AndyMark.pdf - The Fighting Pi
AndyMark.pdf - The Fighting Pi AndyMark.pdf - The Fighting Pi
1 out of 10 start-ups in the United States succeed and provide a return on the initial investment. -The Wall Street Journal The average small business in the United States has fewer than 20 employees. -National Census Bureau If failure is defined as failing to meet a specific projected revenue growth rate or date to break even on cash flow—then more than 95% of startups fail. -The Harvard Business School Over 48% of the Inc. 500 (500 of the fastestgrowing privately owned companies in the U.S.) started their business with less than $20,000. No one talks about the ones that are chewing through ten times that in loans and haven’t made a dime. -Boston Business Journal The rule of thumb for a new business startup is not to expect income for one full year. In our case it took three years before Andy was able to leave his full-time job as an engineer with Delphi and receive full-salary and benefits from AndyMark, Inc. Mark did not receive a salary from AndyMark for another 10 months. This meant that we worked two jobs for three years, while being active as FIRST mentors on FRC Teams, and spending time with our families. These initial three years were the most difficult time for AndyMark, and the most difficult decision was determining when Andy could leave his job at Delphi to work at AndyMark full time. We sought advice from financial advisors for help and they taught us to manage our cash flow. We created a financial model and plugged in a salary for Andy along with our other expenses and costs of goods. That helped us determine that if we hit some key sales targets we could cover an appropriate salary for Andy. Next, we implemented our plan. Our commitment to this plan was constantly tested, but our families’ support gave us the boost we needed to keep us working toward our goals. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The 2005 omni-wheels created a rough ride and were prone to bending. The later versions were much smoother-riding and stronger. This is our theory: our market is everchanging and our customers are incredibly knowledgeable about our products. We don’t wait until a product is perfect before we release it, because many times the community helps us improve them. Our customer feedback is extremely helpful, and we know we never get everything right the first time, so we stand firmly behind any product we send out. One of our best examples in this area is our omniwheel. In 2005, we introduced a very rough, bumpy wheel that we called the “Trick Wheel”. It was the FIRST wheel of its kind on the market. Our customers were appreciative that they had something to work with, although it was originally imperfect and could definitely improve. We sold many of these wheels, but we also received many comments about their poor quality and suggestions for making it better. So, we quickly revised them and introduced omni wheels in 2006. These wheels were smoother rolling and lighter, but they still had some trouble due to the lack of impact strength for the body material. In 2007, we improved the wheels again. We finally had a high quality wheel that exceeded all customer expectations. The 2004 versions of the AndyMark shifting transmission and planetary were replaced with lighter and stiffer products.
- Page 1 and 2: The FIRST Robotics Competition. It
- Page 3 and 4: FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS…. Andy Bake
- Page 5 and 6: On a mission (written by AndyMark)
- Page 7: Should your company be a LLC, or an
- Page 11 and 12: We have depended greatly on many so
- Page 13 and 14: Don’t sit back and be complacent.
- Page 15 and 16: The 2009 Woody Flowers Award Pictur
1 out of 10 start-ups in the United States succeed<br />
and provide a return on the initial investment.<br />
-<strong>The</strong> Wall Street Journal<br />
<strong>The</strong> average small business in the United States has<br />
fewer than 20 employees.<br />
-National Census Bureau<br />
If failure is defined as failing to meet a specific<br />
projected revenue growth rate or date to break<br />
even on cash flow—then more than 95% of startups<br />
fail.<br />
-<strong>The</strong> Harvard Business School<br />
Over 48% of the Inc. 500 (500 of the fastestgrowing<br />
privately owned companies in the U.S.)<br />
started their business with less than $20,000. No<br />
one talks about the ones that are chewing through<br />
ten times that in loans and haven’t made a dime.<br />
-Boston Business Journal<br />
<strong>The</strong> rule of thumb for a new business startup<br />
is not to expect income for one full year. In<br />
our case it took three years before Andy was<br />
able to leave his full-time job as an engineer<br />
with Delphi and receive full-salary and<br />
benefits from <strong>AndyMark</strong>, Inc. Mark did not<br />
receive a salary from <strong>AndyMark</strong> for another<br />
10 months.<br />
This meant that we worked two jobs for<br />
three years, while being active as FIRST<br />
mentors on FRC Teams, and spending time<br />
with our families. <strong>The</strong>se initial three years<br />
were the most difficult time for <strong>AndyMark</strong>, and<br />
the most difficult decision was determining<br />
when Andy could leave his job at Delphi to<br />
work at <strong>AndyMark</strong> full time.<br />
We sought advice from financial advisors<br />
for help and they taught us to manage our<br />
cash flow. We created a financial model<br />
and plugged in a salary for Andy along with<br />
our other expenses and costs of goods. That<br />
helped us determine that if we hit some key<br />
sales targets we could cover an appropriate<br />
salary for Andy.<br />
Next, we implemented our plan. Our<br />
commitment to this plan was constantly<br />
tested, but our families’ support gave us the<br />
boost we needed to keep us working toward<br />
our goals.<br />
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