Osprey Knife & Tool
Moderator
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2014
- Messages
- 2,469
​I hope everyone had awesome Holiday!
I would first like to start out by thanking all of you for taking part in my success last year! It would have not been possible without every one of you. I truly appreciate the time and effort all of you put in.
I enjoyed my vacation, got some much needed rest and I am ready to return to work invigorated. I have several great things planned and am chomping at the bit to put them into physical form.
This time of year we all reflect on the past year and look forward to the future in order to recalibrate our goals.
2016 was a great year for me, I accomplished many of the goals I set for myself and for the brand. I began the year working Full-time for Fiddleback Forge, selling only one knife a week on Fiddleback Friday. Im now working full-time solely on Osprey K/T, averaging 15-20 knives a month on my own sub-forum. I have made enough in knife sales to buy tools and equipment I could only drool over previously. I have learned a lot over the last six months about production and running a business. I discovered that there are many things I want to continue to do and grow, but other areas I would like to change and evolve in. I believe for my longevity as an Artist/Knife-maker I need to allow myself time to be creative and learn new skills. My desire is to continually evolve in my craft is strong and in the forefront of my goals for this year.
Being a one man show means I do it all; from managing supplies, to making every part of the knife, to posting on sales channels, marketing, customer service and even shipping and fulfillment. My goals and intended path for my brand have presented challenges with the current sales platform. I have found my self stuck in a repetitive routine, working 7 days a week making similar things over and over again. This is a great problem to have, but when coupled with my desire to grow and the amount of time I put into each knife, it leaves me working myself to the bone to post a few blades every Thursday evening.
After a long period of deliberation, I have decided to end Thursdays sales threads as they were conducted previously, Instead I have decided it would be more beneficial for me to post sales thread on randomly each month. The idea is too make the same amount of knives every month (maybe more), but have fewer sales threads each month. I also want to do the threads earlier in the day. I am likely to stick with Tuesdays or Thursdays. Obviously, posting less frequently but producing the same volume means that I will release larger batches of knives on each sales thread than before. I also plan to do occasional small batches on other social media platforms to expand brand exposure. As of right now I dont intend on picking or sticking with a particular time of day. I likely will move away from the locked preview format and exact unlock time, to a more fluid way. I know some of you guys will not like this decision but I think in the long run it will benefit us all more by providing me more flexibility to innovate, learn, and bring new things to the table. I also hope that it will allow more people the opportunity to claim a knife they want by varying the times of day I post a sales thread. I plan to give some sense of predictability by using the the extra time to be more active on the forum, posting more previews, answering questions and emails.
As with any change I am sure there will be some adjustments that need to be made. I plan to keep things as informative and as fluid as possible. I have spoken with a few of you guys briefly about my intentions to get a feel of people opinions and reaction. Most if not all of you were optimistic and supportive of the change and I thank you for that. I also looked at how knife-makers outside of the Fiddleback Family conduct their sales. I found that there are many different approaches and many of them very successful in their own way. I believe for awhile Fiddleback Forge conducted their sales this way and it evolved into its current format. This confirmed to me that I just need to find what works for me and find that state of balance. I ask for your patience and continued support during the transition.
Questions and comments are welcome!
I plan on releasing my first batch of the year next week! I look forward to seeing everyone!
Sincerely and respectfully,
Chris Linton
Osprey Knife & Tool
I would first like to start out by thanking all of you for taking part in my success last year! It would have not been possible without every one of you. I truly appreciate the time and effort all of you put in.
I enjoyed my vacation, got some much needed rest and I am ready to return to work invigorated. I have several great things planned and am chomping at the bit to put them into physical form.
This time of year we all reflect on the past year and look forward to the future in order to recalibrate our goals.
2016 was a great year for me, I accomplished many of the goals I set for myself and for the brand. I began the year working Full-time for Fiddleback Forge, selling only one knife a week on Fiddleback Friday. Im now working full-time solely on Osprey K/T, averaging 15-20 knives a month on my own sub-forum. I have made enough in knife sales to buy tools and equipment I could only drool over previously. I have learned a lot over the last six months about production and running a business. I discovered that there are many things I want to continue to do and grow, but other areas I would like to change and evolve in. I believe for my longevity as an Artist/Knife-maker I need to allow myself time to be creative and learn new skills. My desire is to continually evolve in my craft is strong and in the forefront of my goals for this year.
Being a one man show means I do it all; from managing supplies, to making every part of the knife, to posting on sales channels, marketing, customer service and even shipping and fulfillment. My goals and intended path for my brand have presented challenges with the current sales platform. I have found my self stuck in a repetitive routine, working 7 days a week making similar things over and over again. This is a great problem to have, but when coupled with my desire to grow and the amount of time I put into each knife, it leaves me working myself to the bone to post a few blades every Thursday evening.
After a long period of deliberation, I have decided to end Thursdays sales threads as they were conducted previously, Instead I have decided it would be more beneficial for me to post sales thread on randomly each month. The idea is too make the same amount of knives every month (maybe more), but have fewer sales threads each month. I also want to do the threads earlier in the day. I am likely to stick with Tuesdays or Thursdays. Obviously, posting less frequently but producing the same volume means that I will release larger batches of knives on each sales thread than before. I also plan to do occasional small batches on other social media platforms to expand brand exposure. As of right now I dont intend on picking or sticking with a particular time of day. I likely will move away from the locked preview format and exact unlock time, to a more fluid way. I know some of you guys will not like this decision but I think in the long run it will benefit us all more by providing me more flexibility to innovate, learn, and bring new things to the table. I also hope that it will allow more people the opportunity to claim a knife they want by varying the times of day I post a sales thread. I plan to give some sense of predictability by using the the extra time to be more active on the forum, posting more previews, answering questions and emails.
As with any change I am sure there will be some adjustments that need to be made. I plan to keep things as informative and as fluid as possible. I have spoken with a few of you guys briefly about my intentions to get a feel of people opinions and reaction. Most if not all of you were optimistic and supportive of the change and I thank you for that. I also looked at how knife-makers outside of the Fiddleback Family conduct their sales. I found that there are many different approaches and many of them very successful in their own way. I believe for awhile Fiddleback Forge conducted their sales this way and it evolved into its current format. This confirmed to me that I just need to find what works for me and find that state of balance. I ask for your patience and continued support during the transition.
Questions and comments are welcome!
I plan on releasing my first batch of the year next week! I look forward to seeing everyone!
Sincerely and respectfully,
Chris Linton
Osprey Knife & Tool
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