Be careful what you wish for

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MartinPens

MartinPens

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Messages
1,814
Location
Medford, Oregon, USA
I am not intending to be ungrateful in any way. I have recently crossed a line that is a new experience for me. With the recent spot in Cigar Aficionado Magazine I have been very busy making the Cigar Illusion pen. It is a niche market and after a long time of trying to make this hobby into a business, I am busier than ever. I made more money last month than I've made in a long time in any of my careers. It is beginning to taper off now that the magazine has been in the newsstand, but it let's me know that there is a market out there and with the right advertising and exposure I can continue to make a writing instrument that is fun to make and creative to make. With that comes a package deal of inventory, supply and demand, billing, shipping, customer service, website maintenance, photographing and listing my items in my store, keeping good paperwork for tax purposes and finding a balance of time to spend with my wife and kids.

I have a whole new respect for those on the forum who have businesses. Again, this is in no way a complaint or whining! I'm grateful and I look forward to school starting up again after summer so that I can dedicate more time to it.

I just wanted to share on the topic for all of those wishing they could turn their hobby into a business.... I've had to ask myself, "just how busy do I want to be?" "how much pressure do I want to take on to meet demand at any given time?" "am I going to be sacrificing creativity for productivity?" "where is the balance between being an artist and making money?"

So I am interested in perspectives and thoughts on the subject. I have settled most of the above questions but still face the gauntlet of putting them into action.

I am uncertain about the rules of posting links, so I will just encourage everyone to get on Vimeo.com and look up the title "Herriott Grace" - posted by "Supplemental" - what happens when you have the chance to turn your passion into your second career?

If I find out, after reading the rules, that I can post the link, I will place it in the thread.

Regards,

Martin

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I can't afford to advertise in that magazine ( something like 12K for six issues ) so I'm thankful to have gotten in.

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"It is a niche market and after a long time of trying to make this hobby into a business, I am busier than ever."

Martin, with this being said, don't forget to adjust your prices accordingly.:wink: This is an expectation of the natural flow of marketing, so you shouldn't feel guilty. The prices can re-adjust after the demand tapers off. If the demand tapers off.:biggrin:

Congratulations!
 
Martin, I don't have any insight for you other than this: Being inundated in orders is a better problem to have than not having any orders. Congratulations on you success.:highfive:
 
I can tell you first hand that they are worth a lot more than you used to sell them for. Hope you have corrected that...if you can afford some of those cigars, you can sure afford a pen like yours!:wink:
 
I have long considered this but the headaches of balancing everything is more than I want to handle.

. . . make a writing instrument that is fun to make and creative to make. With that comes a package deal of inventory, supply and demand, billing, shipping, customer service, website maintenance, photographing and listing my items in my store, keeping good paperwork for tax purposes and finding a balance of time to spend with my wife and kids.
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WISDOM INDEED!

There are other untapped "niche" markets out there similar to yours that the custom pen making industry here has not tapped. There are locations that are not tapped. But one must totally commit before going in; no "halfway" testing the waters with so-so pens in most cases. Perfecting the kind of pens for needed for niche markets beforehand is a necessity as they won't allow for a second chance, IMHO.

There is potential for a quality pen shop here. I live in a casino area that draws people from many states. I have struggled with whether I want to commit to such, or just enjoy making pens as a stress relief. So far, I am enjoying the latter.

Thanks for your update and words of wisdom!
 
AMEN!!!
Been there doing that! Running two web-sites and an ad in a national magazine so something had to give and it was doing shows. That has left me hopefully time to play in the shop insted of production turning. If I was still raising a family I don't think I could do it. Even sitting down to watch TV at nigh I'm on the laptop keeping up with things, but I'm enjoying it. ​
 
Martin,
I own and operate a Photographic Studio. I have a degree in Photographics and always wanted to do this. I turned to a second, simultaneous, carreer in Law enforcement to finance the studio I wanted to buy. It is a larger studio with a camera store and 5 full time employees. I began to work there in 1978, so I knew the business. I bought it in 1990, spent every dime I had accumulated and continued to work both jobs until it was obvious that I was not doing justice to both, so I went to Law Enforcement half time or so. That was seventeen years ago.

We have certainly had our up's and down's. When you are up, you complain about how busy you are, when you are down, it becomes hard to sleep because of worry. What I would like to impress upon you is, business is continually changing. I think you can appreciate how much the photographic business has changed since 2003.

Once you establish a "niche" market it could change and go away...sometimes quickly. I decided about a year ago to close our camera store and push different facets of the Studio to supplement. For the first 25 years here we had two fulltime people that copied old photographs and printed them in a custom manner....you can imagine what scanners did to that market. Those people no longer work here. I read the the other day that the photofinishing business is now 6% of what it was in 2000. Get the idea? Have a fall back position or be prepared to formulate one on the fly. I road a few of the old ideas too far and have paid a price or two.

The other thing I would like to impress upon you, is your view of your hobby vs new business is going to change. I know many artists and think of myself as one, it is a constant struggle to remain creative and maintain that love of your craft. When your families level of comfort depends on your cash flow, you will naturally have a change of view point of your craft....if you do not, and I hope you don't, you are a better man than I am. Creativity can cetainly fall victim to production. I wish you the best of luck, your product truly has that appeal to many people. If anyone can do it with their product you are one of the few.
 
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I'm in the same position right now. I'm consistently doing more per day, EVERY day, than I made in a whole year when I put myself through college. I keep wondering if it's a fluke or it will continue. Day by day it seems to continue. The average sale seems to get higher and higher. The trick is how to handle the business on a daily basis without trying to grow too much or do stupid stuff. I do invest in equipment every chance I get. I try to get stuff that the other guys can't justify buying, so will have new niches if and when the current stuff dries up. Always be thinking of what's next. It's hard to top the cigar pens, but you might find yourself being mentally boxed in by their success. Whatever comes next has to be equally cool, but not necessarily of the same thinking.
 
Thank you for posting this. All following posts will be very helpful. Not in your league yet but am hopeful. What a nice problem.
 
Most of the challenge right now is the fact that my kids are on Summer break - and the heat. My workshop is in the garage and its not air conditioned. I have a small swamp cooler and I just plan on sweating.

I could be doing a lot more, but that would mean being completely unavailable and I'm not interested in that. I'm sure this wave will subside, and I will need to find other ways to get noticed by the niche market.

I so appreciate the comments and when I get some time, will respond to the private messages.

Regards and keep the feedback coming!
 
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