What would be the feasibility of a small time rod building operation to generate some extra part-time income. The reason I ask is why get a second job doing fast food or anything else when I could put my skills to work doing something I love. Not only that but finding any job right now is almost impossible in michigan.

I already have tons of equipment, and my skills are adequate enough to do 1-12 rods a year. Or I could just waste more time watching tv during the evening hours.....

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thoughts?

Ask yourself this question - why should someone buy a rod from you?

Be as honest as possible and you'll have a good idea if this is going to be feasible for you.

...........

There is a huge difference between skills adequate enough to build 1-12 rods per year and skill adequate enough to build 1-12 rods per year that people are willing to pay money for.

at least if you work a fast food job you might actually come out ahead at the end of the year. :)

I'm playing devil's advocate - I had this same discussion with another builder a few weeks ago. It helps shed a great deal of light on why so few custom builders really do well selling rods to the public.

Let's say a potential customer asks you why he should buy a rod from you, over one from a commercial maker. How would you respond?

............

I would say that I offer things that a OEM cannot.

-properly prepared guides
-properly spined blanks
-custom butt weaves on each rod
-properly spaced guides that distributes stress more evenly
-color schemes not offered by OEM's
-Better guide choices (like no size 5's on a winter steelhead rod)
- grip lengths and reel seat styles not offered by OEM's

OEM's are not willing to put this time in , I am.

I can space out the time required to do these steps along a time span that fits into my schedule. OEM'S are building rods for every type of fishing. I would specialize in a niche and offer the maximum choice within that niche there by shedding a huge amount of extra work.

I can specialize due to the small scale nature of the business. Its extra not primary income.

Finally I would serve my local area/region and offer the ability to meet with a angler and let them test out many rods at once. NO OEM does that. I can because I am local and serving a need in the area which is possible due to the small scale.

That's the best description I can give without divulging everything.

I keep hearing stories of the guy who started making pool sweepers in his spare time.....Pool sweepers.....Now he runs a small start up. I am confident that I can offer something at least EQUAL to that.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2011 08:46PM by jason vandeusen.

I started small/part-time operation about 2 years ago, and I have enjoyed it. I build 2-4 rods per month, and I feel it is worth it. I originally did it b/c I enjoy it and wanted a way to pay for my own fly-fishing addiction. It will probably take a while to get your name out there. This business is like anything else, it is mostly about word of mouth. Just keep track of EVERYTHING money-wise. If you already have the equipment, and you have had good honest evaluations of your work, then maybe it is not a bad idea. I will say while "part-time job" money can be made, it may take a while before you are able to do that. I wish you the best!

Matthew Elrod
www.ElrodCustomRods.com

Thanks for the words of encouragement and advice! Good to hear your having a good time.

My main concerns would be what to do about some sort of warranty for the rod itself and what to do when a rod blank breaks? How to handle such things. More of my questions are nitty gritty things so to speak.

jason vandeusen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My main concerns would be what to do about some
> sort of warranty for the rod itself and what to do
> when a rod blank breaks? How to handle such
> things.

You can do a search on this forum and find a myriad of posts on this very topic. IMO, this is the "achilles heel" of our industry - both at the boutique level (you) and at the large scale factory level. Still to this date, I don't believe that anyone has found a truly satisfying answer ... just one that they live with.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2011 10:07PM by Jim Gamble.

Why not try a rod repair operation and see where that takes you.

Capt Neil Faulkner

Jason I am a retired custom rod designer who had a store front when I retired. I Made great coins to pay for my habit of building more rods LOL. Most of us started at home making and repairing rods for family and friends. Then we all started targeting special areas ( Bass, Steelhead and Salmon, ecta depending on where you live). Word of mouth is your best advertisement. 12 rods a year would not make pocket change in todays economy. If you are serious consider at least 3 rods a month. Make sure you have all your eggs in the basket before you start. Tax papers and business licenses are a must, don't forget to have a qualified account and do not forget that hidden exize tax also you have to have some kind of inventory (glues, assortment of guides, thread, reelseats and finishes. With all that said may I suggest when you order blanks for rods order extra parts. In my humble opinion, I would start out doing repairs actually there is more money in repairs than a custom rod. Were do you live ? I live in Washington State. You can me if you like

Good Wraps Bob

I do mine as a second income and build anywhere from 1-5 rods a month. I also do rod repair for the local fishing and hunting store. It is viable but takes awhile to become somewhat consistent in having customers. At first I started out doing just fly rods, but expanded into spinning and casting rods (more bass fisherman in my area than fly fisherman). I did not start out generating any type of consistent income. First year I sold probably 3 or 4 rods. Now after 5 years, I do enough business that it actually can be considered a second income. Hopefully in another 5 it will be my retirement income.

You made a great point Dick. I worked at home for 5 years before I got my store front. It is all about location-location. I was also well veriest on what was the best bait or lure to use. I was 40 minutes from the Blue Pacific, there were 4 local rivers with in 20 min. from my place also 4 lakes with in 10 minutes to 45 minutes from my shop. So I had a wealth of info on what was biting (Salmon, Halibut, Sturgeon and Trout) So I had a wealth of info. That I used when I deigned a rod. I was also in contact with fishing guides, charter boats and sports stores. You must remember all I did was repair rods/reels and designed custom fishing rods. I did not sell bait or tackle. But by having those contacts I had lots of work sent to me. In return I sent them customers

Good Wraps Bob

Jason I am a retired custom rod designer who had a store front when I retired. I Made great coins to pay for my habit of building more rods LOL. Most of us started at home making and repairing rods for family and friends. Then we all started targeting special areas ( Bass, Steelhead and Salmon, ecta depending on where you live). Word of mouth is your best advertisement. 12 rods a year would not make pocket change in todays economy. If you are serious consider at least 3 rods a month. Make sure you have all your eggs in the basket before you start. Tax papers and business licenses are a must, don't forget to have a qualified account and do not forget that hidden exize tax also you have to have some kind of inventory (glues, assortment of guides, thread, reelseats and finishes. With all that said may I suggest when you order blanks for rods order extra parts. In my humble opinion, I would start out doing repairs actually there is more money in repairs than a custom rod. Were do you live ? I live in Washington State. You can me if you like

Good Wraps Bob

Thanks for the replies.

I have some different ideas and some that have been mentioned already. I would specialize like was mentioned, that makes sense.

I live in western Michigan and I know there are some builders in the area just not sure how much repair work they are getting. Perhaps there is a need for more not sure on that one.

Good idea to start with that though.

-properly prepared guides
-properly spined blanks
-custom butt weaves on each rod
-properly spaced guides that distributes stress more evenly
-color schemes not offered by OEM's
-Better guide choices (like no size 5's on a winter steelhead rod)
- grip lengths and reel seat styles not offered by OEM's

Devil's advocate again. There's hardly anything here that the general public is going to buy. What the heck is a properly spined blank? Do you mean the expensive factory rods don't have properly prepared guides? I don't want a butt weave. Surely the companies that make the blanks know how to correctly space guides. I don't want loud colors. Why are your guide choices better?

You're still missing the biggest piece of the puzzle.

................

Jason,
I'm on the other side of the state from you, contact me if you want.
99% of my work is repair but then again I specialize in bamboo restorations and repair.
I build about a dozen or so custom rods a year but those are mostly for returning customers or guys who get them for their club raffles.
The raffle rods always seem to lead to more repair work which keeps me busy.
With the economy in Michigan the way it is right now I think that guys buying custom are few.
I quoted a custom job a few week ago and I was close to what the retail price was.
The guy ended up getting the factory rod from Cabelas since they offered a coupon.
But now when that rod needs repair I'm hoping he'll call me.

I'm from the east side of the state and, like Gary, repairs give me as much work as I can handle. I think that many builders overlook the advantages of repair work. I have a couple shops that direct people to me and through the customers they send to me, word of mouth does the rest! Some builders prefer that the shop handles everything and they never see the actual customer. IMO, that is a big mistake. Tthe shops merely give my card or number to their customer and they call me. This way, I get the person into my shop and they are introduced to Custom Rods. Most are not even aware of them and I have a captive, one on one, audience. Often this contact eventually leads to a custom rod sale and the spread my name around to their fishing friends.

You might also hook up with local fishing clubs, they are a particularly good source for repair work

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Jason - I saw my first profit this year, and I started selling in 2007. I purchase lots of equipment (lathe, power wrapper, and on & on), as well as about 4K of inventory on hand all the time. As with any business you need to spend money to make money. Mine is all word of mouth, but I did get a website up this year.

I have repaired some. Mostly guides & tips, but a few loose reel seats as well.

For you that do repairs: Are you repairing broken rods? I don't want to. Too time consuming if you ask me, and the result looks like a pregnant snake.

Chuck

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

Chuck I respectfully disagree. Reason being repairing lets you understand the construction of blanks and rods. In this way when you have a customer asking, why should I buy a custom rod from you and not buy a factory rod you can explain to them with authority why yours is better and even show them how a factory constructs rods. I had both examples in my shop. Except I removed the manufactures name

Good Wraps Bob

Earlier To made a great point. Which brings to my shallow mind, Please explain YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT MAKES A CUSTOM ROD. Mine is a rod that fits the customer, the right gripe , how it fits his hand the right length, the reelseat is in the right position to fight a fish and comfortable to cast, being able to show and explain why you chose one guide over another. Now to me a custom rod has nothing to do with sparkle and fancy wraps and weaves this work is not cheap to do. I want my customers to fish with the best products you can buy and they can afford

Good Wraps Bob