Osprey Knife & Tool will no longer be available on Fiddleback Fridays

congrats. and I just want to say how awesome it is to have such a supportive and standup boss.
 
Congratulations Chris. I will be looking forward to many more OKT beauties :thumbup:
 
Very happy to see this evolution for you Chris.

Love my warthog and am looking forward to to my edu.



---
Shamr0ck
 
Congrats Chris.

Love the knives I have from you and look forward to getting more.
 
rxavage said:
congrats. and I just want to say how awesome it is to have such a supportive and standup boss.
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I agree, Andy has been instrumental in my success. I have much respect for him as a business man and a person.

NUTRAMAC said:
Chris,
Great news! It can be scary starting off on your own but you've decided to jump, your parachute will open!
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Thank you Rob, I am nervous and excited at the same time. I am sure I will have to overcome some hurdles and will make some mistakes but that is all part of the journey

Comprehensivist said:
Congratulations on your success Chris. You have worked very hard to achieve it. I wish you all the best going forward.

From an individual customer's standpoint, seeing a craftsman I like reach this stage is a double-edged sword (or knife ;) ) for me. There is frequently a short window of time between when a knife maker develops the skills to produce high quality knives that interest me and when he (or she) gets picked up by dealers that place big orders that crowd out your ability to work with interested individual customers. Sure it means that we have easier access to buy more standardized knives from the dealers, but that is not quite the same experience as working with you directly. As your success grows, more dealers will come on line with bigger orders and that becomes your life if you remain an individual craftsman with limited hours in a day. Suddenly you will have little or no time to personally maintain an active presence on your forum or respond to personal messages or requests from individuals. That is the price of growth all to often when you are a one man band. I love Dylan, but he seems to be caught up in that cycle these days to me.

I want you to continue to grow and succeed Chris. I just want to caution you to be very deliberate in how fast you grow so that you are always leading the business plan rather than letting it lead you. If your individual fans start to feel too disconnected from you the maker, your brand will become just another internet commodity. I think Skylar (Skystorm) said it best in Andy's thread earlier this year when demand was seriously slowing down. With all due respect to Skylar, I am going to paraphrase his point and change the names to make it relevant to you:

After showing my favorite Raptor to a friend, he says "Wow, where did you get this great knife?"

My response choices are either:

A) "I bought it off the internet..."

or

B) "It's an Osprey Knife & Tool knife. Let me tell you about my friend Chris who makes them..."

That is a powerful message in a few short sentences. Please don't let the positive momentum overwhelm who you are and what you stand for.

Good Luck and thanks my friend!

Phil
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply and sharing your wisdom Phil. I agree with your point that the person to person sales are very important. I enjoy interacting with members on the Forum, Instagram and Facebook. I have built many friendships this way and will continue to do so. I believe this decision will allow me to carve out more time for myself and allow me to focus on the connection you are speaking of. At the same time I plan on using this time to develop new designs, construction methods, and grow overall as a knife-maker.
I had approached Andy and asked him to transition to part-time to allow me to focus on growing my company and brand. I felt that it was no longer appropriate or beneficial to Fiddleback and OKT to continue to sell my knives on his Forum being a part time employee and having my own Forum. This will allow me to consolidate my traffic and be more consistent and effective in my communication. I also wanted the challenge and the reward of being Captain of my own ship (This is a huge motivating Factor). I am sure I will have hurdles to overcome and I will make mistakes but that is part of the journey. I have a community full of people here that have a vested interest in my success and offer their wisdom.

Yes I plan to stay a one man show, I like having my hands on every part off the process. I may in the very distant future incorporate a helper, I however don't foresee that ever evolving into me employing people to perform specific tasks. I do believe that Dealers are an important part of the business and key to my success but no more so than the direct sales here on Blade Forums. I just need to find that balance that works for me and my work flow.
I have always held on tight to the philosophy of making a fewer higher quality blades than more at a lower quality.

I enjoy what I do and I am passionate about it. Each knife I make has its own personality per say, some just come together effortlessly others it is a battle. I enjoy taking my time getting to know each piece and working through it to bring it to its full potential.

I haven’t exactly decide how I want to structure my sales. I know I would like to follow Andy’s business model closely, but I will adapt it to what works best for OKT. I will take the long holiday weekend to reflect and come to a conclusion. I will let you guys know what I decide.

I am just getting started on my Journey as a knife-maker and invite you guys along to be a part of that.



Bush.Hacker said:
Very good. It will be awesome to see more of your work getting out there. My set of OKTs is slowly growing, and the detail and craftsmanship in every knife is highly evident. It will be fun to watch your brand grow.
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Thank you, I enjoy hearing customers see that in my work.

SA Condor said:
Can't wait to get my first one this fall! Congrats on the move and I'm glad you'll still be working at Fiddleback Forge too :thumbup:
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Me, too! I enjoy being around this group of people and I feel vested in Fiddleback's success and want to continue to be a part of that team even if it is more of a limited role.

Southern Gent said:
Congrats on all your current and future successes Chris. One of my favorite things about being able to come by the shop is to see what new patterns, finishes and material combinations you are putting together. I've seen so much progress in your work the past year and you should be very proud of the direction you are heading. Really glad to hear you'll still be there next time I stop in.
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Thank you Justin, I enjoy it when you stop by too. It is always nice to put a face to a name and interact with customers face to face. Till next time!

prom52 said:
I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into making this move Chris. We'll all miss having a shot to shark one of your knives on Friday's, however it sounds like you'll be creating additional opportunities on your own sub forum so with that in mind, best wishes for your continued success !
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Peter, I did put a lot of thought into this. I lost alot of sleep, but I am following my instinct. And you are correct I plan on increasing the opportunity on my forum as well as my presence. It should be exciting!

TripleT said:
Good luck Chris with all your current and future endeavors. I will continue to direct business your way, and hope to see you grow as a knifemaker and as a valuable member of the Fiddleback team.
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Thank you Jarrett, I appreciate all of your support and look forward to seeing you over on my Sub-Forum
 
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Warrior108 said:
Congratulations! Who was the other dealer besides DLT Trading?


Thanks
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USA Made Blade picked up a few knives from Blade Show. I talk to Scott a few weeks ago, they should be available here in a few weeks. I will let you guys know when they release them.
 
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