As others have said, you need to give some thought to your target
market. You can't be all things to all men. Give some examples of what
you've done. Are you aiming for one-off’s, short batch runs or longer
production? Are you into small or large items?

Is there any local industry to support? I used to be Chief Engineer in
a production plant and one thing that guaranteed a company a place in
my records was the ability to deliver a 24/7 service. That means home
phone numbers that we could call when things went wrong at 3 a.m. and
folks who would get out of bed and help.

A friend of mine has recently started up machining parts for custom
bikes, mainly Harleys. That looks profitable and interesting. Your
customers become your advertising hording as well if your hallmark is
on the goods. Aim at the high end market so your bits don’t end up on
rubbish machines. Besides these owners have more $ to spend so your
profit is bigger. That market may be flooded in US of course but there
are similar outlets for your services. Race teams want one-off’s at
very short notice and will pay for quick delivery.

Get your business insurance sorted. I don’t know the US legal system
but think what would happen if you made a part for a bike and it
broke, killing someone. Could your company loose everything? Can you
form another holding company that owns all your machines and assets
and then rents/sells them to the manufacturing company? That way the
manufacturing company owns nothing. It just pays rent for the
machines. It has no cash or assets so goes bust if it’s sued while you
hold onto all the goods.

Getting a sales rep can be a double edged sword. A good one will bring
you business but make sure your customers are YOUR customers not his
in case he leaves and they all follow.

Good luck.

John