Originally Posted by
Moonlighter
One of the big reasons why many people go with the factory built plateys from larger manufacturers over the small operators is a little but hugely important word:
RISK.
Risks fall basically in 2 areas, and you have to consider the likelihood of those things happening and then the consequences if they do.
HUMAN CAPITAL DEFICIENCIES
- the small one-man operator may not have the human capital in the business to continue in the event that a key individual has a serious injury or health issue or death, resulting in the business disappearing or, at a minimum, major delays for the customers
- limited to recruit and retain suitably qualified staff or replace them if they leave, or to ramp up production if customer orders increase (read - delays and waiting time for the customers blow out)
FINANCIAL CAPITAL DEFICIENCIES
- the small builders may not have the financial capital in the business to properly finance a professional operation
- may not have the $ to buy or maintain the latest equipment or invest in training
- may require purchasers to finance the boat during the build process, and the consequences are either that the customer loses their money, or if the customer defaults, the business is stuck with a boat that was built to one person’s specific requirements and may not be easy to quickly sell to someone else.
- while they may be excellent trades people, that doesnt mean they will be good business or financial managers.
- may be unwilling or unable to afford to invest in professional services of people like naval architects to ensure their designs are safe and seaworthy, and that the designs can be drawn up in CAD programs and then computer cut to a degree of accuracy that they can never achieve otherwise.
On Ausfish we have seen numerous examples of plate builders who have come and gone and often reappeared only to do it all over again due to one or more of the above risk factors coming into play. The consequences are almost always that customer loses out big time.
The evidence is that the larger “factory” builders are better placed to deal with all of these risk factors, as they have necessarily invested in both the human and financial capital to run a large operation.
All of that leads to confidence for the customer that the business will deliver the product ordered, and be there to support it post purchase.
I remember dealing direct with Surtees for my boat (at the time they had no Qld dealer so I dealt direct with the factory mainly by email and imported it myself).
I paid a very small deposit AND PAID NOTHING FURTHER until the boat was finished and I had detailed photos sent to me to show that it was built exactly as ordered and was ready to be loaded into the shipping container. I received progress photos as the job went along.
I also knew that at Surtees, one person builds every boat, so there is a high degree of personal pride and commitment that goes into every boat. The builder puts their initials on the boat under the duckboards as a mark or their pride.
So Surtees are not a typical production line operation like the big Aussie alloy builders.
The risk to me of the whole project was very low, and the process made me feel quite comfortable as a customer.
So in many ways in can all depend on what the risk assessment people call the customer’s RISK APPETITE. In short, how much risk you are prepared to tolerate to get the result you are after.
sex on water... i thought they were a 77k boat now people are mentioning 100k?
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