If you total up all the money I made (in personal income) during the first five years of operating my business, it doesn't even equal the total I paid just in property taxes for my commercial building last year. That's just one expense. When you're unaware of what it costs to do business, you can reach grossly erroneous conclusions regarding what pricing should be. Scale of economy comes into play at a business size much larger than mine. Pedal makers that price too low are unable to sustain or grow their businesses. That's just a fact. Eventually they realize they've been burning the candle at both ends for too many years and they've got squat to show for it.
I'm introducing lower-priced pedals. I'm doing my part to help in troubled times. Check 'em out, and let me know what you think.
My greatest responsibility is to my employees and their families. My full-timers get free health insurance, matching funds on their medical savings accounts, vacation time, personal time, strong living wages, a beautiful working environment, and a hell of a lot of flexibility. I also provide lifetime warranties that are fully transferable to my end users of our hand-painted products. That means you can buy a hand-painted fuzz factory on eBay and if it doesn't work, all you have to pay is shipping to get it fixed. Do you realize what that does for resale value? Buying a used ZVEX Effect is not risky. You can generally flip it for as much (or sometimes more) than you paid for it, even if it was broken when you received it!
My customer service is pretty much legendary, if I do say so myself. Despite the crap you see posted on this forum from haters who don't like my politics or my attitude toward cloners, etc, my service to customers is approximately 16 hours per day. I answer each email individually. I don't use any form letters... I just type up individualized replies to each question, and address every concern as best I can. I also redirect everyone's repair requests to the proper email addresses and handle dealer questions and applications. This is on top of operating my business and posting occasionally in here (averaging 1.67 posts per day). While I was typing this post, I answered nine emails regarding product service and questions. This business is often my entire waking life, from the moment I get up to the moment I crash. It's only recently that I've purposefully scheduled my weekends to spend with my girlfriend, and I'm very lucky that she spends a fair amount of time online so I don't feel terribly guilty answering emails around her.
