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Breed41

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Thinking of starting a cue repair business.

Ill be doing the normal repairs (tips, ferrules, dent removal, cleaning, etc)

Having trouble figuring out what tips to buy for a starting inventory.

I looked at the Ozone most popular list.

I know Kamui and Moori are popular in my area, not sure about others.

What do you guys buy or keep on hand as far as tips go? What sort of quantity and type?

Just trying to get an idea.

I had considered buying a box of cheap tips (LePro for example ) , maybe a few medium price tips and then a few high end tips.

Thanks
 
Breed41 said:
Thinking of starting a cue repair business.

Ill be doing the normal repairs (tips, ferrules, dent removal, cleaning, etc)

Having trouble figuring out what tips to buy for a starting inventory.

I looked at the Ozone most popular list.

I know Kamui and Moori are popular in my area, not sure about others.

What do you guys buy or keep on hand as far as tips go? What sort of quantity and type?

Just trying to get an idea.

I had considered buying a box of cheap tips (LePro for example ) , maybe a few medium price tips and then a few high end tips.

Thanks
Click to expand...


Do you have a lathe?

do you have experience?

I have probably 25 diffrent kinds of tips, At one point i spent more on my tip stock than my lathe might want to think of that.

Shaft cleaning materials, ferrule material, wax, razor blades, glues, maintnance arbors the list goes on and on youll need at least 5k if you dont already have a lathe, and even then it would still be easy to spend 5k if you did have a lathe.

How deep down the rabbit hole do you really want to go?

I guess if you hate your money its a good business to be in.:sorry:

honestly tho just get a part time job at a gas station the pay will be higher and more consistant:thumbup:
 
Of course there will be differing opinions but the determination as to whether you 'make it'
or not will be based on more than a few random opinions.
What is your location? Is there demand in your area for your services?
What is your skill-level? Do you intend to support a family based solely on your income?
Do you currently have any debt? Can you manage a business and it's associated costs?
If any of the above raises a 'red-flag', how long can you go without eating?

Starting a business is easy, you find a need and you fill it.
If there's no 'need', you're wasting your time (& money).
Why would someone come to you rather than the established C-Tec?
Desire alone is not enough. You would have to be at least as good as or better.
Consider also that there may be only so much business in your area,
so now you and the established C-Tec both will be working for less money.
You can't make people spend money they don't have. Location, location, location.

Doing some routine maintenance on your own cue is one thing.
Working on other people's cues makes you liable.

I don't mean to paint this too heavily with the doom & gloom brush.
But the fact is, you are going to have to have some talent or skill in what you want to pursue.
Desire is not enough. Starting from scratch is a tough row to hoe.
I'll admit, there is a buck to be made in repair but only if you have the skills required.
If you read this forum long enough you'll find that many felt as you do, buy a lathe & do repairs.
After a year or so of a gallant attempt, many of those lathes are offered for sale here.
What happened???
There are many reasons why someone fails but mostly it's because desire & intent weren't enough.
A solid footing, both financially and intellectually are paramount.
If you can't stand to miss the money, don't bet it.

KJ
 
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All kamui
All ultra skin and oinkers
Samsara break tip
Madman jump/break tips
Everest
G-10 and phenolic rod
Juma, Titan, and Aegis rod
 
Thanks for the input everyone.

I will be purchasing one of Todd's lathes.

I plan on building this business slowly and as I have other sources of income, I do not need to support myself or anyone else with it.

My location is near charlotte NC. There is a huge APA presence here. There are also some other leagues in surrounding counties. A rather large pool playing population.

I have a local pool hall where I am friendly with the owners. I am in talks with them to use part of their space to have a very simple pro shop. If it doesn't work out I have room at home for my equipment.

There are cue repair people around although no one has much of a formal presence in my immediate area.

I have some ideas around combining the repair business with a pool room maintenance service (cleaning tables, balls, cues, simple repairs,etc). Fortunately I can be pretty flexible with my schedule and the time to build a business. If they do not work then I will stick with just repairs.

As for start up funds I plan to begin with about $1000 invested in all starting equipment and inventory and supplies. If I find a niche I will be happy to invest in more sophisticated equipment. If not then so be it

I have retail management and customer service experience that should enable me to under promise and over deliver on my customers expectations. As for a niche, that's a good question. I think my niche will be as simple as being committed to my customers satisfaction. Not treating them as a paycheck but a relationship. That's important in business and I see it missing from many cue repair businesses.

In any case my business is mostly on paper so far and thus its cost me nothing other than time to research and plan. If it continues to look viable I will pull the trigger!

Thanks everyone!
 
Following behind what KJ has mentioned.

I hand tipped my cues for some time. After I found this site, I knew that I would eventually have a lathe and all the goodies.

If you don't already, the first things you should have in your inventory is Chris's book and dvds. Also Joe Barringer's dvd set.

When I first found this site, I scoured the archives and copied as much as I could into text files that I knew would be handy to reference at a later date.
I still do.

When I do a system back up on my PC, the first folder that I back up is my Cue Info folder. If I lost that one, I would kick myself in the butt for the rest of my life. Its backed up on several different types of media.

First Deluxe. I worked on my own cues, cheap EBay cues and house cues long before I hung my Shingle out and let people know that I would do repairs.

As KJ said, once you touch someone else's cue, you are now liable.
Also, it is your reputation hanging in the wind.

My first job was a cracked butt cap. Pretty easy but I also had to make a thin maple ring for it too. Glad it wasn't any fancy ring work or I would have been up a creek.

People saw my first job, as simple as it was and gave me many compliments. I was on my way, like it or not. Yep, it was a nervous part of my life now that I was committed. I still had lots to learn and still do. My wife figured at times that I should have been committed for all the money I spent, and still spend.

So, to make a short story long, as I am famous for, don't be in a huge hurry to hang that repair sign on your back door. Lots of time for that.

Ya know, as easy as the makers make it look to replace a tenon, a ferrule, butt caps, plugs etc, on the Repair, Building and UTube vids, it takes several before you become comfortable with your ability to do them.

Remember, it is your Rep on the line out there. A couple of bad deals and you aren't going to get any further business. Bad news travels fast.

Take your time and practice.

OK, I started off with Elk Masters for the soft tip guys and snooker players. Also making my own Milk Duds.

Le Pros and Triangles for the cheaper non layered tips.

Mooris and Everest. For the die hard fans that like them.

Wizards
Emeralds
Talisman
California 5 layer tips, approx $1 each for people that would like a layered tip. I can install these considerably cheaper.

Super Pro tips that people seem to like, myself included for break tips
Mad Man break and jump tips.
I press a few Le Pros and Triangles as well. They work great.
Phenolic and now G 10 for the die hards.

Now, the above mentioned tips sit lonely in their boxes for the most part as I mostly install, Ultra Skins and Black King tips.

I have received great feed back from people that are using them so no need to tie up a large amount of money other than a couple of popular
brands.
 
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Blue Hog ridr said:
Following behind what KJ has mentioned.

I hand tipped my cues for some time. After I found this site, I knew that I would eventually have a lathe and all the goodies.

If you don't already, the first things you should have in your inventory is Chris's book and dvds. Also Joe Barringer's dvd set.

When I first found this site, I scoured the archives and copied as much as I could into text files that I knew would be handy to reference at a later date.
I still do.

When I do a system back up on my PC, the first folder that I back up is my Cue Info folder. If I lost that one, I would kick myself in the butt for the rest of my life. Its backed up on several different types of media.

First Deluxe. I worked on my own cues, cheap EBay cues and house cues long before I hung my Shingle out and let people know that I would do repairs.

As KJ said, once you touch someone else's cue, you are now liable.
Also, it is your reputation hanging in the wind.

My first job was a cracked butt cap. Pretty easy but I also had to make a thin maple ring for it too. Glad it wasn't any fancy ring work or I would have been up a creek.

People saw my first job, as simple as it was and gave me many compliments. I was on my way, like it or not. Yep, it was a nervous part of my life now that I was committed. I still had lots to learn and still do. My wife figured at times that I should have been committed for all the money I spent, and still spend.

So, to make a short story long, as I am famous for, don't be in a huge hurry to hang that repair sign on your back door. Lots of time for that.

Ya know, as easy as the makers make it look to replace a tenon, a ferrule, butt caps, plugs etc, on the Repair, Building and UTube vids, it takes several before you become comfortable with your ability to do them.

Remember, it is your Rep on the line out there. A couple of bad deals and you aren't going to get any further business. Bad news travels fast.

Take your time and practice.

OK, I started off with Elk Masters for the soft tip guys and snooker players. Also making my own Milk Duds.

Le Pros and Triangles for the cheaper non layered tips.

Mooris and Everest. For the die hard fans that like them.

Wizards
Emeralds
Talisman
California 5 layer tips, approx $1 each for people that would like a layered tip. I can install these considerably cheaper.

Super Pro tips that people seem to like, myself included for break tips
Mad Man break and jump tips.
I press a few Le Pros and Triangles as well. They work great.
Phenolic and now G 10 for the die hards.

Now, the above mentioned tips sit lonely in their boxes for the most part as I mostly install, Ultra Skins and Black King tips.

I have received great feed back from people that are using them so no need to tie up a large amount of money other than a couple of popular
brands.
Click to expand...

Thanks Blue
Great advice here as has been the case in the entire thread.

Ill def take on some early easy jobs and take my time.

I have been buying super cheap cues from eBay and Craigslist as well. Fig I can practice on them and maybe resell if they turn out ok.
 
Breed41 said:
Thanks Blue
Great advice here as has been the case in the entire thread.

Ill def take on some early easy jobs and take my time.

I have been buying super cheap cues from eBay and Craigslist as well. Fig I can practice on them and maybe resell if they turn out ok.
Click to expand...

Breed,

The journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step.

Enjoy the journey and take your time.

Make sure that you are doing the tasks perfect before you start taking money. Once people know you are expert at the work, they will come. If you do some "so so" work they will talk and they won't come.

Good luck to you,


Rick
 
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I was in your shoes a few months ago, here is my post similar to yours.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=311124

If you plan on spending $1000, double that! LOL Feel free to hit me up with any questions, beginner to beginner, we may stumble upon something! :) I love Todd's lathe, lots of support and he's all over it with advice and answering your questions.
 
As far as what tips to keep in stock I would ask around your local room and get an idea of what the players are playing with first. I have noticed that room to room tips change. Generally the lower players ask the better players what they are playing with and mimic that. I would start there. Ask them what ferrules they are using as well. No reason to buy titan ferrule material if they use juma and hate titan. Do your research at your pool room first and expand from there. I have so many different tips with different hardness in each one that its hard to keep up with. I would get an organizer bin with the pull out trays and label them for each tip and hardness. Nothing like going to that tray and be out of med and not know it because you have your softs and hards mixed with the meds. Once you get all of their info add some of the other popular tips you can think of in smaller qtys so you dont have so much capitol out there sitting. If you are going to do wraps be prepared to get your other wallet out. Leather wraps, wrap jigs, irish lining and so many different colors gets expensive. Not to mention collar material and butt material. There are plenty of suppliers to choose from so check them out for pricing. Cue Components runs some type of special every month on something so sign up to get the emails. As always beware of Ebay. Make sure you are buying from good people. Lots of fake tips on there. Good luck
 
One recommendation: perhaps it has already been mentioned... If not, I use oversized tips 13.5 or 14 MM. They are easier to apply center and trim... IMHO
 
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