Surviving on making knives alone...?

Are you making a living Just making knives?

  • Sole Income

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Have a Full Time job

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Have a Part Time Job

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Have a significant other who pay the bills

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
I have read this entire thread and find it a bit depressing to say the least. I'm here to tell you that you can be successful, very successful if you plan properly and do your homework. Do you know your demographic? do you have a business plan ? if you have a part or full time job are you investing in your knifebusiness/ shop to be efficient so that when you do decide to go full time you have the proper equipment ? Are you spending your non knifemaking time studying the industry/customer? Are you taking the time to constantly design new products ? Are you outsourcing (midteching )parts for a more affordable line of products for your customers?
I say this because, you cannot stick your finger in the same light socket everyday and expect a different result.
I admire the dedication that you all have for this craft / industry and your passion for the knife and want to see this industry continue to grow and prosper. That being said the love for the knife is not enough to bring home the paycheck at the end of the day. Hard work by it's self is not enough to be successful. Your business needs to be run as a business to be successful.
I have done quite well in this industry in spite of the fact that I had everything against me in the beginning . I live in Hawaii ( the most expensive place to live in the country). I built my business in spite of the fact that I have had an asphalt pump dropped on my chest and destroyed my back .11 back surgeries and still live with a morphine pump implanted into my stomach. I never borrowed a dime to do it . I grew up quite poor.
I faced loosing my home and feared being homeless. I don't say this to brag or for pity . I say this because if I can do it ......... anyone can.
Spend the time needed to evaluate the industry and find your niche. Take the time to develop your craft. draft a 5 year business plan with goals to reach every year. understand your customer base . develop products that set you apart from the norm. Study the landscape and find ways to capitalize on various segments of the industry. Develop a midtech line of products. Yes the dollar is weak so capitalize on the foreign marketplace .
I don't wish to piss in anyones shoes here. My comments are only to get you to think differently and adjust your business for the current mkt.
 
:thumbup:
most ppl think that you jsut make knives and make $$ but like said there is lots of other stuff to deal with

Ken is right about the plan and i think thats the place that most fail when they start. that and not building the shop while working a "real" job before going full time

this is a great thread and makes me remember how i got started only a few years ago just tring to make $$ for the next knife or a new tool
 
Ken that is all very sage advise and hope others listen to what you said and take it to heart. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and advise with us.

I have not gone full time knifemaker yet just because I love my day job forging and shoeing horses but my body is telling me I need to stop or it will make me :D. I am to the point that I think my skills are to the point I am happy with my work and ready to push to be a full time maker. So with my slow season just starting I will be making my plan and try and make the switch to full time maker since I have gathered most of the equipment I need already.

The thing I have learned in the time I have been making is you need to diversify if you want to make it.
 
If my wife would quit spending money, I could probably make it just fine with my full time job, a hobby of making knives & blacksmithing, mowing lawns, house painting, shoveling snow in parking lots, etc.:D:D:D
 
KenOnion said:
I have read this entire thread and find it a bit depressing to say the least. I'm here to tell you that you can be successful, very successful if you plan properly and do your homework. Do you know your demographic? do you have a business plan ? if you have a part or full time job are you investing in your knifebusiness/ shop to be efficient so that when you do decide to go full time you have the proper equipment ? Are you spending your non knifemaking time studying the industry/customer? Are you taking the time to constantly design new products ? Are you outsourcing (midteching )parts for a more affordable line of products for your customers?
I say this because, you cannot stick your finger in the same light socket everyday and expect a different result.
I admire the dedication that you all have for this craft / industry and your passion for the knife and want to see this industry continue to grow and prosper. That being said the love for the knife is not enough to bring home the paycheck at the end of the day. Hard work by it's self is not enough to be successful. Your business needs to be run as a business to be successful.
I have done quite well in this industry in spite of the fact that I had everything against me in the beginning . I live in Hawaii ( the most expensive place to live in the country). I built my business in spite of the fact that I have had an asphalt pump dropped on my chest and destroyed my back .11 back surgeries and still live with a morphine pump implanted into my stomach. I never borrowed a dime to do it . I grew up quite poor.
I faced loosing my home and feared being homeless. I don't say this to brag or for pity . I say this because if I can do it ......... anyone can.
Spend the time needed to evaluate the industry and find your niche. Take the time to develop your craft. draft a 5 year business plan with goals to reach every year. understand your customer base . develop products that set you apart from the norm. Study the landscape and find ways to capitalize on various segments of the industry. Develop a midtech line of products. Yes the dollar is weak so capitalize on the foreign marketplace .
I don't wish to piss in anyones shoes here. My comments are only to get you to think differently and adjust your business for the current mkt.
Click to expand...

Very good post Ken. Guys like you are a prime example of mastering what most makers don't do, marketing. I think if one looked at all the most successful makers you would find that they would do well in the widget business. We always hear you have to "pay your dues" and "get your name out there" and there is truth to that, but it has to be done through effective marketing. Like you mentioned, you have to study your market, find a niche need and fill that need. Sounds simple huh? Unless you are Kevin Costner it is not a case of if you build it they will come. Business is all about building a brand, and that brand needs to fit the market you are trying to service.

This has been a really good thread, I think alot of guys start making knives and think, wow Im going to get rich doing what I want! Im glad to see some very, very good knife makers on this thread giving the rest of us a candid look at the darker side of a full time knife maker.
 
Howdy all,

Our situation most closely resembles Ray's, with the added bonus that both of our employers closed their doors here within months of each other early in 2009 and I was only a hobbyist at the time.

Neither of us have been unemployed for more than a couple of weeks since adulthood, so the adjustment was challenging, to put it mildly. After having no luck seeking new employment, Kelley suggested that I turn my hobby into a trade.

And here we are. My wife is my "Girl Friday" and has even become skilled at the band saw quickly enough to assist me with cutting out blanks (without me having to worry about needing to reattach any of her digits).

We've enjoyed a surprising amount of local business, enough to keep the lights on and break even, but we're aspiring to grow the business that will allow us to not only reinvest into the business without worry, but put some money aside for the inevitable day we won't be able to stand at the grinder.

It's certainly not the easiest way to make a living, but I can't believe it took me 41 years to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing for a living.:D

Scary at times, exhilarating at others. But we both agree that the overall satisfaction we get from making something for someone that's "tangible" is no comparison to the struggle of working in the "intangible" environment of corporate America, as we both did previously.

All that to say, it's a personal choice. My advice is have a solid business plan, keep a VERY close eye on your P&L, be honest with yourself and your expectations and HAVE A BLAST! If you don't, especially the last part, then it'll never work.

Hope this helps and if you decide to take the plunge, good luck!:D

Taylor

P.S. - And now I'm back out to the shop on a Friday night at 8:45pm, so factor that in too.;)
 
The hardest part for me anyway is separating "Fun" from "Fact"
 
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Well I'm coming into this kinda late.. but I thought I should share. I got off my original career path (evolutionary biology/tropical systematics) a long time ago.. frankly because it was hard to find work. Not a lot of opportunities for an over-educated bryozoologist. The alternatives were environmental consulting and government. I tried both and was unhappy.. so somehow I ended up on boats... tuna fishing and dive boat charters in California.. and got my captains license. I met a girl and headed out to Northern Wisconsin where I was gonna take a shot at full time free-lance photography but then an opportunity came up to work for the state on a 100 year old gill-net tug which just about killed me with stress. I had started making knives and was making some money... the stress was affecting my relationship with my wife (who is a full time physical therapist and makes grea money).... so she said 'go for it' on the knives. There are so few opportunities where we live. The whole area is a typical Northwoods depopulation zone. When I first got into knife making I did as somebody else mentioned.. I immediately started thinking about how to make my shop as efficient as possible.. the way a shop would be run by a pro. And every little penny I made from knives I used to develop this shop. So by the time I was through with gill netting I had a KMG, milling machine, two forges, drill press, a great website and a little niche for selling kiridashis like crazy. I was set up pretty well to try it out. So that is what I'm doing now... I've taken over day care part of the week and the rest I work my as* off filling custom orders. I've been doing it 5 months or so, and after setting aside taxes I'm pretty much contributing as much as I was working for the state when taking into account daycare costs (wasn't a lot anyway). It SEEMS to be working... but I guess it will take more time to see how expenses catch up with everything. I spend a lot of time thinking of how to reduce overhead costs... i.e. buying as much as I can in bulk, bigger propane tank at a better rate, investing in tools that will make things more efficient, etc.

My main problem is pricing. I started too cheap and I'm trying to dig myself out of that and now I'm trying to focus more on the collector market and those with money... as well as trying to add a stock removal product to my offerings to see how that will go. I'm scared as hell about how all of this will work out.. but I've finally found something that I love.
 
My strategy is to reduce my costs as much as possible.

The best thing I've done is to make my own belt grinder that can take grinding belts of different lengths. A lot of odd length belts come on ebay and most of the time, I'm the only one bidding because the machines that fit the belts are either rare or not avialable so I have a ton of belts at a fraction of normal retail prices.

Likewise, you can get titanium and carbon fibre cheap on ebay and the quality is as good as retail.
 
This is a great thread!

Being a part time maker with a full time job is the only way I can make it and survive. If I was as skilled and as fast making knives as some of you fellas that knock down a good income knife making, I could survive making knives for a living.

Retirement from the full time job is probably a couple of years away and I do look forward to making knives full time or as I choose between hobbies and shop work.

I start drawing Social Security in March and plan on still working full time for a while, double dipping. The extra SS income will more than double my present takehome pay. That should allow me to upgrade my shop (heat, decent electrical service, etc.) and be able to work during the lousy weather months. Right now, it's a hard row to hoe in the shop with just a smokey K1 room heater. The fuel ain't cheap, either!

I have plenty of knives to make for waiting clients. The problem is getting the knives out the door. For some strange reason, this part of the country (SE Iowa) is actually suffering from job losses and general business but the knife orders are still rolling in. I make mostly hunters and am fortunate for the fact many folks here hunt and fish.
 
This thread should be a sticky....fantastic info.

Mods go ahead and delete this post as it doesn't really belong, but this thread should be saved for sure and made sticky.
 
Right now being employed Full Time is a mixed Blessing...
Doing it for the Knife Widow who is currently going to school. She deserves a brake from Corporate America and my debt to her is far from paid. After all the years of tolerating Funky Shop smells, tracking in metal dust, and having to explain my "Hobby" read obsession it's time to pay it back.
Of Course :D
There is the price my brain (And wallet) would pay if I went full time.
When I'm @ work I wish I was in the shop...
When I'm in the shop (Having Fun) I feel guilty like it is not really work...

So whats a man to do :confused: Maybe after she finishes school work a Part Time Gig and full time shop... Wonder how that would fly
 
Hankins said:
When I'm in the shop (Having Fun) I feel guilty like it is not really work...
Click to expand...

I get this guilt too. I'm used to bosses, and not enjoying work. I feel guilty about how happy my job makes me for sure.
 
Running your own business can be tough at times, but sometimes can be great too. I loved my own business painting houses, and sometimes wish I never stopped.

But then after college I wanted the "big bucks". Should have kept painting houses! I knew an attorney who told me "don't worry about making money, do what you enjoy doing. The money will come later anyway." Well, maybe not everything you do will make money later. But he was right, stick to what you enjoy. There is no point in having money if you can't be happy making (or having) it.
 
I think the real question is , How bad do you want it ? Dream the dream , plan it out well and set goals . If all you want to do is make knives then make knives part time and just enjoy the time you get to spend making knives . If you want to go full time and make a decent living then it requires more than just making knives. Not everything involved in the process is fun but it is necessary to become successful. And it sure beats workin for the man. It is still a business and needs to be treated as one if you want to live comfortably.
 
KenOnion said:
I think the real question is , How bad do you want it ? Dream the dream , plan it out well and set goals . If all you want to do is make knives then make knives part time and just enjoy the time you get to spend making knives . If you want to go full time and make a decent living then it requires more than just making knives. Not everything involved in the process is fun but it is necessary to become successful. And it sure beats workin for the man. It is still a business and needs to be treated as one if you want to live comfortably.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
i have to wander if the making takes more then 1/2 the time in full time work or less (im thinking less )

i still love my job no matter the hours
 
There are a Number of great Replies to this thread from many Respected makers... I vote "STICKY" if someone cares to ask Kevin :D
 
Hankins said:
There are a Number of great Replies to this thread from many Respected makers... I vote "STICKY" if someone cares to ask Kevin :D
Click to expand...

If everything was stickied every time some said "sticky", there would be no room on the page for other posts...
They just went through a round of cleanup not too long ago.


Try the Subscribe feature, it works to make good posts easy to find.
 
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