Hey, you forgot making the pecans :D
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I thought that was her normal monthly order load now lol |
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Well, I do make a lot of beads like you already know, but I think any little 1-2 person company accepting a contract for 10,000 beads is well....I think it's "nutso". I mean, "10,000 beads" is a lot more than the humongous number of "1,000". Just the thought of having to make 1,000 beads for someone makes me nervous. The most I ever did was 500 under contract, and I was pretty damn apprehensive until they were all done and out the door. When you take on a contract for 10,000 beads, you are taking a LOT of risks. What will happen to your deal if one or more of the following happens to you or your business?? What will you do if something happens to you or your partner, like a very serious accident, serious illness, or how about a death in the family?? What will happen with your contract then? They won't give a shit about you, or your family, and they will want their beads and/or their money. So, if it's just you, one little person, or you and a partner, that is too small of a back-up for a very big job. It's all on you if something bad happens and you cannot continue to fulfill your contract. If something goes wrong, you could lose your business, your reputation, and more. It's not worth it, and you are not going to get top dollar for your work. Why would you want to sell your beads for less than they are worth?? I could never understand "wholesale" with artisan lampwork. :confused: I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here. I'm just being realistic. You are just human, not machines that can be replaced when broken. I really have to laugh at people who think they are invincible, and I can almost see their eyes lighting up with the flipping dollar signs. Ka-Ching! Sorry! I just had to tell it like it is! :) |
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2043237AAqfpWA If the thermometer is touching the side of the pot, then sure. The pot will get hotter than 212. But the actual boiling water will remain the same. But you do make a good point. When testing beads using boil-ice the bead should be suspended in the water and not just sitting on the bottom of the pot. |
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My problem would be also keeping the retail end going. I think we've all noticed the dip when we take time off for a show and then lose momentum on the retail/online end. It is very do-able with some discipline, but I don't think I'd be eager to go after it unless it could be delivered in increments and spread out a little. |
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Not taking an order because of this reasoning is like staying locked in your house because you're afraid you'll get hit by a bus. Quote:
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I wouldn't take payment up front, and I'm sure they wouldn't offer it. I'd expect payment as I completed a batch, for however many beads might be in it. If I get sick or have an accident or a death in the family, that's going to affect my business regardless. As far as top dollar, if I don't have to spend hours photographing or listing my beads, I can afford to charge less for them. A guaranteed buyer would leave me more time to make beads, and I'd spend much less time doing the other, un-fun stuff. I have about thirty sets sitting here that I've been procrastinating photographing for a couple weeks now; if I had a buyer already lined up, I could have been paid for and shipped them by now. I have no issues with the quantity of beads... that's a great arrangement, provided they have a 6-month to 1-year timeline for them. |
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Time to consult with my physicist friend again. :lol: You could avoid this issue by going the opposite direction; from freezer to boiling water. |
I would definitely not have been interested in an order of that nature a few years ago, but now that I'm a full-time student and have little time to maintain my website, it would be a far more practical arrangement than trying to cram in photos and listings every week. The non-beadmaking part of my business take up about twice as much time as the beadmaking part, so if I could just make beads and ship them, it would be an ideal situation. The drawback is that if I get the internship I want this summer, I wouldn't have time to make beads unless I also didn't take any classes at all.
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If you wanted to keep the beads at 212 degrees F, you would need to suspend them in the water with something like a sieve. If they were on the bottom they could get significantly hotter.
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Well I would offer to help SuzyQ with that offer. Maybe as a shop assistant or something. I kinda like doing the same thing over and over. I personally don't know If I could do the order alone without knowing the time from.
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Come stay with me Nikki and we'll crank it out, lol. It so rare I get a torching buddy.
I'm dying to know who DOES have that order. :D |
I don't think I've made 10K beads, in all of the years I've been playing at the torch...
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Is it one beadmaker making 10,000 or a few making 10,000? He did say 'beadmakers' so that's unclear.
Castle walls, I have dreads and I've had beads both annealed and not annealed (it was a test, I do not condone nor sell them) for 5 years now that have smacked more things than any bead should be able to withstand and they are fine. Sure a dot or 2 are cracked on one, it's on a very long dread and it does hit concrete if I sit down on any. ..the tests sound silly imo |
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10,000 beads... That's like 9 lbs of glass for you to complete the job right? Lol :love: (I don't think I've made that many either! Ever!) |
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My point is that if you are going to take an order for 10,000 beads, you had better make sure that you have some lampworker friends on standby to make these beads if you can't. If you don't have a back-up plan, then taking on such a huge responsibility is not smart. My parents were artists and they ran a really good business, but they didn't take dumb risks. They had back-up for everything, and they never bit off more than they could chew. ;) |
Dumb risk? Not seeing it. If you can't fill the order due to an emergency the buyer will just find someone else.
Now if you spend the money before you have actually followed through, that is a dumb risk. |
I don't see how taking on a huge order is any more a risk than anything in life. No pain, no gain and all that. Getting outside your comfort zone is good for ya! If something happens, you deal with it.
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For that matter, sometimes it's Company A that goes belly-up, leaving Company B holding the ball and wondering what they're going to do with the latest batch of specialized parts they made for Company A. |
Well, I live for today. No one knows if tomorrow is coming. Does that mean I don't have contingency plans? No. I do. I've managed to run a profitable business for ten years. I think I have a handle on it. Like Susan said, taking orders is smart. Spending the money before the product is delivered is not smart.
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Very interesting conversation guys, thanks for all of the thoughts. As others have said, taking a big order can be a very secure source of income for a while, but it would have to be balanced against other income streams to work. Many a business has hit hard times if they have relied upon a single customer who then bails out. Teaming up on an order like that so that you can still maintain the shows and on line business could be a great way to bring in a steady large scale customer. As far as the testing, I see no reason not to quality test a product, but it is important that we understand what the test proves. Is boiling water to ice water a valid check and if so of what? Does this test prove the bead was annealed, that all the strain has been removed, etc.? If the test is valid for certain specifications, is it an appropriate test for all sizes and shapes of beads? All COE's? Will the the test reveal the majority of flawed beads? Is it possible to introduce flaws into the beads with the test? How much of the production should be tested? As an industry we should have these discussions, and if possible answer the questions one way or another, otherwise we could find ourselves forced to perform tests that make no sense whatsoever. Would love it if some materials scientist were out there and could weigh in.
Nikki |
Before I had an annealer, I used to take my beads and freeze them and drop them on the floor- it wasn't steel, just wood, but it was 3-4 feet down. I didn't boil them, though.
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