What is it that you think your company would bring to the table that would set them apart from the existing companies, jw?
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Don't listen to these naysayers. If you have thought it out and give it your best shot, you might make it. Lots of people told Fred Smith that the Fed Ex idea wouldn't work either.
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Nine in the pit with the Tenpin left standing. dooooh!!

Just think, Track was started in a man's garage in Ohio before being bought by Columbia 300 and moved to Texas!
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"Train a child up in the way they should go and when they are old they will "Get MOTIVated, and not turn from it and become a bowling VISIONARY who sees a striking future.
Bruce Campbell
USBC Bronze Certified Coach
IBPSIA Certified Technician
Originator of the -35deg x 25 leverage drilling!
http://www.900global.com/
http://www.amf300.com/
http://www.motivbowling.com/products/2/
http://visionarybowling.com/?cat=4

When Richie Sposato started Lane #1, he basically just had the diamond core idea in his head and took it to all the major manufacturers. Columbia and Brunswick agreed to pour a ball for him, and later Brunswick poured balls for them. If you are truly serious, get some good CAD software and get core designs. Gather up some money and parade them around to all the major manufacturers and see if they'll pour a few for ya, or even better sign a contract to manufacture balls through them. If you're really driven and offer something different that sets you apart, you might be able to make a name for yourself. You will never sell with the likes of Brunswick, Storm, Ebonite, etc. But look at companies like Motiv and 900 Global. They've just recently gotten into the game by comparison and are making a pretty big impact. Granted they have some big pretty big named players in the industry designing balls and/or running the companies, but it proves there is still room for more balls out there.

I like the early lane 1 concept. In that of getting one or two core deigns and letting the cover be the difference.

People get really hung up on cores because the manufactures have to sell new bowling balls. When you compare most of the newer bowling ball core numbers with older ones you see a lot of the specs are not much different. Many companies re-use cores with different/newer covers because it will work and doesn't take a lot of R&D to do it.

Ebonite is one that I like with reusing the Puma core in a lot of newer equipment. The V2 series had the proven Nitro core in them and they were awesome. Plus by just adjusting the density you can alter the core numbers to make it stronger or weaker for different covers.
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" men lie, women lie, numbers don't "

You need a USP - a resaon why people should want to prefer and ideally buy your stuff, whatever it is. Even a small company can survive, if the idea and argument is good and finds its niche.

Lanemasters used to have the massive balls with industrial diamonds as particles. That's an USP, but they neglected it IMHO, probably due to cost reasons.

MoRich used to have the most aggressive core designs, concerning high mass bias cores, paired with solid Brunswick covers. Other manufacturers caught up, though, and MoRich seems to be in a re-orientation phase, which IMHO leads to mediocrity at the moment. I guess they over-did their USP...

And then Lane#1 - marketing genius, keeping the myth of their core designs and the price tags up.

There certainly IS a niche for everything, but you have to find it, and keep up with the ever-changing market conditions. Good luck!
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DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany

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