Did Your Leather Work, Turn Into A Full Time Business Or Just Stay A Hobby?

[Dano1122]

I was curious to hear , did leather work just stay a hobby or did it turn into a full time business?? Myself its just a hobby but who knows down the road! Please share your experiences!

[benlilly1]

No. I keep busy but I have a full time job too. I need more free time to turn it into a business that I could rely on financially.

[LNLeather]

No. I keep busy but I have a full time job too. I need more free time to turn it into a business that I could rely on financially.

I'm right there with you. Want to and tryin to do too much, not enough time in the day...

And a day off work, isn't a day off. Heheheh. But it is a day to do what I really want to do.

Edited November 18, 2013 by LNLeather

[Pounder]

After being downsized and kicked to the curb, I took the plunge and operate a full time leather business from my home. Over the past three years I have seen a steady increase in profit but I am far from being able to rely on it. Thank heavens for a retirement check. On the up side, I do not mind working hours on end and there is something about a pleased customer that money just can't buy.

[Studio-N]

After being downsized and kicked to the curb, I took the plunge and operate a full time leather business from my home. Over the past three years I have seen a steady increase in profit but I am far from being able to rely on it. Thank heavens for a retirement check. On the up side, I do not mind working hours on end and there is something about a pleased customer that money just can't buy.

Similar story. After parting with the evil empire, I've been able to pay the bills just making stamps and other engraved items. I'm starting to look at a CNC machine which will give me greater capability both in the stamp work and in woodworking. I get to work next door to home and pretty much love my job now.

[GrampaJoel]

Mine went from hobby to almost a full-time business way to quickly for me.

I decided I didn't want to be a businessman. I just wanted to enjoy the craftsmanship and artistic parts of leather working.

I didn't need the money, or the headaches that come from the business part.

So,

Now I'm just a hobby artisan.

I usually break even on what I make. Sometimes I don't.

Sometimes I even make a little bit of extra money, but usually not much.

I am satisfied.

Joel

Edited November 18, 2013 by GrampaJoel

[Red Cent]

Retired and too much time. The money I have in a 12' X 24' and a Cobra 4 and a bunch of other stuff, leather......Probably won't see a true profit until 2025.......Wait! I won't liv..................

[chiefjason]

I got into it to make up for work I was loosing with the economy tanking. Well, it was tanked by the time I took this job anyway. But things were good for a couple years. People need bread. Then it slowed down. I happened to get into making holsters for me, then a couple guys, then a gun shop. Started slow, but steadily got busier. It's been absurdly busy the last year. And my real job got busy when a competitor went under. So I got a double whammy. I could probably put full time hours into it, and nearly spend every non real job hour doing it. But I can't make up for the benefits of my real job. So I'm intentionally trying to keep things small. Sometimes it works, most times it doesn't.

I'm making money now, been that way for a while. There is zero debt involved. So I could walk away, liquidate what I have, and still come out ahead. We initially invested a modest sum of money into materials. Spent several months making no real money, just reinvesting into tools and materials. About 8 months in I guess we started to get ahead. So, my best advice is do not go into debt. Not sure if I could handle the stress of the work and knowing I owed more than I might bring in.

At this point, it's bigger than I ever really imagined. Still could not do it full time though.

[Dano1122]

All great replys thanks for sharing! How did you advertise your business!??

[chiefjason]

All great replys thanks for sharing! How did you advertise your business!??

Depends on what you are doing. I managed to carve out a niche on ebay with holsters. I'm using that positive feedback on OWB hybrids to move some of my leather work at just over my normal price instead of the yardsale prices some of these guys ask. My hybrids are a price point thing, leather is take it or leave it at my price. Most of my leather holsters are sold on a NC gun board or locally via word of mouth though.

So, if there is a local or state internet forum with an interested customer base get involved there. I was a member of the board before I started making holsters. So I had a good reputation and kind of leveraged that. Or if your work would fit into local shops talk to the owners. I've sold some and consigned some locally in one gun store.

Ebay is kind of odd. It's really helped me. But I was able to fit into an open spot and move product. Other stuff, guys are nearly giving it away which makes it hard to compete. I refuse to work for free. IWB hybrids are nearly impossible to get into with all the guys racing to the bottom price wise. So, if you can find a niche that's not being filled or can do something no one is doing you can do OK. When I got in nearly no one was doing OWB. I can also move some IWB holsters for guns no one else has.

I've got a buddy that uses Etsy, but I've never really looked into it.

[Fullmetalsam]

I'm one of those that have a full time job and an Etsy shop.

I keep busy enough with no advertising at all... just the traffic coming from the website.

It's far from being anything I can rely on financially - but I've made a bit of money... but most of my "profits" are re-invested into tools and I see it hapenning this way for the best part of another year at least.

I'm pretty satisfied with how I do.

[tboyce58]

I've sort of combined my hobby with my business. As an engineer, my clients are architects. One way I've found of getting my foot in the door when calling on a new client is to create a nice leather portfolio, place my company's information inside of it and send it over as a gift. Then I call up and ask for an appointment.

[Red Cent]

No way I would have borrowed the money to get all my stuff. I would not want to work under that pressure. I have sold a few at bargain prices to friends and we (wife) are putting together a website. There seems to be a few guys that are on a forum or two awaiting the website. I picked up a Sailrite sewing machine and I am entering the world of canvas and other material like it. Seems there are boat owners out there that need covers fixed. And awnings. And........

[MadMorbius]

I've found it's a lost art. People are amazed at what we create, thinking it's rocket science. I could make a living doing this if I could give up my living to do it.

[cjdevito]

I seem to be getting dragged into this becoming a business when I never intended it to be. I've got a day job that pays me very well indeed and a shortage of free time, but I picked up leatherwork a couple years ago as a hobby. Which I enjoy a great deal, but even if I were as good as the masters - and I'm not remotely, I consider myself a novice - I'd never be able to pay myself anything close to my day job's hourly rate working with leather. But more and more of my friends and acquaintances - and their friends and acquaintances - keep approaching me to pay me to make them things. For the past year I've been telling people I'd make them things for the cost of materials - I have a hard time seeing my work as being sale-able quality and it feels wrong to take money for it. Still, it's getting to the point where I think I'm going to have to just out of self defense. If people have to pay real money and deal with a waiting list besides, I can't imagine I'll be getting the same volume of requests.

I guess my point with this post would be to decide for yourself if you want a hobby or a business, and whichever you pick do what you have to do to make it work.

[Tex Shooter]

Not yet, but it is starting to and that is scary at age 77. I am not for sure I want it to! -- Tex

[Dano1122]

Im in between jobs ! I wish i could pickup some side work with leather!

[cjartist]

Im in between jobs ! I wish i could pickup some side work with leather!

The best way to do that Dano is "Just Do It". Make a few things and open an Etsy account for free. Tell a few friends, share the links on facebook. If your stuff is any good, you may just fin that you can make some extra money on the side. Best of Luck to you.

[Dano1122]

I was thinking about trying out etsy , is etsy kinda like an ebay?

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Simply put, I stay as busy as I want to be. Got retired against my will when I wasn't ready for it about 8 years ago. By then I had a pretty good clientele built up and it kept me going till I could adjust to living on a fixed income. In the mean time, I worked at the race track for 3 years repairing and making tack for the trainers, and riders there. That's where I got a taste of a real leather business, working 10 hours a day 7 days a week and never being able to get ahead of it (600 horses tear up a lot of stuff!), or get the money I really though it was worth. All in all it was a good experience, and kept me going. Now I have scaled back so that I can concentrate on high end work that I like to do. And again, I stay as busy as I want to, but; leave myself time to ride and enjoy my horses in the summer. Funny thing, since I got "settled in" and found I could make it without a regular job, I have received calls form both Ford and Lear, asking me to come back and work for them 'cause they needed folks with my skill set and they didn't have them since they had laid them all off in order to cut to the bottom line. You can guess what I told them! Bob

[Fullmetalsam]

I was thinking about trying out etsy , is etsy kinda like an ebay?

Well - yeah, it's kinda like eBay - without the bidding.

You have to open an account and a shop (like seller account on eBay)... once you have the shop setup, you post your items there (like listing on eBay). If people like your stuff, they'll buy.

Opening the account and the shop is free.

Posting each item costs you a ver small fee... and each time you make a sale, you pay a fee as well.

So it doesn't cost much to get started... and you're paying your fees with the money you're making of the sale.

Depending on what you're selling, it might take some time before you actually make that first sale.

People will be wary of a shop with no sale / no reviews(feedback on eBay)... but you can get there faster if you're bringing traffic to your shop (use social media (Facebook, tumblr, pinterest) and post in forums...get your name out there).

It's a great place to start and with a few sales and reviews... it keeps me plenty busy without any marketing effort on my part.