 3 days and there wasn't time to alert people in advance, as we were working 18 hour days to get this done. We included a note explaining the situation with every replacement carton and the whole thing wound up costing us $6200.00, as we had no way of knowing which of the 50% of our customers had gotten the undersized bullets. I guess we surprised some folks when their new bullets showed up.
So that's how we deal with mistakes, except for the times when I lose it with those very very few customers who insist on being idiots.
But anyone is welcome to our business plan, the basics of which include:
1.) Self-finance the hardware and building infrastructure
2.) Keep your day job and work for free until you're showing a profit, for as long as it takes
3.) Buy lead in advantageous quantities (we're sitting on almost 60 tons right now)
4.) Underpay your help
5.) Reward your customers' decision to purchase your product by busting your butt to make them happy
6.) Buy all the insurance you need to handle worst-case scenarios
7.) Live and work on the same property
8.) Do that in a rural, unzoned county
9.) Get your wife to do the company website and do it using open-source software (Linux or Solaris)
10.) Buy enough equipment that you can maximize production per unit of time rather than pay for manpower (remember John Henry?)
11.) Maintain stores of every imaginable spare part, controller, counter, connectors, and motors
12.) Maintain a strong supply of Sam Adams Black Lager to reward yourself after a long day
13.) Oh yeah - that hardness-optimized thing. Very important!
So, that's my secret business model.
Thank you again, Husker_Fan, for your thoughts.
Brad
ps - Jo Ann wanted me to fire Josh. I explained that I had too much invested in him to fire him. And now he's our best employee. Not bad for a 20 year old kid, I think.