Thinking of starting a Knife company

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Zodiac Bladeworks

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Hi everyone

With all that has been going on in the world, I find myself stranded in Thailand with nothing to do. Idle minds have me planning to start a knife making business where we will manufacture CNC knives here in Thailand in a facility my partner and I setup. This is something I have wanted to do for years and always thought it would be my retirement plan. I would like your thoughts please as i may be missing something important before investing so much money on new machinery.

We are looking at producing a range of production knives priced at 4 levels. Entry level would start around $400 and our production knives would top out at around $1200 if customers chose luxury options. We would also look at making midtech/production knives for custom makers based around the world as an altrrnative to Chinese sourcing. Finally, we would offer cut blanks or premade pivots for makers without CNC access that would be priced similar to what they now pay for materials alone.

My background is in Aerospace where I have been involved in the design and manufacturing of components across over 20 countries, including a recent stint making interiors for Gulfstream Jets. Prior to that I worked in Automotive design. My partner is one of the top Manufacturing Engineers in aerospace with over 30 years experience including many patents. We believe we can manufacture knives at levels comparable to the best in the industry and want to fully commit to this. I am an Aussie and he is English.

What I would like to know from you is, do you feel that making in Thailand would be an issue for selling the higer end of the market and would makers in the US be interested in working with an Asian based manufacturer or would want to remain fully US based

Thanks for your feedback and apologies for the long ramble

cheers
 
I certainly wish you the best of luck as you hammer out the details (perhaps I should say route out? 😁 ).

At least from an American perspective, the "Made in ______" usually carries a lot of weight (too much, IMHO).
I see evidence that, whether or not it's justifiable to care about country of origin, it always seems to be a factor.
Unfortunately anything produced in Asia is always going to have to prove itself before it's accepted; quite the opposite for things "Made in America" where distrust is accumulated through failure.

Also, I have no insight into the 400-1200 dollar market and who could be buying these knives with any kind of frequency, but I know there's plenty of products already out there in these price ranges.
I personally can't afford knives in those ranges, but if I did decide to get one I'd prefer some personal touches rather than a purely CNC'd knife.

My own personal feeling is that this puts you at a disadvantage, but as I said- I wish you the best of luck!
 
in this day and age of remote working
stranger things have taken place.
bottomline, never mind where its made in.
its all about the looks of the end product.

information regarding your respective professional backgrounds is perhaps
something to push in the marketing
just so eveyone knows you guys are farangs living out your dreams in siam :-)
best of luck over there!
 
Here are a few difficulties you might encounter regarding the US market-

1. Buyers in the US might be reluctant to order expensive knives from a foreign country due to the risks involved with international shipping. Although many US knife companies have knives made in foreign countries, they have the knives shipped to the US in bulk and then either sell them directly to buyers in the US, or they use distributers in the US. As a result, buyers don't have to worry about their expensive knives getting lost in overseas shipping, or any issues with customs.

2. Buyers in the US might be reluctant to purchase expensive knives from a company with no history or reputation. Reputation and customer service count for a lot. If a person in the US purchased one of your knives and didn't like it, or if there were a problem with the knife, would you accept returns and provide full refunds, including shipping costs? If a buyer cannot return a knife, or if it's going to be difficult to return a knife AND they have to pay for more international shipping, again, they might be reluctant to buy.

3. Buyers in the US might be reluctant to give their credit card info to a completely unknown company overseas.


If you could find a trusted distributer in the US to sell your knives some of these concerns might be alleviated.
 
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I don't think country of origin is a big detriment if the work is good, but anything over say, $500 will probably be a bust. That end of the knife market is still small, and unless you can blow something like Reate out of the market, forget it. You will need US distributors ( and other major foreign markets). No one likes to buy from overseas. Also be prepared for a few flat years, it takes a good amount of time to build trust with knife buyers at the multi-hundred dollar range.
 
You will likely need to set up a US office to handle importation, distribution and customer service.

But it will still be an uphill battle to gain credibility. Too many Asians brands have been known to misrepresent their products and specifications. In the US a customer can pursue a maker for knowingly selling a deficient product, it would be much harder to do so with a maker in Thailand. Asking people to lay out large sums for an unknown product with little recourse will limit your market.

n2s
 
I would be hesitant to spend that much on any knife. If I did decide to purchase a knife at that price point, I'd very strongly prefer it was an American company manufacturing domestically. Mostly for my convenience should any issues arise. Basically the only way I'd be interested in spending that much for a knife made anywhere else if is the quality was exceptionally outstanding and extremely well priced. I'm not at all interested in purchasing high end products from a brand new company thousands of miles away.
 
OP:

I have no "advice" as it pertains to starting a knife making business but having run a failed retail business for a few years, I know how difficult it is to build, maintain and sustain a profitable buisness over time.

I wish you the best of luck!
 
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Well, If I would pay 400 Dollars + for a knife from a different part of the world, I would need a lot of trust.

That kind of trust must be earned. As a company you have then several ways to achieve this:

1. Give your knives a very good lifetime warranty and honor it without hesitation or questioning.
2. Make the knives so good you can calculate the odd lemon in and still come out on top.
3. Be transparent about it and continuously communicate with your customers on a level that they feel confident about you, your quality of product and especially your quality of service.
4. Send out spare parts for a reasonable price.
5. Get the knives to the customer in a timely manner, may it be via distributors or local branches.

If your product, quality and service is that good, you'll earn trust quite fast.

However, to achieve this, you need to invest in more than just some CNC machines, the will to excel and never forget that a 1 dollar pairing knife will cut a tomato just as well:)
 
As already stated, Highlighting your credentials would be a good start. Not sure what problems you may run into on sourcing materials with current world events and supply chain disruption that's going on right now. If you have the desire and a solid game plan I'd say go for it. Try to offer something unique (enough) from everything else on an already saturated market to make your product stand out. $500 +/- is mostly where I'm at but the $100-200+ price point is also great, just look at the AD20.5.
 
$400 to 1200 limits your market to mostly enthusiasts like some here. I think it limits it too much and would kill your chances of getting started. There are others like you doing work for some well known manufacturers in the knife world. Spyderco's Taiwan line are some of the better ones and are pretty well thought of here. If it was me I'd be thinking of going that route to begin with and getting your work out there and seen before going it alone with very high end knives. You will be going against companies well established in the market for a limited slice of a limited market. Good luck.
 
Thank you everyone for the great perspectives, much appreciated.

One point bought up repeatedly is about local US distributers, the intent is for myself to move back to the US (I was living in Cali pre Covid) and run the design, distribution and to work with local resellers. My partner would handle the manufacturing as that is his area of expertise. We don't want to ship knives on a 1 by 1 basis overseas for all the reasons above. I am also a collector of knives and share the same concerns.

For the products, we will be offering a product we feel is different to all the generic makers selling on price as well as the ability to customize each order as supply chain is somewhere we feel we have an advantage. I will post some designs for feedback in a few weeks

I will reply to specific points directly to keep this short

Thanks again to everyone who responded
 
Do you have design features and concepts that can set your knives apart from a crowded stage of knives?

Your price range seems high for an entry level. Reate, WE and others gained an initial following by the high value they offered.

Can Thailand freely export knives to the US without restrictions?

Are there historical Thai knife styles that you could epitomize with a modern take?

Just some random thoughts. Good luck whatever your decision.
 
Zodiac Bladeworks said:
do you feel that making in Thailand would be an issue for selling the higer end of the market
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For some potential buyers, probably. Anecdotally, there's a vocal portion of the community won't buy knives made in China; I don't know how those folks feel about knives made in Thailand.

But manufacturers based in Asia are doing excellent knife manufacturing work these days, and have been doing so for many, many years. There's absolutely a market for knives made in Asia at the higher end of the production price spectrum.

Zodiac Bladeworks said:
would makers in the US be interested in working with an Asian based manufacturer or would want to remain fully US based
Click to expand...
There are lots of US-based designers contracting with China-based companies like WE and Reate to produce their designs, or doing design work for other China-based companies like Kizer and Bestech, so if the quality and price and there I'm sure you'd find some partners.

Personally, I'd be more concerned about your starting price point being well into "high-end production knife from well-established companies" territory. Your proposed top-end price is up there in the rare air occupied by Shirogorov and the like, and well past many midtechs of exceptional quality -- heck, well into custom territory.

But if you've got something that sets you apart from folks already doing this work extremely well and at competitive prices, more power to you and I wish you the best of luck. It will certainly be an interesting venture. :thumbsup:
 
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Not to sound snarky.......but have you Ever made a knife before?
You talk about various manufacturing experiences, but I didn't read anything directly pertaining.

Why are your knife ideas worth as much as you think?
Not saying they aren't.....but still asking.


Lots of marketing companies come and go. I know for Me, trust is important.

I'm wishing you all the best
 
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