Building cages as a business

Hey I thought this particular post would go well in this forum, as it seems there are a lot of professionals here. I'm currently in college pursuing a business degree, and I'm relatively happy with it, however I don't want to waste away in a career that is meaningless and mind-numbing for me. Constructing things and using my hands is something I truly enjoy, and I wish to make a business of it, possibly one day employing several people on a large scale. One thing that came to mind was building reptile cages and accessories, but I wasn't sure of the demand surrounding such a business.

All in all, I want to know if there is a market for this. I've seen AP and other companies that carry custom built cages, but I guess I just wanted to make sure. The last thing I want it to go into an industry where there is no demand.

Thank you for whoever responds :)

Oh there’s a market, and it’s in-demand....but like any other type of business you’re talking about a very large initial investment required to stay competitive and even get your foot in the door. You would NEED a cnc router or machining center + software, plus CAD and CAM programs, plus materials source (WAY harder to find affordable CDPVC sheets than you think). I’d say conservatively you’d need $100k bare minimum to start...and I program cnc’s all day every day if you’re wondering about credentials.


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At the moment demand is pretty high because if you order a new enclosure you will have to wait up to six months for delivery. The businesses that have failed start out undercapitalized, overpromise and under-deliver (or never deliver). Just like any other business, if you want to succeed then start small, don't borrow more than you can afford to repay (I understand how to leverage debt but if you extend too far you end up BK), and ship a quality product by the delivery date.

As a side gig custom enclosures would make money. Do you have a shop or large garage? Build a couple standard sizes (T8 or the like) an sell them.

So minimal tools would be tape, routers, tables, table saws, hand saw, fill an bits. Then you need the material, good luck with that part!

If you can do this you could make money if your price is lower then AP or your in stock. Think small shows with ten cages on the floor.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ly-built-cages

Good luck!

One thing. What’s your time worth? If it’s $35 hr an your hand building pvc cages. A T8 is $165 before heat an lights. Can you even touch it ?

Labor costs suck! Waste from hand building adds another 20% easy.

If you contract a slow cabinet shop to make them you’d be set. Then sell at shows. I looked into it but the shop is backed up with orders till 2022.

Good luck!

While I admire KevinK's shock and awe market domination strategy...a CNC would be great but an enclosure is a very simple structure and with good quality fixture/jigs you could pump out enough cages to see if this is going to take off for you without a great deal of investment.

To manufacturer, you will need a quality router, a drill, a table saw capable of handling full length material and the capability to design/build manufacturer your own jigs. A jig is a fixture made to attach to a raw sheet of material that will guide your router(or drill) so that it can't stray off course. You will need them for door openings, recessed channels, screw hole guides and such. Search: wood working router jigs and go to images...look at how they fixture wood (or whatever) to guide the router.

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Originally Posted by bns

While I admire KevinK's shock and awe market domination strategy...a CNC would be great but an enclosure is a very simple structure and with good quality fixture/jigs you could pump out enough cages to see if this is going to take off for you without a great deal of investment.

To manufacturer, you will need a quality router, a drill, a table saw capable of handling full length material and the capability to design/build manufacturer your own jigs. A jig is a fixture made to attach to a raw sheet of material that will guide your router(or drill) so that it can't stray off course. You will need them for door openings, recessed channels, screw hole guides and such. Search: wood working router jigs and go to images...look at how they fixture wood (or whatever) to guide the router.

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“Simple jig”.....so now you’re talking custom jigs and a very expensive table saw to handle that much abs in 4x8 sheets all day + routing and tooling. Also, how much time are you dedicating to building a cage with that setup by the way? Animal Plastics runs cnc’s and can’t keep up with their own demand. You planning on building a handful of cages a week or something? It all goes back to production numbers? Are you doing this as a business or a hobby?...because if In doing it as a business I’m not screwing around with a table saw and a hand router. No way.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by KevinK

“Simple jig”.....so now you’re talking custom jigs and a very expensive table saw to handle that much abs in 4x8 sheets all day + routing and tooling. Also, how much time are you dedicating to building a cage with that setup by the way? Animal Plastics runs cnc’s and can’t keep up with their own demand. You planning on building a handful of cages a week or something? It all goes back to production numbers? Are you doing this as a business or a hobby?...because if In doing it as a business I’m not screwing around with a table saw and a hand router. No way.


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Well sir 'simple jig' is relative to one's experience and I mean no disrespect but IMO there is nothing even remotely complicated about the jigs or the work needed to make plastic enclosures (There was a time before CNC and I was there). A 1000 dollar table saw is a drop in the bucket compared to what you are talking about...:confusd:

I've made my own enclosures and about a hundred custom tanks. I build, maintain, modify, repair and design industrial packaging and process equipment. Have designed and built custom ventilation systems. I've done all this before CNC was even remotely doable for small business and I currently program and operate CNC machines...wrote programs and executed them today.

I'm entirely confident that I could manufacture 5 enclosures (4x8) in a short day. If I had orders for 150 tanks a month I still wouldn't run out and buy 100K worth of CNC machines. If I really wanted a cnc routing machine cable of handling 4x8 sheets of plastic I could do it for less than $10k.