Reeading on Easter Morning
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Reeading on Easter Morning
Well I hope y'all are having, or had, a wonderful Easter Sunday. Mine has been unremarkable so far and I am looking forward to an uneventful day as Sunday develops. When on the verge of boredom I often revert to an old pastime, i.e., reading. So, I thought I would share one of the more interesting articles I've read in a long time. It answers the question of "what happens when a beam of subatomic particles hits you in the face." Something everybody thinks about on Easter Morning, I'm sure. I'm sure you will all find it interesting because I know particle physics is a passion for the readers of this forum. Without further ado, here is the link to the article: https://thenextweb.com/science/2021/04/ ... ndication/
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Interesting article for sure!
Speaking of subatomic particles, we are hit by them all day every day.
I don't remember all the different types, but I can tell you a simple way you can see them.
Take a clear plastic drinking cup.
Cut a sponge to the shape of the bottom of the cup and place it in the bottom of the cup.
Add some 99% alcohol to saturate the sponge.
Then place a rag or piece of cloth over the top of the cup and hold it in place with a rubber band.
You may want to trim the cloth edges off so as not to obscure the side of the glass.
Now, set this glass on top of a piece of Dry Ice and wait a couple of minutes.
A small cloud will form in the lower 1/4 of the cup above the sponge.
Use a flashlight or something so you can see this cloud or light fog mist.
Now just keep watching it and you will see the sub-atomic particles pass through the alcohol vapor.
If you watch long enough you will see a line either straight or curved pass through the fog, and
if you are lucky enough to see a second line cross it perpendicular, you will notice that it is like the line stops and starts again as it crossed another line. It doesn't really stop and start, what is happening is the fog was consumed by the sub-atomic particle, so there is no fog there for you to see the second particle pass through that specific area.
I no longer remember the science behind this experiment, but have done it many times over the years to amaze my kids, and in some cases fellow employees.
It does work best if you can find 99% alcohol, 91% works OK, 70% don't work worth diddly.
But usually 91% is all you can find in stores.
Speaking of subatomic particles, we are hit by them all day every day.
I don't remember all the different types, but I can tell you a simple way you can see them.
Take a clear plastic drinking cup.
Cut a sponge to the shape of the bottom of the cup and place it in the bottom of the cup.
Add some 99% alcohol to saturate the sponge.
Then place a rag or piece of cloth over the top of the cup and hold it in place with a rubber band.
You may want to trim the cloth edges off so as not to obscure the side of the glass.
Now, set this glass on top of a piece of Dry Ice and wait a couple of minutes.
A small cloud will form in the lower 1/4 of the cup above the sponge.
Use a flashlight or something so you can see this cloud or light fog mist.
Now just keep watching it and you will see the sub-atomic particles pass through the alcohol vapor.
If you watch long enough you will see a line either straight or curved pass through the fog, and
if you are lucky enough to see a second line cross it perpendicular, you will notice that it is like the line stops and starts again as it crossed another line. It doesn't really stop and start, what is happening is the fog was consumed by the sub-atomic particle, so there is no fog there for you to see the second particle pass through that specific area.
I no longer remember the science behind this experiment, but have done it many times over the years to amaze my kids, and in some cases fellow employees.
It does work best if you can find 99% alcohol, 91% works OK, 70% don't work worth diddly.
But usually 91% is all you can find in stores.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
You describe what is known as a cloud chamber. I've never made one, but I believe our physics teacher in high school did. Also, I don't think he used alcohol, but he might have. It's too long ago for me to remember. I believe all he did was add some water to a plate of dry ice to create a thick misty fog. To be honest I don't recall what, if anything, we saw in that home brew cloud chamber. I do recall that I was not impressed excessively. 
We are indeed being bombarded constantly by all manner of radiation and cosmic particles. Bits of our own sun douse us on a daily basis no matter what the weather. There is even a certain degree of the background radiation from the original Big Bang hanging around in the ether and passing through our bodies. It's all pretty amazing when you think about how these particles can pass through what we think is a solid body of mass. Solid isn't what most people think it is.
We are indeed being bombarded constantly by all manner of radiation and cosmic particles. Bits of our own sun douse us on a daily basis no matter what the weather. There is even a certain degree of the background radiation from the original Big Bang hanging around in the ether and passing through our bodies. It's all pretty amazing when you think about how these particles can pass through what we think is a solid body of mass. Solid isn't what most people think it is.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Back in my high school days, we did have some entertaining physics and science teachers, and then there was Pyro the chemistry lab teacher. He rightfully earned the name Pyro, hi hi.
Many of the little things I learned of interest to me came along many years later when I was doing magic tricks. I was always looking for something no one else was doing, and in many cases, it required a few chemicals to cause an effect I was after.
Heck, I forget the names of half of the chemical we could buy back then, either from a hobby shop or from a pharmacy. Most of which are no longer available to the general public, and in some cases you have to have a license to buy others.
Many of the little things I learned of interest to me came along many years later when I was doing magic tricks. I was always looking for something no one else was doing, and in many cases, it required a few chemicals to cause an effect I was after.
Heck, I forget the names of half of the chemical we could buy back then, either from a hobby shop or from a pharmacy. Most of which are no longer available to the general public, and in some cases you have to have a license to buy others.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
When I was a high school student the chemistry teacher told us we could buy a lot of the chemicals from a pharmacy. Not sure why, but I was interested in zinc oxide and the druggist did have some. He wanted to know specifically what I was going to do with it, and I guess I didn't convince him well enough. He would not sell me any. LOL
However, I was surprised recently with the same process. Wife has for some reason or another developed vertigo. There is a fancy name for it and apparently it comes and goes. There also are several OTC treatments that work fairly well. Those treatments are marketed as cures for motion sickness or sea sickness. The most popular brand which you might have heard of is Dramamine.
I went to Walgreens to find some but could not. So I went to the pharmacist with a piece of paper with Dramamine and Meclizine (the generic active ingredient) written on it. I asked if he knew where they kept this stuff and he said he could sell me a bottle of 100 pills that he keeps behind the counter. We weren't sure if wife would need 100 pills so I opted for the Dramamine, which he had to come out and show me where it was on the bottom shelf around the cough medicines. 20 pills for $9.95. These pills were not perfect but they did help wife's symptoms a lot. When we got down to the last Dramamine she told me to go get the 100 pills just in case. I did. 100 pills of Meclizine cost me $9.99. I never asked why they don't put them on the shelf with the branded stuff, but I almost fainted at the difference in prices.
However, I was surprised recently with the same process. Wife has for some reason or another developed vertigo. There is a fancy name for it and apparently it comes and goes. There also are several OTC treatments that work fairly well. Those treatments are marketed as cures for motion sickness or sea sickness. The most popular brand which you might have heard of is Dramamine.
I went to Walgreens to find some but could not. So I went to the pharmacist with a piece of paper with Dramamine and Meclizine (the generic active ingredient) written on it. I asked if he knew where they kept this stuff and he said he could sell me a bottle of 100 pills that he keeps behind the counter. We weren't sure if wife would need 100 pills so I opted for the Dramamine, which he had to come out and show me where it was on the bottom shelf around the cough medicines. 20 pills for $9.95. These pills were not perfect but they did help wife's symptoms a lot. When we got down to the last Dramamine she told me to go get the 100 pills just in case. I did. 100 pills of Meclizine cost me $9.99. I never asked why they don't put them on the shelf with the branded stuff, but I almost fainted at the difference in prices.
Last edited by yogi on 06 Apr 2021, 16:57, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I used to be able to buy potassium permanginate without any questions.
Now they won't sell it to you anymore at all without you being a licensed lab.
I've been lucky to be able to get some of the ingredients used in my secondary product. But then I don't make that version anymore, so no big deal really.
I used to play with a lot of liquid nitrogen too, now I wouldn't even know where to buy it. Heck I couldn't afford the container you need to get it put into. Just the container alone is like 700 to 900 bucks now. Liquid nitrogen is cheap though. Probably 4 bucks to fill a container is all.
It boggles the mind on how they price certain drugs. I found two drugs that work for me that I can get for 88 cents for 15 pills, which comes to $1.76 per month for each of them. Sure beats the $14.95 price of them as name brand, or $12.95 as generic.
My wife uses Dramamine to quell dizzy spells, and ate it like candy when we were on the cruise. She slept a good portion of the cruise also. So I stayed in the casino wasting money.
Now they won't sell it to you anymore at all without you being a licensed lab.
I've been lucky to be able to get some of the ingredients used in my secondary product. But then I don't make that version anymore, so no big deal really.
I used to play with a lot of liquid nitrogen too, now I wouldn't even know where to buy it. Heck I couldn't afford the container you need to get it put into. Just the container alone is like 700 to 900 bucks now. Liquid nitrogen is cheap though. Probably 4 bucks to fill a container is all.
It boggles the mind on how they price certain drugs. I found two drugs that work for me that I can get for 88 cents for 15 pills, which comes to $1.76 per month for each of them. Sure beats the $14.95 price of them as name brand, or $12.95 as generic.
My wife uses Dramamine to quell dizzy spells, and ate it like candy when we were on the cruise. She slept a good portion of the cruise also. So I stayed in the casino wasting money.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I found a place online, Factory Direct Chemicals, that would sell me just about anything. The reason I found them is because I was looking for vinegar at a concentration slightly more than the standard 5% dilution Schnucks sells. I use it mostly for cleaning and figured if 5% works fairly well, a larger amount of acetic acid would be even better. I seem to recall having difficulty finding anything between 5% and 15% concentration; nothing greater than that was available. So I ordered the 15% concentration and got it delivered with no problem. However, the labeling was very ominous and detailed in describing how to protect myself when using this stuff. Apparently the intended use is for weed killer and there were pages of instructions, warnings, and quotes of appropriate laws pertaining to killing off vegetation with this stuff. For Pete's sake, all I wanted to do was clean the grease off my cook top but apparently came across some weapons grade vinegar. After reading all the warnings I was hesitant to even open the jug. It's still in the basement in case I need a substitute for Agent Orange.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Interesting, we buy Heinz Cleaning Vinegar all the time. I don't remember the concentration, but still have two jugs in the garage that we also use on the weeds from time to time. Next time I'm in that side of the garage, I will check to see what the concentration is, and if I remember, I will let you know. Most of the grocery stores around here carry it in stock all the time, including Kroger at twice the price of everyone else.
Heck, you should see the warning that come on a Food Grade hydrogen peroxide 35%, it would fill a book, hi hi.
Heck, you should see the warning that come on a Food Grade hydrogen peroxide 35%, it would fill a book, hi hi.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Way back when I was here in O'Fallon for less than a year I found cleaning grade vinegar at Schnucks. It was 6% acid as opposed to the standard 5% in the salad dressing variety of vinegar. I never was able to get it again after that first encounter, and I don't remember the higher concentration being any more effective than the standard variety. That's one reason why I was looking for 10% or better. Schnucks frequently has odd items that I favor, but they seem to be a one off purchase. For example Caster Sugar, or ultrafine sugar. I love using it in place of the regular granulated stuff and was overjoyed to see it in stock at Schnucks. That only lasted a few months. After they sold what was on the shelf, they never restocked it. I can get bartenders sugar, but it's horribly over priced given the small quantity they sell it in. Even so, Schnucks doesn't have it all the time.
That food grade stuff is amazing. I have tried to find food grade mineral oil to season my cutting board. It's not the same, apparently, as the stuff you can get at the pharmacy, and certainly in a different class than what Ace Hardware sells. The only way I can get it is if I order it online. The problem there is that the cost of the product is way less than the cost of shipping it to me. I could buy it by the gallon, but I won't live long enough to use that much.
That food grade stuff is amazing. I have tried to find food grade mineral oil to season my cutting board. It's not the same, apparently, as the stuff you can get at the pharmacy, and certainly in a different class than what Ace Hardware sells. The only way I can get it is if I order it online. The problem there is that the cost of the product is way less than the cost of shipping it to me. I could buy it by the gallon, but I won't live long enough to use that much.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Ironically, items no longer available in small sizes is how I got into the packaging business in the first place.
My first attempt was at packaging Elmer's Glue in little pouches like condiments come in. These would go with the doll house shingles I was selling at the time. All it said on the pouch was WHITE GLUE--Dries Clear. I used a hypodermic syringe for filling the little pouches, which came on a roll and required a heat sealer to close.
I'm sure you've heard of Ambroid Glue if you've ever worked with balsa models. It really was the best.
They quit selling it in tubes, and only sold it in pint, quart, and gallon cans. Then they cut out all but gallon cans.
They still had over 6,000 pre-printed metal tubes in stock they never used. So I offered to fill them for them and send to their distributors. They sent the tubes, the display boxes they went in, and several gallons of glue, enough to fill the tubes they sent. We agreed on 22 cents per tube filled and sealed. They also told me where I could buy a hand-held crimper for around 185 bucks, I bought one but could have used a clamp from a welding supply shop for about 35 bucks. It wouldn't be as fancy of a crimp though. I had to buy a large metal and glass syringe to fill those tubes, which became a fiasco to be allowed to buy. So I just made my own and it worked better than a syringe would have. Oh, along with the glue and tubes came a license from a place called Graphics Vision, Inc. Allowing me to fill the Ambroid tubes.
I made a little over a thousand bucks on that short project, but now that I had the equipment, I asked if I could get more pre-printed tubes from their supplier. They said NO! But they would still sell me the gallons of glue if I wanted to package under a different name. I never did buy more glue from them, because several of the gallon cans of glue they sent me did not say Ambroid on them, they just said Nitrocellulose Cement Glue and the manufacturer. I called the manufacturer and ask if they sold in 4 oz tubes, they said no. And since I was set up for packaging in metal tubes already, I bought two cases, a dozen cans of their glue, and bought empty metal tubes from a packaging supplies house. The only thing bad about this was I had to buy a minimum of 36,000 unprinted tubes to get a fair price. This was something I just barely afforded at the time, but was glad I had them when I first moved south, and I managed to use them all up selling to hobby shops. Thank goodness for heat-shrink plastic labels or most wouldn't take them with adhesive labels on them. But I had all that in place and in my inventory before I moved.
They were a pain to fill, seal, and ship, and now being in a residential area, I decided to drop that product, mainly because of the odor of the glue, although sent to outside via fans, you could smell it outside and I didn't want to get into trouble, hi hi.
Besides, I had my aquarium product which didn't smell and sales on it were excellent at the time.
I sold my tube packaging equipment to a guy selling a heavy cream cleaner product he made from Fels Naptha soap, hi hi.
My first attempt was at packaging Elmer's Glue in little pouches like condiments come in. These would go with the doll house shingles I was selling at the time. All it said on the pouch was WHITE GLUE--Dries Clear. I used a hypodermic syringe for filling the little pouches, which came on a roll and required a heat sealer to close.
I'm sure you've heard of Ambroid Glue if you've ever worked with balsa models. It really was the best.
They quit selling it in tubes, and only sold it in pint, quart, and gallon cans. Then they cut out all but gallon cans.
They still had over 6,000 pre-printed metal tubes in stock they never used. So I offered to fill them for them and send to their distributors. They sent the tubes, the display boxes they went in, and several gallons of glue, enough to fill the tubes they sent. We agreed on 22 cents per tube filled and sealed. They also told me where I could buy a hand-held crimper for around 185 bucks, I bought one but could have used a clamp from a welding supply shop for about 35 bucks. It wouldn't be as fancy of a crimp though. I had to buy a large metal and glass syringe to fill those tubes, which became a fiasco to be allowed to buy. So I just made my own and it worked better than a syringe would have. Oh, along with the glue and tubes came a license from a place called Graphics Vision, Inc. Allowing me to fill the Ambroid tubes.
I made a little over a thousand bucks on that short project, but now that I had the equipment, I asked if I could get more pre-printed tubes from their supplier. They said NO! But they would still sell me the gallons of glue if I wanted to package under a different name. I never did buy more glue from them, because several of the gallon cans of glue they sent me did not say Ambroid on them, they just said Nitrocellulose Cement Glue and the manufacturer. I called the manufacturer and ask if they sold in 4 oz tubes, they said no. And since I was set up for packaging in metal tubes already, I bought two cases, a dozen cans of their glue, and bought empty metal tubes from a packaging supplies house. The only thing bad about this was I had to buy a minimum of 36,000 unprinted tubes to get a fair price. This was something I just barely afforded at the time, but was glad I had them when I first moved south, and I managed to use them all up selling to hobby shops. Thank goodness for heat-shrink plastic labels or most wouldn't take them with adhesive labels on them. But I had all that in place and in my inventory before I moved.
They were a pain to fill, seal, and ship, and now being in a residential area, I decided to drop that product, mainly because of the odor of the glue, although sent to outside via fans, you could smell it outside and I didn't want to get into trouble, hi hi.
Besides, I had my aquarium product which didn't smell and sales on it were excellent at the time.
I sold my tube packaging equipment to a guy selling a heavy cream cleaner product he made from Fels Naptha soap, hi hi.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Yes, I am familiar with Ambroid Glue, and have used it more than a few times. I didn't know you packaged it, however. LOL I also realize it disappeared from the market many years ago. Not sure what I wanted it for back then, but it was un-findable. I also tried to find Pliobond to do some shoe repair. It is available online if you look hard enough, but nobody in Missouri seems to handle it. The "just like" stuff isn't just like the original Pliobond. Everybody seems to know what it is, but nobody seems to sell it; around here anyway.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Pliobond was a great adhesive. It's what I used to install Formica on counter-tops.
One other company I packaged for was Agfa photo developing liquids for those machines used by the photo-mat type places. Even Walmart had some of those machines for awhile too.
As companies moved up to newer types of machines, or abandoned film developing all-together, Agfa could not afford to keep packaging the special sized OEM bottles designed to fit their machines. Without the developing bottles for the machines, those machines would become obsolete the day Agfa quit production of supplies.
The problem here is large manufacturers only do things at 10,000 to 100,000 per run, and their sales of supplies was down to less than 1,000 per month of each of three bottles.
Here too, they provided the bottles and the chemicals in 30 gallon carboys, and I did the filling of the bottles, placing their label on the bottle and putting the bottles in their 3-pack cartons - 4 of these cartons went into a case.
They would e-mail me the FedEx delivery stickers to print out on self-stick paper. They usually didn't send me these stickers until at least 10 cases were going out, and since the pick-up by FedEx was always scheduled for the next day, I had to always have at least 10 cases ready to go that only needed the stickers added.
After about a year, I would get the stickers each time they had about 6 to 8 cases going out. Then that dropped down to only 4.
It was about then they send me another supply of bottles and three more 30 gallon carboys and said they were giving out my phone number to all of those who are still operating the machines. This was actually a boon for me, because I collected the money and didn't have to send any money to Agfa from it. I had a merchants account at that time, so made them charge it to a credit card before I would ship. The price was like 4 times higher than what Agfa was paying me, so yes I was happy.
I never did use up all the special bottles and still had around 1/3 of a carboy full of each developing compound when there was only 1 guy left with that type of machine. He was good enough to tell me that he has a newer type of machine on order, and when it arrives, he won't need anymore of the old style bottles.
FWIW: The style of bottle used by Agfa could not be refilled by the customer without great difficulty, or without getting a leaky mess inside their machines. The cap on these bottles had a latex rubber seal and the aluminum lid was crimped on, not like a soda bottle, more like the top of an Insulin bottle. Plus there was a black or gray bladder inside the bottle as well.
One other company I packaged for was Agfa photo developing liquids for those machines used by the photo-mat type places. Even Walmart had some of those machines for awhile too.
As companies moved up to newer types of machines, or abandoned film developing all-together, Agfa could not afford to keep packaging the special sized OEM bottles designed to fit their machines. Without the developing bottles for the machines, those machines would become obsolete the day Agfa quit production of supplies.
The problem here is large manufacturers only do things at 10,000 to 100,000 per run, and their sales of supplies was down to less than 1,000 per month of each of three bottles.
Here too, they provided the bottles and the chemicals in 30 gallon carboys, and I did the filling of the bottles, placing their label on the bottle and putting the bottles in their 3-pack cartons - 4 of these cartons went into a case.
They would e-mail me the FedEx delivery stickers to print out on self-stick paper. They usually didn't send me these stickers until at least 10 cases were going out, and since the pick-up by FedEx was always scheduled for the next day, I had to always have at least 10 cases ready to go that only needed the stickers added.
After about a year, I would get the stickers each time they had about 6 to 8 cases going out. Then that dropped down to only 4.
It was about then they send me another supply of bottles and three more 30 gallon carboys and said they were giving out my phone number to all of those who are still operating the machines. This was actually a boon for me, because I collected the money and didn't have to send any money to Agfa from it. I had a merchants account at that time, so made them charge it to a credit card before I would ship. The price was like 4 times higher than what Agfa was paying me, so yes I was happy.
I never did use up all the special bottles and still had around 1/3 of a carboy full of each developing compound when there was only 1 guy left with that type of machine. He was good enough to tell me that he has a newer type of machine on order, and when it arrives, he won't need anymore of the old style bottles.
FWIW: The style of bottle used by Agfa could not be refilled by the customer without great difficulty, or without getting a leaky mess inside their machines. The cap on these bottles had a latex rubber seal and the aluminum lid was crimped on, not like a soda bottle, more like the top of an Insulin bottle. Plus there was a black or gray bladder inside the bottle as well.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I've seen the pattern a few times where small businesses make the most profit. It happens early on in the product or, as you described with your packaging experience, at the end of the product's life. Those are the two points on the marketing curve where it isn't profitable enough for big business to perform the task. The small business with less overhead is ideal to fill those niches. Apparently you did well at those very points.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
One might say, the more I learned about small businesses, the lazier I got.
I had fun starting new businesses, then worked my tail off to make them profitable enough to sell.
Why sell? Because I got tired of them, dealing with customers, and they became routine boring repetitive tasks.
That is one reason you end up hiring employees to do the work, but using employees opens up another can of headaches, and more government intervention.
I had two early opportunities that sorta directed my course in small businesses.
The first was my Saw and Sabre Shop, it started out as fun, and doing some sharpening no other places were doing.
But then, after I landed a couple of hardware store accounts to sharpen saws for them, I more or less no longer had to deal with individual customers who talked my ear off. Plus I had a weekly pick-up and drop off schedule.
I taught one person how to sharpen the circular saws, and another how to do the hand saws.
Neither were as picky as I was at doing them, but they could three to my one, and I could just leave them alone to work.
I ended up selling that business to my best employee, and he took the other guy with him, and they grew the business.
While I took a monthly check from them for five years as they payed off the equipment, and the sale price of the company.
My hot foil stamping business grew in much the same way as I got commercial accounts. I still did all the work, never hired anyone for that business, but when I did get an order now, instead one thing here, a dozen things there, it was fairly large orders.
Most of my hot stamping was on ribbons, which is how I started the business in the first place.
It had to do with the florist and the ribbons that went on funeral arrangements.
The company we were buying from changed from hot foil stamped to silk screened and they looked horrible in comparison.
Then as their sales dropped, my work that started for our own florist began taking jobs from other florists.
Then I had the wholesale floral industry carrying my ribbons, which also brought in other sales, and finally a large carnival supply house for award ribbons. It wasn't until I needed a person to make all of my deliveries that I finally hired someone.
In a way, that was a mistake, because he could see my equipment and how I did the work, and he went out and bought a smaller machine and began doing some of the work himself, picking up clients here and there.
But in the end, perhaps it was a good thing he did, because when I found out I had to move from my big house, and didn't have someplace else to move yet, I decided to marry the gal I was dating at the time, and moved into her house.
I ended up just giving all of my accounts to this driver, but he wasn't interested in buying my type cases or machines. He only worked from large plates, like I used for the award ribbons. So all the stuff for this business got moved to my wife's house and to her basement. I still did a few orders but not many, too much going on at that time.
But the thing I learned from all of that is, although they make less money per sale, the easiest part of nearly any job is at the manufacturing end. But I still had to start my AZ-NO3 business on a shoestring, and a very short shoestring at that.
This meant I had to do nearly everything myself, from making my own bottle labels, to raising my own enzymes.
You would laugh at how I had to do the bottling at first, hi hi.
I started out with a high price for retail sales which helped me get going, and then I could add middle men without changing the estimated retail price of the product.
I only sold to a few wholesalers in the beginning, and finally picked up one distributor. This was good because he handled my wholesale accounts. He was also gung ho and brought a few overseas wholesalers in.
He too had a fairly good business going, but due to problems caused by his father, he decided to sell out the aquarium products division of his distributorship.
It was really just dumb luck that he found a top notch distributor who sold to other distributors which made him a mfgr. rep. for many companies in the aquaria business. And that is how he established himself so well. He had three distributorships he owned, and like five wholesale outlets as well, which grew to be many more over the years.
I did have to knock my price down, which is something I expected to do anyhow when I did get a mfgr. rep. it was already built into my pricing. So once we were in full swing, I was making the price per bottle I always intended on making, and someone else was handling all the warehousing and distribution.
I didn't care that he got a larger chunk than I did by buying at mfgr. rep. prices and selling directly to is own wholesalers. Thus making the small mfgr. rep. profit, as well as the distributor mark-up profit too.
It only took a couple of years with him before my job became super easy, because he only ordered in large bulk quantities.
And by doing so, I only had to do actual work of bottling and packaging like 12 times a year. Until more recently after sales began to drop a bit.
This left me free to do other things! Good thing too, because as Ruth became more and more disabled, it left me the time to take care of her. And after she died, this little tabletop business made it possible for me to get married again. This along with my real estate work on renovating houses. Which as you know 9/11 put an abrupt end to that business for me.
I had fun starting new businesses, then worked my tail off to make them profitable enough to sell.
Why sell? Because I got tired of them, dealing with customers, and they became routine boring repetitive tasks.
That is one reason you end up hiring employees to do the work, but using employees opens up another can of headaches, and more government intervention.
I had two early opportunities that sorta directed my course in small businesses.
The first was my Saw and Sabre Shop, it started out as fun, and doing some sharpening no other places were doing.
But then, after I landed a couple of hardware store accounts to sharpen saws for them, I more or less no longer had to deal with individual customers who talked my ear off. Plus I had a weekly pick-up and drop off schedule.
I taught one person how to sharpen the circular saws, and another how to do the hand saws.
Neither were as picky as I was at doing them, but they could three to my one, and I could just leave them alone to work.
I ended up selling that business to my best employee, and he took the other guy with him, and they grew the business.
While I took a monthly check from them for five years as they payed off the equipment, and the sale price of the company.
My hot foil stamping business grew in much the same way as I got commercial accounts. I still did all the work, never hired anyone for that business, but when I did get an order now, instead one thing here, a dozen things there, it was fairly large orders.
Most of my hot stamping was on ribbons, which is how I started the business in the first place.
It had to do with the florist and the ribbons that went on funeral arrangements.
The company we were buying from changed from hot foil stamped to silk screened and they looked horrible in comparison.
Then as their sales dropped, my work that started for our own florist began taking jobs from other florists.
Then I had the wholesale floral industry carrying my ribbons, which also brought in other sales, and finally a large carnival supply house for award ribbons. It wasn't until I needed a person to make all of my deliveries that I finally hired someone.
In a way, that was a mistake, because he could see my equipment and how I did the work, and he went out and bought a smaller machine and began doing some of the work himself, picking up clients here and there.
But in the end, perhaps it was a good thing he did, because when I found out I had to move from my big house, and didn't have someplace else to move yet, I decided to marry the gal I was dating at the time, and moved into her house.
I ended up just giving all of my accounts to this driver, but he wasn't interested in buying my type cases or machines. He only worked from large plates, like I used for the award ribbons. So all the stuff for this business got moved to my wife's house and to her basement. I still did a few orders but not many, too much going on at that time.
But the thing I learned from all of that is, although they make less money per sale, the easiest part of nearly any job is at the manufacturing end. But I still had to start my AZ-NO3 business on a shoestring, and a very short shoestring at that.
This meant I had to do nearly everything myself, from making my own bottle labels, to raising my own enzymes.
You would laugh at how I had to do the bottling at first, hi hi.
I started out with a high price for retail sales which helped me get going, and then I could add middle men without changing the estimated retail price of the product.
I only sold to a few wholesalers in the beginning, and finally picked up one distributor. This was good because he handled my wholesale accounts. He was also gung ho and brought a few overseas wholesalers in.
He too had a fairly good business going, but due to problems caused by his father, he decided to sell out the aquarium products division of his distributorship.
It was really just dumb luck that he found a top notch distributor who sold to other distributors which made him a mfgr. rep. for many companies in the aquaria business. And that is how he established himself so well. He had three distributorships he owned, and like five wholesale outlets as well, which grew to be many more over the years.
I did have to knock my price down, which is something I expected to do anyhow when I did get a mfgr. rep. it was already built into my pricing. So once we were in full swing, I was making the price per bottle I always intended on making, and someone else was handling all the warehousing and distribution.
I didn't care that he got a larger chunk than I did by buying at mfgr. rep. prices and selling directly to is own wholesalers. Thus making the small mfgr. rep. profit, as well as the distributor mark-up profit too.
It only took a couple of years with him before my job became super easy, because he only ordered in large bulk quantities.
And by doing so, I only had to do actual work of bottling and packaging like 12 times a year. Until more recently after sales began to drop a bit.
This left me free to do other things! Good thing too, because as Ruth became more and more disabled, it left me the time to take care of her. And after she died, this little tabletop business made it possible for me to get married again. This along with my real estate work on renovating houses. Which as you know 9/11 put an abrupt end to that business for me.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
You open that last commentary by saying you got lazy over the years you spend running small businesses. It's hard to see that after reading all the things you did and how you handled business affairs. I can tell you became more efficient, but lazy would be a misnomer for a description of your work.
There were more than a few businesses in which I had an interest during my working life. Practicing astrology ended up being a business of sorts but certainly was intended to be a hobby from the start. I pursued it not only because it was interesting and fit into my regular work schedule, but it also was a business where I did not have to do any selling or networking. People learned about my offerings by word of mouth and they never argued with me. In fact it often seemed like they were paying me to abuse them verbally with what I saw in their horoscopes. But, in the end it came to the same conclusion that many of your more legitimate business ventures faced. It was all repetitive, routine, and predictable. I mitigated some of that by becoming a teacher instead of a consultant. In any case, the reason I had any success at all was due to the fact that I did not have to solicit customers or create a distribution network. Selling anything sent chills down the back of my spine. I did my best work behind the scenes.
I've met a few people who run stores on places like E-Bay. They are virtual stores to be sure and they don't require the same kind of effort a brick and mortar shop demands. The shop owners I talked to did a lot of their "warehousing" over the Internet and telephone. You could buy anything you want from these people but they never touched any of the products they sell. There are no middle men either, but then they are not manufacturing anything unless we are talking about something like Etsy. Perhaps I could learn to like virtual businesses because they don't operate by traditional methods. Talk about lazy ...
There were more than a few businesses in which I had an interest during my working life. Practicing astrology ended up being a business of sorts but certainly was intended to be a hobby from the start. I pursued it not only because it was interesting and fit into my regular work schedule, but it also was a business where I did not have to do any selling or networking. People learned about my offerings by word of mouth and they never argued with me. In fact it often seemed like they were paying me to abuse them verbally with what I saw in their horoscopes. But, in the end it came to the same conclusion that many of your more legitimate business ventures faced. It was all repetitive, routine, and predictable. I mitigated some of that by becoming a teacher instead of a consultant. In any case, the reason I had any success at all was due to the fact that I did not have to solicit customers or create a distribution network. Selling anything sent chills down the back of my spine. I did my best work behind the scenes.
I've met a few people who run stores on places like E-Bay. They are virtual stores to be sure and they don't require the same kind of effort a brick and mortar shop demands. The shop owners I talked to did a lot of their "warehousing" over the Internet and telephone. You could buy anything you want from these people but they never touched any of the products they sell. There are no middle men either, but then they are not manufacturing anything unless we are talking about something like Etsy. Perhaps I could learn to like virtual businesses because they don't operate by traditional methods. Talk about lazy ...
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Some of the businesses I started were not intended to be long term at all.
I did a lot of work without the proper tools for the job, and in order to fund the purchase of that tool, I would find more uses for it and only advertise the work that used that tool. As soon as I had that tool paid for, I moved on to another job to buy the next tool.
They were not businesses per se, and often part of another business I had going, but they were jobs I didn't want to do all the time, but here and there within my own realm of what I saw my business as.
My dad on the other hand, looked at what I did a little differently.
Things we used to buy from other companies, I would find out how they were made and buy the equipment to make them, then sell them to the flower shop for cheaper than they were paying for the product, plus make some for other customers in order to pay for the equipment needed. Making the wire basket handles was one of those projects that required buying a large size spot welder and a large form bending jig, and a couple of other smaller tools.
With those tools and jigs on-site, I began making other wire-form items we purchased, like casket saddles. The one thing I didn't make was metal wreath forms because we could buy them pre-made cheaper than I could buy the wire and paint, hi hi.
I know a few folks who used to sell products on eBay by purchasing from companies who drop shipped.
And a new person who just started doing it as a sideline of their regular job.
Personally, I don't see how they make any money doing this, although they make plenty if they find the right place to advertise where they can get a higher price than what folks can get it ordering direct.
Then too there are companies who buy items in bulk and warehouse them just for those middlemen marketers who handle the sales and they do the drop shipping. Both make money that way.
I did a lot of work without the proper tools for the job, and in order to fund the purchase of that tool, I would find more uses for it and only advertise the work that used that tool. As soon as I had that tool paid for, I moved on to another job to buy the next tool.
They were not businesses per se, and often part of another business I had going, but they were jobs I didn't want to do all the time, but here and there within my own realm of what I saw my business as.
My dad on the other hand, looked at what I did a little differently.
Things we used to buy from other companies, I would find out how they were made and buy the equipment to make them, then sell them to the flower shop for cheaper than they were paying for the product, plus make some for other customers in order to pay for the equipment needed. Making the wire basket handles was one of those projects that required buying a large size spot welder and a large form bending jig, and a couple of other smaller tools.
With those tools and jigs on-site, I began making other wire-form items we purchased, like casket saddles. The one thing I didn't make was metal wreath forms because we could buy them pre-made cheaper than I could buy the wire and paint, hi hi.
I know a few folks who used to sell products on eBay by purchasing from companies who drop shipped.
And a new person who just started doing it as a sideline of their regular job.
Personally, I don't see how they make any money doing this, although they make plenty if they find the right place to advertise where they can get a higher price than what folks can get it ordering direct.
Then too there are companies who buy items in bulk and warehouse them just for those middlemen marketers who handle the sales and they do the drop shipping. Both make money that way.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I know one secret to profitability that is used by at least some E-Bay stores. They purchase fire sale items, for example, or old out of date stock for pennies on the dollar. Then they sell those items for the regular retail price and clear a fair profit. A couple months ago I bought a pair of compression stockings from one of those shops. Their price was significantly lower than the regular places I shop, so I ordered from E-Bay. I could not order more than one pair, however, but it also was free shipping. I had nothing to lose. When the item was delivered it was exactly what I wanted, but it was packaged in a box they stopped using several years ago. Obviously this seller bought a load of obsolete stock from somebody and passed the savings on to me. I don't know how they get away with the free shipping though. There must be some extraordinary deals you can make with the USPS.
And, Amazon, is just about totally drop shipping what they sell. I read about the activity in their humongous warehouses and wonder what the heck exactly is in them. About 90% of what I buy from Amazon comes from a third party. And, Amazon is making a killing doing that.
And, Amazon, is just about totally drop shipping what they sell. I read about the activity in their humongous warehouses and wonder what the heck exactly is in them. About 90% of what I buy from Amazon comes from a third party. And, Amazon is making a killing doing that.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
They are building a new Amazon Distribution Center right here in Knoxville. I'll bet just outside the City Limits though to avoid double property taxation.
Most of the things I have bought from Amazon, came from Amazon's warehouses.
The few things I've bought that came from 3rd party sellers were drop shipped and Amazon only handled the sale. I got some real crap that way, so no longer buy unless it is direct from Amazon and stocked by Amazon. That way I don't have to send it to China for a refund at my shipping cost.
Most of the things I have bought from Amazon, came from Amazon's warehouses.
The few things I've bought that came from 3rd party sellers were drop shipped and Amazon only handled the sale. I got some real crap that way, so no longer buy unless it is direct from Amazon and stocked by Amazon. That way I don't have to send it to China for a refund at my shipping cost.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I probably should change my methods, especially when shopping Amazon. When I have a need for a item, I seldom look at where it is coming from. If the price is right, I'm on it. I don't know why most of my purchases are not from Amazon direct. Perhaps that has to do with the fact that I don't buy much from them. I only had one experience returning an item I bought on Amazon, and the seller was in Georgia I believe. Amazon guaranteed I'd get my money back if the seller would not settle. I contacted the seller and he said he was bound by contract to refund my purchase, but most people deal with the manufacturer for returns. The manufacturer, it tuned out, was very interested in why I was returning the product. I had a lot to say about it in fact and none of it was positive. I ended up with a free tee-shirt, a new game on DVD, and two of the items I was dissatisfied with. I still have one of them in an unopened box. So ... it was a hassle to be sure, but it turned out in my favor.
And, by the way, if I can determine that the product is being drop shipped from anywhere outside the USA and Europe, I avoid purchasing it for exactly the reasons you note. Fortunately, I never had to return anything back to China, or Taiwan (which is where my ASUS motherboard came from).
And, by the way, if I can determine that the product is being drop shipped from anywhere outside the USA and Europe, I avoid purchasing it for exactly the reasons you note. Fortunately, I never had to return anything back to China, or Taiwan (which is where my ASUS motherboard came from).
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
After a complaint to Amazon about a product I bought which I thought was from them, not a third party, they did handle the cheaper one for me and refunded me. The seller did provide me with a return mailing label, but I would have to pay the postage.
The address to return it to for a refund was:
Shenzhen-buyshipping
BaoanquexinanjiedaeXXXX
Shenzhen, Guangdong, 51800
CN
The cost to return the item was more than the item cost to start with. So I didn't return it and contacted Amazon.
An expensive item I purchased, through which I thought was Amazon, but turned out it was a direct sale by an advertiser on Amazon, so Amazon had nothing to do with the sale. Was shipped from Kansas, expensive item, a couple hundred bucks. It did not work. Turns out, they were only an on-line catalog store for other resellers, and the item came from and was drop shipped by Wish. It wasn't worth trying to mess with returning it, and the two year warranty was useless as well.
Both of my Asus mobo's I got from our local computer store who stands behind everything they sell, even the cheap stuff.
The address to return it to for a refund was:
Shenzhen-buyshipping
BaoanquexinanjiedaeXXXX
Shenzhen, Guangdong, 51800
CN
The cost to return the item was more than the item cost to start with. So I didn't return it and contacted Amazon.
An expensive item I purchased, through which I thought was Amazon, but turned out it was a direct sale by an advertiser on Amazon, so Amazon had nothing to do with the sale. Was shipped from Kansas, expensive item, a couple hundred bucks. It did not work. Turns out, they were only an on-line catalog store for other resellers, and the item came from and was drop shipped by Wish. It wasn't worth trying to mess with returning it, and the two year warranty was useless as well.
Both of my Asus mobo's I got from our local computer store who stands behind everything they sell, even the cheap stuff.