How Did You Start Your Business?

[DavidL]

I would like to hear peoples take on how they started their business.

Did they take out a loan, get a government grant? Sell through the newspaper? locally?

How much money did you start with.

Also would like to hear of any things that you would consider beginner mistakes that you encountered.

Breakthroughs in your business plan or in your thinking.

Connections you made with suppliers and manufacturers.

or anything else.

[Ferg]

This is going to be a bit different situation than most. Circa: 1953

I was stationed in Memphis Tenn. for a training school. (Navy) Saw a man making leather items and thought I could do that.

Soon I found myself stationed in Key West, Florida attached to a Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron. So many people with nothing to do. I bought a few tools and some leather from Tandy store in Miami. To make a long story short, I eventually made leather items for almost everyone in my squadron and another in the same hangar. Spent most of the money I made on these items to buy more leather and many tools. Didn't have much free time then so I didn't need much money.

First mistake most folks make? They think this is an easy way to make money. You will work your butt off, put up with some ignorant customers, etc.

Tandy was my source for info and materials as well as tools. They "ain't" what they used to be but often get a bad name they don't deserve.

Seldom buy from Tandy anymore. Sew most everything with machines and still enjoy doing this even if it has been sixty one years since I made that first wallet. Accept nothing from yourself but near perfection in everything. Never think "okay" is the way to go.

ferg

[DavidL]

Thanks for sharing. I also got interested in leather working from seeing another person make shoes, although it was from a video in class since leather working is not as common as the past.

[Macca]

Successful Leatherworkers or any other skilled craftsmen didn't start off with a business plan

[benlilly1]

Great question David... Great story Ferg!

I'm still a dabbler in leather. My full time job keeps me busy. I got my first tools from my dads collection. I have a Tippmann Aerostitch still waiting on me to use full tilt. My business runs on only from what I sell. Most of my business comes from my husbands business. I have a website but have not advertised as of yet.

Don't think you need every tool available... When I saw the few tools Samar uses and what fabulous work he does, my jaw dropped. Talent and what you do with what you have is where it's at.

[DavidL]

Successful Leatherworkers or any other skilled craftsmen didn't start off with a business plan

Thats very true. I believe it starts out as a passion for anyone to want to even start doing this as a hobby and gradually is turned into a business, where first there needs to be a market and second you need to have a business plan and obviously a need to hone your skills. Unfortunately, if you are missing the skills there are always shortcuts like CNC machines or hiring the talent. For the business side of it relies on you as the overseer, in the direction that the company moves and its generally more important than the leather working side of things.

Otherwise with no business plan its more of a hobby, working at this part time or under another persons business, with the exception of high end $1000+ leather goods that require 80 percent skill and 20 percent marketing.

Great question David... Great story Ferg!

I'm still a dabbler in leather. My full time job keeps me busy. I got my first tools from my dads collection. I have a Tippmann Aerostitch still waiting on me to use full tilt. My business runs on only from what I sell. Most of my business comes from my husbands business. I have a website but have not advertised as of yet.

Don't think you need every tool available... When I saw the few tools Samar uses and what fabulous work he does, my jaw dropped. Talent and what you do with what you have is where it's at.

Its interesting to see so many people starting to look into jewelry making, leather working, woodworking and get back into physical labour, especially with all the available information online to be able to create beautiful looking products with minimal tools.

I'm curious to know of any one who owns a business if there was a lightbulb switch moment where your thinking changed for you and your business saw improvement.

OR

The best skill, habit, ethic or "message/knowledge" (for lack of a better word) that got you to where you are now in your business.

Edited September 26, 2014 by DavidL

[NVLeatherWorx]

I got my start with leather work over 40 years ago when I received my very first (and very Old School) Tandy Leather starter kit as a gift. I kept working on projects all the way into High School where I found two leather classes - beginning leather and advanced leather. I took the beginner class because it was required in order to take the advanced class but I was pretty much cut loose to work on whatever I wanted as I had proven to the instructor that I was way beyond what she was teaching the class, even helped out as a "teachers assistant" on more than one occasion. The advanced class was actually structured along the concept of how a leather crafting business operates so it was more of a business class than a trade class. As I left for my military service (which ultimately lasted the next 25 years) I took all of my leather tools with me and kept working on stuff. I setup a small workshop and ran a custom made line of items out of it that were primarily sourced from the various kits that Tandy used to have (they were much nicer than they are now but that is what supposed progress results in).

My "lightswitch" moment was when I started working with creating my own patterns and templates for the various components that make up any one of the many projects that I liked working on; it was boosted when I made the jump to saddle work and rodeo gear repairs for my equipment and my fellow Cowboy's and Cowgirl's (yes, we had an American Rodeo Association in Europe that traveled around the region promoting the sport and sportsmanship, even had foreign national members that we taught how to ride all of the events and some of the stock was down right ugly to try and stay on). I also ended up taking orders for various items at events and delivering when they were done. Even when I was deployed to combat zones I took my tools and always had some leather to make some things and sell them. But I found that making everything from the raw materials was far cheaper than any kit could ever be and that the quality of the leather much better than is found in a kit because I could buy the finer grades and controlled exactly what the grain structure looked like; if it was damaged or questionable I would just work around the bad spot and only use the cleanest sections for the critical elements.

I still do everything by hand, even the stitching, and that is the way I will do it until my fingers don't work anymore. I don't sacrifice any level of the quality and integrity of an item for the ease of mechanical assistance as that is what our "slave labor" copycat Nations do and we always have issues with the quality of any item that is produced in those areas, regardless of what it is. The art of leathercrafting/leatherworking is skilled Artisan hand trade and it has been that way for Centuries, that is the way I was taught and that is the way that I teach today.

As far as a business plan, why waste your time trying to figure it out based on the standards that are recommended by those professional business planners? You will spend all of your time trying to figure out what you really already know; just have a vision of what you want to do, create your product line, and make every piece to the highest standards that you can. The biggest mistake one can make if they are truly trying to make a go of it as a business is to try and compete with other leather workers. The truth is that the vast majority of them only buy kits (in bulk) from Tandy or some of the other leather suppliers who offer them and then do nothing to them but dye/stain them, finish the edges (maybe) and then stitch them together; they aren't truly making anything, they are just putting it together. Some of these guys are making some serious money doing it this way but it isn't the true measure of a craftsman; the ability to create something from raw materials and turn it into a work of art is what a craftsman is all about. And make sure you price your works to reflect your skills and the quality of the finished product.

And the final piece, if anyone ever tells you that they can get something similar from another source and for a lower price, don't hesitate to tell them, "if similar and cheap is what you want, please go buy it". The look on their face is always classic and more often than not results in them asking for some more details about your process and materials which ultimately results in a sale. I setup at several prominent Markets and Fairs around my neck of the woods and always have an active work station where I am doing something. It attracts attention and lets the prospective buyer see what really goes into making an item. I also promote the concept of asking questions or opening a dialog with everyone who spends more than 10 seconds looking at things which nets several orders. I have had some of the other vendors at some of these events ask why I always talk so much and share so much information with potential clients and all I can tell them is, "if you don't show an interest in what you do and how it could help them with their needs then you aren't going to be successful, if you want to sell everything and make money but just sit there waiting for them to make the move, you might as well just put all of your stuff in a consignment shop or do wholesale only".

Hope that helps.

[DavidL]

Thanks for the post NVleatherworx.

[cjmt]

Successful Leatherworkers or any other skilled craftsmen didn't start off with a business plan

That's not to say they don't ultimately end up with one though. You have to start with the craft but if you want to make a living from it you do have to have business nouse to succeed. If nothing else being able to make a worthwhile profit means being able to buy shinier tools and having the time to develop your skills

Charlie

[Russ]

Successful Leatherworkers or any other skilled craftsmen didn't start off with a business plan

I beg to differ.

[Russ]

Really, so they started off with a business plan before having the skills or product people might want to buy?

This is a post from David remember, always looking for shortcuts etc, from day one rabbited on about marketing before he could even sew so please don't encourage him.

Skills, then think about how to make money please.

Yes. Two examples.

1. Me. I needed a saddle. I wasn't in any particular hurry, and was shopping around. I had transitioned from trail riding to mounted shooting, and was using borrowed equipment, which included saddle, tack, and gun rigs. I spent a year or so in the sport looking for equipment, saw the prices that the sellers were getting, and thought "I can do that." I spent another 6 months or so researching whether a viable business could be made just from the small shooters' nitch. As I got more serious, I developed a business plan to give me the idea of how much money to invest, potential ROI, time away from my full time job and, very importantly, potential liability to my personal assets. After that, I went to two classes: a saddle making class, and a holster making class. Both of them were taught by mounted shooters. Had I not had a ..... business plan .... I may have jumped into a saddle or holster class not specializing toward my business goal....which was to sell to mounted shooters.

After going to the classes and closely questioning the instructors and other students, I purchased my first equipment (all of it basic hand tools) and leather. Thanks to my business plan which included going to the correct classes, I had a minimum cash outlay and sold my second saddle (my first one went to my wife, she uses it to shoot in today) and my fourth holster set (my first three stayed in the family, they could have easily been sold at about 70% of the cost of "name" rigs at the time). The business was up and running and frankly, the business plan had to be revised to account for the success.

The mounted shooting gear business filled up my time. When I got within a year of retirement, I revisited my business plan and expanded it to include a 30' x 30' shop (no more working in the spare bedroom), and an expanded line of goods, CCW holsters, purses, and wallets. None of which I did without re-doing my business plan.

Example 2: I have a friend who makes knives and sheaths. He enjoyed going to the mountain man festivals, and ended up at one of those Renaissance fairs (he was an actor, doing the bits in the streets for the spectators). He enjoyed looking at the knives and decided he could supplement his income with them. He showed me his business plan, which was very detailed, down to the last $. At the end of the business plan was:

"At the 3rd quarter interval, profits from Phase I of the business will be reinvested in:

1. proper schooling and education from a close personal friend who has a successful leatherworking business in the making of leather sheaths a) cost in to be ________ paid in full immediately, no liability to the ______________ business (my redactions. and I was the "leatherworker)
2. materials and equipment necessary to complete said sheaths for sale. The following material will be needed: "

My friend has now completely retired from the acting part of the fairs and just makes knives and sheaths full time, mostly knives. He has four employees. He sells cutlery to hardware stores and a few re-sellers who sell them. You may have his knives in your kitchen drawers.

I could come up with several other examples but this post is already too long.

If someone is sincerely interested in making a go of a business, they will make a business plan, I'd say, second. The first is after identifying a need in an area they have an interest. You don't really need the interest, IMO, but it makes life more enjoyable. The need is what's important, and can you fulfill it. If you put off the business plan, all you have is wasted money and time. You may have an interest, or a hobby, but that's not what DavidL was asking about.

So many people in the "craft business" (I hate that term but it applies to leather business/hobbies) think they are the purest of the pure. "My skills, my skills" they exclaim. The look down on people that have an interest in making money. Or they trash someone selling on Etsy at a very reduced price to turnover their products to stay viable to continue their passion. It's rediculous.

As for your personal attack on DavidL, that has no place on this board, although, sadly, it seems to be more common here.

Russ

[Russ]

I've participated heavily in many many online forums ranging over very different topics and by far this is the friendliest and most helpful (it also has moderators who are on top of their sh!t...in my opinion sometimes a bit too much but that's a different conversation).

There is very little harsh talk or personal attacks on this forum compared to some others I've participated in. David has a track record for dishing out bad advice and then stubbornly holding on to his point even though he and everyone else knows he's wrong. I understand where Macca is coming from.

I will defer to your opinion Joe, as I have a lot of respect for your posts and opinions. I spend less and less time on boards, forums, and commentary places on the internet as it's becoming a disgusting cesspool. That said, I'm tired of the attacks and criticisms that I read on this board too. I probably wouldn't notice David's posts because I skip 95% of the posts here anymore.

At least the "ignore list" works ok on this forum. Not great, but pretty good.

[DavidL]

I come from a family of business men. My father, uncle, grandfather and my great grandfather all did business. I suppose stubbornness of not allowing other peoples biased opinions was what made them successful - they all had original thoughts and didn't conform to people telling them they are wrong even though its a matter of perspective in most cases. My mother side was mostly tailors, artists, hairdressers and businessmen.

Both of those skill sets from my fathers and mother side is a mix between business and art which is what leather working is in essence. I enjoy the art of business as much as I enjoy the art of leather working. I also try to learn about, tanning, screen printing, different types of manufacturing and how the end use would be affected the manufacturing process to customer. That way when it comes to start my business if I'm thinking about screen printing, embossing or hot foiling I would understand how it works out before its done, which is the reason people write business plans before they start producing so they know roughly how it would work out before they started producing leather goods that don't sell to a particular demographic.

@macca - yes they do start with a business plan before they have the product to sell. Most companies do that. For instance if you were to think about selling t shirts, the first thing you would do is lay out a business plan to see if there is a market. Everything from profit margins, competitors, SWOT analysis ect. are outlined in the business plan, then you would go and produce the product, obtain suppliers, transportation, staff, book keepers..

Business isn't something you take for granted. You could go in debt, lose your house if you take it lightly.

[Hi Im Joe]

I will defer to your opinion Joe, as I have a lot of respect for your posts and opinions. I spend less and less time on boards, forums, and commentary places on the internet as it's becoming a disgusting cesspool. That said, I'm tired of the attacks and criticisms that I read on this board too. I probably wouldn't notice his posts because I skip 95% of the posts here anymore.

At least the "ignore list" works ok on this forum. Not great, but pretty good.

Thanks Russ. I'd say more but my comment would be moderated. Oh well.

I come from a family of business men. My father, uncle, grandfather and my great grandfather all did business. I suppose stubbornness of not allowing other peoples biased opinions was what made them successful - they all had original thoughts and didn't conform to people telling them they are wrong even though its a matter of perspective in most cases.

I doubt that is what made them successful.

[DavidL]

yea.. I suppose its just coincidence that they all are business owners not because they are persistent.

[benlilly1]

Even though there are differing opinions here, it's great to see all aspects and passion involved in being a business owner.

[Hi Im Joe]

I appreciate the mods here but I wish my comments weren't all deleted. Especially comments that are not offensive.

I mean my last comment had nothing offensive in it at all. It was well reasoned and contained no foul language as well as no personal attacks.

I guess I should just not bother commenting in these threads.

[papaw]

I had no intent of starting to sale items when I started but after making so many item and they start plying up ( and the expense you have to do something ), so my granddaughter wishes to learn so we will start out small and work up that way she will always have a skill to work with after I am gone. But now we've put together a plan that will hopefully last her in life. I've owned two other businesses one was two book stores and one was a overhead millwright crane service and both where sold as up and running business

The skill and heart has to be in place first' then a well put together plan and not the expectation of high returns at start up (sometimes it happens but not the norm). Being ready to put in long hours and at time having to deal with people that do not understand the skill it takes to do this art. And understand why there are less businesses doing this full time, many younger adults today do not understand craftsmanship and quality of the item, the price everything ( if only it was cheaper ) and many older just don't have the money to spend.

This could go on forever etc etc and there will be many opinions and all can work but be sure as it may be enjoyable as a hobby and a chore as your job, are you willing to put the time in, your still not the BOSS the customer is.

[barehandcustoms]

I also fit into the no business plan model for starters. I stumbled into leather when I thought the sheath I wanted cost way too much. I set out to make my own sheath and found out the hard way exactly why high quality leather sheaths cost so much. I sell sheaths now that cost more than the sheath I originally wanted. Funny how things work out.......

Did they take out a loan, get a government grant?

Absolutely not.....

Do not build your business on debt unless you are a successful business owner and already know how to start up a business then rapidly grow it. I would strongly suggest you grow slow and organically until you are in the position to really capitalize on a small business loan. You shouldn't consider taking on debt to grow your business until you have a customer base and need to scale up to meet their demand.

You need to reinvest that profit into your business to grow it...not to pay off debt

Sell through the newspaper? locally?

I cut my teeth on local custom jobs but have moved to almost strictly online sales.

How much money did you start with.

I started with maybe $200 worth of tools in a storage shed behind my house. I cleaned it out and built a basic work bench. I kept reinvesting a majority of the profits back into my business until I had enough to build my actual leather shop several months ago. As much as I love my new shop and all the new fancy machines.....I would not appreciate it if I had not froze my ass off in that storage shed for a year making leather.

Also would like to hear of any things that you would consider beginner mistakes that you encountered.

Buy good tools that will last *an expensive tool doesn't equal a good tool*

Don't under value your products

Wait until you have the money to buy things....don't grow on debt

Breakthroughs in your business plan or in your thinking.

Don't constantly compare your product and price to competitors. What works for them most likely won't work for you. Worry about making the best leather product you can and getting the most you can get for it.

Don't be a stubborn know it all. I actually talk to my competitors and ask them questions about when they were at my stage in the game. It sounds absurd but some of the best advice I have got came directly from my competitors.

You will learn the most at your bench when you are actually working. It's great to come on here and ask questions when you are stumped but nothing beats getting your ass out in the shop and putting in work.

Follow up with your customers a few weeks after the sale and ask for feedback on your product. Customers can be brutally honest and that is exactly what you need in the beginning to iron out problems.

Edited November 13, 2014 by barehandcustoms

[DoubleC]

I guess I'm kinda the odd man out (uh woman) in this thread because I believe a business plan is very important. However we have a community service center here that helped me with my business plan. I was multitasking at the time. I'd meet once a week with her and give her the info she had asked for the week before, and the rest of the time I was working with leather. I was kinda stuck on one item I was producing because it meant something to me....to others? Not so much. That was horse eyes as jewelry. I expanded to guitar straps (yup kinda weird shift) because I had two friends that were guitar players in bands. So all along I was buying leather, tools and figuring things out. And I was here a lot reading things and asking questions. I sold a few things the first year just word of mouth, a couple belts, a couple guitar straps, a couple dog collars and one horse eye to a friend of mine. I was making little side projects too in order to learn new skills. By the time the business plan was done I had a year in basically just practicing things. I posted everything here proudly, LOL and would get disheartened when someone didn't think it was perfect. Boy have I outgrown that. OK second year and summer. I had a platform to sell, the local farmer's market, and a business plan. It took me two years to get into that market which turned out to be good because I was really just learning that whole first year. So I went to Voc Rehab to get a grant. They had been involved from the beginning and I had to have a business plan finished to get anything. Which was good because I found out they kinda liked for you to have a product too They gave me 1500.00 to help me get off disability and if the business did well was going to give me another 1000.00. It was like a million bucks to me since up until then I had been buying all my supplies. I worked that summer, and then had an opportunity to work that winter at a different place we set up for ourselves. Then I heard about the Pass Plan Voc Rehab had so I applied for it. And so I was meeting with Voc Rehab every week and asked the woman who helped me with the first business plan to help me do another. I had grown and changed so much in those two years my first one seemed immature to me. I worked all summer, met with those two people and had just started in a winter flea market when I was notified my sister had been diagnosed with cancer, including brain tumors. That was exactly 11 months ago yesterday. I went to her but she didn't last very long and I came back Jan. 7th and haven't hit my stride yet. I did work this summer some at the farmers market, although not every week and kept accepting custom orders I had no interest in doing but did some how get them finished. But I never picked back up on my business plan or the Voc Rehab opportunity.

I just see this as an extended set back and haven't changed my plans but rather just put them on hold waiting for me to do what I need to do. I think I had the best of both worlds while I was practicing and doing a business plan at the same time. I'm sorry some people don't seem to value them but I guess we all do things we are comfortable with.

I do take exception to the OP that said using a sewing machine meant it wasn't hand made and was poor quality. I'm posting a picture of a chair I reupholstered for a man. I used 10 oz leather which means it was doubled to 20 oz where it needed to be sewn. You can see in the picture that I had to wet the leather just to get it to bend enough to sew. I used Herman Oak for the chair. The Chinese use a thin veneer of leather on both sides of things with a felt like material in between to make it as thick as real leather. I think this particular project would have been extremely hard to impossible to do hand sewing. The reason the arms are cut but not attached is because the owner was thinking of using nicer hard ware.

[needles]

My work is slightly different to most of you guys, i have very little time making new stuff, and even less time learning to carve, have done a few things but no where near like I would like to, however I do make my income from repairing leather stuff, be it, gucci / prada, mui mui handbags etc to leather furniture to auto interiors, etc etc. so I am not a craftmens like you guys, although would dearly love to be.

I started in the building trade and developed a love for leather and repairing such ( a lot in a childrens charity repairing leather furniture etc for them), eventually being made redundant, whilst agonising over what an old git like me is going to do to pay the mortage, wife said you've been making money at repairing leather for a good while, do that..... oh yeh why didn't I think of that...? your a bloke she said.... ha ha.

difficult making ends meet sometimes, and sometimes hard to find the right amount of drive, but I love it. and its still paying the bills, although only just sometimes. If i have a choice I wouldn't change it for the world....

as one said above if you can start without debt, way to go,

start small and build up your reputation, that will help big time to carry you forward, best advertisement ever.

try not to worry about what the competition is doing, otherwise it can become an all consuming obsession, and if you're actively competing even if they don't know it, your already losing, because you'll be under valuing your time and work....... trying to be cheaper, quicker what ever.

thats my take on it anyway

[ljwilliams]

I also fit into the no business plan model for starters. I stumbled into leather when I thought the sheath I wanted cost way too much. I set out to make my own sheath and found out the hard way exactly why high quality leather sheaths cost so much. I sell sheaths now that cost more than the sheath I originally wanted. Funny how things work out.......

Did they take out a loan, get a government grant?

Absolutely not.....

Do not build your business on debt unless you are a successful business owner and already know how to start up a business then rapidly grow it. I would strongly suggest you grow slow and organically until you are in the position to really capitalize on a small business loan. You shouldn't consider taking on debt to grow your business until you have a customer base and need to scale up to meet their demand.

You need to reinvest that profit into your business to grow it...not to pay off debt

Sell through the newspaper? locally?

I cut my teeth on local custom jobs but have moved to almost strictly online sales.

How much money did you start with.

I started with maybe $200 worth of tools in a storage shed behind my house. I cleaned it out and built a basic work bench. I kept reinvesting a majority of the profits back into my business until I had enough to build my actual leather shop several months ago. As much as I love my new shop and all the new fancy machines.....I would not appreciate it if I had not froze my ass off in that storage shed for a year making leather.

Also would like to hear of any things that you would consider beginner mistakes that you encountered.

Buy good tools that will last *an expensive tool doesn't equal a good tool*

Don't under value your products

Wait until you have the money to buy things....don't grow on debt

Breakthroughs in your business plan or in your thinking.

Don't constantly compare your product and price to competitors. What works for them most likely won't work for you. Worry about making the best leather product you can and getting the most you can get for it.

Don't be a stubborn know it all. I actually talk to my competitors and ask them questions about when they were at my stage in the game. It sounds absurd but some of the best advice I have got came directly from my competitors.

You will learn the most at your bench when you are actually working. It's great to come on here and ask questions when you are stumped but nothing beats getting your ass out in the shop and putting in work.

Follow up with your customers a few weeks after the sale and ask for feedback on your product. Customers can be brutally honest and that is exactly what you need in the beginning to iron out problems.

Never have I wanted a like button on this forum so much since I found this forum! I have done the same the same thing so many times, except I keep finding so mNy pretty things I just want to try to make my self And end up sinking another grand....one of these days though, I hope someone looks at the things that I make and say,"How does she do that!" I really hope when that day comes I remember my beginnings and smile and not get mad when they copy or try to emulate my patterns, because people strive to that which they look up to.

[Lobo]

44 years ago I left the US Army and joined the police department. I had a wife, 2 kids to feed, a mortgage and bills to pay on some pretty skinny cop paychecks. There were items of gear that I needed, and others I just wanted to have, but I had little ability to pay for them. I started making those things, learned as I went along, and purchased basic tools as I needed and could afford them. Other cops I worked with saw what I was doing and started requesting things for themselves. That brought in a little cash, started paying for my materials and other tools leading to more products as I learned more. Over time the word spread around the region and I was making holsters, belts, and accessories on a regular basis, and contributing to the household budget as well.

That is how everything remained for over 30 years. Basically a small sideline business serving a small regional market. Never enough to live on, but usually enough to prevent too much month left at the end of the money.

Retired from law enforcement, started building houses and running a roofing company while making a few holsters and accessories on the side. Hooked up with several insurance companies doing claims consulting and investigations while making a few things on the side. As the economy and financial markets (including the insurance companies) started circling around the drain in 2008 my regular business income started shrinking. I had been actively buying and selling in on-line auctions for several years, so I decided to start making a few holsters every week to offer on-line, hoping to make enough to help out with utility bills and health insurance costs. Within a few months I was receiving a steady flow of orders and had no time for anything else. My wife put her foot down firmly and demanded that I get all the materials, supplies, and other business stuff out of the house, so I leased a production shop and launched a website. A year later I moved into a larger shop and hired a part-time assistant. Couple of years later I moved into a larger shop. Now my part-time assistant has become the full-time\ manager handling the bulk of the production work, finishing, packaging, etc, while I handle the website and e-mails and focus on new product development.

Present capacity is about 40 to 50 pieces per week. We regularly produce 25 to 40 per week for customers in all 50 US states and 33 other countries so far. We offer 13 holster designs, with or without 4 common options, in 4 finish colors, left-hand and right-hand, for 162 different handgun models, resulting in some 84,000 possible variations. This "menu-style" product line allows each customer to customize a standard design to individual needs and preferences. Adding in the different belts, magazine pouches, cartridge pouches, and other accessories leads to over 100,000 products.

Other than the website costs I have spent next to nothing on advertising. Everything happens by referral and word of mouth (with the internet this can be huge). No walk-in customers. No phone calls. Everything is done via website and e-mail.

Never thought about a business plan. Never borrowed a dime for business. Never applied for any grants. Always paid for supplies and equipment when ordered. Always paid the rent, utilities, business insurance, and other operating expenses as incurred.

Now I am approaching the point at which I must start drawing on my retirement funds. My assistant has been with me for 5 years and is fully capable of running the business on a day to day basis, so she will take over with a continuing flow of business and no burden of debt. This will allow her to earn a good living while contributing a bit to my retirement comfort and security. I will stay on in an advisory capacity during a transition period of several years. After more than 50 years of full-time employment and running a business I can't imagine just sitting around without being productive. There are always a few ideas floating around in my head for new designs or ways to tweak an older design, so I expect to keep myself as busy as I want to be.

It has always been an interesting ride.

[moix]

Found this topic very interesting ,
Well first of all i would like to tell about my inspiration to start my e-commerce store.My friends started a little business of leather jackets , they kept the quality very exclusive and very quickly turned it into a profitable business. I thought to second my chances and as well , and i thought of starting my e-commer store on leather bags & accessories http://www.ucreedo.com . I am still very new to this field and have a long long way to go. But i find 3 defining building blocks of this businesss.

1. Store(E-commerce store , merchant bank acct , digital marketing and all the onlione stuff)
2. Production(Where you are going to build your stuff)
3. Shipping

Once we sort out all these 3 points we are ready to get set go. I have so far kept a low tune in terms of marketing.I want to drive traffic to my site now and get popular

As far as my categories are concerned , i have categories ranging from

1. http://ucreedo.com/bag-packs
2. http://ucreedo.com/shoulder-bags
3. http://ucreedo.com/professional-leather-bags

If you guys have any suggestion , it will be highly appreciated, cheers and have a good day

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

When I had my machine and fab shop we cash flowed the entire operation, I was 22 at the time. I agree that starting a business in debt is not a good idea. Start small, and grow the business as sales improve, don't get into a hurry. Too many want it, and they want it NOW! Unfortunately for them they were the ones that I purchased items from when the auctioneer was selling off their shops. I was buying machinery, and tooling for an average of 10¢ on the dollar for new.

As Dave Ramsey likes to point out, The borrower is slave to the lender.

My advice is to learn the skills to be proficient in what you want to do before you start offering them to customers,start small, and build the business on the profits. Too many also don't realize how much time the business side gets in the way of doing the work itself.

Advertising has changed tremendously since I had my shop back in the late 80's. Today I can sit here in DaBoonies and sell worldwide through the wonders of the internet. I know artists who sell through Facebook, and do quite well - $500 paintings sold in 15 minutes a few times. How many people still get a newspaper? I don't. Social media can be a tremendous boon to a business if it is used correctly.