Looking into starting a concrete supply service in the southeast. Would like to use the trucks, where trucks do the batching at the site. I know this is ref. to quik mix or portable mix. I would love to hire a consultant or speak to someone that has been down this road. Thanks...
i am not sure as to how it is down south but i live in the northeast and seen more readi-mix plants go out of business than i can count. My father has been doing concrete for over 20 yrs and he has seen many more than i have too. my family was involved in concrete for many yrs, my uncle also owned/ran a redi-mix outfit for many years until he sold it. although many have gone out of business there is also a local company that has lasted many many years and is still holding on. i guess that if you are going to get into that business you better do your homework and know what you're doing, factoring in everything you can think of from location to mix quality and so on, also it helps to hire quality drivers too. if you can produce a good quality mix at a lower price then that may be a better set up or it could just be that you are the only plant that will deliver within a certain area. another good idea would be to find a reputible concrete finishing outfit in the area you are looking at to build your plant in and find out what they are looking for in a mix, some may like more fly ash than others and some may like more of a gravel mix, they may also have some tips for mixing. it doesnt neccessarily have to be the largest outfit, or the fastest, it may end up being one of the smallest around. you'll be more likely to find an honest business owner who pays much more attention to quality of the finish and overall the whole job in a small business, they may also be more willing to share with you their knowledge of mix quality and what works the best for them, as long as they have enough experience. if i was going to start a redi-mix plant these are only a few steps i would take, and by all means do your homework and learn as much as possible from those in the business, whether its learning from their mistakes or their better ideas take everything into consideration. sorry so long winded, hopefully this will help a bit
We have a huge cement plant not far up from here. They supply a lot of plants on the eastern US. We also have a concrete plant here in town. Which was abandoned about 20 years ago. Most of the plants are all owned by large corporations at this point.
Aggregate Industries is taking over everything up my way in New England. I think that there is only 10 or so concrete suppliers and 10 asphalt suppliers aggregate came in and bought everyone out. I think buying a small concrete truck to do small loads under 6 yard would be ideal. if you talk to your supplier you can get a discount and see what you need to make ends meet. I know I've had time when I've need 3 yards but had to pay through the nose for it because its a 7 yard minimum here now.
I think one problem the concrete companies is accounts recievable. I had a friend who bought an exisitng business. He lasted 2 yrs. The unpayed accounts killed him.
Concrete is real hard. Got to know what you are doing eh .