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Just like 152nd Baits said, you need to market your product. If your designing and making baits, building your website, doing packaging and marketing you'll be REALLY busy even with no orders. There are no needs for better or different compounds, in my opinion. If you don't like what's available you could blend 2 different compounds or just add hardener or softener as needed to get the desired consistency. As for equipment, if your just starting out you need to take advantage of what is currently on the market and let the business create a demand for bigger and better equipment, more molds, etc. Jeff

started banging out spoons when i was about 8 or 9 and never stopped making baits since... the worlds best hobby nothing beats catching fish on your own baits http://www.fiskesnack.com/fotoalbum/images/2231-329701790-liten.jpg

We started out with me just doing hand pours for myself, then a couple of fishing buddies wanted them. Then a couple of stores found out about them, then the next thing you know we have a business. Then after several years, approximately 8 years, demand increased so we came up with the idea of buying large production molds and an injection machine. Now we have two machines and only manufacture for other companies. We currently work for six companies with four more coming on board this year. That being said, it is possible to go from a hobby to a part time business to a full time business. But you've already received some great advice. Jeff is right you need to really be sure of what you're doing and take into consideration all aspects of the industry, and I mean all aspects of the industry. And 152nd St. is also right about marketing being a very big part of your business and a very expensive part of your business. Also I agree with Frank, you need to hunt for a niche that no one else is willing to fill. Be it design or different colors. That's the main way I got my foot in the door of most stores when I was doing hand pours. Also unique designs will carry you far in this business but with this also comes a considerable amount of expense. For a unique design you have to do one of two things, you have to spend a large amount of money for patents and then have a large amount of money to protect your patents. A patent is worth nothing if it can't be protected and this is a huge expense. Your other choice with a unique design is to make sure that you have enough product that if it does go big, you're able to flood the market and meet the immediate demand. This is also very expensive, remember it takes most large companies 3-6 months to get a mold made and product produced to knock you off, this 3-6 month period and can be up to a year is your money making time. And as far a people blowing up with success in this business, I feel the Sweet Beaver and the Alabama rig are two prime examples of this. When it comes to bigger companies buying you out or making the little guy rich, you just don't hear that much of it. Big companies want you to put in all the expense and time, they want you to do all the hard work, get things to a profitable point, that's when they want to make their purchase. And some people do get large amounts of money, but they almost never get paid for their efforts and hard work from a buyout. I have a customer who is a prime example of this. I won't name his company, but his first 11 months of business, his total purchases from us was well over $100,000.00. So along comes Stanley Bait company and offers him $100,000.00 with a small percentage for x number of years, of course my customer declined the offer. And the thing about it is, Stanley acted like they were doing him a favor. Then they knocked his product off and their product failed. In this industry, too big too fast will bring you down. Always be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. Look for fill in areas. Find your niche. Do your homework, see what people want that they can't get and help them meet their needs. Always make sure, no matter how big or small you are to keep a hands on attitude, good quality products are very important. These are just some of the things that we did in order to become a full time business. Work your butt off and be careful what you wish for. Good luck, if there's ever anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask. Mike

Can't really compare or comment until we see it. Get a video up and then lets talk.