WagonGear 2013 Annual Report (1 Viewer)

[kevinmrowland]

WagonGear 2013 Anual Report, April 4.

The short version:
Prices have to go up (a lot)
I have to put the shop in storage for the summer to go and get paid for a bit.



So first off, despite how ridiculously expensive all this WagonGear stuff is, the math works out to basically just barely cover expenses, and that is with unreasonably low overhead. I don't pay any actual rent, utilities, etc. We keep very careful track of all the expenses and sales in quickbooks, last year was a pretty decent year, I had some slow months but overall made a lot of stuff, sold 50k in merchandise and took home (generously adjusted to be as positive as possible) 5k for my years worth of work. And that is after I took all the expenses for rebuilding our cruiser out (with that still included, I'm at negative 10k) The same thing follows for the 5 preceding years. I "make" less than 10% profit once things are paid for. So even though I really enjoy what I'm doing, I'm working for free.

Almost all the prices across the board are going up about 20-25%.
For now only the fabricated portion of the parts will be subject to the percentage.
With that amount of a jump I might be able to at least make about 12k for a years worth of work, if the order quantities stayed about the same, which they probably wont considering the higher prices.

Any of my existing orders and projects will continue at the current rates. So if we have already been emailing, no worries, but, new orders for the next month will fall under the new rates.





That brings me to the next part, I've got to shut down for the summer.
We are renting the place we are in right now and just throwing money away. Considering that, and the fact that summer is typically a slow season, I've outgrown the shop here, the nonexistent WagonGear profit margin, and the funds we waste on rent while we try and see if we can make things work here in Oregon, we have decided that it is probably best to work full time for the summer while we see if we can line things up a bit better. So we will be over in MT for the summer. I work for a company off-an-on as a driving instructor and I have a full-time position for the summer months that I can go to. That will save us rent money, buy us some time to line other options up, and hopefully let us save some funds for the winter.

I will still be available by email and I'll take all my stock including any extra that I can put together in the next two months with me in my trailer so there will still be a limited amount of orders that I will be able to fill.
I'll start packing up my shop early in May and will be fully shut down by around the 20th.

If you have worked with me in the past you know that most of the bigger projects take at least a month, if not two to get sorted out, my thoughts are that a shop in storage for 3 or 4 or even 5 months will not really get in the way of most projects. The hope is that after that period we can set up in a better spot with more room for projects. Right now it gets very tight any time I have a customers truck here for work and there are a few of you who would like some longer-term projects tackled. So the focus is still making WagonGear better, but right now it looks like that will be best accomplished by shutting things down for a bit.


KR

 

[OCHO4I]

Rear Panels for my 86 FJ60?

Kevin:

I know its been a while, but it's me, Hector from Los Angeles!

I am sorry to hear about you shutting down for the summer, so hopefully I could put one final order in before you close shop. I just need a pair of the side rear panels for my 86 FJ60. (I know that I had sent you photos of my rear panels when we last talked about them, but please let me know if you need me to resend them to you.)

I always get asked about the tailgate storage, so I hope that at the very least I've sent some work your way over the last year or so. You are an outstanding businessman, (and a great guy to boot!), and I just hope this is not the end of Wagongear as we know it.

I'm sure that you'll be swamped with last minute orders after your last posting, so I promise I'll be patient waiting for your response. Just let me know if you'd still be able to take my order, how much they will be, and how much for shipping to 90640. Take care and I look forward to hearing back from you when time permits.

H. Martinez

 

[kevinmrowland]

Hey Hector, you bet, you never got me those measurements though.

I'll respond to your old email and see if we can pick up where we left off.
Side panels are typically a 3-4 week project so cutting it close once again...




Not to worry though, I'm not shutting things down by any means, just need to head out for a summer job.


KR

 

[IndianDoc]

Our loss

We will miss you this summer. That is a for sure fact. But one has to do what is best for your situation. I am sure that most of your older customer base understands fully and is 110 percent supportive of your decision. Thank you Sir for you dedication and wonderful products and we await your full return to the crazy world of aftermarket goodies for our old rust buckets. Doc

 

[Spook50]

Bummer man. On the other hand, with me getting out of active duty I likely wouldn't be able to afford anything until I get my BA and get a real job

Just don't shelf the business completely!

BTW I am going to design a heavy duty skid plate for my 62 once I'm done with the H55 conversion and will probably be harassing you constantly for input

 

[kevinmrowland]

Thanks guys, it's not a bummer though, it will let us save some money over the summer and then get a bigger shop in the Fall.
Plus, I wont have to weld during the heat of summer, I don't like it when it's hot.

 

[NLXTACY]

Kevin, what are your long term goals? I always thought you had a full time gig and you did this on the side. I guess that's not the case. I come from the manufacturing world where everything is CNC'd and anodized. Tons of electrical and electro-mechanical coupled with plenty of software/firmware driven products as well. It takes not only dedication but lots of people. Its not something you should be doing on your own. Get the prototype done and let someone else build them. Get the prototype done, get the pieces manufactured to your specs and let others do the welding. The problem is I see MANY just like you who make really really cool stuff who try to do every aspect of the concept, design, development, manufacture, assembly, etc etc and they all wind up failing because it can't pay the bills. I would HATE to see the doors shutter for any reason. PM me, I have lots of ideas and resources that could help you. Myself and many many others rely on your genius.

 

[kevinmrowland]

That's the way it's supposed to be Joey, and that's how I set up WagonGear, it's really just a hobby since I'm going to be in the shop working on things in any case, might as well have an excuse.
It's a good tax write-off for the stuff that we would want to have/do anyway.

However, two years ago we made the decision to leave everything behind and pick up and move for personal reasons. Not everyone has that chance so we are grateful. WagonGear was the only thing I could take with me, so we did that with the intention of finding another real job, that hasn't happened yet so I've been making WagonGear stuff full time (in between applications and interviews), and getting paid nothing.

My last job involved management of a lot of outsourcing and combining resources from multiple shops and specialties. With the WagonGear stuff it just comes down to the lack of real volume, it's all really just custom fabrication, even the "products". It's enough to keep me very busy, but not enough to purchase things in quantities or have enough volume to interest a job-shop in some of the products. If it could be outsourced it would have to be for a full years worth of products, which is a huge gamble that the cash is just not there to support. I run into the same thing with the hardware, I need to purchase more than a years worth of a component just to get a reasonable rate, but then the return on that is very slow coming. Every time someone wants "this instead of that" it means I've got more of "that" on hand than I'm supposed to and that sale didn't go to offset the purchase, etc.
I've worked with a couple shops to try and have some of the more common stuff fabricated, or even just welded up, but it just keeps coming down to the fact that it takes them twice as long, costs twice as much, and is half as good as the job that I can do. I'm really good in the shop, but, it's all custom fabrication, and the rates just don't cover that. They might cover an "expensive product" but with the custom nature and low volume, they are just not products.

Despite the difficulty of the last two years it's also been encouraging in a way as well, I am very busy and I've been growing. There is also a lot of interest from customers in possible restoration projects and more advanced mechanical work on a charge-by-hour basis. There might be a possibility of making things work by being able to add those kind of projects but that's not possible in our current location.

Best bet, and main focus, is still finding a "real job" that fits my skills and keep all this going as a great hobby.


KR

 

[Off Duty]

Kevin,

While I've never had the opportunity to buy from you, I've read with much interest your threads, and witnessed your responses to those that needed help (even when it didn't help fill your pocket, and you seem to be a stand up kind of guy

...Best bet, and main focus, is still finding a "real job" that fits my skills and keep all this going as a great hobby.KR

As the owner of (or slave to maybe?) several small businesses, sometimes the above statement is the answer to keeping quality in your product(s), and continuing to enjoy what you're doing.

It's said that if you can make a living at your hobby, you'll never "work" a day in your life.
Unfortunately, while doing so, that "hobby" sometimes becomes a job, and trying to earn a living doing it can take the fun out of it

It sounds like you have a good grip on the future of WagonGear, and I wish you the best in all your endeavors
Maybe when you're ready to open the doors again, I'll be in a position to help support it by making a couple of purchases.

On a separate note, what type of driving instruction do you do?

 

[kevinmrowland]

Yeah, one job is not usually enough to keep me busy anyway, and what's better than tinkering in the garage for the rest of the time?

On a separate note, what type of driving instruction do you do?

Technical off-road driving experience/instruction.
I was contacted a couple years ago to help with a civilian contract held by this company:
http://www.4x4bcds.com/
(not nearly as dramatic as the website makes it seem. but good folks, the owner is a member here, and so are a couple other employees)

KR

 

[dcoy]

WagonGear Website down

Noted a recent update several weeks ago. Wanting to get moving on some side panels. Now the website and email is gone. Any news on the situation? Hopefully all is well and this is just a cyberglitch.

 

[kevinmrowland]

Just bad timing, little glitch with a new server. Actually made a few updates to the site yesterday, including news about the new shop space.
Hopefully the site will be back up soon.

KR

 

[dcoy]

Just bad timing, little glitch with a new server. Actually made a few updates to the site yesterday, including news about the new shop space.
Hopefully the site will be back up soon.

KR

Yep. Looks like it's up and running. Glad to know you've got some new (to you) spacious digs.