Thinking of starting a buisness,

[RCALLOYS]

More power to ya, give it a shot. However, if this is a one man operation with a mill and a lathe......... you're not gonna sleep much if there are parts to make. I have a full machine shop and don't sleep very much. Like everyone is saying, customer service is a big time key to success. Coming up with unique parts/products that are well thought out and designed is obviously a big plus too. Fair pricing also helps, is what we try to do and feel we have done it fairly well. I've been doing the RC Aftermarket stuff for 5 years now. I don't make a fortune at this. It is more for fun and to keep my brain on it's toes.
Saw someone state they believe their time is worth $50 an hour. Dunno what parts they are designing, prototyping, testing, and marketing but there must be NO overhead. Every piece of equipment in my shop is paid for. An hourly worth of my time depends on what I am making and what machine I am standing in front of. The CNC only fires up for $50-$75 an hour. Manual machines run for $20-$40 an hour again, depending on what parts are being made. Design and prototype time..........for me, that gets eaten and never comes back. Others it might be different. If I factored in design time, CAD time, and prototype time to come up with a part there is not a chance of any cash coming back for those hours.
I know you're probably not attempting to be a full blown design consultant/engineer or start a full tilt machine shop. Just a lot to think about for starting a business that is based on RC Aftermarket. It costs BIG money to make money in most cases. If it is for fun and to help the RC Crawler world, go fer it......... if you're anything like me you will love it. This stuff (designing, machining, etc) is like a drug to me. I'll "see" something in my head and instantly be in front of the computer starting a drawing. Hours spent on drawings then it is time to munch out the part. Get a proto, try it out and see where it could be improved. Then, back to the drawing board to tweek some stuff then back to munching aluminum, Delrin, stainless or whatever it might be. Good stuff.
I've been around the machine shop and design industry since I was 3 years old. Grandfather was a machinist (aerospace) for 60 years and my Dad, he's been in it since 1963 :-). I've also been involved in machine design for automation and some rapid prototyping which is REALLY fun Enough of my blabbering, it is 1:30am Saturday morning so I like to gab Hope this helps or at least is an entertaining short story for someone.

[Magic]

Thanks, RC ALLOYS. I worked in the shop at my highschool for two years and i know its alot of work, but i like to do it, as for sleep, i dont get much anyway, i just work, watch movies, and think of parts, so if i do it, i can work, think of parst, and make the little bastards that are in my head. i have found that when you have like 20 different things on your mind, it starts to hurt. thanks