Ralph Bossino

I have commonly been asked for information on building a large project and how to get sponsorship for your build, so much so that I decided to do a blog post on the subject - its a long post but well worth the read if you are considering it.

A quick introduction to sponsorships before getting into the most common questions:

There are different types of sponsorship and it is important to decide exactly what type you are looking for from each particular company you are sending a sponsorship proposal form to.

Full Sponsorship is where you get the product for free, in return for advertising the company on your car.
Your main chance of getting this is by going directly to the manufacturers of the parts themselves.

Partial sponsorship is when you are given the parts at a discount. This generally tends to be at cost price, however some firms may just give you a slight discount, whilst others may offer you it below cost price.

It is very important to think about exactly what you are looking for before going ahead and contacting them. A well thought of, clear proposal setting out exactly what you are going to do, what you are looking for and what you are going to do for them will get you much further than a messy proposal with things all over the place.

Q. what would be your best advice about how much funds to have available?

In terms of funds the best bit of information I can give you is that a project will always go over budget, so make sure you have that little extra to finish it off! Make sure you know what you want from the start i.e. plan everything before and be clear in your mind as to how much you want to spend and what you wan for the car (i.e. show car, track car, mix, DD, weekend car etc) Also remember when taking into account the funds that its not just the price of the products but also the cost of install*.

* This is very important. In many cases people go ahead and buy parts, guessing how much it is going to cost to have it installed and are then taken aback when they are told just how much it costs to have it installed! If you know your stuff you can have a go at doing things on your own, as this is a great way to learn your car etc. Things like body kits and paint - leave it up to the professionals as you will be much happier with the end result.

Whilst still on the point of funds it is important to say that cheaper rarely means better and for the most part you get what you pay for. Think about it and be realistic when you are weighing options against each other, do not just think about your pocket. If you are doing a big build it is easy to try and reduce the cost by going for a cheaper paint job, choosing a cheaper brake kit (BBK) etc. There is no point spending a good deal of money on a body kit, to get a cheap paint job, realise you don’t like it and end up having to paint it again!

I was unfortunate with my car. I chose a good painter (always ask to see some of the work he has done beforehand) however he had problems with the IRC etc and was just taking the piss with my car. So much so I ended up having the car painted 3 times by him, was not happy with the final result so ended up taking it to another shop and finally having it finished to the correct standard - This is an unfortunate example but it shows what I an trying to tell you - do your research before making a decision and hopefully you will not be as unlucky as I was.

Q. what would be the best way to approach vendors and manufacturers to get sponsors?

In terms of approaching sponsors the most important thing to take into account is that whatever you are saving is coming at a cost for them. In order for them to offer you sponsorship they will be looking at what ROI (return on their investment) they can get.

Again think clearly what you want to do with the project before setting off and looking for sponsorship. Its important to show them you have clear ideas and sound convincing enough to show you are going to carry them out.

There isn’t a problem if you set off with the intention of getting Amuse suspensions and end up going with the Top Secret, the important thing is to know you are going to do the suspension and what the maximum price you are willing to pay for that part is.

Sound confident and offer them a proposal that is too good to refuse (Include any proposed magazine shoots, car shows you are going to visit etc). Also don’t just go looking for full sponsorship as it is almost impossible to get (unless you go straight to the manufacturers), aim at something more optimistic like cost price, or just merely a discount of some sort.

Images are important. If you are looking for sponsorship for parts of your project I would definitely recommend having a virtual image of what the car is going to look like made, so they can see your vision. (If you need work done contact me and I can point you in the right direction).

Q. could you give me your best advice in taking on my project.

Budget budget budget. Can’t tell you enough how important this is. Get a piece of paper, set out all the possible mods you can do to the car (i.e. turbo, SC, suspension, BBK) decide which ones you want to do and set a maximum you are willing to pay for each part. Once you have done this then set out to look for parts.

Hope this info helps. If you need any other information feel free to post a comment and I will do my best to help.