Who Wants To Talk With Me About My Ideas?

[Basspro]

For all you guys that have designed lures and have gotten them sold in stores, How do you do it............. I have notepad after notepad of ideas for new lures and colors and was wondering if any of the guys on this forum that have their own lure company would be willing to talk with me about my ideas........... I have several prototypes

[Delw]

For all you guys that have designed lures and have gotten them sold in stores, How do you do it............. I have notepad after notepad of ideas for new lures and colors and was wondering if any of the guys on this forum that have their own lure company would be willing to talk with me about my ideas........... I have several prototypes

I will give you the simplest best advice there is.

If you think the bait looks cool, make it and sell it . remember one thing the "FISH" Dont buy baits its the "Fishermen" that buy baits.

take a simple straight tail worm for example(berkley, zooom etc) in one color lets say black. take that same worm and pour a 3 color laminate( ROBOWORM) in it and you will sell 100-1 of them because they look pretty.

For the most part the action stuff is more BS than anything else. ( I said for the most part) I can take a bait that has no action and pour it in a softer plastic and get a ton of action out of it.

Now if I misunderstood you and your trying to sell your designs to a lure company chances are its NOT going to happen and if you Value your ideas and you want to make baits and sell them they last thing your want to do is show another BAIT COMPANY.

I see hundreds of baits ever year, this year I only saw 3 very unique baits, 2 weres based off of something already made and they looked entrirely different and one was so damn simple yet so different that when its on the market your will crap your pants and say "Why Didnt I think of that". Even the Japanesse hadnt come up with this idea.

BTW the Japanesse come up with the most unique baits I have ever seen and most if not all American baits are knock offs of them.

There is no Magical Bait, its all about making them as pretty as possible and selling them, if they sell great if they dont tru something else till you find what people want.

Delw

[smallmouthaholic]

For all you guys that have designed lures and have gotten them sold in stores, How do you do it............. I have notepad after notepad of ideas for new lures and colors and was wondering if any of the guys on this forum that have their own lure company would be willing to talk with me about my ideas........... I have several prototypes

Let me say this much-

1- The overhead of the website and business expenses are much more then you think-especially if you're above board and pay your required 10% excise tax on gross sales( quarterly form #720

2- Stores want a minimum of 40% off retail to even THINK aboutcarrying your product. Many will try to get you you on the

consignment train

3- Having custom,CNC injection molds made is EXPENSIVE and the wait can be 3 months or more Then there's the cost of custom CNC lead molds.I have in excess of 6K worth w/ 5 more projects on order( that may push that total close to 9K) and I'm a "speck on the wall manufacturer". That's a lot of worms to sell to just pay for the molds.

4- Becoming established has it's price also.You may survive if your product is unique and catches bass like crazy. Remember- even the best soft-baits won't catch fish when they're used by a poor fisherman and there is no shortage of locals claiming to be the next Pro. Anybody and everybody will take freebies and then there are all the pro-wannabees wanting you to sponsor them w/ free product that will make you famous Advertising your product can be prohibitively expensive for the small bait mfg.

5-It will take a 5 year time frame to become established w/ little to NOprofit to show- unless of course you do the under the table cash deals -1 visit from the I.R.S. will straighten you out in a hurry - especially failure to pay the quarterly excise tax as interest and penalties can be severe.

6-You won't compete w/ the big boys unless you have mega $ @ your disposal for a large shop w/ multiple Zorn injection machines.BTW- don't quit your day job. You may be able to supplement your main income from another source w/ your lure business.

7- Patents and trademarks- now here's a can of worms that can break you in minutes.Let's say you get a design patent in the U.S.A.- how much money do you have to defend the patent? I believe an overseas company can copy your idea w/out the threat of legal recourse from U.S. patents.

There's a couple of patent infringement cases waiting to come to court now and legal fees can be astronomical if you loose.

Good luck- if you believe in your product and have the $- go forward and give it a shot!

Edited for spelling errors.

Edited December 24, 2010 by smallmouthaholic

[rajbass]

don't be discouraged by some posts. most major companies were not built overnight. that goes for any company not just the fishing industry.

[Frank]

Just a young man with a dream. Gotta hand it to you, you do try. Dont give up but dont show anyone either, people will take your idea and not even look back. Start small and build up. You have alot of time. Good info on the exise tax Smallie because the irs does not care how old you are they just want theres.

[Vodkaman]

Basspro or Basslover12345, you obviously have entrepreneurial instincts and are hungry for success. You are 14 years old and people tend to be very forgiving towards such youth. But in three weeks you will be 15, an age of which a lot more maturity is expected. From now on you will probably find that you are expected to earn the respect that you were given merely for being 14 years old.

You will no longer get away with publishing lists of freebies that you want and then selling them weeks later. Hair brained schemes like trying to sell soft plastics in 17 different body styles in 10 different sizes in 45 different colors with 6 different scents for cash, while displaying a fuzzy picture of what looks like a slimy slug dipped in green fluff, will no longer be tolerated. Need I continue, because there is more.

I believe success in the lure industry comes mostly from reputation and it is time for you to start building your own. You should start to take part in discussions instead of just asking for stuff. Show fellow builders that you are interested in the business and not just interested in making a fast buck. I read that you are getting into the competition angling scene. This is a good move, success here could give your future credibility a massive boost and open business opportunities at the same time.

I am not telling you to forget about making money, we all need some of that, but if you unload the big idea onto the market place without knowledge or experience, you will get trampled and just feed the big companies. I say put the big ideas on the shelf for now and start small, work the local markets, learn the business, learn the pitfalls, make the mistakes on the small stuff, then you will be wiser and more prepared when you decide to bring the big guns out.

I have little doubt that you will achieve success, be it in the fishing industry or elsewhere. Entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset and quite rare in someone so young. I wish you luck and success.

Dave