New beginnings

[BlackDragon]

I stopped working with leather back in Oct. so I could go to NY to take care of my mother (she's 93) until we could bring her to NC. It was supposed to be a couple of weeks and it turned out to be a month and a half. While I was in NY I was building a website and designing things for the site. In that time my sister and BIL bought property in TN. My sister was a counselor for the military at MARSOC near camp lejeune and wants to start up her own practice using horses. 

My BIL and I have been working on the property since the end of Jan and it's slowly coming together. We're currently working on a living space for my sister and BIL, I'll be in a tiny home in the woods. I'm hoping I'll have a shop built in the next couple months.

My BIL and his sister have been letting people know that I work with leather, including people in the Amish community. One Amish ferrier wants me to supply horse tack for his new supply shop and other people are already asking when will I be ready for orders. The closest place for them to buy tack is a place called Muddy Pond. I went there yesterday, their saddles were beautiful but some of their other things aren't that well made. The holsters were 4/5oz leather in the $50 range. Headstalls were in the $50-$110 range. The biggest complaint from people was that they were to expensive. I was thinking my prices arent going to be that much different and probably more but the quality would be better and they wouldn't need to travel as far. I've been told I should make cheaper tack for the Amish but I'm not keen on that idea. My name is going to be on my products and I don't want people thinking I make a cheap product that doesn't last.

In my younger years I worked at a riding stables and worked a lot with horses but I haven't made horse tack so I'm hoping to pick people's brains about it. Are there good templates out there that I can purchase? What's the best leather for horse tack harness, bridle, or...?

[billybopp]

I totally get it with doing your best possible work, but consider that you do sometimes need to work to a price point.  It's the same with just about everything on the market today.  VERY few people have an unlimited budget, but some are much bigger than others.  You don't want your less expensive products to taint people's opinion of your more expensive ones.   One way to do that?   Branding!  Release less expensive, plainer, perhaps even less durable products under one brand, and then higher end more expensive products under another brand name.  It happens in the business world all the time ... Sometimes everybody knows about it such as GM with Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, etc ... Other times, brands that you buy every day are owned by the same parent company but few people know it!!  

Just a thought 

- Bill

[Mulesaw]

@BlackDragon Good luck with setting up shop :-) I think you are really lucky that people are already asking for your service, that must mean that there really is a customer base nearby, and that makes it all a lot easier compared to having to search for potential customers.

Depending on your  expected hourly rate, I think that it might be difficult to compete with prices of foreign made odd the rack stuff. So it is better to charge a realistic amount that you will be OK with and then point out to customers what the difference in quality is and why it matters.

If there are Amish customers around, I would guess that they need more driving harness stuff than English dressage stuff, and likewise if there are people working cattle from horseback they might need specific gear, and templates that are to the liking of some people might not suit others. So my best advice is to talk to the potential customers. I'd ask the Amish farrier if he could perhaps introduce you to some of his customers, and the when you get to talk to them, ask if you can see some of their harness or other gear that they like, or something they feel is ok, but they would like to have changed. 
Bring a measuring tape and a sketch book and a camera. take pictures of details like how stuff is routed on a piece of harness etc. measurements and sketches of size and where stitching is made. Hardware position and size etc. 
It could be that they have some old stuff that they really liked but it has become brittle or just worn out. If you ask nicely perhaps they'll let you borrow it. If you manage to do that, then you can recreate it with any alterations that might be sought after. Like reproducing a 50 years old harness so it fits a newer type of horse (fatter or slimmer than the old).
I have just done it with an old stallion halter that I borrowed from the local stallion station. They had bought some of those many years ago and I have never seen that model before, but now I have made one that will be on display so people can see that I can make those.

I would love to sell new stuff, but have a really hard time selling new leather products to horse owners. I have made some really nice looking leather halters, but compared to what is available from regular shops of decent looking halters, I don't stand much of a chance. But I do make quite a lot of repairs, and that is good stable income. In our area it is mainly dressage and jumping for hobby and some breeders. Repairing stuff is sort of in vogue at the moment, and people seem to think that it is sorcery that I am able to sew two pieces of leather together.
So I have sort of settled on the fact that I won't sell any new leather products, save perhaps for a walking line or something like that. But rebuilding and repairing is pretty constant.

I don't know what type of leather that would be good for you since I am pretty sure that our designations are not the same as yours. I use Hechte since it is the best leather on the cow, and most of the work I do is some type of straps, and this is the perfect leather for that.

If there are any working dog clubs in your neighborhood, it might be a good idea to tell them that you can repair leather. Some of those lines or harnesses need mending once in a while, and again can be a stable sort of income. And like with the horse gear, if some of the have a favourite piece of equipment, ask if you can see it and take some notes on how it is made. 

For repair jobs I charge an hourly rate, but broken down to the nearest 5 minutes, so I have no problem billing people 20 minutes if the job only was a 20 minutes job. I know it might not make me ultra rich, but the customers get back and will know that I don't overcharge them. Materials except sewing thread and glue will be billed, so hardware and leather will be billed, the reason to not do it for thread and glue is that it would look like I was a greedy bastard looking to get as much out of it as I can. Instead raise the hourly wage a tiny bit, and people will more likely think that it is ok.

Good luck

Brgds Jonas
 

[BlackDragon]

Thanks this helps.

The shop the Amish farrier has is going to be for horse supplies. He just started breaking ground for a new building to move his feed sales into and wants the current building to be tack and general needs. This guy is not traditional Amish. He's a mover and a shaker lol.

He's said that he mostly wants headstalls, reins, wallets, purses, etc. I think he wants to create his own version of Muddy Pond. The headstalls he wants to stock are different sizes and mostly for working horses. Buggy horses and draft horses. 

[Mulesaw]

3 minutes ago, BlackDragon said:

Thanks this helps.

The shop the Amish farrier has is going to be for horse supplies. He just started breaking ground for a new building to move his feed sales into and wants the current building to be tack and general needs. This guy is not traditional Amish. He's a mover and a shaker lol.

He's said that he mostly wants headstalls, reins, wallets, purses, etc. I think he wants to create his own version of Muddy Pond. The headstalls he wants to stock are different sizes and mostly for working horses. Buggy horses and draft horses. 

Sounds like it is going to be a super thing to be part of!

I'd love it if there was a real need for draft horse stuff over here, but the wagon/working scene is very limited. Only one of my customers have a harness set for driving horses, and I had to do a little bit of alteration, I think it had to be shortened and maybe altered a little, but that is the only chance I've had to work on a driving harness.