When it becomes a second job....

autogateman

autogateman

Rod Braud
Joined
Jan 6, 2017
Messages
180
So next month makes a year that I’ve been making knives and I gotta say it has blown my mind how many people are interested in handcrafted blades! I really enjoy it and I’ve definitely learned a lot in this past year (mostly from this site)! My original plan was to make knives as I had time and post them for sale but that didn’t last long at all. Very quickly people wanted to have customs made and the list grew very quickly. I have not had a single person push me for a timeline, they have all said to just get to it when I had time. The problem is I hate having a list of a dozen or so knives that are waiting to be built, even though the customers aren’t in a rush. I feel like I have to go in my shop after work because I don’t like to make people wait. Well that’s the point that it starts to feel more like a second job than a rewarding hobby. So my question is- if I go back to my original plan of selling finished knives as I make them and have time to, how do I turn down custom orders? Anyone else work this way? It may be a case of being too nice for my own good I guess lol.
Thanks in advance
Cheers
Rod
 
I see why people are willing to wait, Very nice work. I would just tell people your books are closed and there will be a few available as there finished and have them check there. Or become a full time knife maker?
 
Thanks for the compliments! I would love to do it full time, but the company I started in 2000 is at its prime right now and growing at a pretty good clip. It will definitely be something good to do once I retire though.
 
I was in the same situation a year ago. My work schedule can be unpredictable. 60 and 70 hour weeks are common. One day I realized that I had a year's worth of work if i was in the garage everyday after work and on the weekends. If a mistake was made in the process I had to stay out even longer to make up the time. I had no chance to work on new designs or with new materials. I did 2 things to change the work load.
The first thing was to not take anymore orders. I write people's names down, and keep track of the style of knife they want. If I have something that they might be interested in I'll let them know.

The second thing I did was to raise my prices. Raising prices has shortened the list but it allows me to work on what I want when I want. It's a good feeling to not have a back log. This might not be the best plan but it is the one that is the most comfortable for me.
 
Tyshoots said:
I was in the same situation a year ago. My work schedule can be unpredictable. 60 and 70 hour weeks are common. One day I realized that I had a year's worth of work if i was in the garage everyday after work and on the weekends. If a mistake was made in the process I had to stay out even longer to make up the time. I had no chance to work on new designs or with new materials. I did 2 things to change the work load.
The first thing was to not take anymore orders. I write people's names down, and keep track of the style of knife they want. If I have something that they might be interested in I'll let them know.

The second thing I did was to raise my prices. Raising prices has shortened the list but it allows me to work on what I want when I want. It's a good feeling to not have a back log. This might not be the best plan but it is the one that is the most comfortable for me.
Click to expand...

Raising prices is already in the works and I agree that it should help. I like the idea about writing down names too!
 
I'm a part timer as well and had a similar challenge a year ago. I closed my books to get caught up.
Now my personal policy is if I get to 5 orders, I close the books.
The way I work in my shop is that I do one custom order, then one of my choosing that I post on IG and BF, then I profile one to get ready for HT (I send out to Peter's so I need to send in batches). With this schedule I am able to keep up with orders, still feel creative and plan for the future.
As a side note, you might want to lose Photobucket. Flickr, and Imgur allow 3rd party hosting for free. Get out while you can LOL.
 
its a double edged sword. sometimes i wish i had a big list of people waiting for one of my knives. other times i am glad i have no waiting list so i can experiment and make new styles. one time i had four people waiting for a knife, and i felt pressure and it was not as much fun. i cannot imagine a whole year of a waiting list, but congrats on that !
 
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I can dig it!

Nice work Rod.
 
It sounds like you situation is exactly like mine. I try to have some blades heat treated and finished ready of handles. This way I can batch HT knives of the same design, but still give people who want a knife some options for handles and sheaths. I also do custom etching of names, initials, bible verses. That helps to add value to the whole custom idea. It seems to be working for me. I have made the mistake of accepting custom orders for odd ball designs, or projects I was not up to snuff on, and those are the ones that seem to drag out. I have also raised prices. One other thing is I like to be able to make knives to give as gifts or donate for organizations I support, so having something near complete to be able to turn around in a few days is helpful in that regard as well. By the way, nice work. I can see why you are in demand.
 
Robert, someone needs to do a tutorial for us old guys on how to use Instagram and such for knives. :D
Robert Erickson said:
I'm a part timer as well and had a similar challenge a year ago. I closed my books to get caught up.
Now my personal policy is if I get to 5 orders, I close the books.
The way I work in my shop is that I do one custom order, then one of my choosing that I post on IG and BF, then I profile one to get ready for HT (I send out to Peter's so I need to send in batches). With this schedule I am able to keep up with orders, still feel creative and plan for the future.
As a side note, you might want to lose Photobucket. Flickr, and Imgur allow 3rd party hosting for free. Get out while you can LOL.
Click to expand...
 
Its not that hard jdm61 jdm61 I figured it out with help from my daughter and daughter in law. Now I have 10K plus followers. and I'm an old guy too, I still have a flip phone, ya know to make calls with, not to text, not to take pictures but to make calls with, a phone. So I use a tablet for Instagram.

For the OP. I have tried all the above and variations of all including taking names. Closing the books is what works. I've had some folks with the name taking still believe that they have placed an order. Orders can be a good thing, I've made lots of money off of them but they do bring their own stresses and that is just how it is. I'm currently experimenting with making what I call In Stock knives, and then calling folks when they are done and on the website ready for sale. we'll see how it goes.
 
I do a non committal wait list. When your name comes up, I contact you and you decide if you still want me to make you a knife. This way pricing is not locked in from a previous time either.
 
jdm61 said:
Robert, someone needs to do a tutorial for us old guys on how to use Instagram and such for knives. :D
Click to expand...
If Instagram needed a tutorial I probably wouldn't be using it LOL :D
If you have a smart phone with a camera it's about as easy as it can be. Just download the app, sign up and start posting pics. Using hashtags in the pictures caption will help direct people to your pics. ie #knife #knifemaker etc.
I don't have a FB page for knives but some guys do. I'm just not a huge fan of FB.
 
I do what Warren does. I have a list of contact info, name and type of knife. When I take a name, I give them a rough idea of when they will be up. Right now I'm saying "Summer 2018". When they are next on the list I contact them to confirm they are still interested and quote the price. The only time I get stressed about orders is around Christmas when I have a definite deadline, but I close my books on Christmas orders when needed.
 
Close the books, raise the prices. Once the list shortens down, raise them a bit more, and start only taking orders that you want to make. Finally, and perhaps the most important, make some stuff you want to make in between the orders. Batch build, but put some of your stuff in the batch. Push yourself on your knives while you catch up on theirs.
 
Years ago I would take orders. I never took deposits. I would tell people I was backed up one to three years. Still, the customers felt they should get their knives in what they felt was a reasonable time. I tried to meet these deadlines, and did most of the time. A it started to be more and more, it made the fun of knifemaking a job ... and I already had a good job. I stopped taking orders.

I stopped taking orders, kept a want list of things people were looking for. and let the interested people know when a knife or sword was available. That allowed me to make what I wanted to at my own timetable. The fun returned.
 
I always felt the pressure until I decided to not take any more custom orders. It is hard to do but if you are steadfast on the rule you can have a life too...and one that is enjoyable every day. Just tell your customers you will take their e-mail addresses and phone numbers and notify them when you have a selection of knives you have made for sale and offer to send a photo to all the interested parties at the same time. You will know true freedom when you have done this...I promise. Larry

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