www.the-pred.co.uk supporting T.Tech

[chris burgess]

Or should that title be the other way round?

I have spoken to Richard Weatherley, a number of weeks ago now, with the possibility of this sit/forum supporting the sale of t.tech parts and cars, plus other stuff like cells etc.

I am not sure where we are with this proposal yet, but I thought I would let you all know in the light of some comments made about t.tech support.

As soon as I am aware of what is happening fully, I will post it on here.

[DirtRacer]

Chris, you and i know you put this site soley to support the ttech cars with no direct affilliations with the company, that for me is a sound bet.

As for the company's past with providing support, i dont want to sound sceptical here but i just dont want this site to get dragged down the couldron as the memories of the past is still etched clearly in peoples minds.

However, if the company is promising change because of the concerns then i would still give it a cautious "Go ahead".

With regards supporting. I do think its the other way around. T.Tech should be supporting us, Im not talking about moneywise but incentives would be better as we're doing the ground work for them here which could be saving them revenue from employing someone full time. Just some thoughts

[chris burgess]

I hear what you are saying, that's why I though we should support them, so we don't get bound up with any company politics, or people being afraid to say what they think about the car for whatever reason.

If I do negotiate and enter into a supply agreement it will primarily be for the good of the members of this forum, if you see what I mean....

[chris burgess]

I have some news on the above topic....

seems Richard is scared of the competition! www.the-pred.co.uk can supply spares for the X10 and older preds, (subject to availability), but we cannot have a full e-shop facility to purchase them onsite. Richard has said ...

" I think if the parts are also sold on your website though, you would simply be competing with us but not really enhancing the service to drivers...."

So, what happens is this:- I can offer spares for sale but not via an e:shop

I will put something in place over the next few days that will enable this to happen, and see how it goes. Maybe not the result I was hoping for, but it is better than nothing at this moment in time....watch this space


It's all about supporting the X10 as much as possible...I may well be getting hold of a bucket load of older spares in the near future though, and they will be forsale via this website utilising paypal.....

[DirtRacer]

" I think if the parts are also sold on your website though, you would simply be competing with us but not really enhancing the service to drivers...."

Personally i think thats a little narrow, If i was running Ttech i would exploit every channel i can get my hands on to just get publicity im sure even Alex of InetRc would agree with that. Publicity is what causes interest, interest creates possible revenue?. Making it as easy as possible for people to get your products in most form or another is what secures revenue coming in?.

"People who are scared of competition can only achieve so much but those who lavish it to further improve are the ones that go on to be greater", a business lecturer once said at College. I guess richard might not be as good a businessman as he is an engineer?

[chris burgess]

It is a strange response, I agree, but to be perfectly honest I am not surprised. Don't forget if I got say, a massive 50% of his on-line business (highly unlikely) through an e:shop that I set up, he would lose say 25% profit from all of those sales. don't forget he sells them at rrp on his site, claiming the markup that a normal shop would put on the items, on top of his normal profit margin, and without the added hassle of shipping them to the shop in the first place and then waiting for the shop to pay him.....anyway, at least we have an avenue of spares availability here.

[inetrc]

It's an interesting line to look at when it comes to a small business gents. Distribution channels don't really work well for *small businesses* with low production runs or products that stand out. Most distribution channels outside of direct sales are geared more towards medium to larger small businesses looking to expand. The distribution channels are intended to increase volume, heighten product awareness, reduce manufacturer marketing costs, etc.. I don't see where this site will do all these in a viable way.

I happen to teach graduate level business classes on occassion (for fun) at University of Phoenix here in the US. This is actually a similar scenario I give in one of my management classes for student teams to ponder so I'm not blowing smoke here.

I don't believe Richard is really "scared of competition" per se... more aptly put, he is doesn't want to cut his profit margin on business he feels he already has or would already get in the future. There *is* a difference here because true competition would be him up against a substitute product.

First of all, if I were Richard, I would be hesitant to set up another local distribution channel, especially in the UK if:

(1) His primary geographical area is already the UK
(2) He expects small volume manufacturing
(3) Demand is limited
(4) He doesn't feel the additional channel will increase his production enough to make up for the discount (i.e., the adiditonal sales would need to be enough to lower his manufacturing costs due to volume and make up the 25% discount)

The only real selling point for this venue to act as a distribution channel is advertising, and you're already doing that for him for free. So what does he really have to gain by giving a quantity discount? In addition, even if you weren't around, other forums on the Internet are already giving him free advertisement by word of mouth.

One could make the arguement that you might get parts out to customers faster, but then again, for the 25% discount he would be giving you (I'm assuming 25%) he could just hire part time or temporary staff to take care of this issue.

My point here is that you don't really have incentive for him to give you any type of resale discount. What can you do to drive sales that he already can't do himself or you or others aren't already doing for free?

Now, if you were providing additional customers that Richard wouldn't have already gotten via other forums, your own forum (this is a key one!), races, word of mouth or his own advertising it might make a little more sense for Richard to establish you as a distribution channel but quite honestly, I don't see that covering his resale discount costs.

If Richard wanted to expand his revenue stream, a possible avenue would be for him to offer tracks, especially abroad where his brand may not be well known, a discount on his products.

This would encourage the track pros to use his product and if successful, will drive sales he would not have otherwise received from people at the tracks who could buy spontaneously right then and there without going home and possibly talking themselves out of it or through the advertising achieved by the pros winning races with his product.

Distribution channels help with volume (as well as delivery and service) which in turn result in lower manufacturing and other overhead costs for the manufacturer. The key is though, the volume needs to be there for the distibution channel discount to make up for itself and for a small business, this is very difficult to do.

I'm surprised Richard even agreed to allow you to sell his old spares unless he has a large stock of them that he needs to liquidate. Certainly, if he has a lot of stale stock, it'd be better for him to liquidate a quantity of them at once to you than to do it one by one through his own site. But if he has imited stock it would make more sense for him to liquidate over time via his own site.

One plausible proposal that could be made is to reach some type of agreement with Richard that would give you a referal fee or other negotiable incentive for the customers you drive to his online store. Keep in mind, you are already driving customers there for free so there still needs to be some incentive here.

The bottom line to all this still remains the same... what increase in volume are you giving Richard that he already isn't getting or can't get on his own at less than the 25% per car he would be giving you?

-Alex

[DirtRacer]

I do hope richard lives upto his word and expectations. I got so much expectations this time round than the last and i hope it works out much much longer than previous.

[DirtRacer]

OK guys, i think my statement may have been a little bit of an overstatement. I wasnt thinking of discounts or whatsover at all, i thought id make that clear.

All i was thinking was that richard uses us as means of advertising his products and perhaps now and again he could give 10% discounts on baulk orders, something like that? . I can appreciate a man has got a business to run and he has to make as much he can from it, thats never been an issue.

Alex you make some fair points but like Losi, were they not a small minute company in comparison to Associated?. Losi could'nt have made it to where they are now if they never made that leap into the big arena. How long has Ttech been on the scene? 10 years or more at least and they probably had more success than losi within the same timescale and so why are they still small?. I suppose i can answer that one myself and with a few others with the knowledge of how and why but i shall leave that issue for another day as i dont want to sound like a part pooper. But like i said. I do hope this really works out.

[inetrc]

A small company compared to Associated... but how small really? I can assure you that Losi didn't establish its product or brand by setting up their primary outside distribution channel in their backyard. Also, Team Losi and Associated are US based companies who have different distribution pros and cons than a UK company would have.

Besides, don't get me wrong... I'm not stating that distribution channels aren't needed. Certainly they are very important to the growth and success of a company. But there are many forms of distribution channels for companies to evaluate. I was merely pointing out that the specific one in question here (this site) may not be the most viable for Ttech.

-Alex

[Cooper]

I don't understand a f*** of all this economical stuff


but i'm reading...



I know that losi get's it's money out of skateboards and YoYo's ...
A friend told me (belgian 2wd champ)

[chris burgess]

I understand exactly what you mean inetrc.

This tiny little site can't offer Richard anymore sales than he would get on his own, so he has no need to offer me a big distribution channel. When I said it was because he was "scared of the competition" that was entirely tongue in cheek!

The older TTech spares that I might well be getting for resale are not coming from TTech, but possibly another source, so I will sell them as I see fit, as they will be mine to sell.

The site has probably given Richard a bit more business than we all realise, and in the future I am sure it will continue to do so. I am happy for it to do that, especially if in some minute way it means that Britain is producing a quality product within these shores.

[inetrc]

A quality product indeed. I really like the predators I have and will typically scoop them up every time I see one in like new or NIB condition. And that's from someone coming from a "shelf queen" mentality since I don't actually play with any of the toys I own. But judging by their past history of winning races, I can only imagine they are even better being driven!

The truth of the matter here is that sites such as this give small companies good free advertising/marketing. If the product wasn't quality, I'm certain you wouldn't have started your site to promote it or keep it alive. If a company appreciates the amount of work and the free publicity they have benefitted from you, a token of appreciation would be the right thing to do.

I get the feeling from the few emails I have received from Ttech (once they got their server problems behind them) that Richard Weatherly would understand this. He seems like a nice gentleman.

-Alex