Hello Guys,

   I am new to the forum (although I have frequented for about a year now).  I finally decided to sign up so I could ask this questions, so here goes......

   I currently sell granite in a few particular markets.  I sell some pretty decent volume for these markets and I contract all of the work out to one fabricator.  I currently get 20% of the total plus anything else I can sell (sinks, tile, etc).  By the time I pay for my advertising and overhead, that 20% dwindles down to about 5-10% profit.  I have gotten to the point where I wish to start expanding out to other markets, but I have some concerns.  Because I have only dealt with one fabricator for all of this time, I am a bit gunshy to line up some new fabricators, mainly because my limited experience with other fabricators has shown me that they don't seem to understand why I have to retail it for cheaper than them.  It doesn't make sense for me to send clients to a shop where that shop can undercut my pricing, causing me to lose the client.  I guess what I am posting for is to get a feel from fabricators on this board to see what your feelings on this matter are.  From my standpoint, I feel that fabricators should have no problem cutting a good deal for a job as they pay absolutely nothing until they collect money from the client.  Sure, you're not making as much per job, but it's free work and they are still making about 2/3's of what they normally make.  Any thoughts (good or bad) would be greatly appreciated.  If you currently have kitchen dealers working for you, can you let me know how that works for you and what the normal pay seems to be and do they sell at your price, higher or lower?

Thanks in Advance

Doug- a lot of guys that do not personally fab Natural Stone take the same approach that you have done when they first start doing slab work, and eventually - they always wind up where you're at now... getting the smallest "piece of the pie".....

At this point - IMHO - You are EITHER going to have to:

1. find a second and/or third fabricator source that will allow you to get a
larger percentage of the proceeds from each project that you sub out...

OR.....

2. negotiate a better deal with your present Fabricator....

OR.....
 
3. start "Fabri-mi-cating" Granite for yourself - IN HOUSE....

Since by your description you already HAVE the skill sets and experience in countertop
fabrication in other disciplines - It would seem to me that you could transition into
fabricating Granite without as many "hiccups" as say - a guy that was totally new to
our Industry....

Just remember that - like other disciplines (Solid Surface, Laminate, etc) SLAB Fabrication
is not rocket science - yeah, it DOES have it's own set of idiosycrancies (sp?) - but at
the end of the day - it sounds to me like you could be successful at Granite fabrication too...
you'll need some practice of course - but you COULD do it pretty easily.

Since you already HAVE a decent market in your area - you are that much ahead of the
curve - you have the demand - now you just have to decide how you're going to meet "it"

you have come to a great source for info and advice here at FabNet - and I'm sure that there are othes here
that will chime in with their own personal wisdom "nuggets" to share with you too....


my .02 cents worth

hth

kevin

Thanks for the reply Kevin.  I have tried my hand at fabrication and it definately wasn't for me.  My background is in sales, not construction.  I sold alot of business, but couldn't manage my guys correctly and lost alot of money.  I currently sell about 10 kitchens per week in a market where most are lucky to sell 2, but mainly because I reach out to other markets.  I guess what I am trying to determine is what a fair percentage should be from the fabricator.  If every fabricator had the means to get the business that I get, we wouldn't have shops going out of business every month, so I figure most have to see the value in the service I can provide for them.  It just seems very difficult to get fabricators to offer me a better price than their regular retail price.

Hello Doug,

I must start by saying, we are not allowed to talk in an open forum about price or percentages.

We can talk about business practices which I think is where you are at this point. I would first determine what the retail cost for a granite countertop is in your area. what I mean is you need to go price shopping for a given countertop with exact dimensions. You could even price shop your current fabricator. You will need to have someone do it for you because they will obviously know you.

After you get a legitimate price for retail, you will then need to go find what a few fabricators will do it at a wholesale price as if you sold the job and acting as the dealer.

Doing all this will give you REAL examples rather than comparing your cost to your retail price. You may be selling low retail so the markup just isn't there.

Shop around for another fabricator. I know if you brought me 10 kitchens a week, you would get a great price.

I can tell you too Doug - that IF you brought ANDY 10 JOBS A WEEK - not only would his prices to you be good - the work would be impeccable and his service would be 1st class!!! Are you in the SoCal area??? If so - call Andy.. hth Kevin

Doug,

I have the same business model, but only 3 kitchens/week. All of the fabricators I have worked with want to raise the price after a honeymoon period (10-20 jobs).

I guess fabricating my own jobs is the only route that will work long term. But I have no experience and warry of the overhead...

Kevin, tell me more about your school. I am in Phx.

Posted By Kevin Padden on 24 Feb 2010 05:18 PM
I can tell you too Doug - that IF you brought ANDY 10 JOBS A WEEK - not only would his prices to you be good - the work would be impeccable and his service would be 1st class!!! Are you in the SoCal area??? If so - call Andy.. hth Kevin

The good thing about my business model is that I can go to any market anywhere in the U.S.  In fact, I'm adding some markets now.  Where at in SoCal are you Andy?  I may be very interested in starting something in Cali.

Mrjones785- pm sent...

Posted By Dougpromo on 25 Feb 2010 12:08 PM

Posted By Kevin Padden on 24 Feb 2010 05:18 PM
I can tell you too Doug - that IF you brought ANDY 10 JOBS A WEEK - not only would his prices to you be good - the work would be impeccable and his service would be 1st class!!! Are you in the SoCal area??? If so - call Andy.. hth Kevin

The good thing about my business model is that I can go to any market anywhere in the U.S.  In fact, I'm adding some markets now.  Where at in SoCal are you Andy?  I may be very interested in starting something in Cali.

Yes, I am in Southern California by the Disneyland area.

How much did you guys spend setting up your granite fabrication shop. I'm concerned about water and air filtration taking up a ton of cash

We actually bought ours when we purchased another granite shop. He was going out of business, so we just bought all the tools we wanted for a set price. Couldn't tell you what it cost individually.

I have actually seen some pretty clever systems where the water is just pumped into tanks and over time the sediment settles to the bottom. That water is then pumped into another tank to be used. I am sure it is not the cleanest water, but on a budget, it should get you by for awhile.

Air filtration is actually a non-issue if you are wet cutting everything like you should. Water recycling can be as easy as a settling pit depending on machinery specs and water needs.

If you are seriously considering starting up a stone fabrication business I would suggest joining the Stone Fabricators Alliance. Dues are around $200 for the year but that allows you access to members only forums and workshops across the country.


http://www.stonefabricatorsalliance.com/

I would also suggest checking out AZ School of Rock. I have not personally attended but I've heard good things about it.


http://www.azschoolofrock.com/AZ_Sc.../Home.html

Thanks for the kind words Brian!!!!