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All companies have older assets that work but become unutilized over time because of changes in customers, products or other marketplace events. Sometimes these assets sit unused and hold potential sales if sold in a different and unique manner. Try a different approach to start your idle machines.
Try to start a new company with similar asset needs. Approach an entrepreneur program at your local university and ask if there is interest in starting a company to sell products made using your company’s idle machinery. If there is adequate scrap that could be used for material and the company will agree to sell the products at an internal cost, a group of students could start a business. This allows the entrepreneur group to buy at cost (as if they were the manufacturer), identify a market and sell and retain the profits while they learn how to start and ultimately run a successful company.
Steps to sell time on idle machines:
- List idle machines: Identify the machines that are idle for manufacturing or producing product. Example: (Total Available Hours = Total Hours (24/7) – Hours Running/Producing). If this is more than 20% (you pick the cutoff), put the machine time up for sale. Last Resort; if you really do not know the unused machines you own ask your scheduler because he rarely uses them and will tell you in a few seconds what you need to know to get started.
- Develop a plan of potential products from your scrap. Develop a business plan of products that can be made with these particular machines and then sold on the market. This plan identifies the products, selling price, internal cost of the company (guaranteed for one year), the distribution network for the products and the business net profit goal of the group.
- Set up a business, possibly through a university business school. If profitable and viable, the business can be set up permanently as a company with full time employees in the future. This new firm can negotiate and sign contract agreements with the company covering internal costs for the identified products desired and the identification of the idle assets and their potential production opportunities to make product for sale.
- Feature this venture on your website. This project could be featured on the website with video and a full description of the products offered by this university led company. Your buyers would enjoy this participation by the company in the community and the university would appreciate the opportunity to start a viable company.
- Why do any of this? Nearly all firms generate some type of scrap or leftover material, have unused equipment during the month and possess a few hours a month that can be donated towards the creation of a new beneficial company helpful to the community. Your firm should do this because the attention to your good efforts will spread through your customer base giving you wonderful PR. You probably could not spend that much money if you wanted to in order to generate this level of goodwill in the community because of your involvement with your local university.
