A friend of mine has a very successful saddle business. He employs his brother and has a few guys that drift in and work part time as well. He builds custom saddles. The majority of saddles that leave his shop are award or trophy saddles for rodeos,barrell racing and roping competitions. His brother builds 3 of the troghy saddles a week. The owner works on the custom saddles when he is not answering the phone, ordering materials, dealing with sales reps or dealing with crazy customers.
I think there will always be a market for what I call "cowboy art" products. Saddles,purses,walletts,chaps,rope bags and etc. I always believe this is the most competitive market along with the biker industry. I am working on my own niche as we speak. I'm not ready to reveal what it is and you will see why in a moment.
I think purses and boots are a good market. I think alot of crafts-folk over produce their goods. I say build a purse and make it a perfect 1 of a kind or maybe a run of 10. Try to build a product that can be appreciated for what it is, a piece of art. I believe in this age of the internet, where you can learn anything in forums or Youtube, items get copied. If you start producing a popular line of purses at craft shows or for ebay, within a month someone will be producing your design or using your marketing ideas.
I say keep production runs small and build your name. Produce an item and move on to the next design, keep innovating and building quality products. Stay out of debt, be frugal and the money will come.
