Thread: As a business
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Old 02-29-2012, 07:52 AM
Dave Armour Dave Armour is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 61
Not sure I'm really the best to respond to this, but here goes.

First good luck on the knife. You've got the right attitude about testing your work. You want each knife to be a learning experience and to be an improvement over the last one you made.

While you are right you probably won't find "knifemaker" in a career guide, it can be easily substituted for "artisan" "craftsman" "metalworker" or "artist". As for knifemaking as a business, depends on your definition of "career". I work for myself, but I have multiple hats: I run a home daycare, teach CPR/ First Aid, and make knives. Do I make the bulk of my income from knives? No-it's about 25% -40% (depending on the year) of my annual $, but the situation is the best fit for my family situation. Personally I'm not sure I would ever want to do just one of those as my "only" job since I enjoy doing all three. It boils down to what are your business goals and are you meeting them.

There are many parts to knifemaking as a business. Aside from the obvious (making knives), you deal with marketing, sales, accounts payable and receivable, supply and inventory, customer service, product design and research, dealing with subcontractors (such as a heat treater or waterjet cutter), and regulatory compliance (customs, rules regarding use of certain materials, taxes, zoning, etc.).

At it's core, once knifemaking is a full time business, it is comparable to any buisness that produces and sells a product. Income- expenses= profit, so everything becomes a source of income or expense, including your time. You have to find a way to balance that in your favor while still providing your best work to a customer. Are there quirks to knifemaking as opposed to say baking? Yep, but the overall premise is the same. Actually a bakery is a good comparable to a knifemaker in that they both gather materials from all over, use them to produce a finished product that is then sold to and consumed (used) by the customer. In both cases, good products, good business practices, and good customer service will put the owner in a better position to succeed.

A full time maker would be better suited to explain that in detail, but that's my version of the nickel tour.

Wow- did that turn into a long rambling answer. Hope that helps and I'm not completely talking around your question instead of answering it.

Dave Armour.
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