how start yurt business

[yurtowner]

Hey guys,
I am new here, not sure if its right to post my thread here.
I love yurt and like the way of living in it, last year i've build my own

yurt workshop

and make some yurts, after tested they are not bad.
But its a pity till now all the yurts are still in my stock, i do not konw where i can find buyers, so any suggestions:
1.Where you guys will find yurt sellers, so i can try some ads there?
2.Who will be yurt customers? Campsite owners? People who love yurts?
3.What will be the most be considered before make decision of buying a yurt?
Price? Brand? After sale service?
4.Will that be problem that my workshop is located in CHina
Any comments will be appreciated.

[Jafo]

Welcome to the forum.

Originally Posted by yurtowner

1.Where you guys will find yurt sellers, so i can try some ads there?

Since you are just starting, I would consider selling local first. It is probable that you will have to modify your design a bit and offer more service on your first models more than later. Is there some place you can set up a display that would create a buzz in your community? I would also consider selling at a discount at first so you can learn more about your market.

Originally Posted by yurtowner

2.Who will be yurt customers? Campsite owners? People who love yurts?

People who fancy sustainable living and "green" products. Yes, campgrounds too.

Originally Posted by yurtowner

3.What will be the most be considered before make decision of buying a yurt? Price? Brand? After sale service?

Price is usually a big one. You also have to consider climate. Will it be going to a place with a lot of snow for example. Service is VERY important. If you do not support the product, you will have a very short yurt business.

Originally Posted by yurtowner

4.Will that be problem that my workshop is located in China

If you can locate good, reputable importers to deal your product in whatever region you want to sell to, you should be okay. I would still recommend you sell a few locally to work out any bugs and learn what it takes to package/ship something as large as a yurt.

[yurtowner]

Thank you Jafo,
That helps a lot, will try local market. At first i was considering because the yurt we made are more nontraditional people may prefer tradition mongolian yurt, and the production costs is higher than tradition yurt so the market may not that good. But you open a door for me, i will try to do some promotions to see the react and anywhere we can update.
Thanks

[Bob Rowlands]

Mongolian style felt and canvas covered trad yurt and American type yurt are somewhat different in components, size of parts, and ease of assembly/disassembly. Trad yurt is more likely to be moved and is generally smaller than an Americanized yurt at 24, 27, and 30'. Easy set up and take down of 6 meter and smaller yurts is key to good nomadic design, and less expensive to build.

Repeating what Jafo just said, build a couple yurts and sell them. This will give you an idea of what it takes to make some money supplying the market with yurt. Keep in mind your labor and costs will drop as you gain useful experience making the yurts. Skill is key to being productive and keeping your cost low and competitive is very important.

Good luck.

[Great Lakes Yurt Co.]

Coming from someone who literally just started a Yurt Kit building company in the last year. We started by building one Yurt for a documentary that a friend of ours was filming. It went well enough to be used for 7 months and we learned a ton by building that first yurt and seeing what worked best and what did not work while it stood up under normal weather conditions. Then we had enough people check it out that we got some interest to sell a couple pretty low cost to friends and family, and from there we realized we had a great model/template and decided to start selling them online and broaden our market. We've been able to start building up a nice customer base so far through a website and social media on top of attending different festivals and events. The demand for Yurts is out there so my advice is to just build it and they will come Good luck and following the advice of Jeff and Bob will get you a long way!