Boat Building Forum

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Re: How to make a small fortune building boats
By:Shawn Baker
Date: 11/24/2000, 6:11 pm
In Response To: Re: starting one man shop (Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks)

Start with a large fortune.

Did you post this originally, Nick?

Shannon,

One recommendation was to build $5000 kayaks rather than twice as many $2500 kayaks. Or better yet, half as many $10000 kayaks. If you have excellent craftsmanship, people will buy them no matter what the price. If you undersell your work, people will get the notion that they are not as valuable. If you sell them for a lot of money (but still with excellent craftsmanship) then folks will get the impression that they are very valuable--perhaps more valuable than you think they are. I would guess a lot of the people who are in the market for expensive kayaks are pretty fickle!

If you can afford to "live beyond your means" or live within whatever means that building boats will provide for you, then go for it!! You've gotta love what you're doing for a living, otherwise, it's not really a living---it's just a job. :O

I would love to build boats for a living, but I'm afraid if my avocation became my vocation, I wouldn't love it as much. That's another risk you must be willing to take. Personally, I plan to stay in the construction industry to finance my boatbuilding habit, and I'll still love it enough to build a sailboat to retire on!

Shawn

: Go talk to Mac. I doubt that he would have any problem with a visit. As you
: know from already being in woodworking, making a living with wood can be
: hard. Building boats won't make the task easier. It is possible, but hard.
: Take a look through the archives, we have some lively discussions about
: this in the past.

Messages In This Thread

starting one man shop
shannon mullins -- 11/23/2000, 4:55 pm
Re: starting one man shop
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 11/24/2000, 8:52 am
Re: How to make a small fortune building boats
Shawn Baker -- 11/24/2000, 6:11 pm
Re: starting one man shop
Rehd -- 11/23/2000, 9:09 pm
Re: starting one man shop
Spidey -- 11/23/2000, 7:21 pm