Tom, you are absolutely correct. But this will help a budding rod builder. Hopefully the builder will get better at the craft and even faster. So hopefully he will spend less time building the rod and it will increase his profit line.

Capt Neil Faulkner

I like that phrase "budding rod builder", and yes hopefully, I will get better and less time building and charge them for my craftmanship experience then by the hour. And thank you all for your feedback, have a good one!

For the beginner I would recommend charging enough to cover parts and whatever profit you want to make. That is easy enough to figure out. Deposit or not is up to you.

Not trying to hijack a thread here but my question is somewhat along the same lines. How does one build their reputation as a builder? I realize the easy answer is to get rods into peoples' hands but it's almost a catch 22. I've been building for about a year and a half now and have tossed around the idea of building for other fishermen on the side but I have no idea how I would build my network. Trade shows?

Craft shows. Fishing Shows. Website. Brochure. Time and experience. Set a decent price and hold to it. You never build much of a brand or personal image by basing sales on low price points.

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

Thanks for the response, Tom. I would never sell based solely on price, there's a time and place for that and, to me, fishing is not one of them. I would much rather sell fewer high quality products than a whole mess of cheap builds. How many rods would a new business typically bring to a show? My market will be primarily saltwater and within that, I suspect offshore and inshore would be represented somewhat equally. Would a dozen examples of various options (trolling, jigging, spin of various popular actions/lengths) be too few?

It all depends on your market. Often you won't sell a single rod at a show - but the exposure builds name recognition that can pay off later and for many months if not years down the road. At the minimum I think you'd want to bring a representative sample of what you can do.

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

Brand building is what I had in mind, I should have clarified that a bit.
I would think the trade shows would be a good way to get my name out there so when they think about ordering a rod, they remember the guy at the show with the nice display, get them to my website, maybe get the phone to ring a few times.
I can't think of any other way to make a name for one's self in this business if one isn't networked with local charter captains, etc. I mean, there's web advertising, but I feel hands on face to face interaction is much more valueable.
Just to clarify, I wouldn't expect a barrage of customers or anything like that but I'd like to build some slow and steady momentum over the course of the next few years and see where it takes me.

Tom,
Good point.
I remember that the first rods that I made took about two weeks to finish.
Now a rod with a simple wrap takes just over an hour of actual time to make.

Experience and the right equipment make a huge difference.

Roger

This day and time Internet discussion forums are your friend. That is how a good few builders build a customer base.

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Craft shows. Fishing Shows. Website. Brochure.
> Time and experience. Set a decent price and hold
> to it. You never build much of a brand or personal
> image by basing sales on low price points.
>
> .............
I do craft shows, website, brochures and am getting my name out. When I go to a craft show I do not plan on selling a rod. I also make fishing lures and sell lots of them, that's the main reason why I am there. I display my rods and I hand out lots of information and talk to lots of people about building a rod. I have also started a "pro-staff" with a local bass tournament fisherman and he talks my work up and gets his rods in the hands of other fishermen to feel and check out.

______________________________________
Super Tight Lines......Don

Mark Guile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not trying to hijack a thread here but my question
> is somewhat along the same lines. How does one
> build their reputation as a builder? I realize
> the easy answer is to get rods into peoples' hands
> but it's almost a catch 22. I've been building
> for about a year and a half now and have tossed
> around the idea of building for other fishermen on
> the side but I have no idea how I would build my
> network. Trade shows?


Mark Guile there are many ways to bring about reputation and promotion for your custom rod building. Try your local marina and tackle shops stop in and get to know your would be clientèle. Ask about fishing Derby's and fishing events and see if there are any happening annually, then donate a rod for promotional means. These are just some of the ways I have gotten my name out there locally in my home town. Donating a rod for charity events like cancer awareness events. There are many ways you can promote what you do locally without having to do allot foot work or spend a great deal of money other than building a few rods to show your work. Have a small pictured portfolio of the rods you built or something of the nature of your rod building skills and what your about to go with the rod you donating for events or charity. Do promotional work with someone you know who fish's allot in your area and build a few rods at cost to get them out there in the general public were they can be seen. I hope this helps good luck and have fun building !

Rick H.

rwheil@msn.com

Website
[www.facebook.com]
[home.comcast.net]

Mark, these are all good tips. I donated a Wisconsin Badgers theme rod to my local sports club to raffle off and now the whole club knows that I build. It was not my intention because I am just a hobbiest with no desire to start a rod business. The club is headquartered out of the only bar on the lake that I fish and I told the bar owner that no one has to know that I built this. Fine. At the last club meeting someone made a motion to thank me for the donation of the rod so now everybody knows. If I wanted customers, I would now have plenty. Do a good job and they will find you.

Jeff Frei Wrote:
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Do a good job and they will find you.


And here I will make my point. By chatting up guys on Internet forums you do not even need to a good job. It really does work that way. I know one guy who does not even measure out his wraps (and it shows), but people on the net love his work. You can look at pictures of his work and see his guide wraps are not symmetrical, trim bands are not cantered, etc. The other day he posted up a picture of a guide wrap with two trim bands 'centered' on the under wrap...you could clearly see one band had 3 wraps and the other had 4. While I sit and shake my head he takes another order for a set of rods simply because of how he uses theinternet to his advantage.

This type of marketing can also work for builders who take their time with their work.

I don't want to tell anyone how to price their work.
However, in any business there should be three components to "price."
1: Materials
2: Overhead/Labor
3: Profit.
Because we often work from home, in our spare time, it's easy to lose sight of the overhead and labor costs.
In setting these costs, you need to think that this business might get so big, you have to hire help...
The Labor component of the price is what you would expect to pay someone else to do that work for you!
Profit is a small amount, over the material, overhead and labor costs, that makes it possible for you to expand and grow the business.
Garry2rs



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2012 07:40AM by Garry Thornton.

Two points to share ...

1) A custom rod is comprised of TWO elements ... materials and labor. NEITHER of them should be without profitability if you intend to make a profit and not run a charitable operation from your own pocket. Price the rod as a single entity, but include PROFIT in both components and labor. Ask yourself, would you sell the components to the customer without profit? Of course, not. Therefore, you should be pricing your finished rod accordingly. Unless the Easter Bunny does your purchasing, gifted your business license, etc. it is time consuming and does require special access - sell accordingly.

2) Whatever you do, it will multiply. Putting rods into the hands of performance anglers will bring more of the same ... after all, they fish with their own type primarily. Do quality repairs on high-end rods and it will bring more of the same. Likewise, donations of rods to charities will bring more of the same ... requests from additional charities and/or a similar request from the same charity at a later date. While donations are a blessed thing to do, don't even begin to think that is a way to grow the profitable side of your business, it isn't. I am not trying to discourage the practice, I just want to offer insight.

Jim has some good insight there and something I should have mentioned in my post. Don't get to caught up in the donation aspect of promotion your rod business. It can, shall I say, get to be in the "expectational sense" or should I say, a "inclined position on your part" Once or twice for a good cause is great ! Find an event that will work for you and get the word out with a good end result with out having the expectation of it happening again unless thats what you desire. Goodluck !

Rick H.

rwheil@msn.com

Website
[www.facebook.com]
[home.comcast.net]

I have donated rods for event @#$%& before. I always bartered my way into their advertisers section also. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone.

Good morning,

Lots of good and interesting info here. I always enjoy reading a thread such as this as I get to see how different rod builders think.

Whatever you decide to do, do it for your reasons and in a way you will feel comfortable in doing so. I have found after many years of building rods that it is an ever changing craft. I do things today that years ago I never thought I would do . Today it seems right to me.

Donations. A topic all unto it's own. Yes, there are different reasons for donating a rod. If you donate a rod with the hope that it will generate business do not be surprised if nothing happens. Of course it may. Every organization will be delighted to have your rod so they can raffle it off. It makes them look good and draws people to whatever they are doing. Many times these fishing organizations already have rod builders they have been using for years. I found that out the hard way years ago after speaking at a club meeting. An angler comes up afterwards and says thank you, good lecture and we have been using so and so for many years. Oh ,oh. So my thought then is how come he is not at your meeting speaking. Probably he did in the past and they want some one new. Speaking at fishing club does get business but I have never found it to be so in quantity.

Here are my thoughts on donations. I believe in giving glory to God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon me and my family. So I have to share these blessings. My donating has evolved just as rod building has. Like others I get many requests for rod donations. A few years ago while doing the numbers at the end of the year I said to myself. This is crazy! So I modified my donation plan. In today's economy many local people need help and their friends get together to raise money for them to help with bills etc. I see these on our local fishing web site or friends ask me for help. This helps real people in need. I know many school teachers and they try to raise money to help students. Bingo! That works for me. Helping people.

For the budding rod builders, this all takes time, do not get discouraged. Do local shows especially inexpensive 1 day flea markets as this will get you name, face and rod recognition. I have had customers talk about wanting a custom rod for several years and then one day for whatever reason they order one. Yes, do the internet thing. Just keep trying and one day you will wish you could get all those back orders accomplished.

Remember the best quality and the best service, the best quality and the best service!

Good fortune.

Capt Neil Faulkner

All I can say is wow. I have been absent since Friday doing the soccer/fishng/soccer/apple & peach picking with my wife and kids and open the site today only to be welcomed with FANTASTIC, to the point, information! THANK YOU everyone who is providing this info for me and everyone else reading this thread.

My plan is to take the fall to work on my business plan and start building some rods to showcase at one or two of the fishing shows here in New England. One possibility I'm looking at is piggy backing with a tackle shop or charter captain to split the booth cost but that my defeat the purpose. This is something I want to nuture to maturity by building the right type of brand and reputation. ANyhow, please keep the ideas bouncing around, it really helps to know what works for some and doesn't for others.

As far as donations, I will probably donate a few here and there, it's fun to make people happy!