meAt said:
I predict Accelerated has maybe 3-4 months before they are DOA.
I consider your knowledge to be in the top 10%, Randy.
I think you have great instincts too.
But DooWayne has always been a "fly by the seat of the pants" kind of guy.
Those type rarely gain enough altitude that a crash cripples them "permanently"
He can tinker, piddle fart along indefinitely .
The guys with the least overhead, least debt and most adaptable to change "at a moment's notice" are in the best position to survive (and thrive at times) in the long haul.
..l.T.A.
Precisely, Larry.
I hear about companies like PowerClean and my first reaction is, "How?". They've been doing well, from all indications. But then, I remember going to their place a few years back and seeing that they had a LOT of people on payroll, then they moved to a larger location. My guess is that they have a high overhead for the amount of business they do and Jim seems to me like the kind of guy who wouldn't lay someone off if there was any way around it... even if it meant placing the company under strain.
Depending upon the kind of bankruptcy they're filing, they could be leaning down and reorganizing- not going out of business.
On the other hand, I've been doing this for the most part, single- handedly since inception in 1996. My first place was tiny, with a $800 a month rent. Talk about low overhead...
And now, in the location that I secured 2 years ago, it started out as one big, dirty, 3,000 sq. ft. room. But now it's a big, organized 2,250 room with 3 area offices and a lobby built inside. As a result, we have warehouse rent, but office park amenities.
I've always built our designs around them being simple to work on and have readily- available parts from common sources. That's historically been great for our customers, but not so good for us, in a way. Because, unlike other companies with "proprietary" parts, we don't benefit as much from after- the- sale parts as they do.
But then, if they go under, the reverse is true, the way I see it. Because where can you go for a proprietary part that isn't produced any more? I think that many people in the market for a truck mount these days (as always) look for simplicity- for something that they can understand, work on and get parts for readily.
We'll continue to make non- proprietary- part systems as much as possible. And the proprietary parts that we do build with, as always, will be built to a standard that will outlast engines, pumps, blowers, etc.
Bottom line? Like Larry said, we have a low overhead which results in us having an easy "nut to crack". But if anything ever does happen, no one will be left wondering where to get parts for systems purchased from us.
Now, just to make sure that I don't leave this on a "note" that sounds dismal, I want to reiterate that we're in the process of shifting gears in that we're bringing a large part of the fabrication we depend upon, in- house. That will reduce our costs and speed- up our production / delivery time.
When we get everything in place, I'll do a video "walk through" and post it here...
We're not out of the woods... yet. But then, all we need to do is a few repairs and sell a few chemicals a month to keep the doors open. And we do a lot more than that...
