A Business Question (Poll) For Full Time Holster Makers / Leather Workers

[BigRiverLeather]

As expected, rather so far, greater than I expected, there is a lot of good input here. You've reinforced my feelings that I have two things on my immediate horizon.

1 - I need to dedicate a day to complete my website.

2 - as much as I like the look of my saddle stitching, I believe I need to expedite the aquisition of a Boss.

[K-Man]

To put it politically correct - keep your day job. The reality of it is that the economy is in the toilet, and is going to stay there for some time.

Give up the notion that the BOSS hand stitcher is going to be satisfactory for any amount of holster making. That statement is based on my own personal experience of having had three of them - broke two of them beyond repair and sold the third off in frustration of it not doing the job. This was over a period of 18 months. A Cobra Class 3 machine (or similar) is going to do a hell of a lot better job and last you a whole lot longer. The difference in price between the two is negligible IMO. I've had my two Artisan 3000's for approximately five years and have made thousands of items with them, without hardly a blip on the radar screen with respect to any issues with them.

You have to decide what level of quality that you want to work at in this field. If you want to do "production" type work - meaning slapping two pieces of leather together with some variant of glue, stitch it, stick a gun it and run your finger around the shape of the gun, and call it a holster - then you can probably sell a bunch of them at a readily apparent low price. You're going to have to produce a bunch of them to get to your level of salary with your current job though. The vast majority of the customers today are looking for a holster that they can have now and for the lowest price. So there are those in this industry who strive to give them that very thing by doing exactly what I said just above.

How much experience do you have in running every detail of a business? Are you able to make decisions on your feet and not miss a beat? How much experience do you have dealing directly with rude and obnoxious customers? Can you tolerate people telling you that you don't know what you're talking about and tell you to go stick it in body orifices? How much knowledge and experience do you have with guns? I know quite a few holster makers who don't know squat about guns and try and pass themselves off as knowlegable in that respect. Doesn't take much to call them out.... How much of a salesman are you? What style(s) of holster are you going to make/offer? What about related accessories? How much do you know about design and how a holster and/or accessory SHOULD function? How much initiative do you have? How good are you at innovation? How much real time are you going to be able to devote to the making of the holsters? What's your level of integrity? Trust me, it makes a difference. How good are you at organization and detail? If you're lacking in any of these areas, you're going to have a very hard time selling one, let alone a bunch of, holster(s).

These are all things that you really need to consider IMO. Oftentimes people have this idealistic perception that running/having your own business is the cat's meow. It's not even close on most days. All of the things mentioned above are issues you have to deal with on nearly an every day basis, if you're successful at doing this business thing. Ultimately, you have to decide for yourself if you want to make the leap to making the leathercraft/holster making a full time gig.

Would I do it again, given the opportunity? Absolutely, but I'm of a personality type that is detail driven. We've had some great success in this industry - been on the cover of gun magazines on more than one occasion, pictured/featured in more than 30 articles in gun magazines, pictured in TIME (magazine) article and a number of daily newspapers, shipped holsters around the world, and sold literally thousands of holsters and related products. All of this has been done in less than 7 years time. So my comments above are based on my first hand, real life, experiences.

YMMV.

Edited March 14, 2010 by K-Man

[Shadowsbane]

I am in a very similar situation as you. Lost a bunch of work possibly thinking of getting into this as a full time endeavor in order to make up that lost income or in my case more.

The primary difference however, is that I am in much more of a pickle due to various reasons, and I grossed about 50 cents more an hour than Federal minimum wage last year. So, for me and mine, the expectations and hopes are far lower it would seem.

Even so, though I am doing as many here are suggesting for you, and keeping my day job at least for the time being. As well as offering more than just holsters to people in order to branch out a bit and get more steady business.

But, best of luck to you, and I know I will be watching the results of your thread closely.

[BigRiverLeather]

K-Man, I really appreciate your input.

Regarding most of your questions regarding difficult customers, business sense, integrity etc, I don't see any problem there. I've been in sales for 20 years and have seen all kinds and dealt with all kinds of problems. By no means do I have a level of experience with guns to qualify as a gunsmith, but when I am in a conversation with my peers regarding guns it is typical that I am far more knowledgeable than most of them, even though many of them consider themselves gun enthusiasts. I'm sure I could be "called out" by several people though, but am anxious to learn more.

I know that one of the biggest desires of buyers these days is fast turnround. Many understand that the quality rigs will take more time to get, but I also realize that one has to establish themselves as such an artisan. I believe that I fall more into that category. I may not yet provide the quality that some others do yet, but my products get better and better with experience. Nothing I do is rushed and every project I do I take proide in the finished product, both in fit nd finish as well as functionality. I'm inspired by many, some of my products resemble others, some are my own, some are combinations of others.

I really appreciate the input on the Boss. It looks like it would be worth the upgrade to a Toro or similar machine.

I wonder what the feasability of offering an express line for speed of delivery with functionality and a custom line for detailed custome work? I think Mitch Rosen does this.