Business subforum for knife makers, dealers etc

I've had two questions recently, one extensive, one quick, that would have fit perfectly in the proposed Business Forum. I got a lot of great feedback in ST, but I really felt that the question was out of place there. The second question, I just went with my gut because I didn't want to push my luck posting off topic threads.

As a burgeoning business owner I have a ton of questions that would best be answered by my peers. Pm's and email are great, but severely limits the sampling pool.

I realize that Kevin is out of town atm, just don't want the idea to get lost in the shuffle.
 
Anything new on this? I'm just starting to jump all the tax and small business hoops, started a website and facebook page and could really use some advice.
 
Sounds like secrets! But honestly... How would this benefit makers? If a maker has a thought/idea, he will post a thread in a number of places and ask for input. This sounds like it might help newbies, but I don't see how it would differ from any other thread in a general sub forum...

And if it's all top secret stuff, hehee, then I doubt many will share their trade secrets.. and if they will, then why restrict it to makers? I feel, an honest maker will be transparent with his craft.

It's not like knife making is magic. Every maker might have a special HT, but otherwise, marketing isn't mind blowing.. Perhaps I didn't read ALL the posts in this thread.. but, hey, if it makes some guys feel special... :D

Perhaps knife makers realize the money won't be this good for long and are trying to route the buyer! How dare :)
 
sloth357 said:
Sounds like secrets! But honestly... How would this benefit makers? If a maker has a thought/idea, he will post a thread in a number of places and ask for input. This sounds like it might help newbies, but I don't see how it would differ from any other thread in a general sub forum...

And if it's all top secret stuff, hehee, then I doubt many will share their trade secrets.. and if they will, then why restrict it to makers? I feel, an honest maker will be transparent with his craft.

It's not like knife making is magic. Every maker might have a special HT, but otherwise, marketing isn't mind blowing.. Perhaps I didn't read ALL the posts in this thread.. but, hey, if it makes some guys feel special... :D

Perhaps knife makers realize the money won't be this good for long and are trying to route the buyer! How dare :)
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Take this as the point of the forum and not argument for argument sake, but Ihave to say I disagree with almost everything you just said.

For one, and I don't know where you got that delusion, but the money in knifemaking is never 'that good,' certainly these days, and should improve not trickle off or 'stay that good for long.' ;) Anyone who thinks they'll get rich doing this can have their dreams shattered by any one of the stickies or in the regular forum without ever even being a paid member.

Yes there are trade secrets. Plenty of them. Is knifemaking a mystical art or really even hold that much left to learn about shaping a piece of steel? No. But new products that handle those sharpened pieces pop up every day. Trick little fasteners and attachment methods pop up too. And the design category, especially when you get into making your own damascus or laminations of stainless and simple steels leaves plenty to experiment with. So does the design and construction of many of our related tools/machines. If there was nothing left to figure out, there's a bunch of really big companies wasting good money day in day out. Or maybe that's what you meant with the 'this good for long' statement? Implying that we are even near figuring out everything there is to know about anything, anything at all, heck fundamental existence, is a horribly myopic statement.

And keep in mind there are people here who don't just tinker in their workshop. We range the gamut from a guy in his apartment with a file and some scraps to guys who have single pieces of equipment worth unspeakable amounts of money.

I think this is brilliant. Why? It may just bring back the traffic that some of the older cats complain about not being around any more and leave the regular bladesmith forum for the 500+ repeat posts asking about making a first knife without having yet even browsed down a few lines. Trust me, that needs its place arguably more than this does, but the kinds of questions asked less frequently are usually the ones that spur something new to happen.

Cheers.
-Eric
 
I'm a little surprised by your view sloth. Please don't take that wrong, I'm not trying to offend you, but I also don't want you or anyone else to think this is meant to be an exclusive club where knifemakers and service providers congregate to talk behind anyone's back, or any other such nonsense. My reasons for wanting the forum are because I want to legitimize my business and seek the advice of those who went before me. At the same time, I don't necessarily wish to share openly about what is sensitive to my business. By that, I simply mean that it is irrelevant to my customers, but is important to me from a standpoint that doesn't concern them. As for trade secrets and the like, well that may be someone's motivation, but I really don't think it'll play a big role in the proposed forum. Knifemakers are already a very open lot from what I've seen over the years. As an act of transparency (but isn't really important to anyone but me) I'll tell you that I need advice on things like bookkeeping software, I need advice on how to classify my business as it pertains to taxes, I need advice on when I should seek help from a CPA, and what legalities I need be concerned with. Those really aren't relavent to my product, my customers, my customer service, etc. I hope that clarifies a little about why it's important to me that this gets rolling. There are a great many places to post most any question, but I increasingly find that there is no outlet for sensitive communication.
 
Great gl! Hope you get your subforum.

To address one thing... I too had some questions and concerns with my personal income. I spoke with a tax accountant, and it wasn't that expensive. I didn't want to count on a friend or co-worker to help me plan my finances.

Also my comment about "money won't be good for long" is mostly in reference to the guys working the social network and auctioning their knives. So, if you are upset, my apologies... But don't take everything I said as a personal bash on you or this "business subforum" thread.

Gnight.
 
sloth357 said:
Great gl! Hope you get your subforum.

To address one thing... I too had some questions and concerns with my personal income. I spoke with a tax accountant, and it wasn't that expensive. I didn't want to count on a friend or co-worker to help me plan my finances.

Also my comment about "money won't be good for long" is mostly in reference to the guys working the social network and auctioning their knives. So, if you are upset, my apologies... But don't take everything I said as a personal bash on you or this "business subforum" thread.

Gnight.
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Just offering you a counterpoint. If you're going to react that way to the counterpoint then don't post.

And I wouldn't expect anyone to take advice on handling 2000 degree steel in their own home based on just mere anecdotal evidence either. There are bona fides that accompany all information one receives in any walk of life by any person. Heck, I get second opinions even when consulting professionals in a field.

The idea is that this is the place to look to know where to look further for the myriad aspects and minutiae of the aspects in this craft. I can engage in discussions by subscribing to topics via tapatalk, but between several part time and a couple full time jobs, along with coaching and boy scouts, don't have hours to devote to finding an answer sometimes. So maybe someone here can do me a solid. What's the harm.

And hopefully selling your work or backlog of work here leads to more work... not petering off of customers after everyone realizes your knives/sheaths are crap. So I guess I still don't get the reference...

And every extra feature I can get for my $$ I'm gonna take regardless if I use it.

-Eric
 
Jeez man, I expected that attitude even less. Believe it or not I've always enjoyed your posts and thought we were generally on the same page. My post was an honest explanation of my expectations of the forum. I didn't write it as a casual throw away, but as an effort to be open and humble in order to put any misconceptions to rest. I guess it proves why it should be limited to those that have a financial interest in the matter. I'm not really prepared to be flippant and cute when it comes to something as important to me as this. The business that is, not the forum.

Hope that makes sense.
 
I don't have a personal interest -- I don't have a business to run -- but I like the idea. We've had people come here and ask what kind of legal or business arrangements are involved in knifemaking or dealerships.

Shop Talk has new makers asking how to make knives, how to heat treat, how to improve fit and finish. In Knife Laws we have people asking how to know what knives are legal for them. Bladeforums: helping each other learn what it's all about.
 
sloth357 said:
Sounds like secrets! But honestly... How would this benefit makers? If a maker has a thought/idea, he will post a thread in a number of places and ask for input. This sounds like it might help newbies, but I don't see how it would differ from any other thread in a general sub forum...

And if it's all top secret stuff, hehee, then I doubt many will share their trade secrets.. and if they will, then why restrict it to makers? I feel, an honest maker will be transparent with his craft.

It's not like knife making is magic. Every maker might have a special HT, but otherwise, marketing isn't mind blowing.. Perhaps I didn't read ALL the posts in this thread.. but, hey, if it makes some guys feel special... :D

Perhaps knife makers realize the money won't be this good for long and are trying to route the buyer! How dare :)
Click to expand...

You've kind of illustrated why I think this sub-forum needs to be restricted.

Shop owners don't discuss pricing in front of their customers.
Salespeople don't discuss marketing in front of their customers.
Artists don't discuss the cost of materials in front of their customers.
...and nobody feels comfortable talking about what they pay themselves.
Why should knife makers be expected to be any different?

Also, as Strig said, who wants to read about tedious tax stuff? :)

The idea is that if they can talk about these things, what works and what doesn't between themselves, their business does better. That generally works out for the customer too. It's not about secrecy; it's about success. Not every knife/sheath maker will want to be involved and that's cool too. It won't impact transparency, because makers will still say what their knife/sheath making processes are and what the customer is getting. I can't imagine the makers on here suddenly becoming less transparent anyway - these are some of the most honest blokes I've ever dealt with.

In my opinion one of the best things about BladeForums is the way the knifemakers interact with the customers and my idea isn't about lessening that at all - it's about enhancing it.

End of rant :)
 
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I think this a great idea as well............. Actually, I think it a fantastic Idea.

I am new to the business side and a lot has just been trial and error to figure things out. I am planning on making this my full time endeavor by the first of the year, and having a place to go to share and learn about the business side of things from guys who have experience would be just awesome.

As some of you said before, there are things that don't need discussed by just anyone and stuff that really doesn't pertain to the guys not trying to make a living at this.
I have found some wonderful information throughout the forums, but you have to weed thru tons of irrelevant posts to find them. And then you get people who are not in a business or don't even know what the subject discussed is really about chiming in confusing things.

Also I know lot's of the guys in this business may not feel comfortable talking about their business practices and stuff out in the open and a closed group like the one proposed may help them feel better about sharing with the rest of us.

And it's not all about secrets like some people have stated. I think it's also about where the best places are to buy supplies, products, get services done, etc.... that the average person can't even use without owning a business or having a tax permit or something similar.
 
Dexwithers said:
I think this a great idea as well............. Actually, I think it a fantastic Idea.

I am new to the business side and a lot has just been trial and error to figure things out. I am planning on making this my full time endeavor by the first of the year, and having a place to go to share and learn about the business side of things from guys who have experience would be just awesome.

As some of you said before, there are things that don't need discussed by just anyone and stuff that really doesn't pertain to the guys not trying to make a living at this.
I have found some wonderful information throughout the forums, but you have to weed thru tons of irrelevant posts to find them. And then you get people who are not in a business or don't even know what the subject discussed is really about chiming in confusing things.

Also I know lot's of the guys in this business may not feel comfortable talking about their business practices and stuff out in the open and a closed group like the one proposed may help them feel better about sharing with the rest of us.

And it's not all about secrets like some people have stated. I think it's also about where the best places are to buy supplies, products, get services done, etc.... that the average person can't even use without owning a business or having a tax permit or something similar.
Click to expand...

Very well said Dex, and I'm glad you like the idea.
Better business means better service, better products, better warranties, fewer hassles...it works for everyone.

I know Spark is generally ultra busy but I'm hoping he hasn't forgotten about this one :D
 
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