Overview
As of 7th January 2021 I will be operating as a sole trader under the name Prints Focian.
I will be offering life-size hardware replicas of iconic swords and other items from various forms of media; intended for display or cosplay purposes. Having spent years crafting these items for personal entertainment, they are now of a high enough quality to make this venture a possibility.
Other avenues I’ll be exploring once my foundations are set:
- – 3D digital files
- – Small scale finished models
- – Unprocessed “build your own” kits
- – Custom 3D modeling
- – 3D Printing service
One of the unique selling points of this whole enterprise will be visibility. You will have the capacity to see every step from an item’s inception to the purchasable product or file.
Origins
This journey started with buying a 3D Printer back in 2016 to make outer layers for the simple little robots I was making while learning some of the basics of Arduino micro controllers. A flimsy excuse, but I really wanted a 3D Printer! Cool swords and props were far beyond my skill level at the time, and I needed to spend a while making simple things first.
I got a little help with direction when someone I follow commented on searching for something that they couldn’t seem to find anywhere from a series of books I love. I gave it a whirl at making and the result was something I was exceptionally happy with!
The recipient was also very happy with the crown and offered to pay. Rather than setting a price and sending it off, I sent it off with the request to make a voluntary donation of any amount to a specific good cause. This kicked off some much-needed warn ‘n’ fuzzies inside and began a precedent for how I would engage with item creation over the subsequent few years while learning the craft. It was literally win/win/win. I level up my craft, someone gets an item they want and a good cause gets a financial boost. What’s not to love!?
Ongoing
The next step is where I am right now as I type this: the jump from making this something I do in spare time to an actual, real, maybe-even-profitable small business. While there is an ever-present goal to improve my skills and make cool stuff, knowing the work I was doing was helping others was essential for motivation! I am looking to continue this approach in some format. While I may not be looking at systematically sending out items on a voluntary donation basis anymore, I am setting up a small (to begin with) monthly donation to come from my business bank account for a local charity. As well as doing some good, this should keep me motivated to ensure there is always money coming into that account.
As someone who has often followed the path of least resistance through life, rarely knowing, let alone reaching for what I want, I have absolutely no idea what the next part of the journey looks like! But that matters little, launching this venture represents a manifestation of actual desire: This is what I want to do. I have no idea how tough it will be, or if it is even achievable for me, but outcome be damned, it’s time to try.
Pursuit of this nature is not without obvious risk. Being respectful of this risk and how it fights against the very enthusiasm required to make this work is a difficult value to have any foresight on. I’ll need to learn-while-doing and be specifically conscious of areas I am clueless in.
Financially speaking, I have a day job and am privileged to be able to just about ends meet. Starting this will require investment from my main income, and I do not see that changing for a long time. Realistically speaking, it may be a long time before I am able to generate revenue with my work, and longer still until the business pays for itself.
With this in mind, I’ll be taking a few steps:
First, as much as I would truly love to, I have no current intention of leaving my safe full-time employment too soon. Treebeard told us not to be hasty, and I for one listen to talking trees when they yield advice. As soon as I safely can, yes! Before then… nope.
Second, all of the stuff I make I really love. If this all goes hideously wrong and nobody wants these cool swords and stuff? That’s fine! My walls look more badass for it! Same with the hardware, even if it doesn’t become instrumental in any professional manner, it’s still all hardware I want!
I will be trying to grow this safely and sensibly, No make or break, no sink or swim. Persistent effort and work over a long period of time. I don’t need to try and grab a star and overreach, I’m just looking for my little corner of the internet where I make things.
I’m hoping to find that natural balance between commercial growth and positive impact with my work.
Process
Most of my items and the subsequent documentation will tend to follow a specific format:
I am intending for all 3D Modelling to be streamed on Twitch then uploaded to YouTube.
From there, each item will have an Overview article posted here on Bosskeyfound.com (soon to be PrintsFocian.com). This will detail a little about the item, the character and potentially the world it is from. As well as that, I’ll be highlighting what I believe may be problematic, easy or that just stands out before beginning the work. This is where you can find links to the other articles from that Project.
On top of the Overview, which will be one per line of products, there will also be documentation articles for almost all the separate larger models, including Prototypes (generally speaking, a larger item will have one or two Prototypes before I am happy enough for it to be a final piece). They will be annotated build guides showing the process in detail, problems I encounter and resolutions I end up going with. If you plan to buy something from me, I want you to see as much of the operation as you want to see! And then lastly an Assembly Guide, for more technical points that need highlighting.
The Future
I know that I’ll keep changing. This is my story. It’ll be a good one.
I honestly am not too sure of what form the immediate few months will take, there is an infinite amount to do in any direction I look! The fun stuff like the modeling is calling at me like a siren, meanwhile, certain admin tasks piling up in the background may as well be hissing at me!
But with so many unknowns, a few grounded hopes for the future may the best thing to state:
- I want to see my skills improve as I grow a wide portfolio of cool items and designs
- Even if it’s only small amounts, I want to see my work make money for good causes. And see that value grow
- Once the revamp of my website is completed, I want to see my work there grow and improve
- I want to see that I am putting in consistent effort over a sustained period of time (even if it manifests itself in a boom and bust manner of output)
- I need to roll with what I learn early on (because my current understanding is likely massively inaccurate), and be receptive to what works for me and what doesn’t
- “First three concurrent profitable months” is my closest milestone with “replace my full-time employment” being an end goal.
