And they want it all for FREE!!!

You know, I've been around biodiesel for about 2 years now and it amazes me at how many people think that everything should be for free.

I belong to a few side email lists of fellow biodieler's/wvo'ers who have been involved in bio/wvo for a while and offer some sort of service in one form or another to people.

Quite often I see comments from these folks (me included) about how many times we get requests from ungracious people who expect us to just GIVE them every bit of knowldege, information, and equipment we've worked so hard at for so long......for free!

An Example:
I offer Biodiesel Demonstrations as a service for $35.00 on my site. The demo is done by one of my great customer's who I've built processors for and have spent a lot of time with that make biodiesel and don't mind doing a demo.

The demo's usually include showing how to produce biodiesel in several different stages of production (ie. filtering, titrating, processing, settling, washing, drying, fueling, etc) and cover a broad range of topics related to making biodiesel. The courses include hands on demonstrations of just how easy it is to make Biodiesel and what it took for them to get started.

The demonstrator's take time away from their busy schedules, families, and other pursuits to put these on. They do it because they enjoy making biodiesel and also don't mind sharing.

Now, remember, these guy's are doing the demonstrations IN THEIR OWN HOMES OR SHOPS, ON THEIR OWN TIME, AND BECAUSE THEY WANT TO! People are coming to THEIR OWN PERSONAL HOMES!!! (Not some anonymous warehouse somewhere tucked back in nowhere land, but actually at their homes--that's one hell of a risk!)

So anyway, to compensate them for being willing to do this, I charge a fee of $35.00 per person.

If any of you have been to a demonstration, you are well aware of all the barage of questions that one get's from people that are just getting started. It can almost be mind-numbing at times (I think I've heard every "How me & my buddy are gonna get stinkin' rich makin' biodiesel" story on the face of the earth).

Anyway, the thick of it is, it ain't much money and the content they're getting (3 hours worth) is a bargain!

With that in mind, I got a comment today from someone about how terrible it was that I would even DARE charge for a demonstration. How dare I! How could I have the audacity to profit off of an alternative fuel? How could money be my only objective? How could I do such a horrific thing? PLEASE!!!!

Lemme share a little something.....
Let's do the math.
$35.00 for 3 hours.
Let's see, that's all of $11.67 per hour.
Not bad, but let's continue.

Now, besides the time expended,
add to that the amount of Methanol that will be used.
Then add to it the Catalyst that's required.
Then add to it the time it took to go get the oil.
Then add to it the cost to power the electricity to power the processor during the event.
Then add to it the personal time of the demonstrator (who could probably do other things with his time, but has chosen to be a teacher for 3 hours)
Then add to it the massive liability risk he's taking
- Inviting total strangers into his garage to watch something that's inherently dangerous while these total strangers are on HIS property. One of them slips on some oil, and can you say LAWSUIT?

Now, yeah, I know some of you could justify the amount of money on methanol & stuff ("Well, he's just gonna use it anyway!") and, yes, you'd be right, but....add to it the liability risk and I don't know, it just opens a whole new ball game.

Now I'm sure there are those out there that think it's just the most terrible thing in the world to charge for something, but I've got news for them.......life ain't free! Last time I looked Wal-Mart still want's money for the stuff it sells. Author's still want money if you buy their books. And commercial biodieseler's still want money if you plan to use their fuel.

So, sure, it's $35. But, hell, that's a steal if you go looking at what other's charge. And you're actually going to get GOOD content from folks that ACTUALLY BREW BIODIESEL!!!!

Sure, there's a lot of stuff on the net & sure it's good & all, but nothing beats the see/smell/touch/feel that go's with seeing something with your own eye's.

Making Money At Other's Expense:
One of the big arguements people throw around is that I'm just trying to get stinkin' rich at other's expense doing these demo's. Uhm.....I don't think so!!!

A 55 gallon drum of methanol goes for $110 right now.
A 50# bag of KOH goes for $65
To collect oil in the county my demonstrator's in requires a $125.00 per year permit
Plus a General Liability Policy of at minimum $1Mil in environmental coverage
Add to that the fuel expended while going to pick up oil.

Then add to it the cost of all the equipment involved. Processor's may be inexpensive, but there's a lot of other stuff that goes with them (pumps, drums, tanks, etc).

So, getting $35.00 per person isn't really "gouging" anyone. It's just an inexpensive way for two people to benefit.

1- Our demonstrator's get a chance to teach other's about the new fuel, show off their toy's, and recoup a little of the investment they've put into it (hardly "making money")
2- Those that attend the demonstration get the opportunity to see first hand, from an actual homebrewer, using his own equipment what it takes to make biodiesel.

Because it's in HIS HOME setting, they even get to see what it might be like to have one in THEIR homes....if they choose to go that route.

BUT YOU'RE MAKING MONEY!
I would hardly call $35.00 a person making money. You couldn't even get a professional plumber to make a house call for that! Let alone any other "professional serviceman".

And it's 3 hours---not 10 minutes---3 content packed hours, full of great advice from an actual homebrewer.

ok...so people want more explanation.

Let's put it this way.
At $35.00 they are just about "paying" for their own time. One of my demonstrators is a professional building contractor. His hourly rate is somewhere up near $65/hour. Hmmm....$11 an hour is HARDLY making money to him.

IT'S NOT FREE!!!
What people don't understand is that making biodiesel is not the "grand poo-ba". It's not the end all. And it ain't exactly cheap either. Sure, you can make biodiesel for under $0.80 cents per gallon, but that doesn't account for YOUR time! To see what it's truly costing you, add to it how many hours it takes to make a single batch (about 20-30 man hours) and then look at what you make per hour and run the math. It ain't the greatest I'm betting (unless you make nothing per hour in which case I'm amazed you're doing biodiesel because money has to be spent SOMEWHERE to buy the equipment and resources to make it in the first place!

BUT YOU RUN A STORE!!!
YOU'VE GOTTA BE STINKIN' RICH!
HA! Funny! Tell that to my wife!

I am NOT rolling in the dough. In fact, at this point it makes about enough to support my little hobby.

I have a full-time job that pay's the bills and this is my "fun time" thing.
Sure, it's growing, and hopefully one day I can bag the day job to play with Biodiesel all the time, but I'm far from stinkin' rich from Biodiesel. In fact, most biodiesel retailer's will tell you that margins are slim (which they are) and that there's not a ton of money in this. They're in it because they think it's great and because it helps to make a difference in the world.

I'm in it for those same reasons as well as because I think it's nice for someone to be able to go to one place and get everything they need when they're building biodiesel processing equipment.

When I built my first processor I made COUNTLESS trips to Home Depot, Lowes, and other stores. After all those trips (and getting SICK of all the trips), I figured there were those out there that would appreciate something like the service I provide through my online store.

My prices ain't all that bad either. I just don't have the desire to "gouge" folks. And I really get a little "ruffled" when people who think NO ONE should ever charge for anything come in & say I'm out to "steal everyone's money" at the expense of biodiesel.

Yeah right....and pigs fly!
Very funny!

I don't just sell stuff, but I actively participate in biodiesel and have ever since I got started. I'm not out to make a million off the stuff either. I'm about helping other's out. I participate probably way more than a normal person should in promoting the fuel and have spent literally thousands of hours and countless amounts of money on promoting the movement. See my previous post for how involved I am in this stuff and you can quickly see I ain't in this to "gouge every Tom, Dick, & Harry" out of their hard-earned cash. I'm in this for the long haul. I enjoy it!

So, I really get a kick out of the folks that think I'm the most evil person on the planet for ever trying to "make money" at biodieseler's expense. The way I see it is....I'm offering a bonified beneficial service. One that I think is appreciated by several others....just not these hard-core nuts.

Ok...my little rant is done....
-Graydon
The Rabid (Not Stinkin' Rich) Biodiesel Nut