Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Has anyone ever heard of anyone taking a long dead company and rebuilding it?

Like one that was sold off years ago, continued under a new owner, then that company went into bankruptcy, and all the assets were liquidated.  Effectivly killing the company.

I`d like to use the name and rebuild it from the ground up, and have been trying to locate anyone that may have some claim or right to the name.  So far in 2 years, no luck.

First off, I admire you for wanting to bring this failed company back to life. However, The name of the business will always have that bankruptcy stigmata to it.

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Jesse Jordan
Director
Decarte Soy Candles
www.decarteproducts.com

Maybe.  However, in talking with people about this company, they remember the original company.  Some just think they faded away, others know that it was bought out, then THAT company went out of business.

Bankruptcy stigmata is not the main worry here.  Its more of, would I be stealing someones intelectual property that they seem to have left laying in the sand for about 20 years? Abandoned?

I am also not talking about a 100% copy of the old product, but it would be very similar looking. 

The name would be the same but different.  For example: Blank Boats, would become Blank Marine.

 

 

I disagree with Decarte. There are plenty of really great businesses that failed due to catastrophic management decisions, lack of interest, stupidity, and other variable having nothing to do with the product.

There was a mail-order catalog I got a few years back, where someone had bought up the recipes for certain candy brands that went out of business. Such things as Bazooka gum, and I think RedHots, and a couple of others. They re-initiated the candy, and developed a niche market in the `nostalgia` arena.

Another example is Snapple, where the inventors made mucho bucks. They sold it to....um...Hershey?...Quaker Oats?...someone like that. The buyers blew the whole business, and it failed. When the price collapsed to almost nothing, the original owners bought it back, redeveloped it, then sold it AGAIN!! LOL!

It all somes down to the *quality* recognition factor. The second issue will be whether or not it went under due to more efficient competition. Finally, there`s the issue of advancing technology. Smith-Corona is pretty much a has-been company because few people really need a typewriter anymore. There`s a niche market still, but computers and printers have a much better system.

So too, it wouldn`t do you all that well to resurrect a vinyl recording company, right? ;-) So...what`s this product, why did it disappear, and is it still relevant to modern society and culture?

Try state incorporation records then move onto Thomas Registry search.  You can also try the state economic development board and the state tax department.  You can also try the state and local business licensing departments to see if they have any records.  You public utility companies may also have records on old businesses.

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The older we get, the more excuses we make for not chasing after our dreams. But truth is, goals are attainable at any age.

 I have been a part of an organization before that was similar to what you wanted to do, But we manufactured products.   Most of our raw materials were from the same companies the Bankrupt company used.  There was major problems and set backs trying to get back in good with these vendors.  It is very hard to convice someone who did not get there money from the original company to do business with a company with the same name as one that left them high and dry for thousands of dollars.

Why not just start your own company up with the same ideas and get creative with marketing and business name.

 

-------------------------

Jesse Jordan
Director
Decarte Soy Candles
www.decarteproducts.com

  From the early 60`s to the late 80`s there was a boat company in business called Sidewinder Boats.  If you are around boating you may have heard of them.  They got bought by Thomson Boats in the early 80`s and they built the 16ft and the 18ft Sidewinders for several years before eventually going bankrupt, and liquidated.  This boat infuenced performance boat styling from day one. 

Several years ago I was working on a deal to buy a set of molds for the 16ft Super Sidewinder.  I knew almost nothing about Sidewinders at the time, the deal fell through and the molds were later destroyed.  But, I had registered a domain name for the Sidewinders.  This sat idle until last November when I was talking to a fellow in Canada online that has one of these boats.  We both belong to a Fan Forum for Checkmate Boats.  He told me that he wished there was some place that Sidewinder owners could get together on the web and comunicate with each other the way the Checkmate site grew to be. 

I told him I could set something up, if he would be a moderator and round up a few members.  I started www.sidewinder-boats.com in late November of 2006, and the board grew like a weed.  Early in 2007 I upgraded the board software to keep up with it.  Now I even have members that pay for extra privledges, and currently have 2 supporting vendors that, sell boat parts and  trailers. 

Well, these guys tracked more molds down for the 16 and the 18, these were the big sellers for Sidewinder.  We`ve even discussed maybe a limited run of new boats.  Since most of the originals are  well past there prime and even the good looking ones are looking at needing some work soon.

We even discussed, using the molds to build replacement parts for the boats.  Like if either the deck or hull needed replaced, thus saving a boat that would have been landfill material.  This is something that will probably happen in the next few years.

I am already building a company to build boats of my own design, and was kicking around the idea of the limited run of new boats for the Sidewinder Fans. 

Here are some pics of the 18 Super Sidewinder that the moderator of my site owns.

http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i818188_IMG1332.jpg

http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i887585_IMG5694a.JPG

http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i887576_IMG5555a.JPG

Here are a couple of pics of one of my member`s 16ft Super Sidewinders.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/ENC_Boats/071.jpg

http://www.sidewinder-boats.com/3.6.4/windertalk/attachment. php?attachmentid=26&d=1183079454

Well reproducing these boats would be fine, but there are problems with building them new today.  There are many more Coast Guard regs that have to do with boats under 20ft long.  Mainly they have to have enough floation foam in them to float level if they get swamped.  But that is mostly a math problem on where to put the foam, it just takes up any extra space in an already small boat.

So I got to thinking, what would Sidewinder be building if they were still in business.  Since many of their customers would be out growing the 16 and the 18, I put pen to paper and did a quick sketch of what a 22ft boat might have looked like if they had built it.  Then posted it on the Sidewinder Forum.  There is a big intrest in it, both on the board and in private messages.  So here is a look at the proposed new 22ft boat. 

http://www.sidewinder-boats.com/newsidewinderdesigns/2200Sid ewinder001a.jpg

The market here lately has been for 20ft and up boats so I think this would be the way to go.  Maybe even do a 20ft version of the boat also.

Anyway, this is the idea.  If I can`t use the Sidewinder name, I`m probably going to build the boat anyway and call it something else.

I could play it safe and just have Sidewinder as the model name.

 

I`m working on this.    I was mainly looking for some examples of where this sort of thing had been done before, to add to a business plan.

I`ve actually found a lot of the info I need to track people down, but its been leading to dead ends.  Some of these folks are either in retirement homes or have passed away at this point.

Consider this: Many companies are started as a person`s passion. They grow, become well known, and people really love the product. But it`s 1 person`s passion. That person gets old, retires, and wishes they could hand the business off to someone who`s as passionate.

In many instances, the children or heir to the business just aren`t into it that much. And so the company becomes geared toward making money, operational profits, and the product falls by the wayside. It`s not that the company product collapsed.

I think I remember the Sidewinder boats. Maybe not, but I spent time as a kid sailing a lot. I also remember other boats that were really great, and they sort of faded away. As you`ve said, one reason is the increasing regulation these days.

One of my favorite lines from a Seinfeld show is where Elaine was looking at an old toy collection, enviously. She says, "Remember when toys could kill you?" LOL!! I love it!

Nowadays, with everyone trying to tell everyone else how to live, I suspect a number of products couldn`t be built anymore simply because they wouldn`t meet some sort of regulatory mandate. On the other hand, if you own the basic design for the Sidewinder, perhaps Decarte has the best idea: Start your own company, and put in the marketing something like, "Patterned after the original Sidewinder."

There`s a small company here in Chicago, River West Brands, that specializes in "dead brands".....here`s a link to one of the articles on them:

http://www.ipww.com/display.php/file=/texts/0606/branding

I have never been into boats, but I know the Sidewinder name.  Didn`t realize it went out of business.