Forge3D Fabrication

Words in [brackets] are blanks you fill in with your own details when you adopt this sample in Supreme Plan AI.

Executive Summary

Forge3D Fabrication is a 3D printing and rapid prototyping shop in Columbus, Ohio, owned by Alex and Dana Whitaker. We print prototypes, custom parts and small production runs, offer design and engineering help and sell ready-made parts online.

Why this fits. Printing technology has improved and more small companies want local, fast prototypes. Traditional shops are slow and expensive for small jobs, and online marketplaces cannot offer engineering advice.

Here is what our numbers show. In Year 1 we plan about 500 custom part jobs, 60 production batches, 500 hours of design help and 1,200 online store sales. That brings in sales of $213,500, growing to $630,620 by Year 5. We expect a profit of about $30,000 in Year 1, a profit of about $54,100 in Year 2, a profit of about $78,600 in Year 3 and a profit of about $166,500 by Year 5. The printers, the shop lease and software are our largest costs, and the plan counts all of them.

We need $95,000 in total. Of that, $66,000 is startup costs (industrial printers, a resin or powder printer, finishing tools, a scanner and workstations, licensing and insurance, a shop deposit and launch marketing), and the rest is cash for the first months. We are putting in $20,000 of our own savings and asking for a $75,000 SBA 7(a) loan.

We are Alex and Dana Whitaker, owners of Forge3D Fabrication. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this plan, not promises.

Company Description

Forge3D Fabrication will be a limited liability company (LLC) in Columbus, Ohio, owned and run by Alex and Dana Whitaker. Alex is a mechanical engineer who has designed and printed parts for product teams. Dana handles customer service, marketing and the books.

What we do:
- Rapid prototypes and custom parts in plastics and resin.
- Small production runs for local manufacturers and makers.
- Design, scanning and engineering help.
- Finishing services such as sanding, painting and assembly.
- An online store with ready-made products and replacement parts.

Who we serve: Product designers, engineers, small manufacturers, hobbyists, architects and schools in the Columbus area.

Licensing and insurance. We will register the LLC, carry general liability and product liability insurance, sign confidentiality agreements with customers who ask and follow local rules for ventilation and resin handling. We do not print restricted items and we review every file before printing.

Our promise. Parts that match your drawing, delivered on the date we agree to.

Where things stand today. The business plan, price list and material list are written. The next steps are the shop, the printers and the first customers.

Problem & Opportunity

Small companies and inventors need prototypes and short runs of parts, and traditional machine shops are slow and expensive for small jobs.

What customers run into:
1. Weeks of waiting and high minimums from traditional shops.
2. Online printing services with unclear quality.
3. No help fixing a design that will not print well.
4. Parts that need finishing and assembly.

Why it matters. A faster prototype means faster product development, and small production runs let local companies test products without big tooling costs.

Products & Services

Forge3D will be the Columbus shop that turns designs into parts quickly and honestly.

What makes us different:
1. Quick turnaround with local pickup or delivery.
2. Engineering advice on every file.
3. Multiple materials and finishes.
4. Confidentiality on customer designs.
5. Fair prices for single parts and small runs.

How an order works:
1. The customer sends a file or a sketch and describes the part.
2. We review the design and send a quote with a lead time.
3. We print, finish and inspect the part.
4. We deliver or ship and follow up on fit and function.

Why customers stay. Designers and shops return for every new project and refer others.

Market Analysis

Who we serve:
- Product designers and inventors.
- Small manufacturers and machine shops.
- Architects, schools and universities.
- Hobbyists and makers who need replacement parts.

How we sized the market. Our Year 1 plan is about 500 custom part jobs, 60 production batches, 500 hours of design help and 1,200 online store sales, a small share of the prototyping and parts work in a metro area this size. Replace this estimate with your own count of manufacturers and designers near you.

Why now. Printer quality has improved and more small companies want local, fast prototypes.

Competitive Landscape

What customers can do today:

1. Online printing marketplaces. Cheap and impersonal.
2. Traditional machine shops. Strong and slow for small jobs.
3. University makerspaces. Helpful and limited in access.
4. Large additive manufacturing firms. Skilled and expensive.
5. Buying a printer. Costly and time-consuming.

Where we fit. Forge3D will be the local shop that is fast, honest about design limits and easy to work with.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How customers will find us.

Before opening:
- Visit local manufacturers, makerspaces and schools.
- Show sample parts and finishes.
- Set up a website with online quotes and an online store.
- Offer a free design review for new customers.

After opening:
- Ask every customer for a review.
- Offer repeat customer discounts.
- Post project photos with permission.
- Host a maker night at the shop.
- Visit engineering teams monthly.

What we will measure. How customers heard about us, how many quotes become jobs and how many customers order again.

Operations Plan

How the business will run.

Season and schedule. The shop runs all year, with busy periods before trade shows and school terms. Printers run overnight and we book rush jobs carefully.

Team. Alex designs and runs the printers. A production technician joins in Year 2, and we add technicians as bookings grow.

Quality and safety. We ventilate the shop, handle resins and powders with protective gear and follow chemical storage rules. Printers have guards and fire detection.

Equipment. We will buy industrial plastic printers, a resin or powder printer, post-processing and finishing tools, a scanner and workstations.

Paperwork and money. Customers pay a deposit for larger jobs and the balance at delivery. We follow up on anything unpaid after two weeks. We keep the books in simple accounting software and set aside money for taxes and insurance every month.

Management & Organization

The people who will run Forge3D Fabrication.

Alex Whitaker, owner and lead engineer. He designs, prints and quality-checks parts. Dana Whitaker, owner and business lead. She handles customers, marketing and the books. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Team. One production technician from Year 2, growing to two, each trained on printers and safety.

Office. Dana handles the office with part-time help as bookings grow.

Outside advisors. An accountant, an insurance broker, an attorney who reviews contracts and a free mentor from SCORE or the Small Business Development Center.

Staff pay in this plan is a full year per person: owner / Lead Engineer $52,000; production Technician $36,000. Replace them with the pay you can offer where you live.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals and when we plan to reach them.
- Before opening (2 months ahead): register the LLC, lease the shop, buy the printers, set up insurance and meet the first manufacturers and designers.
- Year 1: about 2,260 jobs and sales with Alex running the printers; $213,500 in sales and a profit of about $30,000.
- Year 2: about 3,185 and a production technician; $309,250 in sales and a profit of about $54,100.
- Year 3: about 4,110 and a second technician; $410,200 in sales and a profit of about $78,600.
- Year 4: about 5,035 and a second printer room; $517,450 in sales and a profit of about $137,400.
- Year 5: about 5,960 and a third technician; $630,620 in sales and a profit of about $166,500.
Growth depends on winning and keeping customers, so treat the later years as goals, not promises.

What we check every week: jobs booked and printed, print time, material cost per job, unpaid invoices and cash in the bank.

Funding Request

How much we need and how we will use it. Total we are raising: $95,000.

How we got that number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds up three things:
- Startup costs of $66,000, listed item by item in the Startup Costs section: $14,000 for industrial plastic printers (four), $12,000 for resin or powder printer, $5,000 for post-processing and finishing tools, $6,000 for 3D scanner and tools, $8,000 for workstations and software, $2,000 for LLC filing and attorney review of agreements, $3,000 for general and product liability insurance, first payment, $6,000 for shop deposit and first month's rent, $3,500 for signs, branding and website, $2,500 for launch marketing, $4,000 for materials starter stock.
- The cash the business uses before it breaks even, about $0. Sales cover the daily costs once the doors open, so the cash we need up front goes mostly to startup costs.
- A cash cushion of about $25,600: three months of Year 1 operating costs.
- Together, the cash used before break even and the cushion come to about $25,600, and the three pieces add up to about $91,600, rounded up to the nearest $500: $92,000.
We are raising $3,000 more than that, $95,000 in all, to cover a slower first season than planned. With this funding, the lowest year-end cash balance is about $78,100, at the end of Year 1.

Where the money comes from:
- Our own money: $20,000.
- SBA 7(a) loan: $75,000.

Kind of funding we are looking for. An SBA 7(a) loan from a lender that finances small businesses, backed by our savings and the equipment as collateral.

How we will pay it back. We expect a profit of about $30,000 in Year 1, a profit of about $54,100 in Year 2, a profit of about $78,600 in Year 3, a profit of about $137,400 in Year 4 and a profit of about $166,500 in Year 5. With this funding, the business has money in the bank at the end of every year of the plan. Our loan is the SBA 7(a) loan at 10.5% over 10 years, $1,012 a month. That payment is already included in our cash flow. We chose these as cautious planning rates; ask the lender for the real rates, which may be lower or higher.

What we are offering the lender: the equipment and a personal guarantee.

A smaller first step, if needed. If we cannot raise the full amount right away, we can start smaller and grow into this plan:
- Phase 1: open with the first printers and a small shop, which lowers the startup costs and the loan.
- Phase 2: once orders are steady, add printers and a technician and follow this plan.
To plan the smaller start, make a copy of this plan (use Duplicate) and lower the numbers to match.

All numbers in this plan are estimates. We will update them as real results come in.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this plan:

- Your resume and a personal financial statement (a list of what you own and what you owe; lenders usually provide a form).
- Business registration papers and your EIN (your business tax number from the IRS, free at irs.gov).
- Your business license and proof of insurance.
- A sample quote and confidentiality agreement.
- Quotes for the printers and tools.
- Photos of sample parts.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Custom Part Jobs: about $180 in Year 1, rising to $203; about $45 in direct costs, rising to $51; about 500 in Year 1, growing to 1,300.
- Production Batches: about $650 in Year 1, rising to $732; about $280 in direct costs, rising to $315; about 60 in Year 1, growing to 160.
- Design and Consulting Hours: about $85 in Year 1, rising to $96; about $5 in direct costs, rising to $6; about 500 in Year 1, growing to 1,300.
- Online Store Sales: about $35 in Year 1, rising to $39; about $12 in direct costs, rising to $14; about 1,200 in Year 1, growing to 3,200.
- A custom part job averages about $180, a production batch about $650, a design hour about $85 and an online store sale about $35.
- Prices rise about 3% a year.
- Equipment ($45,000 in Year 1) covers industrial plastic printers, a resin or powder printer, finishing tools, a scanner and workstations, and later years ($6,000, $8,000, $8,000 and $10,000) replace and add equipment.
- Pay (a full year, per person): owner / Lead Engineer $52,000; production Technician $36,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: shop Lease and Utilities $24,000, software Licenses $8,000, insurance $3,500, marketing $6,000, printer Maintenance $6,000, admin $3,000. These grow between 4% and 12% a year.
- Customers and payers pay about 15 days after service, so at the end of Year 1 about $8,540 is still owed to us. Income tax at 21%.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and research.

Startup Costs