"jps" wrote in message
...
"Jim -" wrote in message
news:9Z3bb.533979$uu5.89222@sccrnsc04...

Why does an average quality family car like a Chevy Impala cost close to
$20k today?

Why would the same car assembled from parts cost $100K today?

Same answer: Greed


Well, not exactly. I ran a company into the ground thinking like that. A
part assembled into that car might end up costing about twice what the
manufacturer pays for it. Even that is a fairly tight margin if you are
selling through distribution. If you pay someone to store it for a few
years, pay inventory taxes just for owing it, pay the overhead of counting
it yearly and the overhead of selling each part one at a time instead of in
a single batch, it ends up pricing at about four times the cost to buy it.
Harsh, but true.

They really do a ****-poor job of teaching this stuff during a engineering
degree program. It is astounding the lessons you learn when you run your own
business. (into the round) Since then, as I have worked for others, I have
paid very close attention in the ins and outs of business finance. I have
asked lots of questions and paid closes attention to financial details. If I
were to run another company these sort of things would be handled a whole
lot better.

I have also spent a certain amount of time with the CEOs of several of the
companies I have worked for. One of the question I have asked each of them
is "why do you do it - you could make more money putting your investment in
high yield investments?" Each and every one has answered in about the same
way - control. If you work for someone else you might think that a
particular product is going to hit it big next year. You may or may not be
able to convince someone in management that this is going to be the Next Big
Thing. More than likely not. If you are driving the train - you get to
decide which track you take, and how much you will coal you will pour to the
flames. A worker is essentially working with a fixed income. Within fairly
narrow limits, you will make the same no matter what you do. A company CEO
that uses money wisely can capitalize as needed to follow a plan. If he
thinks that something is going to be the Next Big Thing, he can borrow the
bucks, hire the people, and build away. Control of your (and others)
destiny. They don't do a very good job of teaching this either.

Mark Browne