We regularly receive enquiries from people eager to start their own wet-cast concrete business. A typical message goes something like, “Please send me your mould catalogue and price list.” While we welcome the interest, this kind of enquiry often reveals a common misconception—the idea that success in wet-cast concrete starts with buying moulds.
It doesn’t.
Yes, moulds are essential, but they are not the beginning point. Successfully manufacturing wet-cast concrete products—whether starting in your backyard or at scale—demands a working knowledge of the concrete manufacturing process, materials, quality standards, methods, equipment, and market needs.
You need concerted, regular study and testing to set yourself up for a successful start.
The MCM Startup Terminology List
To help with this, we’ve created the MCM Startup Terminology List specially for people who want to start a business manufacturing wet-cast concrete products. We’ve also written a companion article on using ChatGPT to learn from the list.
Understanding the following critical areas will help you choose your moulds wisely:
1. The basics of concrete manufacturing
Cultivate a solid understanding of concrete as a material. This will help you maintain the quality of your products (and the sustainability of your business!). In the List, we provide key terms to kick-start your exploration of the practical knowledge needed to get you ahead.
2. Consistency is king
Your ability to deliver products that are consistent in strength, appearance, and availability—from day one—will make or break your reputation. Customers who experience erratic quality, eventually leave.
3. Know and grow your market
Before you select any moulds, understand who you are selling to, what they want, and how your product range can grow modularly over time.
Most of your customers won’t understand the term ‘modularity’. However, they can see the benefits when products line up properly with even grout joints. Many beginners overlook the critical importance of modularity, and end up limiting their own business growth because of mismatched products, too many moulds, and frustrated installers. We’ve provided some articles to guide your selection of moulds to create a modular range.
Knowing your market also means being realistic about where you can feasibly enter it as a startup operation. For example:
- Manufacturing kerbstones requires experience in high-volume production and an ability to respond to RFQs from civils contractors. Most startups don’t do well here.
- Making cobbles requires a streamlined setup and many moulds; this is a competitive market which relies on producing suitable quality at a reduced cost of manufacture. Most startups are not well-placed to begin here.
- Block paving is one good entry-point wet-cast startups, because you can sell lower volumes at a higher markup if you use modular moulds to produce sophisticated products. That means that your initial mould investment can also be also lower.
We make moulds for all these applications and a whole lot more. Feel free to discuss your long-term vision with us so that we can support you in growing towards it.
Start smart
To sum up: whether you’re launching on a shoestring budget or investing in a full-scale production setup, start with knowledge.
Learn the science and craft of wet-cast concrete. Understand the risks and requirements before you spend a cent on equipment or moulds.
Our customers who started this way made money from day one and quickly scaled their operations.
Check out the MCM Startup Terminology List now. Although you could google the terms one by one and take notes, we recommend that you use AI (such as ChatGPT) to speed up your learning and decision-making. Learn how.