Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: truecountry on February 22, 2011, 07:50:50 PM
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This is has been in my mine for years on doing my own thing ... but i want to sell a product im not scared to stand behind ... my first thing is to own one and run it and see how it does and treatment . number 2 how would be the best way to transport a owb and set it .. i see some offer basic package deal and owners has to dig trench .. number 3 how much do i invest ... please feel free to pm me if you like too
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I saw a trailer for sale in the "Indiana Auto and RV" books that was set up like an LP tank trailer with an overhead trolley and chainfall for lifting and setting the OWB.Wasn't rocket science and could be easily built by anyone with some good fab skills.You could own whatever you sell ,but the companys make more than one style and size stoves so I don't know how you would know all the qwerks of each model.
I am no dealer,but have heard of some of the headaches from some other dealers.I find this OWB market as a neat prospect.If I was in a position to build enough of them,and make a profit I would do it.
With energy cost set to sky rocketas propsed this year I imagine a well thought out business plan could make some nice profits.
Good luck :thumbup:
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The dealer I bought mine from had an old truck with a cherry picker mounted on it. The truck had a flatbed on it and could have carried at least a dozen OWB's on it. He could precisely place a OWB within 20' of the truck. Pretty slick setup...
You can get the trucks like that for $8-$10k used.
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Yeah get you a knuckle boom truck ,and then when your not delivering OWB you could pick up logs to take home >:D
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Hey! just remember its not always a cake walk , try dealing with some people at times some of them will make ya think why did I ever get in business and remember some people cant even fill their own gas tanks imagine them running a stove.Not trying to kill your dream but make sure if your going to invest your money you dont want to go in with blinders on.
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I had thought of doing the same thing back in 2000 or so and quickly realized everything was biased to the manufacturer. I took the risk and they took the money. Margins on sale of stoves alone is not very high. Yet you are the guy an unhappy customer comes looking for when they have a problem. If you could afford to get into being a distributor, that would be a different story, I think. There are just so many companies out there all claiming theirs is the best, and most will sell factory direct, so you gotta be careful there too. Every stove/ operator has their quirks. I am not sure most people have the patience to learn all their is to manually maintaining their level of comfort in their home either. My advice would be to get your own, or build it, and figure out another business venture.
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This is what I use. I built it myself.
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Ok I see everyones point... but my wife and her family ownes a furniture and hvac business for 40 years .. Business is a lil slow and im trying to help by adding something
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I am in the HVAC business also. That was part of my decision not to be a dealer. I did not want to take a chance on tarnishing reputation that my father had built up over 40 years at the time. I would be more inclined to let the customer buy their stove from whomever, and just offer an install service( trenching, exchanger install, ,etc.). You still make your money and warranty of unit is solely on the manufacturer. Your only warranty would be to the work you perform.
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This is what I use. I built it myself.
That's almost identical one I seen for sale here.Nice looking trailer
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The key to being a dealer is completely understanding the product you are selling and being able to move a lot of product. You really have to look at the first year or two as a learning experience. To be honest there are many things to do out there that will result in much better pay. But if you are like me I enjoy selling a product that saves people money and allows me to be my own boss.
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I have been a dealer for two full years now and starting into my third year. I carry a full time job as an engineer so the wood boiler sales is a hobby business. I enjoy selling wood boilers but the biggest problem I face is affording the insurance. I have to carry 1 million of liability, insure my backhoe tractor and insure my truck and trailer.
I sell Nature's Comfort wood boilers and have no problem with warranty coverages. Yes, you will get some customers that are never happy but in general most of my customers are quite please with the wood boiler's performance.
Going into my third year I hope my only expenses are insurance and gas for my truck. I do have my own web site and do some advertising but not a lot. I am now starting to get more quotes from potential customers that seen a wood boiler from my old customers. I also hoping for more sales this year because the price of corn and gas are going up!