Lets pose a hypothetical business proposistion!

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not a Negative Nellie.

I have a few friends that started their steel fabrication shops from scratch. Shaping, welding and forming steel is not a cheap venture. Capital investments in equipment and space is expensive. Just sayin. Then being able to build it for a reasonable price and profit is the big challenge. Lots of labor in a smoker, unless you have lots of cutting and bending equipment to eliminate some of that labor.

I agree with posts above. You need to build some smokers and get them out there to be used and seen. You must develop a market and brand for your smokers. That will take time for sure.

Actually, the fabrication may well be the easy part. Financing your equipment and inventory, sales and marketing, accurate shop cost estimating and tracking, etc. Lots of stuff to consider.

https://www.score.org/ is a good place to get free mentoring. This is a service sponsored by the SBA. There appear to be three chapters in the Ok City area. I'd suggest that you talk to them.

bjarolim said:

I know my fiance is ready for me to wrap my build up. Its just my first build takes so long cause I wanna get it right plus all the revisions and screw up take time to produce and fix especially if u don't have all the necessary equipment to do it either it will take alot longer.

If I had a cutting torch and chop saw handy I could get stuff knocked out quick...first builds always take forever with whatever your doing.

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The metal cut off chop saw is a pretty inexpensive investment. But a plasma cutter is also very much worth the price tag.

I think you wanted pros and cons, right?

Pro: You set your own work schedule and pace.
Con: Said schedule will be determined by the customers until you reach critical mass. And after (if you want to stay in business)

Pro: You will prove to yourself the question of "Can I do this?"
Con: That answer could be "no". A very expensive "no"

Pro: You will build a rig that someone on the planet will use.
Con: It might only be you.

Pro: If you don't build it, life goes on as usual.
Con: Your life could have been far better if you had built it (or at least tried)

My father-in-law, who was and still is a badass in business, says the following:

"There is no such thing as a bad idea. The question to ask is 'Is it a good opportunity?' This question is going to require research. When you are done, you will have your answer. And when you do, you will come to a fork in the road. One path is the road to being an entrepreneur. The other is the road to being a dreamer. Entrepreneurs have the balls to pull the trigger on the opportunity."

All of that being said, I feel you. I have a Wi-Fi temp controller that would kick the Stoker in the teeth. Why hasn't anyone seen it?

Excuses (good or not) aside: I haven't pulled the trigger.

All of those things that I gave you as pros and cons apply to my idea as well as your idea, so as I am encouraging you, I am also reminding myself.

Make it happen.

SmokinJohn said:

... Make it happen.

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http://www.scorela.org/
http://events.r20.constantcontact.c...eso=001fgRRZEsKZsY7t-d23wwYxA==&llr=jiolbpcab

I thought about this for a very short time also.. lol I have been offered cash on the spot numerous times for my personal builds.. I love all things BBQ and maybe one day I can open up a small shop and build offsets that would be great.. but I'm in the same boat with you.. Getting married this year.. Stability is key right now at this point in my life.. So keeping my day job and building wealth with my Wife is very important at this point in our lives.. We will be working on having 2 more kids.. already have 1. So after we become more established or retirement age that may be in the cards.. but for now and the near future taking a leap like that isn't feasible or secure