"Build Your Own Equity" Part Two
The Factory Five Community and Our Biggest News Yet
 
A few weeks ago I wrote a column about the current financial crisis entitled “Build your own Equity”.  In that article I voiced my frustrations about the economic chaos hammering Wall Street and now Main Street.  I also spoke about the importance of the American worker, and about how vital American manufacturing is to our economy and country. 
 
What I wrote must have resonated with people because I received a flood of emails from guys all around the country.  In those emails I was reminded of just how hard all of us work for our money, how much people love this country of ours, and how fortunate we are, here at Factory Five, to be carrying high the banner of MADE IN THE USA. I was reminded by one employee John K. at Morgan Stanley, that the guys cleaning the building and many others in the industry did nothing wrong and are suffering. Thanks for the perspective John. 

 
I also was reminded how passionately people feel about this company and the larger Factory Five community.  I wanted to thank you guys for taking the time to share your ideas and kind words. 
 
I honestly don’t know if it’s because of your support and stoke that we all work so hard here at FFR, or if it’s the other way around… that the way we work has earned us your loyalty and support.  Truth is more likely it’s not a chicken-or-the-egg thing but rather the simple truth that we have all, over the years, built a community in which we each play an important part.
 
Those letters have caused me to think even more carefully about what we are doing as a company during this tough economic time.  For more than 12 years we have met challenges, we’ve won more than we’ve lost, and we have been lucky to have constantly grown this company.  We are fortunate to have a good mix of products and while no-one here is rich, the company is in solid shape.  The question is today… Are we delivering everything we can to the community that has given us so much? 
 
The consistent message from customers has been “help us afford to build these cars”, and, “lower the bar to help us get started and join the FFR community”. While there may be a few more guys short on cash these days, there is certainly no deficit of passion and energy to build cars.  Many complained that the bar is set too high even now, with the lowest price kit being $13K. I remember the very first advertisement we ever ran, $9,900 and a Mustang and you’re done. In relative dollars and considering the huge improvements and investments we’ve made to the Mk3 Roadsters, today’s prices are better than ever…. Still, cover charge ain't $9,900 anymore! Point taken.
 
I’ve also thought a lot about the American car industry and how, from my particularly limited vantage point, it seems we miss the mark sometimes.  What would I really do if I were in their shoes?  It’s easy to say what Tom Brady should’ve done on third and 11, but it’s a whole other thing trying to take the snap yourself.  As armchair quarterbacks, we are all still leaning on the armchair.  What would I do at the helm of GM or Chrysler?  It is pure conceit to even consider and perhaps not as important as asking, what should I be doing at the helm of Factory Five? 
 
My thoughts aren’t perhaps very earthshaking or original.  I feel that the American car industry, and American business, for the most part, is too focused on the short term profit picture. That one thing has many unwanted consequences, one of them is that decisions are made that can compromise the long term health of the company. But I have personal experience with the opposite. 
 
In the early days of Factory Five, we sold our product at a loss or near break even.  We knew if people got to know us and our products that they would grow, the word would spread, and we would be solid in the long run.  What we could never have guessed was the power of the community of owners.  Looking backwards it is so obvious. At every turn in the company’s past, at every major milestone there was customer and community involvement.  Where we have failed it has been outside the community and where we have succeeded it has been fueled by and stoked by the energy, passion and creativity of our customers. 
 
Factory Five Racing cannot exist separate from our community.  The decisions I make at the helm HAVE to be guided by the simple precept that what is good for the community is good for Factory Five.  A profitable and growing Factory Five is in the interests of the community, but when times are tough, we need to step up and do every single thing we can to protect and grow that community.    
 
The team here has worked tremendously hard for a very long time to accomplish something that we will be announcing in a few days at the annual SEMA show. But it's more than just one thing.  Along with our SEMA news, we are doing something we’ve never done before and you will get a chance to read a major announcement each day next week.   

Stay tuned!
 
 
Dave Smith
President