[Finance] Startup Costs

[Chris Hardee]

Also jumping in with our startup costs, we were lucky to setup in a
low-cost/high-density city San Antonio, TX. Also instead of shopping around
for commercial warehouse space, we found a listing for a large art studio.
Our rent plus utilities comes out to be around 1200mo. The only things we
work with though, are things people donate or we agree to purchase. So that
included some computers, chairs, tables, some tools like soldering irons and
things like network routers.

We set it to 40mo with no initial fee. We raised enough money to cover our
lease term, but we haven't broke even yet with membership fees. We're
looking to invest into a 3d printer or possibly a laser cutter. It's tough
to find people interested I guess, we have people that show up once then
never again.

http://www.10bitworks.com/

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 10:33 AM, SkyDog <skydog at hackerconsortium.com>wrote:

>  I had spoken with Jim Newton in the past, asking him a few things about
> TechShop, and how they did it, his thoughts, etc. A couple of months ago, he
> was in town talking to the people of Jet, that make the cnc mills, etc.  I
> Gabriel and I got to spend about two hours talking to him, discussing the
> maker movement, what his goals were, and how things were going for our
> respective ventures. The TechShop model is awesome as a business model. They
> do not buy used equipment. They buy new stuff, and make sure it's serviced
> regularly. They have 'Dream Coaches' that help people with equipment, watch
> over the place, and offer suggestions to members needing help.  You have to
> admit, they have taken the Maker movement, and made it into a business. I
> don't fault them for it, and honestly, I am dying to go see one in action.
> Now, given that, I don't think that the Hacker Consortium is destined to
> operate that way.
>
> We have a $100 fee to join, and $40 a month for dues. The $100 a month goes
> towards infrastructure costs, and the $40 a month goes towards electricity,
> cable, water, insurance, etc. We put the $100 fee in for a few reasons. One,
> we needed capital to rebuild the interior of the building, wire it, and
> improve on it's appearance. We also put it in there so that we sorted the
> wheat from the chaff, so to speak. The idea being that if you were excited
> enough to join, and you laid down $100, you wouldn't just join, come here
> and there, and when your interest picked back up, re-join by paying $40 and
> keep going. Let's face it, unless you have some angel investors that keep
> pumping money into the venture, you have to make sure you have a solid
> stream of membership dues coming in to pay the bills. It's been estimated
> that I've put about $5K into this maker space. I'm fine with that, as I've
> gotten way more out of it than I have put in, based on the friends that I
> have made, and the fun that I have had. $5K will buy a lot of hookers, but
> the event still leaves you feeling hollow inside and unfulfilled. I'd rather
> put my money down to get the HC going than to have meaningless sex for
> money... Well, ok. maybe OCCASIONALLY. :)
>
> The bottom line is that to keep the doors open, we have to have members,
> but we can't support it on hugs and smiles, we need people to contribute.
> You can do the 'pay as you go' model, or the 'pledge what you can' model,
> but we felt that we needed a more solid commitment. I know that I could pay
> the bills out of my pocket each month if necessary, but honestly, I would
> rather not. If our membership falls below a level of sustained income
> necessary to keep the bills paid, Gabriel and I will open our wallets and
> make it happen.
>
> One of the most interesting things that I learned from Jim Newton was
> this... The Hacker Consortium was closer to the model that he originally
> wanted to do that is the techshop model that he's currently doing. I don't
> think Jim entered into this with a profit motive. I think he entered into it
> wanting a space to do the things that he wanted to do, but it grew into
> TechShop. He's a talented businessman, a great speaker, and I think his
> heart is in the right place. Oddly enough, he said he has a list of projects
> he wants to work on a mile long, but he's too busy working on Techshop to
> actually get to do them. It's sad but true. Sometimes you'll be faced with
> putting your projects off in lieu of helping members, or running the space.
> I do have to say that it's well worth the time and effort though.
>
> I know that there are different models. I am not saying that one model is
> better than the others, or that ours is best. Depending on members,
> location, needs, etc, you may have to change your model, or come up with a
> new one. The best bet is to be informed as much as possible, and both listen
> and ask questions. Find what is right for your circumstances, and then do
> everything you can to make it work. You may not always be the most loved
> person on the planet when you have to make a hard decision, but someone has
> to.
>
> -Trevor Hearn a.k.a. SkyDog
> www.hackerconsortium.com
>
>
>
>
> On 10/27/2010 2:25 PM, Jeff Cotten wrote:
>
>
> I've never used this site, but I thought it would be a good tool for
> someone wanting to start a for-profit techshop type space.
>
>
> http://www.kickstarter.com/
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 1:30 PM, Christopher J. Pilkington <cjp at 0x1.net>wrote:
>
>> On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 09:23:45AM -0700, Grant Henninger wrote:
>> > model than most hackerspaces.  We want to run more like a for-profit
>> service
>> > company than a co-op.  One of the reasons we want to buy a lot of the
>> equipment
>> > up front is so we have a full set of services we can offer and keep
>> early
>> > adopters coming back.  However, I think you all have a good point about
>> ways to
>>
>>  So you are adopting something like the TechShop model.
>>
>> This model is not a hackerspace at all IMHO, so I think you
>> should probably seek other input regarding start up costs.
>>
>> For example, if I were looking to join a TechShop-type
>> establishment, I would expect and demand access to a full
>> compliment of professional-grade tools, as you listed.
>> (Although, I think you mentioned MakerBot, I'm not sure that's
>> appropriate for a for-profit workshop, but it might be ok to
>> start with.)
>>
>> For a collaborative, donation and membership supported
>> hackerspace, I'm willing to put in the elbow grease, extra money
>> here and there to fix things and acquire new tools. I wouldn't
>> be willing to do the same in a for-profit space (unless perhaps
>> I was a shareholder.)
>>
>> We are starting our non-profit membership supported space on a
>> shoestring. All the tools that we will have day one will be
>> member owned and on loan to the space, until we start saving up
>> some money.
>>
>> -cjp
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>
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