The Fab Store: Difference between revisions

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*User-requested products

*Custom designed products

[[File:Thingaverse - Tic Tac Gun - by 3DPatriot.png|alt=A 3D printed "Tic Tac Gun." The "clip" is an upside-down box of Tic Tacs. The orange plastic gun has a lever to load the Tic Tac and a trigger to shoot it.|thumb|Not just repairs. The Fab Store can make and sell items like the "[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4883696 Tic Tac Gun].~~" One~~ of millions freely available ~~designs~~ for 3D printers.]]

[[File:Thingaverse - Tic Tac Gun - by 3DPatriot.png|alt=A 3D printed "Tic Tac Gun." The "clip" is an upside-down box of Tic Tacs. The orange plastic gun has a lever to load the Tic Tac and a trigger to shoot it.|thumb|Not just repairs. The Fab Store can make and sell items like the "[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4883696 Tic Tac Gun]," found on Thingaverse. It's one of millions of designs freely available for 3D printers.]]

===Pre-fabricated Products: Discover the Next Rubik's Cube===

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At some point, enough demand builds to support mass manufacturing. That's when you become the brand leader in the new product space.

[[File:2023-10-01 xx2dgkhdxv3i.jpg|alt=Tubes of toothpaste with a small, round device with a knob is attached to the bottom of the tube. In the background are examples of the device standalone.|thumb|The [https://makerworld.com/en/models/30246-ratcheted-toothpaste-tube-squeezer Ratcheted Toothpaste Tube Squeezer] solves the age-old problem of extracting the last bit of toothpaste from the tube. Could this be a hot selling item in Fab Stores?]]

[[File:2023-10-01 xx2dgkhdxv3i.jpg|alt=Tubes of toothpaste with a small, round device with a knob is attached to the bottom of the tube. In the background are examples of the device standalone.|thumb|The [https://makerworld.com/en/models/30246-ratcheted-toothpaste-tube-squeezer Ratcheted Toothpaste Tube Squeezer], found at MakerWorld, solves the age-old problem of extracting the last bit of toothpaste from the tube. Could this be a hot selling item in Fab Stores?]]

The Fab Store network contains the collective wisdom of all Fab Stores on which items sell and which are duds. You decide which products are ready for the big time (mass manufacturing) through this collective data.

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===Custom-designed Products: Giving the Customer Exactly What They Want===

Customizing a user-requested product opens up a consulting revenue stream for the Fab Store. The user brings in a design that they would like to improve in some way. Maybe it's putting their name in the design. Maybe a certain part of the item needs to be larger. Maybe they want to combine two designs. Fab Store experts have the skills to create unique designs for customers who can pay for the expert's time.

[[File:3D Printed Split Flap Display.png|alt=A Split Flap machine created with a 3D printer. The display has 10 characters and can show both letters and numbers.|thumb|3D printed parts ~~can~~ combine with other standard parts, like motors and Arduinos, to make some pretty amazing products! This [https://www.printables.com/model/69464-split-flap-display split-flap display] from Printables is a great example.]]

[[File:3D Printed Split Flap Display.png|alt=A Split Flap machine created with a 3D printer. The display has 10 characters and can show both letters and numbers.|thumb|3D printed parts combine with other standard parts, like motors and Arduinos, to make some pretty amazing products! This [https://www.printables.com/model/69464-split-flap-display split-flap display] from Printables is a great example.]]

==The Fab Store Network==

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The online repair process needs to meet numerous requirements, some in conflict with others. Requirements include:

*'''Easy process for anyone''' The UI should be approachable. It shouldn't overburden the user with ~~require~~ details they might not have or might not apply to their item.

*'''Easy process for anyone''' The UI should be approachable. It shouldn't overburden the user with required details they might not have or might not apply to their item.

*'''Collect as many details as possible''' An accurate estimate is based on an accurate assessment. Some items can't be repaired at all. The customer should feel good about their decision to send the item in. The Fab Store Network should engage the customer in a phone call if we can't offer a good prognosis from the data collected online

*'''Customers should regularly see Fab Store products in the experience''' The physical stores display products to draw in window shoppers. The online experience should also offer window shopping. The small-scale manufacturing revolution waits. Fab Stores should be a part of it from the beginning.

==Starting Out==

The vision is a Fab Store everywhere you might find a 7-Eleven, multiple Fab Shops supporting the stores and the Fab Store Network. You first need to get it off the ground, though. Here are some thoughts on starting small and scaling up to the global fabricating repair cafe behemoth it is bound to be!

The vision is a Fab Store everywhere you might find a 7-Eleven, multiple Fab Shops supporting the stores and the Fab Store Network supporting the whole operation. You first need to get it off the ground, though. Here are some thoughts on starting small and scaling up to the global fabricating repair cafe behemoth it is bound to be!

~~Online Repairs~~ and ~~Sales~~

=== One Building Does It All at First ===

I envision the first location as a Fab Store, Fab Shop and Fab Network all in one. This won't be a neighborhood shop. It'll be in a light industrial zone where the rent is cheap and we're permitted to use all the equipment.

~~One Building Does It All~~

For local customers, we'd still have a friendly storefront at the location, complete with pre-built products in the window. The back of the store is sealed off from the front so that noise and debris doesn't enter the customer area.

==Obstacles==

At this stage, we are prepared for business from local customers. However, I expect most of our customers will find us online until the neighborhood shops open.

=== Online Repairs and Sales ===

Bringing a broken item into a Fab Store and talking it over with a repair expert is the ideal customer experience. With only one location in an area with little foot traffic, we can't depend on in-person revenue. We need the worldwide reach of the Internet.

The Fab Store web site/app makes the experience easy and effective. It walks the customer through the assessment process, giving the repair staff enough details to provide an estimate. The customer then sends in the item. We can send a prepaid label and/or box to make shipping even easier.

The Fab Store site mimics window shopping too. Items presented while using the site draw customers into the shopping side where they get lost in a see of fun and unique items.

The shopping web site even offers build-on-demand items that we don't need to keep in inventory. Just build and ship it on request when a customer orders it.

=== Marketing ===

We're creating a new market- Neighborhood stores repairing a wide-array of previously unfixable items. Building an entirely new market requires more effort than entering an existing market. It takes time and a lot of marketing to create awareness about the new service.

We will need marketing to educate potential customer on what we do. We'll need to understand who our early customers are and target them with advertising.

Since we're in a new space using cutting edge technology, we're likely to get a lot of free publicity through media outreach. Those interviews and articles tell the public about the market we're trying to create and our brand will be forever associated with getting it off the ground.

=== Host Repair Cafes and Makerspaces ===

Hosting free repair cafes and renting makerspaces is another way to get the word out, bring in some revenue and recruit talent. Let's loot at each.

==== The Best Repair Cafe Ever ====

Traditional repair cafes are free and hosted by community members. They happen infrequently and are limited by the tools, talent and supplies available to the repair event.

Fab Stores could donate their time on a regular basis for community repair cafe events. We'd be much better equipped and experienced than a volunteer-run repair cafe.

If the item can be fixed by labor alone, the repair is free. We would charge for any standard part required for the repair. If the item requires a custom-made part, we'd charge the customer full price for the repair.

We'd encourage volunteers to help with repairs. Then possibly offer them a job with the Fab Store.

Repair cafes bring people into the store, making them familiar with what we do and how capable we are at doing it. Awareness of our brand follows.

==== Makerspace for Rent ====

Most cities have community makerspaces where the public can build things on the same kind of equipment found at Fab Shops. We could rent this equipment to bring in revenue. This would also bring in the city's makers, some of whom might make great employees.

A typical community makerspace has 3D printers, CNC machines, sewing machines, painting supplies and more. A Fab Shop has all this equipment. And ours is better and more modern than most equipment offered at community makerspaces.

It would make most sense, I think, to rent by the job. Send us the design electronically, along with payment, and we'll print out the items. The customer would come into a Fab Shop to pick it up when complete.

While I wouldn't expect a large amount of revenue from one-off jobs like these, it offers a tremendous recruiting opportunity. We will want to snap up those rare people in the community with both 3D printing and CNC skills!

==Obstacles and Risks==

=== Creating a new market ===

=== Machine speeds ===

=== Part costs ===

=== Repair costs ===

=== ROI for Equipment ===

=== Finding/Training Talent ===

==Conclusion==

@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
 *User-requested products
 *Custom designed products
-[[File:Thingaverse - Tic Tac Gun - by 3DPatriot.png|alt=A 3D printed "Tic Tac Gun." The "clip" is an upside-down box of Tic Tacs. The orange plastic gun has a lever to load the Tic Tac and a trigger to shoot it.|thumb|Not just repairs. The Fab Store can make and sell items like the "[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4883696 Tic Tac Gun]." One of millions freely available designs for 3D printers.]]
+[[File:Thingaverse - Tic Tac Gun - by 3DPatriot.png|alt=A 3D printed "Tic Tac Gun." The "clip" is an upside-down box of Tic Tacs. The orange plastic gun has a lever to load the Tic Tac and a trigger to shoot it.|thumb|Not just repairs. The Fab Store can make and sell items like the "[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4883696 Tic Tac Gun]," found on Thingaverse. It's one of millions of designs freely available for 3D printers.]]
 ===Pre-fabricated Products: Discover the Next Rubik's Cube===
@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
 At some point, enough demand builds to support mass manufacturing. That's when you become the brand leader in the new product space.
-[[File:2023-10-01 xx2dgkhdxv3i.jpg|alt=Tubes of toothpaste with a small, round device with a knob is attached to the bottom of the tube. In the background are examples of the device standalone.|thumb|The [https://makerworld.com/en/models/30246-ratcheted-toothpaste-tube-squeezer Ratcheted Toothpaste Tube Squeezer] solves the age-old problem of extracting the last bit of toothpaste from the tube. Could this be a hot selling item in Fab Stores?]]
+[[File:2023-10-01 xx2dgkhdxv3i.jpg|alt=Tubes of toothpaste with a small, round device with a knob is attached to the bottom of the tube. In the background are examples of the device standalone.|thumb|The [https://makerworld.com/en/models/30246-ratcheted-toothpaste-tube-squeezer Ratcheted Toothpaste Tube Squeezer], found at MakerWorld, solves the age-old problem of extracting the last bit of toothpaste from the tube. Could this be a hot selling item in Fab Stores?]]
 The Fab Store network contains the collective wisdom of all Fab Stores on which items sell and which are duds. You decide which products are ready for the big time (mass manufacturing) through this collective data.
@@ Line 139: / Line 139: @@
 ===Custom-designed Products: Giving the Customer Exactly What They Want===
 Customizing a user-requested product opens up a consulting revenue stream for the Fab Store. The user brings in a design that they would like to improve in some way. Maybe it's putting their name in the design. Maybe a certain part of the item needs to be larger. Maybe they want to combine two designs. Fab Store experts have the skills to create unique designs for customers who can pay for the expert's time.
-[[File:3D Printed Split Flap Display.png|alt=A Split Flap machine created with a 3D printer. The display has 10 characters and can show both letters and numbers.|thumb|3D printed parts can combine with other standard parts, like motors and Arduinos, to make some pretty amazing products! This [https://www.printables.com/model/69464-split-flap-display split-flap display]  from Printables is a great example.]]
+[[File:3D Printed Split Flap Display.png|alt=A Split Flap machine created with a 3D printer. The display has 10 characters and can show both letters and numbers.|thumb|3D printed parts combine with other standard parts, like motors and Arduinos, to make some pretty amazing products! This [https://www.printables.com/model/69464-split-flap-display split-flap display]  from Printables is a great example.]]
 ==The Fab Store Network==
@@ Line 320: / Line 320: @@
 The online repair process needs to meet numerous requirements, some in conflict with others. Requirements include:
-*'''Easy process for anyone''' The UI should be approachable. It shouldn't overburden the user with require details they might not have or might not apply to their item.
+*'''Easy process for anyone''' The UI should be approachable. It shouldn't overburden the user with required details they might not have or might not apply to their item.
 *'''Collect as many details as possible''' An accurate estimate is based on an accurate assessment. Some items can't be repaired at all. The customer should feel good about their decision to send the item in. The Fab Store Network should engage the customer in a phone call if we can't offer a good prognosis from the data collected online
 *'''Customers should regularly see Fab Store products in the experience''' The physical stores display products to draw in window shoppers. The online experience should also offer window shopping. The small-scale manufacturing revolution waits. Fab Stores should be a part of it from the beginning.
 ==Starting Out==
-The vision is a Fab Store everywhere you might find a 7-Eleven, multiple Fab Shops supporting the stores and the Fab Store Network. You first need to get it off the ground, though. Here are some thoughts on starting small and scaling up to the global fabricating repair cafe behemoth it is bound to be!
+The vision is a Fab Store everywhere you might find a 7-Eleven, multiple Fab Shops supporting the stores and the Fab Store Network supporting the whole operation. You first need to get it off the ground, though. Here are some thoughts on starting small and scaling up to the global fabricating repair cafe behemoth it is bound to be!
-Online Repairs and Sales
+=== One Building Does It All at First ===
+I envision the first location as a Fab Store, Fab Shop and Fab Network all in one. This won't be a neighborhood shop. It'll be in a light industrial zone where the rent is cheap and we're permitted to use all the equipment.
-One Building Does It All
+For local customers, we'd still have a friendly storefront at the location, complete with pre-built products in the window. The back of the store is sealed off from the front so that noise and debris doesn't enter the customer area.
-==Obstacles==
+At this stage, we are prepared for business from local customers. However, I expect most of our customers will find us online until the neighborhood shops open.
+=== Online Repairs and Sales ===
+Bringing a broken item into a Fab Store and talking it over with a repair expert is the ideal customer experience. With only one location in an area with little foot traffic, we can't depend on in-person revenue. We need the worldwide reach of the Internet.
+The Fab Store web site/app makes the experience easy and effective. It walks the customer through the assessment process, giving the repair staff enough details to provide an estimate. The customer then sends in the item. We can send a prepaid label and/or box to make shipping even easier.
+The Fab Store site mimics window shopping too. Items presented while using the site draw customers into the shopping side where they get lost in a see of fun and unique items.
+The shopping web site even offers build-on-demand items that we don't need to keep in inventory. Just build and ship it on request when a customer orders it.
+=== Marketing ===
+We're creating a new market- Neighborhood stores repairing a wide-array of previously unfixable items. Building an entirely new market requires more effort than entering an existing market. It takes time and a lot of marketing to create awareness about the new service.
+We will need marketing to educate potential customer on what we do. We'll need to understand who our early customers are and target them with advertising.
+Since we're in a new space using cutting edge technology, we're likely to get a lot of free publicity through media outreach. Those interviews and articles tell the public about the market we're trying to create and our brand will be forever associated with getting it off the ground.
+=== Host Repair Cafes and Makerspaces ===
+Hosting free repair cafes and renting makerspaces is another way to get the word out, bring in some revenue and recruit talent. Let's loot at each.
+==== The Best Repair Cafe Ever ====
+Traditional repair cafes are free and hosted by community members. They happen infrequently and are limited by the tools, talent and supplies available to the repair event.
+Fab Stores could donate their time on a regular basis for community repair cafe events. We'd be much better equipped and experienced than a volunteer-run repair cafe.
+If the item can be fixed by labor alone, the repair is free. We would charge for any standard part required for the repair. If the item requires a custom-made part, we'd charge the customer full price for the repair.
+We'd encourage volunteers to help with repairs. Then possibly offer them a job with the Fab Store.
+Repair cafes bring people into the store, making them familiar with what we do and how capable we are at doing it. Awareness of our brand follows.
+==== Makerspace for Rent ====
+Most cities have community makerspaces where the public can build things on the same kind of equipment found at Fab Shops. We could rent this equipment to bring in revenue. This would also bring in the city's makers, some of whom might make great employees.
+A typical community makerspace has 3D printers, CNC machines, sewing machines, painting supplies and more. A Fab Shop has all this equipment. And ours is better and more modern than most equipment offered at community makerspaces.
+It would make most sense, I think, to rent by the job. Send us the design electronically, along with payment, and we'll print out the items. The customer would come into a Fab Shop to pick it up when complete.
+While I wouldn't expect a large amount of revenue from one-off jobs like these, it offers a tremendous recruiting opportunity. We will want to snap up those rare people in the community with both 3D printing and CNC skills!
+==Obstacles and Risks==
+=== Creating a new market ===
+=== Machine speeds ===
+=== Part costs ===
+=== Repair costs ===
+=== ROI for Equipment ===
+=== Finding/Training Talent ===
 ==Conclusion==