BUILD A BELLOWS BUSINESS

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As you've probably guessed, your aim will be to propose a swap: You'll volunteer to clean up the mess for the pleasure of carting it away! Many shop owners will jump at the opportunity to see the eyesore disappear. And if anyone seems hesitant, you might offer to trade the whole pile for one of your finished bellows. Finally, if you encounter an individual who insists upon getting some cash, make a laughably low bid for the stuff. I've never had to pay more than $5.00 for a pile of material (and that was for a scrap heap big enough to produce 40 "blowers"!).

Then, as you head for the door with your treasures, ask if you can buy a bunch of decorative upholstery tacks. Most shops have box after box (each typically holding 1,000, which is enough to decorate over 20 bellows) of the fancy fasteners ... in every style and color imaginable. A proprietor will probably sell you a box at (or a little above) wholesale. I've found that the brasscolored metal tacks (in size 1 or 2) are particularly good for use on most bellows, and a whole box of them will usually go for about $10 or $12 ... which is approximately a third of the cost of buying them by the card at the hardware or variety store. In fact, if the upholstery folks take a shine to you, they'll often throw in a handful of standard 1/2" carpet tacks (another necessity) for almost nothing!

Your next stop should be the best "bargain" hardware store you know of. Pick up a quart of contact cement (or a gallon, if you're really counting on a lot of business). Don't buy the little 4-ounce bottles ... their cost per ounce is high, and they'll cat up your profits in no time!

With that out of the way, you have yet another obligatory stop ... at the largest retail/wholesale plumbing or air-conditioning supply house in your area. Tell the folks there that you make and sell bellows, and that you want their best price for 1/2" X 1/2" male-to-male compression pipe couplers and 1/2" brass flare nuts. These items are used to make decorative nozzles for your blowers, with next to no manufacturing time required on your part. Get one coupler and one flare nut for every bellows you plan to make. Insist, too, on the classy-looking "extended" flare nuts with the smooth, finish, as shown in the photos. (You may want to comparison shop for these . . . I've found them priced from 39c to 95c apiece.) Male-to-female air nozzles intended for spray equipment will also serve as handsome tips for your blaze blowers. And, once again, it never hurts to ask about the possibility of a trade ... you'll be surprised (and pleased!) to discover how interested people become in bartering once they find out what your product can do!

Finally, while on your way home, drop by a few secondhand stores and check out their supplies. I've paid as little as 104 each for nozzles in trash bins, and good, old leather from wrecked or junked furniture or cars can be found, too. But only take quality materials ... because your customers will know-and appreciate-the difference.

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