After spending 4 months away from Ottawa (and my business) at university, I wanted to figure out where I want A2D Electronics to be in the future.
I have spent a fair bit of time figuring out how to make this less work for me and potential future employees, but I also need some direction on where this business will be going in the future.
A2D Electronics exists to provide electronics at a reasonable and affordable price so that anyone and everyone can start making things. It does not exist to make me money. When this started almost 3 years ago now, I realized that the Ottawa maker community had a need for quick access to parts, and I could do something to help that. It was an idea that filled a need and one that I thought could make me some money.
Don’t get me wrong it does make money, but only enough to cover the projects that I make and post and some extra to reinvest in inventory and pay a little towards university. The most valuable things that this company has given me are first and foremost the connections that I have made, but also a feel for how business works on a small scale.
So where is this going in the future?
I want A2D Electronics to continue serving the community. From here on out, that is the main goal.
Before we take a look at how that will happen – let’s take a look at the current situation first.
The most time consuming tasks are restocking and re-ordering inventory, packing orders, scheduling local pickups, and adding new products. The biggest problem here is that I don’t have much time – between working full time on co-op, managing my own projects, other project, involvements in makerspaces and the Midnight Sun student design team leaves me with very little time. If only I could make myself an army of robot minions…
To continue serving the community, my focus will have to shift from being an order-packing robot to a community servant.
Making those tasks easier, more efficient, and streamlined has been on the back of my mind for the last month or so, and I have come up with several solutions that will be implemented in the near future. However, these changes alone are not enough to better serve the community.
One idea that I would like to flush out is to have ‘vending machines’ for electronic components in Makerspaces around the city. These would be amazing, but how would you keep track of everything and accept payments? Those are the questions that I have been dealing with.
So how does A2D Electronics better serve the community of makers?
By making access to components easier, faster, and more affordable. Doing this will mean flexible pickup times, possibly multiple locations, more products, and increased efficiency.
For the next few months, those items will be my focus.
Written By: Micah Black