Concrete blocks and other concrete products are in demand everywhere. When you make these products you have indeed a business with a strong foundation. Concrete blocks are used to build everything from a huge building to the smallest backyard barbeque. They are a basic commodity which will never go out of style. You are not making a here today gone tomorrow item. If you manufacture cement blocks your product is always in demand. You will find buyers everywhere in North America and in fact around the world.

Concrete products are heavy and transportation costs, to distant destinations, are high. For this reason a local manufacturer has a great advantage over someone further away. Savings in transportation costs translate into very competitive pricing. If in addition you are a small one man operation, working from your garage, you have no staff to pay and no rent for your premises. You can have lower priced products than your competitors and still do very well.

If you want an excellent business, which you can start with a very low investment, you will find concrete block making to be a fine opportunity. You can start in your garage, using hand made molds, for as little as a few hundred dollars. When business demands it you can expand, using a home built concrete block making machine, to turn out hundreds of blocks per day.

The only things needed to get a start are plywood and some sheet metal to make your molds. Plans are readily available, with instructions, to show how this is done. In addition you will need the basic materials, Portland cement, sand, gravel and water. You can buy all of these materials locally at your lumber yard.

After constructing the number of molds you want, you simply fill them with the concrete mixture and turn the blocks out to dry. One man can quite readily make 100 blocks per day using hand molds. When business grows you will want to make more blocks and a concrete block making machine will be necessary.

Commercially made cement block making machines are expensive. If you have the money go ahead and buy one. It will pay for itself with the greatly increased productivity you can achieve. But there is another way. You can build your own concrete block making machine. Plans are available for building a very good machine using used auto parts and sheet metal. Some welding is needed but a local welding shop will do this if you can’t.

Making your own machine is not really difficult if you have a little mechanical skill. You can make a machine which will turn out 800 blocks per day. A smaller hand operated machine can also be built which is quite simple and will turn out 200 blocks per working day. You will probably need some help at this stage to operate the machine efficiently. In addition you need storage space to dry the blocks.

Concrete blocks are your basic product but you can also make concrete garden ornaments, patio slabs, birdbaths, sundials, garden furniture and many other products which sell very well. Plans with complete instructions are available for all of these items. Your small business, begun in your garage or driveway, can soon become a large, and very profitable, enterprise.

By: John Mowatt