... to find someone who is willing to do small scale production at a reasonable cost?

Last year, I designed a simple product and had a few prototypes built. It's made from 6mm MDF and consists of 7 flat cut pieces, the biggest measuring just 350mm x 450mm. I provided the CAD files and after weeks of hunting, I had 25 prototypes laser cut (at a local workshop) at a cost of £18 each. I wanted them done by CNC as they have some half depth cuts inside 2 of the panels but couldn't find a single CNC equipped workshop locally who was willing to do the job so I had to modify the design to be done with the laser. I wanted it done locally as I didn't want to ship MDF around the country.

The prototypes were great, so great that I managed to sell 20 of them (just by word of mouth) whilst keeping 5 for myself. I have another 20 requests that are waiting to be fulfilled. Now I have moved through the design process, tweaked things and have ended up with version 3 of the product ready to go into small scale production, maybe 20-30 units per month. Can I find a single CNC equipped workshop near me that is willing to do the job? Nope, not a single one.

It's such a shame as I have several other designs that are ready for prototyping but can't find anywhere to do them for a realistic cost. I had one quote for a simple project cut from 6mm MDF (12 identical strips 400mm x 40mm and 2 triangular pieces 400mm x 350mm) that came in at £200 set up fee plus £32 each with a minimum order of 100 pieces! The items would be sold at around £25 on the open market which makes it an impossible project! I would have to commit to tens of thousands of units to get the pricing per unit below that according to that quote.

All of my designs can be cut from single small pieces of 6mm MDF or can be nested together and cut from a large 8x4 sheet for minimum wastage.

Am I alone in trying to find a good, small scale facility? Should I just bite the bullet and invest in a small desktop CNC machine and start prototyping myself?

Matt