How to Start a Fly Tying Business?

[Adam Saarinen 0]

I think the quality people are looking for is better then the best flies you see in shops? But they also want them for cheaper then the cheapest crap you see in some shops!

[Poopdeck 0]

Forget about it unless you want to buy a hut in China and hire a 1/2 dozen Chinese women and can land a sweet contract with Walmart. Fact is most fly shops either tie their own or purchase from China. There are not enough guides around to make a living selling to guides. Then add in you would have to find a guide who doesn't tie their own guide flies, doesn't have an established tier already or who doesn't buy from China.

 

There are not enough local fly shops in any area to sell to. I can only think of two local fly shops within 50 miles of me. I don't know if you have been in a fly shop lately but they don't exactly have flies flying out of the bins unless they are at some great destination fly fishing location. I think it would be damn hard if not impossible to make 20 bucks and hour tying flies and marketing them, taking orders, finding buyers, and everything else that goes with operating a business. Even if you could miraculously make that 20 bucks an hour you are basically working a hair away from the poverty line.

[flytyer62 0]

L.B.

you said one thing that would that makes me think you should reconsider-fun tying as a business is not fun. your not going to be tying one or two flies or even 6 or 7 think in terms of dozens if the quality is there. If you truly want to reach out to the local fly shop see if you can do fill in orders for a couple of easy patterns to see if you actually like it. here are a few other things to consider

1) how fast you can tie a quality clean fly - if you can only tie say 1/2 dozen an hour of a simple pattern your basically working for less than minimum wage

2) as was stated above - you need consistent quality 1st fly should look exactly like the 50th

3) material costs - if your buying your materials at retail your base cost ( cost of materials to tie the fly) will be too high-see #1

4) not mind fishing cast offs and seconds as your not going to have time to tie flies for yourself

5) the inevitable need to some day be legit and pay the 10% excise tax to uncle sam

if you still are interested sit down at your vice pick pattern and ties as many as you can in a set amount of time as an experiment to see how many you can make and if you like the drudgery of tying the same pattern over and over.

I guide and tie part time for the shop I guide for an a few fellow guides - it pays for gear and a fishing trip each year but I also have to work a real job to feed my family.

 

best of luck

 

Steve

[Mike West 0]

Kind of what Poopdeck and Capt. Bob said..when I did this it was the mid to late 90's.

You have to figure out what you are going to tie and sell....drys,wets,nymphs,streamers,saltwater,warm water ect. or cover all bases.

 

I did basically what Caption Bob did, went to Conclaves and tied with examples out and business cards(this cost money and vacation time from your real job)

Tied at local clubs,gave lessons,tied at the Boy Scout Jamborees and tied at my friends den with 8 boys, Donated all materials. Donated dozens of flies at conclaves and club events for raffles. Shot 2 shows of "Honey Hole Magazine"(don't get me started on that,all I can say is don't believe anything you see on a fishing show) was suppose to be on the cover of Fly Tier magazine until a big name tier stole 3 of my patterns I showed him at a small show and he copy writed them which killed the whole thing.

 

I tell you what I ended up doing, I catered to warm water bass fishing with a little saltwater thrown in...no trout flies!

I use to be able to buy Wholesale from Waspi (you can't do that any more unless you have a legit store front) I placed a $2000 order and that's a lot of stuff in the late 90's.

 

Pull all the different size feathers of off Capes(6,8,10,1.1/0,2/0) just to see how many feathers I could get off each cape and bag them by size...now what do you do with all these other feathers that are too small for what you are specializing in? (I still have bags full 15 years later) Deer hair? Big order some you can use some you cant...Hooks,Thread,Eyes...ect ect ect.

 

Now I have an overhead number I can work with and figure out what I need to charge to make it worth my while.

Umpqua was my biggest obstacle you could buy their deer hair flies for about $3.95 at the time I think.

I came up with I needed $40 a dozen Wholesale for mine...I developed a customer base(rich guys) who didn't care what it costs they just want what they want.

 

Basically Umpqua patterns and few of my own but big and I mean huge! I ended up with a few loyal customers and two local shops that kept me busier than I wanted to be...I was out 2 months all the time at $120 a dozen. When I quit my real job I was making a little over min. wage at the time $8.75.

 

When I did the math on my overhead and what I thought my hrs. were worth($9.00 an hr) I ended up making $12-$14 an hr which was good but it's very monotonous..Imagine tying weed guards on 500 hooks then the tails on 500 hooks then spinning the deer hair...ect ect ect Some folks have the mentality and patience for this, I found out I don't.

 

I tied this frog below just to do it and show off and I dragged it around with me and put it on display every where I went. First one I did took me about all day to do.

Then I tied a bunch and I could do them in about 3hrs.

 

Guy comes up to me a conclave and asks me how much for one..caught me off guard didn't know what to say..at the time I was getting $4-$5 each wholesale for standard bass bugs and $8-$10 to the public, I told him $25 he ordered two. I told him $25 cause I didn't want to tie them and figured that would scare him off.

 

Next time I told a guy $50 he bought a dozen...then an other guy I told $125(just cause I didn't want to tie them) and he ordered 2 dozen. These guys are CEO's Lawyers,Doctors ect that give them away as presents.

 

I never showed the thing in public again.

 

Just goes to show you if you can tie really well and tie what they want they will pay what you want.....but you have to get out there and make a name for yourself.

You aren't going to be able to compete with Ebay and make money.

[vicrider 0]

I've always liked the statement..."The easiest way to make a small fortune in the fishing tackle business is to start with a large fortune".

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

That last statement is why I'm in my 21st year as a full time guide.... Making a living in the tackle business is a pretty tough affair. It can be done but many, many have tried for the very few that have succeeded.

 

On the plus side any shop can easily make their entire overhead each month by selling T-shirts and related items if they're in a good location with a lot of tourists coming through. That isn't exactly the "tackle business" though....

[rstaight 0]

Mike,

 

Awsome frog. Always admired artisans with the skills/talent to be able to do something like that. Regardless of what they work in.

 

L.B.,

 

That's the level you need to be at to command those prices that Mike described. Then there are not many people you are willing or able to pay it.

 

I was at an outdoor show this past winter and there was "mom and pop" lure company selling "handmade" crank baits for $45. That was a special price for the show. I didn't see many walking around.

 

But, with everything that's been posted if you still really want to give it a shot, then go for it. We all wish you the best.

[Bimini15 0]

I like Mike West approach: sell each fly for $5,000 a pop. Then you only have to sell a dozen a year...

[BuzFly 0]

Wow.... Big question with way to many answers.

 

First off be prepared for may sleepless nights and getting paid very little for your time.

 

If you want to be a ligitament operation it all starts with:

• Apply for State/Federal Tax-Id
• Forming some form of a LLC
• Apply for a Sales-Tax Certificate if you sell directly to the public
• Apply for a Federal Excise Tax Number
• Learn about accounting and how to track all your expenses and sales
• Talk to your Accountant
• Set up Trade Account with Suppliers
• Set up USPS Account or other Shipping Account

When you do will be a legitimate company tying flies. Be prepared to only keep about 50% of the money you take in because the rest of it goes to taxes and expenses.

 

All of this assumes that you can tie 6 dozen of the same fly consistently and have a good quality fly that a shop wants to purchase from you on a regular basis and hopefully get paid for in less than 30 days. You will have to master least 12 patterns before you start to go into shops.

 

Commercial tying in the US comes down to two simple things, how many flies you can consistanly tie per hour to set your hourly rate and can you make enough money after you pay taxes and expenses. If you can find a niche market and a style of flies the sell well you should be successful.

[TheCream 0]

Are you nuts?

 

Now that's out of the way. If you really want to do this as a business I would start with a couple of local fly shops and get a feel for what's happening. Then you can move on to Ebay.

 

Remember, once you start, this is no longer a hobby. You will be tying because you have to, not because you want to. Especially if you are taking orders and not selling from existing stock.

 

If I could have triple bolded that line, I would have. That is why I don't sell flies, perfectly explained.

[Mike West 0]

 

Are you nuts?

 

Now that's out of the way. If you really want to do this as a business I would start with a couple of local fly shops and get a feel for what's happening. Then you can move on to Ebay.

 

Remember, once you start, this is no longer a hobby. You will be tying because you have to, not because you want to...!!!!. Especially if you are taking orders and not selling from existing stock.

 

If I could have triple bolded that line, I would have. That is why I don't sell flies, perfectly explained.

 

You could have done this

 

About the same thing I said "it will turn your joy & passion into a chore that you will end up dreading"

[Richard Wall 0]

I need to find out the best way to ship flies????  If I'm doing mail order....where can I find small plastic boxes to ship the flies without getting everything busted in the mail.  Better yet,  I would like to have small plastic boxes with my personal logo in scripted on the box???

Rick

[email protected]

[flytire 0]

you can start by using google for "small plastic boxes" and search the results

find the wholesaler and contact them regarding your logo

[tjm 0]

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/85309-how-to-ship-flies/

 

[Rocco 0]

No one has yet mentioned dealing with public. At best, 95% of them may be OK to good people but the other 5% will suck the light out of the room, make your trigger finger itch, and raise your booze bill.