Wayne - I've been following your project on & off for a while now.
So first things, first, you have shown some great bodywork skills to have reached this stage.
Whilst your design is not for me, I do wish you well and would like to give you some constructive feedback.
Please Note:
The written word can come across much stronger than the spoken one.
So I want to make it clear that I've not written this to attack you, or your build, in anyway.
I hope you find some of the following helpful, even if it seems quite harsh in places.
Hobby vs. Business:
- Do you intend making these kits to be a part time, or full time business?
- Either way, you need a business model that actually adds up, including the value of your time.
- My own build has become a "one off" design, but I wouldn't expect anyone else to fund my hobby.
- However, providing a sound investment opportunity is a different matter.
Kickstarter:
- I think this website seems more geared up to the hobby side of building your own "one off" dream car.
- Whereas, you are actually asking for business capital in return for a key ring & a name check on a website.
( How far do you think a pitch like that would get you on "Dragon's Den"?
)
- Both your bio and the project description are littered with typos and mangled English.
( "
...all the lighting is off the shelf product to keep build costs low for the end person." )
- You will never raise £15k sounding like a Nigerian scam artist.
- Unfortunately, your fixed funding period also straddles Christmas, a time when most people do not have spare cash.
Kit Contents:
- I am still not sure what your final kit package will include.
- One magazine article mentions a roll bar, but that is not included in your list of parts on
Kickstarter.
- Similarly, does the glass panel for the opening rear hatch form part of the kit too?
- Personally, I would like to see a detailed list of what is included and what needs to be bought separately.
- Listing some possible suppliers and the prices for your lighting, exhausts, etc. would also help.
( As clearly the back end of your car is built around a specific rear light cluster. )
USA Moulds:
- It appears you have not actually established an arrangement with a company in the US yet.
- In which case, I would strongly suggest you drop this idea all together at this time.
- I can imagine it would required a lot of work to manage a US agent while based in the UK.
( E.g. Production quality, sales audits, collecting royalties, protecting the moulds, etc. )
- To date, you haven't sold a single kit in the UK, so please don't try to run before you can walk.
- Expanding beyond your capacity is the road to ruin, especially in the kit car business.
- Hopefully one set of moulds for the UK would require less funding too.
UK Fabrication Company:
- Are you only using them on a one off basis to produce the moulds?
- Or are they also going to produce the actual kit panels going forward as well?
- In which case, how to you plan to operate/manage/control your business going forward?
Tribute Automotive:
- Your design is clearly different to
Tribute's MX250, but the basic build principles appear to be the same.
- Their website is currently under construction, but it does shows what their kit includes.
http://www.tributeautomotive.com/mx250.html
- If your final kit price is going to be significantly higher, I'd want to know what the extra money was paying for.
- Especially if you manage to have your capital investment funded via
Kickstarter.
( As
Tribute's kit price includes an element to cover the time & money they invested in developing their kit. )
Anyway, rather than keep banging on, that is more than enough from me.
And, as I often say on my own build, "What do I know?".
Good luck, Paul.
