Hello
I'm looking to get a business started building rods (something to cure my tinker bug and add to my fervor for fishing) and would like any lessons learned about small business insurance or the likes from the experienced crowd. All lessons learned are welcome. I'm trying to keep from starting over in the school of hard knocks!

V/r
Richard Stradling
diverguy1979@yahoo.com

Product liability is always a good idea, but rarely affordable for the small operation custom rod builder. Here's what I can tell you - generally if the finished rod contains the decal or screen printed name of the blank maker (same with the components used) then the manufacturer of the blank and related components is on the hook for any damages incurred due to failure of that part. And most manufacturers do carry product liability.

On the other hand, if you remove or do not apply the manufacturer's decal and provide your own, say, "Steve's Custom Crafted Rods" or whatever, then "Steve" is the one liable for any damages a customer might suffer from failure of the rod. Although this is not always the case depending on the laws in your state and the ability of your attorney. Sometimes the liability still falls on the actual manufacturer of the failed part, but not always.

Obviously you can get sued for anything, but generally someone will have to prove some type of loss (physical, financial, etc.) in order to get an attorney to take the case, not to mention the case being lucrative enough for an attorney to bother to begin with. And it's not inexpensive to sue someone. Unless there is a possibility of a decent award, most attorneys will require payment up front - few will work on a contingency basis if the eventual award is likely going to be small potatoes.

Then again, I know a custom lure maker who was sued because according to the claim, "the hooks used on the lure were too sharp." That's right, somebody put a hook in their hand and sued the lure builder for using hooks that were "too sharp." The lure builder won the case but still spent a few thousand to have it resolved. Nutty stuff like this does occasionally happen.

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If starting a small business; have you done your homework in incorporating or LLC?

Mike,
I haven't dug into the details on that yet. With that being said I've danced around the subject of starting a small business before and believe myself to have laimens understanding of the two. I do need to dig into it and fully understand whats what and who's who in the zoo.

thank you Tom.