"You don’t have to have a business plan, because a lot of the time, especially with the business route, they’re obsessed with getting a business plan, and actually they haven’t even got their concept together.
A good business plan has to be a live document, as well. Some people do one; it kills them. There’s something called a concept overview that people do instead of a business plan. It has a lot of the same information, but is much less detailed. If you go for massive amounts of funding, you will need a business plan, because [anyone willing to put money in] will want to see that you’ve thought about it.”
“It’s such a curse that people think you’ve got to do one straight away when you don’t even know what you’re making yet. We wouldn’t put that pressure on you.”
STEAMhouse employs a team of technicians to help its members in the area they’re working on – the four specialisms are metal, wood, print, and digital design. It feels like a formalised version of the makerspace phenomenon where there’s often someone on hand to help out, with the exception that the experts here keep regular hours, and you won’t feel like you’re pestering them or stopping them from getting their own work done.
TEARDOWN
Like the Royal Marines, the STEAMhouse experts want to take your idea to bits and rebuild it stronger: “We have two dedicated teardown spaces,” Sophia tells us. “Some of the companies don’t want to do the teardown, but they always come out smiling.
A lot of the designers go through the teardown process, and also get 3D models out of it to help them refine the design, so it’s a useful process.”
This is something we’d not seen before: a formal recognition that breaking something is a key part of making it better. We talk about failure being iterative [and it is!], but if you can take a concept to bits in the presence of an expert, and let them guide you through likely failure points or ways you can make the manufacture cheaper, you might save yourself months or years of trial and error.
The makerspace itself is huge and full of goodies – there’s a woodworking area with band-saws, a steamer for bending wood for furniture, a huge CNC machine, many, many metalworking tools including a welding station, an area for print and textiles, plus a load of computers with all the 3D design software you’ll ever need.
So what are the fees? “STEAMhouse is fully funded, so you’re not charged for anything. It’s a combination of European funding, Arts Council England, and Birmingham City University; you just need to demonstrate that you’ve done twelve hours working within STEAMhouse to become a member.
That’s not twelve hours a week; that’s twelve hours full stop. And if you have a meeting or any inductions here, it counts towards those hours.”
If you’re interested in making tables and chairs and you have no experience of doing that, STEAMhouse isn’t the right place for you. But, if you’ve got a design idea or a prototype, and you’re local to Birmingham, this is a fabulous resource.
Let Us Know About Your Makerspace
We’d love you to get in touch to showcase your makerspace and the things you’re making. Drop us a line on Twitter @HackSpaceMag, or email us at hackspace@ raspberrypi.org with an outline of what makes your hackspace special, and we’ll take it from there.
