3D Printing Business Partnership?

[romels33]

Hello all,

The business idea is not from me, but rather from a good friend of mine who is thinking of starting a 3D Printing business and has asked me to partner with him in return for equity. Basically, he would like to build 3d printers (yes, you can do that now, I have personally built 2 FULLY FUNCTIONAL printers) and sell them on the market. He would also offer to sell parts and other 3d printing services, similar to what Shapeway provides. He wants an online store which I will develop for him and as well as a "small" investment money to help him get off the ground. I don't know much about business in general (yet), but I do know 3D printing and have been doing it now for a few years as a hobby. Mainly, I just print simple things like small toy objects for my daughter or whatever objects I find interesting on thingiverse.com. He (friend) however, is more business savvy and more comfortable on the ins and outs of running a business.

My concern is that in my opinion, 3D printing is a very tight competitive market. I think this is because the technology has not reached the stage of "commercialization" (I think that's the best word to describe it.... ) and maturity yet. In other words, I don't think that the 3D printers available in the market today are really targeted for the general consumers. It is primarily targeted for nerds (like myself lololol ) and other businesses who would or may have a use for such a device (jewelry makers, product development and prototypes, etc). Although the 3d printing technology (FDM) has been around since the mid 1980’s, I just don’t see it as a common household item yet, like our common and traditional inkjet/laser 2D printers.

Most 3D printers require a lot of technical knowledge to operate and maintain (3D modeling and design, beyond basic circuitry knowledge, software, etc). Yes, there are printers out there already hitting the market being labeled as "user-friendly". These printers can run and print your object by simply uploading your 3d model, feed it some filament and press a single button and walk away entirely. The problem with these however, is that when they break and the warranty has expired. Often, the users would have to literally figure out how to take them apart and buy the correct parts for replacement. Not to mention how much these "user-friendly" printers cost, many of which are priced from $1,500 and up.

So overall, I’m not entirely sure if it’s a good idea at this point. However on the other hand, 2D printers were the exact same way few decades ago, and look at them now…. =) It has become a common house hold item, along with computers. I just don’t want to lose out on the opportunity, but at the same time, it seems a little risky for me…. =)

I’m hoping someone can shed some light in to this, preferably someone who is in the same position or something similar, or knows 3d printing in general. What would you do? Thanks for the time and input.

Romel

[turboguy]

Without knowing what exactly you have in mind I would be a little cautious. I have the impression you are planning to build what I could call a homeowner model and that market seems to be rather difficult. Both Stratus and 3 D Systems seem to have struggled in that market. Some of that was with technical glitches such as happened with the Cube printer but it is more that it is just a tough market to enter. The established players have a lot of marketing muscle and if they can't pull it off than you might find it more challenging than you expect. I will agree, they are easy to build but just keep in mind if the market does develop the Chinese manufacturers will come out with something just as good at a fraction of the cost.

[romels33]

That's exactly what I was thinking too! =) The Chinese models are so cheap now days that it is almost impossible to compete with them. Building the RepRap machines are easy indeed but buying the individual parts have to be bought offshore (China) and then would have to be bought in big bulks I assume right?

[Harold Mansfield]

IMO unless you're buying or building a high end machine that can do industrial designs, modeling, and manufacturing that it's a waste of time. Designers do need services from 3d Printers that can do that kind of large scale work. Big companies already have them, and anyone with a few hundred to a few grand can buy a desktop model now.

So who would be your market and will you have the kind of equipment that can service them?

[romels33]

Agreed, thanks for the reply. So you think it would be better to take the time to build a different kind of printer then? Something that is more on the "high-end" scale that can do commercial quality? There are also some of those in the market already (or at least that's what they claim). I may just stay out of this one..... =) I'll build his site though, since I'm his friend and all... =) Thanks

Romel

[turboguy]

If you could find some niche to enter it might be worth while. They make 3D printers that make chocolate and they make some that do sand castings for foundries. If you could find some niche where there is a need and no one filling it then it might be worth while.

[Harold Mansfield]

You really have to investigate what people need and then fill that need. Or come up with an original idea or application like Ray mentioned above.
Be someones solution, not just swing wildly hoping to find a market.

[romels33]

Thanks for the reply. I've seen those too and even tried to build a reprap model for me that would extrude clay. The major problem for me was the extruder and configuring the firmware. Thanks again, but for now, I think I'll stay out of the "partnership" deal =)

Romel

[Owen]

Ahhh I remember my days trying to create a 3D printer. Paul remembers too