McKenzie Taxidermy Supply, new Taxidermists, lowballers and bull sh.............

Hey Chad,,heres my buddy Chuck with big tree the year i didnt get it lol! 8 foot red fir.. 475 years old


HOMELITE,,925-----skip tooth compliment with a semi chisle chain, custom dogs..Thats THE BEEF!

 

Chocolate... LOL!

I'll be honest Michael. I read about 1/2 your post and then I just started skimming through the last chunk via Evelyn Wood method - lol! Dude, you oughta write a book - (wait, you just did - lol!) I can't even believe you took the time to type all that. After all, those that don't have business sense aren't going to grasp half the stuff you typed anyway. Those that do I'll bet got bored with the last part as did I because to many of us it's all COMMON SENSE. The problem is 1/2 the people in this world lack common sense. I personally can't even believe some people are dumb enough that they can't run a one-person taxidermy shop. It ain't rocket science that's for sure! We all know by the names and faces that post regularly on this site via the types of questions or answers given and the years they've been posting which ones are on which side of that common sense fence. I cringe when I read some of the questions some of the newbies ask. Sure, they get a pass the first few times, but some are doomed from the get-go. Or, even worse when they feel confident that they can start answering questions themselves! Because I'll tell you, there ARE such things as DUMB QUESTIONS (and answers!!!) Whether it be dumb business sense. Or, the inability to problem solve. Or, when somebody is asking for a critique of their piece that they just posted and it's GOD AWFUL. You KNOW they lack the ability to ever make it in this business. You just say to yourself, "self, don't even comment. Let the others waste their time and blow roses up this persons arse because it's only going to get me fired up". Although I can't always do it. I try to walk away and let somebody else comment because I'm not going to be so nice. I simply don't have the patience.

There, I think I just had a little vent/rant myself there - lol!

 

Marty, Evelyn Woods taught doped READING not speed COMPREHENSION. If she had you'd have seen the number of is who did read it all, understood it all, and agreed with it. Must be a "fish guy "Now thing.

 

I can't believe you talk about your team that way. LOL

 

LOL - probably adult ADHD George! Regardless, I DID see that many of you read the whole thing. I don't know HOW one could spend the time to read every word, but I did see that some did. I'm guessing out of curiosity and for pure entertainment value because that was one heck of a long rant - lol! And again, 100% common sense. I didn't need to read every, single word to comprehend what Michael was saying (many times) and agree with it. Remember, I'm not one of those bitching about any of this stuff. Like I said, this business ain't rocket science...

 

Very good post's from everyone (MP's was very well said) I will say when you place a order you do NOT pay shipping (when ordering through McK's or VD's) separate shipping if it's all on the same order unless I've just been lucky the last 6 times. My last order was placed all at the same time product came to 976.00 and shipping was 48.00. (this reply was in ref to a post made on page 2 or 3 of this).

Don't really care about the 400.00 or so "lowballers" my business is doing great and wish it would slow down. If you give a person a good product it doesn't matter what you charge they keep coming or will be back next year when they get their POS back from the hack.

 

When I retire, I am opening up a new shop and everything will cost $275.00. Deer mounts, Elk mounts, whatever. My motto will be "You Get More Than You Pay For". I will definitely give group discounts and free rush charges.

 

I have some really good friends of mine that will not pay my price for deerheads...and it bugs me to death! One guy had two deer and wanted to know a price $1000.00 for both....he found a guy to do them for $550 for both....and told me times were tough....WTF am I doing wrong?

 

Only on taxi net can one get sound business advice, a good laugh and chain saw advice all in one thread.
thanks for taking the time to write it MP,
John

 

LMAO

 

You guys been busy through the night, 2 pages new when I woke up.

 

Thank you Michael. After George's comments I didn't want you to think I was dissing you or your post. All I was saying was it was a bit long and I could tell there was a lot of venting going on! I agreed with everything you said. Even though I may have not have read every single word. I got it. It was a good post. Unfortunately, I'll bet those that COULD benefit from your post probably either won't read or think it doesn't pertain to THEM. Because, of course they're doing everything right already.

My two cents on the whole business aspects of this "business" for what it's worth. (And, I'll try to be brief - lol!) I truly think in many ways this business is even easier to be successful in than most small businesses. In most businesses you're either providing a service or a product that oftentimes is very, very difficult to differentiate yourself from the competition. In this business it really is mostly about providing a quality product. It's kind've unique because we do provide both a service and an end product. There's so much awful stuff out there that with a little effort I think it's really easy to separate yourself from most others. That's a BIG head start from most businesses when they start up. From there, it's all about marketing and selling yourself. The business side of things SHOULD be the easiest part! But, for many it is not. I think many fail in part because start-up costs are so low. You can do it out of your home. It's EASY and cheap to get started. I think if it was more costly and difficult to get going you wouldn't see nearly as many attempting to learn this trade (and eventually failing). Or, at the very least they would invest more in themselves up front to not only hone their skills as a taxidermist BEFORE opening shop but also understand all aspects of running a small business. I think it's common sense for us one-person shops. You figure out what you're spending and you charge more! Of course it isn't QUITE that simple. But, I'll bet IF many newbies followed that little tidbit of simple advice there probably wouldn't be as many failures!

 

shhhhh!!!

 

What a great read Michael and I applaud you for writing it. Over the years I have ordered from pretty much every supply Co out there including every one Mckenzie has purchased. I dont have time to page through every damn catalog in the file so I love the one stop shopping 2 catalogs (Mckenzie and Van Dykes have pretty much everything I need or want and it gets shipped to my door in 2 days from Beloit or Woonsocket. As far as new taxidermists or lowballers go hey more power to them . If someone wants to burn their eyeballs out mounting 200 deerheads for 250.00 apiece go for it The most we ever got in a year was 150 and I would much rather do 150 fish any day