Traits of a successful knife maker. My observations.

I think that to be successful (measured in money gained) we are mainly talking about the ability to market. You have to sell and you need profit margins. Some of that runs counter to what most makers are wanting. I think most want independence and the freedom to be creative. I don't think many find this trade to be a undiscovered gold mine. Once we recognize that we realize that most will have to make compromises and build something that they like as well as finding trends and finding a key market. I think it's a struggle that many artist face. A savvy maker will need to develop his skills, build his supply of resources and equipment and then tailor his work to a market. Its going ro be tough and I would guess that living in a area with a lower cost of living helps a lot.

If money is to be made I would bet that support industry like Bens wood supply are much safer. I also think that there may be a need for someone to supply the marketing and advertising. Someone who knows the business and marketing could be a big asset to the community or at least the new comers. I have ZERO interest in doing this myself but would love it if someone could appraise and market my work and allow me to focus on building skill,tools and settle into a style.

I think there are probably many other options to maximize profits. But many times it is just a bit if luck or a drive to make it work that blows through any barriers.
 
I currently measure MY success non-monetarily. Knifemaking is something I started doing at 14, I'm now 39 as of last week. I worked full-time for nearly a decade, putting another maker's stamp on the blades. These days, I do smaller modifications and rehandles, slowly working my way back into knifemaking, and at the end of the day, if I have a happy customer, and a happy me, ........ Success
 
Firstly I want to thank you for this important information that everyone can help :thumbsup:
before you(under this I mean everyone) become a successful businessman
It is important to know some facts ;)
- The brain in humans is developing until the age of 24, say experts from the University of Melbourne https://www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person14598
- With 21 years of age you become an adult in the USA
- I quote
My name is Ben Greenberg, and I have been working with wood my entire adult life. I am only 20 years old, but I have been working with wood for over seven years.

:) please without insult these are just real facts
what you are advertising and looking for profit does not give you the right to address any sort of elitist way for you
after all, there has once been a complaint about your often covert advertising on this topic o_O
 
I feel like I have pretty good business sense. At 20, I did not have the grasp of business application that Ben exhibits. I always hear about how America is in trouble when the young people of today are in charge (When have people NOT said that). Ben is just one example of how young people can have a good work ethic. Hats off.
 
And it's rather obvious, to me, that he has put considerable effort into learning as much as possible about his chosen occupation.
Kevin McGovern said:
I feel like I have pretty good business sense. At 20, I did not have the grasp of business application that Ben exhibits. I always hear about how America is in trouble when the young people of today are in charge (When have people NOT said that). Ben is just one example of how young people can have a good work ethic. Hats off.
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gunfixrjoe said:
I don't understand why there are personal attacks of different sorts here lately... We're supposed to be people helping people
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I also do not understand... It does not help anybody, including the one mentioning it. I hope and pray that the friendly and helpful community of makers does not die. I dream of being part of a makers community like the one I hear of from the guys doing it for 40+ years.
Also, Ben has a great knowledge of wood and he continues to learn and he shares his knowledge with us. Hey I am only 15 but I wish to share any knowledge I can and hopefully I help someone out without being told I am to young to speak up. I may have something wrong with what I said, then experienced makers guide me in the right direction rather than rebuke me.

Thanks for the great read Ben!
 
The barefoot boy said:
I also do not understand... It does not help anybody, including the one mentioning it. I hope and pray that the friendly and helpful community of makers does not die. I dream of being part of a makers community like the one I hear of from the guys doing it for 40+ years.
Also, Ben has a great knowledge of wood and he continues to learn and he shares his knowledge with us. Hey I am only 15 but I wish to share any knowledge I can and hopefully I help someone out without being told I am to young to speak up. I may have something wrong with what I said, then experienced makers guide me in the right direction rather than rebuke me.

Thanks for the great read Ben!
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Only 15 and gets it! Good on you Barefoot
 
It is almost like a "product placement" in a show. You see it, but it is part of the show.

Ben is young and being creative at keeping his business on the mind of knifemakers.

He is young and does contribute to the forum and if he is clever enough to drop "I sell wood" while contributing, that is okay with me
 
AVigil said:
It is almost like a "product placement" in a show. You see it, but it is part of the show.

Ben is young and being creative at keeping his business on the mind of knifemakers.

He is young and does contribute to the forum and if he is clever enough to drop "I sell wood" while contributing, that is okay with me
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But I do believe it rests on the shoulders of the moderators to handle should they feel there is an issue.
 
I have no problem with “covert advertising” if that’s what people call it. The way I look at it, whether or not I buy from Ben, or anyone else, his knowledge and information is always helpful. If the posted information includes a mild sales pitch, it doesn’t concern me, because he is marketing a product that we all use. When he asks about what type of woods he should stock, or what we want to see, I take it less as an advertisement and more as an effort to serve us better.

In the original topic, I agree with many of the points, except the idea of passing discounts to customers. Like in many trades, the times you can get a deal and make a few extra bucks just helps to cover the times that a blade fights you, you wasted a piece of handle material, cracked a blade etc. I try to come in ahead of deadlines, but won’t drop prices because I saved a few dollars.

I also agree that repeat customers are important for a business, and while they won’t jump straight to the head of a line, there should be some perks to the people who continually put food on your table. This could be a shirt with your logo on it thrown in, holding a block they like for a future knife, letting them know about a specific Damascus billet you bought before offering it to others etc. I’m not suggesting new customers get poor treatment, but like any business, there are certain perks that come with high dollar accounts.

As for my own success, I gauge it by the feedback of happy customers, not the number of customers. I don’t make a lot of knives, and at this point am not really interested in making it a business, just sustaining the hobby and improving my skills. When someone who owns one of my knives sends me a picture of a moose with a big grin and a bloody knife, that holds more value to me than some followers on social media, or a few extra dollars.
 
Ben's pushing the envelope. God bless the moderators as he's pushing the boundaries. Just my humble opinion. He's been warned in previous posts but he keeps checking the boundaries! I've never bought from him and doubt I ever will after reading his post!\

Shame he really seems intelligent on what he knows about wood and such but he comes off all wrong. I'll never buy from him personally!
 
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I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never used wood scales on any knife i have built. With all that out of the way, I started reading this thread because the title seemed interesting.
What is success? That’s a little hard to quantify due to what everyone’s definition of what success might be.
To Some it may be huge financial gains, but let’s be honest making knives is probably not the optimal business model. You can make a honest living at it, but becoming rich......well that may be a stretch.

My idea of what success is, is pretty simple. Seeing a customer look at one of my knives and be thrilled with it, and think they didn’t pay enough. I want my customers to get more for their money than they bargained for. If these things happened, then that is what success is.
It’s really simple “do unto others as you would have them do to you”

To the OP that started the thread.
I believe there was a little something lost in translation between you and the gentleman that upset you. I could tell English may not have been his native language. I honestly don’t think it was his intent to upset you. I think once again there was something lost in translation.
You were honestly a little harsh with him brother.
 
Im new at this so my opinion doesnt mean anything but i look at it like this. Why is it "covert marketing " or basically him being shady NOT ok with some people, but its perfectly fine for makers to post their stuff and essentially advertise on the customs page? Its the same concept to me. Maybe i dont know enough to know better lol. Stacy does a BEAUTIFUL job running this place. When he feels ben is out of line he lets him know. Im of the thought that if you don't like something just dont look at it. Makes life easier for all.
I do love this forum and have posted probably a few too many times but the amount of free knowledge here is inspiring.
 
DevinT said:
Young and ambitious, I miss those days. When you’re young nothing scares you.
When you’re old everything scares you.

Hoss
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Hahaha.. Agreed. Actually I remember reading about you Devin when I was a teenager in the 90s...
 
I'm very sorry if some of the words written on my side are lost in the translation
English is not my native language, I read and understand it very well but writing is far more difficult, especially because in English some words have multiple meanings while in my language it is not so.
After all, it would be interesting to try the same yourself in your own foreign language if you have this skill at all.
I generally spend a few hours a day reading articles on the forum, I'm not watching TV and mostly the internet is my window in the world and topics that I'm interested in not just tied to knives.
One of my passions was the collection of exotic wood and kept me pretty long
until I have gained a fair collection of the whole class of the hardest wood that exists
all over the world .... so it's fragile knowledge :) ;)
So I do not intend to highlight myself because I'm not an egotrip and most of the things I do
I make my own pleasure and goals and I love to set them relatively high.
Since I live in a very small country with very limited resources, every effort is duplicated so that the satisfaction achieved is far greater ... but again this is not a topic here.

I absolutely do not doubt that the young gentleman has gained a lot of knowledge since I understand his passion .... In today's era of informatization everyone interested in a topic can gather a bit of knowledge for a short time, so it is not questionable.

The cause of my reaction is of another character and now that I leave you to judge :thumbsup:

DevinT said:
Young and ambitious, I miss those days. When you’re young nothing scares you.
When you’re old everything scares you.

Hoss
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Of course I agree with you sir

That's why I quote - Don Juan Matus
Fear is a mind killer
 
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