Business Strategies

[PatrickH]

Greetings, all.

It's been quite a while since I posted on this forum, but it's also been quite a while since I've been able to make any pipes recently. Anyway, I wanted to ask those of you who actually make money from your pipe businesses, what are some of the ways you managed to get your business off the ground? I've got my website, and I can make decent pipes, but I have absolutely no head for business. Any suggestions are welcome.

Patrick H.
http://www.vardrypipes.com

[KurtHuhn]

There's a running joke in the geek circles I run in that harkens back to the Underpants Gnomes from South park:

1. register website and put stuff for sale on it
2. ?
3. PROFIT!!!

The sad fact is that a lot of companies, the "dot-coms", did exactly this back in the mid-to-late 1990s. Now they're known as the "dot-bombs", so that should tell you something about that business plan. I have an intimate knowledge of the internals of this, having a closet full of T-shirts of a seemingly endless parade of dot-bombs that promised me the world, only to evaporate 6 or 8 months into my tenure with them.

The simple fact is that the sales cycle on a lot of products is significantly longer than most analysts will lead you to believe. It's just about exactly longer than the patience and goodwill of whatever Venture Capital firm has invested in your company.

These lessons can be directly applied to artisans and craftsmen trying to break into a given market. While there are meteoric launches into stardom once in a while, the grand number of full-time artisans spend *years* building a client base and name for themselves. And, I hate to say it, but a large portion of that time is spent actually learning how to make pipes or whatever artistic endeavor they've undertaken. Thing is, there's no substitute for time investment.

That said, if one is willing to put in the time learning their craft and marketing themselves, a good solid customer base can be established. But it's the marketing bit that's very difficult - and I suck at it, so I'm not one for answers there.

As Neil Flancbaum once told me - make an excellent pipe, that smokes well, and has a comfortable bit, and your pipes will damn near sell themselves.

[Sasquatch]

Patrick, don't be offended, but it's going to take a helluva lot more than a "decent pipe" to make money.

I'm pretty new at this, and what I find is that if I rip out a pipe with some or other fairly minor defect, I can sell it, but maybe only to people I know, and certainly not for full price. And the thing takes about 10% less time than a perfect piece, so really I am losing out every time I don't make a perfect piece.

How to make "excellent" pipes? Post a few of yours on this forum for critique, and learn the difference between excellent and decent. Then shoot for excellent. All the pipes I currently have that are unsold are pipes that just aren't very good looking in some way or another.... poorly proportioned would be the generic criticism. And they are. They are "learning to make pipes" pipes, and looking at them now, I'm not surprised no one really wanted them.

Paying attention to the criticisms I've heard here, and also trying to offer insightful criticism to others, has really sped me up and sharpened my skills and my designs. I've a long way to go, but I don't have much trouble selling my pipes because I've taken the time to get them "just right" (and learned here what that means).

It's not a "business" in the sense that you are gonna get rich at it. There's probably only 20 or 30 people in the world making serious money doing pipes full time. The rest of us do it because we love it, and make a little money at the same time.

[Frank]

With reference to your website:
You need much better photography. Replace the blurry (out of focus) pictures with sharp, properly lit ones, preferably with interesting, contrasting backgrounds. If you want people to know you're a professional, your pipes have to look professional, including the pictures that display them. Provide a couple more photos per pipe, i.e. back, front, top, including an oblique angle. Give more details about each pipe, including a few measurements.

Take a look at the websites of a few succesful professionals, you'll get the idea. What people see on your website is what they'll (at least initially) perceive of you as a pipemaker.

[TRS]

What Frank said. You've got some nice looking pipes, but they're suffering from poor photographic representation. I'm sure fixing that won't quadruple your business overnight, but it's a good start.

[Blackboot]

It's not a "business" in the sense that you are gonna get rich at it. There's probably only 20 or 30 people in the world making serious money doing pipes full time. The rest of us do it because we love it, and make a little money at the same time.

What would you regard as "serious money"? Like, I wonder how much Baldi averages in a year.

I doubt there are that many pipemakers who figure they are going to become filthy rich with their pipes. I bet the majority would be ecstatic if they could make just enough so that the bills get paid, and they can quit the jobs they hate.

And Patrick, I would take the advice of the others on here and redo the photos. To my eye, it looks like you have placed your pipes on your carpet, and the other pics look like you've placed them outside, on the cold hard ground! Viewers may think those pipes have already been damaged and nicked.

[ToddJohnson]

Patrick,

Focus on making better pipes. Until you can do that, better photos and a better website are of very little import. Sell your pipes for what you can locally--friends, family, etc. Take that money and reinvest it into better tools and better materials. The better your tools, the more capable you are as a pipemaker, and that will show in your work. Eventually, if you improve to the point of making nice pipes, you'll hopefully be able to get a decent wage for your work. That is the point at which you may begin to siphon some money off from your sales and, instead of reinvesting it in your business, put it aside for iTunes downloads or a shiny new car. The focus at this point, however, needs to be on the work itself, not the marketing.

Todd

[Frank]

To reinforce what Todd and Sasquatch said:
This forum is the closest thing to an online pipemakers' college. Post pictures of your pipes in the gallery for critique. The honest feedback will be invaluable.

[Sasquatch]

Bingo.

Blackboot, by "serious money" all I really meant was maybe that these guys (and gals!) pay all their bills by making pipes - they do it for a living, successfully and sustainably.