[jcmjrt]

I saw in your weblog that you were making comparisons on income between diy half kits and those which you supplied as finished products. I think that you concluded that you should concentrate on finished products. I'm not sure that you are recognizing the value of the publicity that you get from we diyers on the various boards. I know that I have favorably reviewed your products, shown pics of completed projects, and heartily recommended them as not only kits but as completed pieces of gear. There are lots of folks who are NOT diy but who appreciate reviews from people who have done it and heard it. I think that you may be underestimating the value of the word of mouth generated by diyers which result in the sales of finished products. I've thought that you were particularly smart in catering to both groups and thus reaping that benefit.

[PatOMalley]

I also think that more popular kits, like the CASTANET and PICCOLO, will change those numbers.
I also think that the DIYers bring a lot of attention to the line and the plus is that non-DIYers can get finished kits.
Besides 23% of sales is still a big chink - no one wants to dump 23%.

[dnewman]

Missing in the sales breakdown is the time spent on each endeavor, kits vs.
assembled products.  (Not that I'm asking to see that info.)  And, I assume
that there's some overlap between the two endeavors on the R&D side with
significant divergence when you begin figuring the compromises which go
into a kit design (ease of ordering parts, ease of assembly, ease of fault
finding, etc.).

So I too would be disappointed to see your half-kits disappear.  However,
I also recognize that I don't know how much of your time (== money) is
going into strictly the DIY end of your business.

Dan

P.S. Not that anyone has said that you're getting out of the DIY business.

[hagtech]

Clearly without the DIYers I could have never gotten the busines going.  I didn't mean to undervalue your contributions to my success.  The blog consists of random thoughts at any given moment, it's not really edited.  The point was that selling half-kits alone, without having the assembled option, does not make business sense.  The HAGLABs proposal (and that's all it is at this point) is to exploit that foothold gained in the marketplace and move upscale.  It will be in tandem with the HAGTECH line of DIY stuff, not a replacement. 

The rub to all this was the lack of strategic focus I had for years, developing a mix of custom assembled products and kits at the same time.  I made the VACUTRACE and TRUMPET before I came up with the half-kit concept (the iRIAA from Old Colony Sound Labs as the "F-1" was a full kit).  The BUGLE and CORNET took off as half-kits, so I started making more.  It was a wierd mix, and the website was disorganized.  Then there were machines with and without chassis.  Even now the main web page is awkward.  It is apparent my business strategy was in constant flux with no sure direction for many years.

Over the past two years I have been trying to correct that.  Trying to re-organize the products I had, fill in the gaps, and produce new ones where I had some market advantage (eg FRYKLEANER).  Additionally, I've been exploring the possibility of something like a HAGLABs, which has a far higher potential for sales.  Seriously, for the same amount of effort I could earn 5x what I do now.  It also comes with major risks and a large investment to pull it off.  On top of all this I've been mixing in consulting gigs.  I'm thinking long term, where do I want to be ten years from now?

And now, the CASTANET has gotten me thinking to turn it into an entirely new line of half-kits...

jh

[hagtech]

I've thought that you were particularly smart in catering to both groups and thus reaping that benefit.

Yeah, that was the original idea.  However, it can also work against you.  Having a machine available as a kit de-values the assembled version.  Some potential customers have the impression that "oh, the kit is only $100, it can't really be that good".  Or other similar thoughts like, "what, a DIYer can build this for $400, why does he think he can charge me $1000?".  It's all about perception - the half-kit is a steal, the assembled version is a ripoff.  Now, the DIYers realize this is not true.  They understand the incredible bargains my prices really are.  My trouble has been convincing the non-DIYers of this.  And that is where my lack of marketing expertise hurts me.  Hey, I'm just a designer.  I'm good at one thing, not the other.

And so I still worry about this as I consider the CASTANET line.  It's a pretty risky venture.  Will I only sell boards and not complete machines?  How can I generate enough revenue for ROI?  Is the DIY market for a CORNET-like phonostage already saturated?  Will the market utterly reject the concept of cables in front?  At the least, I'm convinced a half-kit for a good tube headphone amp will sell well.  The danger is trying to take it too far. 

jh