At least 5 million rubles will be needed to produce the first batch of skateboards. The cost of manufacturing one skate is from 500 rubles. The payback period of the skateboard business is at least 1.5-2 years.
Skateboard market
According to the International Association of Skateboard Manufacturing Companies, the number of people who are addicted to this sport in America alone is over 10 million. About one million dollars worth of skateboards, accessories and equipment are sold in America over one day. In popularity, skateboarding ranks first among other extreme sports, leaving behind snowboarding, rollers and BMX bikes.
This hobby came to our country very late. The first skateboards appeared in the USSR in the early 80s. And only in the early 1990s after the release of American films about famous skateboarders among Russian youth on the screens of movie theaters, a craze for skateboarding began. At first, boards were produced at military factories. But in quality, they were significantly inferior to Western-made skateboards. It was impossible to perform complex tricks on them, as domestic boards quickly broke.
The second boom in the popularity of skateboarding began after 1995-1996, when young people were able to travel abroad. And only in the 2000s, specialized shops for selling skateboards and everything necessary for riding on them began to open in Russia, competitions were actively held and the first professionals appeared. In 2007, the first Russian company producing skateboards under the brand name "Union" began its activities.
Meanwhile, this market in our country is still far from saturation. This is partly due to the difficult economic situation in 2008-2009, when almost all specialized publications devoted to skateboarding were closed, many skateparks and skateshops were forced to cease their activities. Over the past three years, experts have noted positive trends in this segment. According to their forecasts, by 2015 the demand for high-quality equipment for extreme sports will increase sharply again.
The vast majority of skateboards (also called decks) for skateboards are made of wood (mainly Canadian maple, less often Chinese maple, bamboo, etc.) and glue. However, some models are made of composite materials, aluminum, nylon, plexiglass, fiberglass and other artificial materials. Laminated wood boards vary in shape, depending on the purpose of the deck and the manufacturer. The reverse side of the deck is usually decorated with "design" - the so-called drawing on the back of the board. On most models, the pattern is stamped industrially. On exclusive boards, it is drawn by hand.
Skateboard pendants are made of aluminum or other metal (steel, brass and other alloys), in rare cases - of nylon. Skateboard wheels are made of polyurethane (synthetic polymer).
Low-cost models of skateboards are assembled at the factory and go on sale in a "finished" form. However, most models of the middle and high price segment are sold literally in parts - deck, suspension and wheels separately. The buyer himself collects the model he needs as a designer. In addition to all of the above, a complete set requires bearings (usually they are made of metal) and special Griptape paper. It is sold in a large piece (wider and longer than the deck itself) with a rough layer on one side (like sandpaper) and a sticky layer on the other. Griptape sticks on top of the board, preventing slipping.
Skateboard production
Most domestic skateboard manufacturers produce their products abroad. Creating your own production of boards is unprofitable. And the point is not so much the price of the equipment (although it is also expensive, because the skate consists of several parts from different materials, each of which is produced separately), but rather the technology and the rather high cost of labor in Russia.
The production process looks like this:
- Each individual maple wood board undergoes special processing, which allows you to divide it into several thin layers (as a result, plywood is obtained). In this form, the raw materials are delivered to the dec. There it is stored in rooms where a certain temperature and humidity level is maintained. Violation of storage conditions will make the material unsuitable for production.
- Sheets of plywood are stacked manually in an adhesive machine. In this machine, each plywood layer is coated with a water-based adhesive designed specifically for working with wood.
- Then the plywood sheets are numbered and sorted depending on the direction of the wood fiber, the thickness and the layer to which it goes. One board usually consists of seven layers of plywood. The first, second, fourth, sixth and seventh layers are made of material with longitudinal fibers (from the nose to the back of the deck), and the third and fifth are made of material with transverse fibers. The stack is stacked in a mold (mold), consisting of two parts and located inside the hydraulic press. Using this template, the nose and back of the board are raised (bends, which are also called concaves from the English concave). From 5 to 15 dec. The time of their stay under it is from several minutes to several hours. The longer the deck is under pressure, the better the wood will be glued and the stronger the board will be.
- After that, eight holes for mounting suspensions are manually drilled in each board.
- Then the board with the drilled holes using a saw is given the desired shape in accordance with the approved sample. Each deck is sanded with sandpaper and coated with paint or varnish. All these procedures are carried out manually.
- After the board dries up, a drawing is printed on it by a machine method (recently, a laser has been increasingly used for this). Each color is applied manually. Once the paint is completely dry, the deck is ready for shipment.
Of course, the deck - although this is the main component of a skateboard, is still not a finished product. Suspension and skate wheels are made separately. First, from one of three materials (wood, plastic or clay), the master makes a sample of the future pendant. This is necessary for the production of cliches, with the help of which, in turn, a mold is created from sand, clay and water. Aluminum ingots are heated in a furnace at a temperature of 707 degrees Celsius and melted. Liquid aluminum is poured into the mold through a special hole. After cooling and hardening of the metal, the mold breaks and individual parts of the suspension are extracted from it, which are then subjected to heat treatment. After that, the parts are ground, polished, and then holes are drilled in them.
Finally, workers manually assemble each suspension from components (including linings, nuts, washers, bolts) and pack them in separate boxes.
Wheels for skateboards are produced in a similar pattern. First, in special machines, two polyurethane components are heated and mixed in certain proportions. The higher the temperature during processing, the better the quality of the finished product. Raw materials for low-quality products are mixed at room temperature. Under the influence of high temperature, polyurethane becomes liquid. At this stage, if it is intended by design, color pigment is added to it. The resulting mixture is poured into aluminum molds (if high quality polyurethane is used, it is heated again).
After cooling, the billets of the wheels are removed from the mold manually and laid out on the conveyor belt. About 300 units of production are produced per hour. The shape of the resulting workpiece is attached on a lathe. Decoration of the wheel (if provided by design) is a semi-automatic process. The image is digitally transferred to the film for the manufacture of plates with photo-etched parts. The image from the plate is transferred to the wheel using a special printing machine. Then the wheels are packed and sent to the warehouse.
Skateboarding is one of the most traumatic sports. Therefore, it is so important to carefully monitor the quality of your products. Any detail of the skateboard that does not meet the accepted quality standard can lead to serious consequences, both for the health of your customers and for your business.
The main expense items in the production of skateboards
The main expense items for the production of skateboards under its own brand are: development of models, search for a factory for production (it is advisable to visit your chosen factory to evaluate the quality of its products), production, delivery, sales, advertising and promotion itself. The main buyers and users of skateboards are young people aged 14 to 25 years.
Advertising products for such a target audience using traditional advertising methods (print media, radio, television) is inefficient. It is best to use non-standard methods of promotion (mainly on the Internet on specialized sites, forums and in social groups), sponsor various events - skateboarding competitions, and cooperate with skate shops (shops for skateboarders). When drawing up a business plan, be sure to include the costs of promoting your products within the first 12 months.
When a brand becomes recognizable and popular, skate manufacturers begin to produce their own line of sportswear, shoes and accessories on their own or in collaboration with other companies.
For the production of the first batch of skateboards, at least 5 million rubles will be needed (and even when placing small orders in third-party production). Go ahead and search for distribution channels. The cost of manufacturing one skate is from 500 rubles. Retail prices for the budget model start from 1000-1500 rubles. Good semi-professional skateboards cost at least 2000-2500 rubles at retail. The payback period of the skateboard business is at least 1.5-2 years. Consider the seasonality factor. The peak of sales falls on the period from April-May to September-October.Sysoeva Lilia
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