The Zone-10 darkroom is going live this weekend! (cheers, balloons, whistles)
We've got a couple customer rolls to process, along with a few dozen
of my own rolls. Next weekend, we've got contact sheets to make for
several hundred customer negs. So, we're off to a decent start.
Both daughters are stepping up to the plate and taking an active roll
in this. DD#1 is working on back-office and marketing issues and DD#2
is helping with darkroom construction. We've got a lot of work to do,
but we made the decision to get this thing launched now and do what we
can until we need the big enlarger. With the business coming in, the
last thing we want to do is wait any longer.
It looks like we're going to contract with at least one large camera
store for their outsourced B&W, which is running up to a half-dozen
rolls per week. Not much, but we don't NEED much. If we can average
six customer rolls a week with contact prints, and a half-dozen
enlargements, we're actually going to be hitting our revenue targets
for Year #1. Oh, and a couple rolls scanned.
Which is probably a realistic target. Who knows for sure. I believe it
is important to get into digital contact negatives as quickly as
possible, as that will be another revenue source.
The biggest issue that we're going to be dealing with is rightsizing
the business. I know there is enough business out there to keep us
busy, but we're wanting to find the time/demand balance which won't
negatively affect the family. There isn't enough business to run this
as a full-time commercial operation. There most certainly isn't enough
business to leverage anything. We're cash-flowing this thing only.
I was asked if we're going to be offering E-6. I WOULD offer it in a
heart-beat, but I don't have a processor. I will NOT buy a processor.
The ROI just isn't there. But if a lab were to donate one to the
cause, I'd do it. Cost per roll is OK if I only have to cover my time
and materials, however, it would be impossible to cover the cost of
the equipment.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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