Starting a Custom Rod Building Business

Do you enjoy rod building as a hobby? Have you ever heard other people compliment the finished result of your rod building? If you answered yes to either question or if you are just interested in testing the water, then starting a custom building business could be a good option for you.

Basically, to get started there would be a few considerations you would have to keep in mind. Those are listed below and should help you decide if a rod building business is in the cards for you.

High Quality Workmanship

If you’re serious about starting a rod building business, you’ll need to be very confident in your skills. Don’t start such a business if you’ve never crafted your own fishing equipment before or if you’ve only used kits to develop the finished products. The more experience you have going into the industry the more capable you’ll be of satisfying the needs of your customers.

Another good idea is to have built several finished products that can be showcased for potential clients through a web site. People respond well to photographs and to testimonials so build some for your fishing friends and get their feedback for your site.

Setting the Price

Another good reason not to jump into custom rod building as a business without plenty of experience is that you won’t have a good idea of what to charge for your efforts. Although the actual building process doesn’t take much time, you may need to do some shopping and some research to make exactly what the client wants. You also to keep in mind that you’ll charge two prices: one for parts and one for labor. It’s the labor price where you’ll have the most flexibility.

Setting the right price is important. If you don’t charge enough, you’ll be wasting your time and will have nothing to show for it. If you charge too much, you won’t get any business. It’s a delicate balance.

Finding Customers

When you’re starting a rod building business, you’ll need to figure out how to attract new business. You could focus your initial efforts on local customers but eventually you’ll end up wanting to expand. The Internet can be a good source for customers if you do some marketing, such as writing a blog or submitting articles to submission services.

Another idea for finding rod building customers is to create some pieces and sell them on online auction sites. You’d be surprised at how much you could possibly earn for your efforts. Plus, it could be a good way to attract attention to your site and to your services.

Having Good Rod Building Vendors

An essential part of being successful in your rod building business is the vendors you choose for supplies. Obviously, you’ll need to buy components and all of the other elements that go along with rod building so having a place you trust and a place that you can reach conveniently to place orders, such as Sea Isle Tackle, is going to be important.