My Current Business Operations

As we enter 2016 it is worth me taking stock of my business on Eve.


My golden rules

I have two golden rules:

• Every venture must have the ability to earn a Plex a month per account.

• I must not take up more than 45 minutes per day doing this and be able to achieve the Plex per month by just operating at weekends if need be.

What i can do

My alts have the skills to trade, manufacture, mine, interplanetary interaction and invent to a reasonable degree.

Of these, i don't mine (i enjoy the relaxation of it all, the the comradery but it is a low ISK making venture and i certainly can't get it anywhere close to a Plex a month), i don't invent (never really got my head around it) and i put Interplanetary interaction on the back burner given it was a bit of a pain to keep going and an uncertain income (and the clicking to set up a new planet is somewhat mind numbing).

I also have a small POS tower in the Sobaseki system - which is doing nothing as i consider what, if anything, i plan on doing with it.  Gives me a sense of owning something in space though.  Sometimes i sit in its shield pondering what could be.

I used to trade Plexes but i found that also a pain to keep on top of.  Made some ok ISK but nothing spectacular.

Furthermore, real life is busy which leaves me with the weekend and perhaps a week night or two to operate with.


What i actually do

That leaves me doing Trading and Manufacturing.

I have narrowed down what i manufacture to some T1 and T2 items.  My aim is to find items where there is low competition (and so low demand and in low volume).  I find that items that meet the criteria of low demand / low volume tend to have high profit margins (i.e. not much price sensitivity).  I can't charge any price but i can charge a high price.

Very broadly, i make about 6bn ISK per month from trading and manufacturing.

Add in the rise in the 94 Plex whch gives me an additional 5bn per month.

In all, my wealth from Trading + Manufacturing + Plex wealth appreciation gives me 11bn per month.


The Center of my Operations - Jita

I don't sell anything in Jita - as always, i buy items from Jita Sell orders to ship to my trading hubs around Eve.  I don't place Buy orders in Jita (in fact, i dont place Buy orders anywhere, i always buy from Sell orders).

All items that i buy from all stations and all items i manufacture get shipped to Jita first.  They are then shipped to their end destinations.  It makes life easier to control that way.

Manufacturing

I manufacture out of Sobaseki.

I have blueprint originals for all my T1 items.  None of them are researched - i don't compete on cost.  For the T2 items, i have BPCs where relevant.

I manufacture if it is cheaper than buying from Sell orders at Jita.
I use my Obelisk to transport the raw materials from Jita to Sobaeski and then to transport the finished items back to Jita.  One jump, so quite easy to do.


Core Trading Hubs

I operate in the four key trading hubs: Amarr; Dodixie; Hek; and Rens.

I find Amarr quite competitive and so i don't tend to stock my full range of products (gets too painful updating the price every time i log in).

Dodixie is my favorite given the competition is low but the demand good.

Hek and Rens are steady income makers - nothing dramatic but the two alts that look after Hek and Rens make at least a Plex worth if ISK each a month.


Peripheral Trading Hubs

I also sell almost my complete range of products in five other regions.

Very little updating to do - i am often the only person selling these products in those regions.

About once a week i need to replenish some items that have been sold.  Slow business but a nice steady stream of income.  For not a lot of work i suspect they all add up to making a Plex worth of ISK a month.


Null Sec Trading

I set up a trading post in H-PA29-1 in the Venal region.  Put about 8 billion ISK into the venture several months ago.

Having sold a princely sum of 600m ISK of goods i can safely say this Null Sec venture idea is not yet working.

Hence, i am now looking for a new place to set up shop.  I want to make a null sec or low sec trading operation work - so i will stick at it.


Hauling

I, of course, don't haul my items from Jita to the end destination.  I contract all my hauling to New Evolution Express.  I use their "Priority" service every time.  Never failed me yet.  Cheaper than the other Hauling businesses on offer (though, i am purely hauling in High Sec).