ok, ladies and gentlemen, here goes. I have silently been reading and absorbing everything i can from this site for the past six months. Also, I have been going through an apprenticeship course at the same time. George, as a former Marine, I respect you for your knowledge and hard nosed opinions that people take the wrong way. i normally just get on this site to learn and laugh. if people would just take George's word as his own opinion instead of written in stone, they would be alot better off. anyway, i just wanted an opinion about some things I am about to do. I have a full time job as a supervisor of an automotive parts factory. I plan to start a taxidermy business in town to see how it goes. I don't want to conquer the world my first year but I'm 30 years old and this is something I've always wanted to do. Since i've been going through my apprenticeship it has made me love this art even more. What can I expect my first year? I have all the supplies I need, I feel ready to go on my own (even though my instructor said he would help me whenever), I've done everything but fish on my own, and have a brand new shop. And, probably most important, a supportive wife. Since discovering this site, it seems like there is endless ways to mount,repair, paint , alter any creature. Whenever I get in a jam, i just know there is somebody on here at some time to help. any helpful hints are appreciated. Thank you.........Matt
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dont expect too much your first year. and dont quit a good paying stable job with benefits to do taxidermy.
keep it what it is now.....a hobby. you will enjoy it much more, for much longer if you do. once you take it on full time, it can come to be about the same as the carreer you left........just a job. then the love tends to fade.
keep your job. do enough taxidermy on the side to keep your passion alive and pay for your toys and hunting trips. you will find that you have more time to devote to an individual piece when you cant wait to get home and work on it. take advantage of the situation and use the time to be the best taxidermist you can be. ask around, you will find that many of the best taxidermists we have in the country are simply part timers. one of the best fish guys we have only mounts about 6 a year.
once you spend 10 hours in the shop trying to earn a living.....its hard to spend a couple more to put together something for yourself or a show.
all of this advice...you can take to the bank. assuming you live under normal circumstances, just like nearly all of the rest of us.
now....if you married into money and your wife is independantly wealthy, forget everything I just said.....and adopt me and my wife.
What he said! Dream are just that, the only difference is that you are standing up with you're eyes open. A steady job with bennies is worth allot. Most taxidermist want the job that you have. There are no guarantees that work will come through the door. Guys will tell you that all you have to do is great and honest work and the business will come. Where you are located is a big portion of success. I live in a state that has fish, turkey, water foul and whitetail. No hogs other than farm shot. No Antelope, Mulie, Moose, goats, sheep, Elk, no salt-water fish. The more species in you're state, the better the fruit picking will be. Keep it a hobby until you feel that you must go full time, then think about it again.
back in the Marine Corps would be gravy (did my 20) then to do this for the past 10 years, i'd take a scorpion sting everyday for the rest of my life.
didn't plan on going full time, but hopefully ready to go on my own. it's been a long time coming and i can't wait to start in my new shop. Thanks everyone...
Quit that job, and go for it all out. All the advice those guys are giving you sounds well and good. but if you keep that full time job with benefits, and security. you could linger on as a part time taxidermist for yours. enjoying the hobby like atmosphere. working at a reduced rate just so you can get the work. that will not hurt you. as your business expenses will be partially absorbed as normal living expenses. you can like the countless other "part-timers" can whittle away at the income of some local guy who is trying to Make a living at it. So Jump in Go for the gusto. And do it full time. then you will see how difficult a business Taxidermy really is. You will give it up, or go broke in a year. and then Taxidermy, and this dream will be out of your system.
There's a guy on here who'll blow roses up your butt, but the reality of it stinks. If I could just do taxidermy and nothing else, I'd feel the same elation you're experiencing (contrary to some belief, I do vividly recall those days). But it's the aggravation of the everyday workload that saps your energy. Finding time to re-order supplies, doing the book keeping, or chasing customers who were in such a damned hurry to get their mounts until you called them the first, second, or third time. During the deer season, I've left the shop at 2 a.m. with 8 deer on the floor yet to be caped out. I've gotten up at 8 the next morning and skinned for 14 hours straight and still gone to bed with 8 deer on the floor. A one man shop can be a salt mine if you're not very careful.
Ease into it. If you keep your day job, you won't feel guilty about refusing some work when it starts to build on you (and it WILL build on you). If you take it on fulltime, you'll always be nagged with taking extra work in just so you can feel that you'll be able to pay all your bills.
The analogy I like to use about taxidermy is Bobby Joe and Bubba selling watermelons.
These two went into business selling watermelons. After their crop ran out, however, they decided to go buy and sell melons. They got their pickup truck and went out searching for a seller. When they finally found one, they bought them for a dollar apiece. The took the melons back to their stand and sold them for a dollar apiece. After a week of hard work, Bubba counted up the money.
"Bobby Joe, we gotta do sumpthin. We ain't making no money. What do you thank?"
To which Bobby Joe replied, "Bubba, you sich a dummy. I tole you we wuz gonna need a bigger truck."
Most taxidermists think that hauling in more work means a greater profit when, in fact, making a better profit on what you already have would make life better for you. Good luck.
Matt, George nailed it.
To me it's like I'm ripping someone off if I charge exactly the same amount as you even though you have 30+ years and I have maybe 3 at best? I mean that's what the customer is paying for right, you're experience in the field and the work you put out because of that experience?
2 Taxidermists both charge $XXX.00 for a deer head.
Taxidermist A has 3 yr experience.
Taxidermist B has 30 years experience.
Who do you sign the contract with?
That's my point, only having three years you'll get the price shoppers who are willing to pay less for less experenice. I know they're not the best customers but they're customers to at least get you're name out there.
Now you know I have 47 years experience so why would you pay the guy with only 17 the same price? What if that guy was Ken Walker (and it is). Now what would you pay ME versus what Ken would charge?
I was just giving up on DP deer mounts when Ken started. It ain't the age of the wine that makes it good as much as it's the recipe and the grapes. Don't get hung up on that.
Write this down someplace and look at it in ten years. If you're satisfied with dealing with low ball price shoppers and take substandard fees for the hours you spend on a mount, then you'll always be stuck with them. If you try to raise your prices, they'll leave like a Jehovah's Witness at a bar mitzvah and then you'll be stuck trying to convince top-end customers your work is good enough for them. Nurture your customers. They're your best advertising.
Now you know I have 47 years experience so why would you pay the guy with only 17 the same price? What if that guy was Ken Walker (and it is). Now what would you pay ME versus what Ken would charge?
I was just giving up on DP deer mounts when Ken started. It ain't the age of the wine that makes it good as much as it's the recipe and the grapes. Don't get hung up on that.
Write this down someplace and look at it in ten years. If you're satisfied with dealing with low ball price shoppers and take substandard fees for the hours you spend on a mount, then you'll always be stuck with them. If you try to raise your prices, they'll leave like a Jehovah's Witness at a bar mitzvah and then you'll be stuck trying to convince top-end customers your work is good enough for them. Nurture your customers. They're your best advertising.
Thanks George!
I need a bear tail,,lmao
i'm going to see if i have the same outlook on this 5 or 10 years from now , then who knows. I'm going to test the waters a little. Is there really alot of people who take the time to research the experience of the local taxidermist? I had a buck mounted last year by my now instructor and I wouldn't have the foggiest idea of any of the "local" taxidermists experience. I feel unless you really have an infamous name your business will come from anyone local. Am i far off?
That's what leads to many fights here about "artists" and "craftsmen". The customer decides what looks good to him. I know of a local tycoon that only uses a guy who DP's everything. Another guy in town drives about 70 miles to a taxidermist he used as a young man. I think my quality is equal to most , but there are two opposites on the scale. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder many times. The best way to attract most of the "locals" is to be the cheapest guy around. You won't make any money or any friends of the other taxidermists, but your freezers will stay full.
I have found that most customers don't know squat about taxidermy, they just want to save money. The best customers are the ones that drop something off and don't even ask how much because they can afford it. I only do taxidermy part time. And with my full time job I am so damn busy this summer I don't have any time to do my hobbies. And I turned down a lot of work this year just because I wanted a weekend off once in awhile.
Like was said above, if you are part time, you can make enough for a few toys or hunting trips and not get burned out. But you also won't get any respect from the full time guys. If you are full time, you will get so much work in that you won't ever get a day off especially during hunting season. Be careful what you wish for.
My dream is to someday have a part time job, and do taxidermy the rest of the time. Remember, it is not getting work that is the problem, it is getting paid for it once it is done. Everyone is gung-ho until it is time to pay up, then they don't call you back.