“No Brainers” and The Bottom Line

"How much money do you make from your knives?"

That's an interesting question that's kind of difficult and ultimately useless to answer. When I tell someone that I can make 5 basic hunting knives (minus the sheaths) in a day, and that I charge about $115 for each of those knives, someone might think that I make $575 a day, or $63 per hour.

But, when materials, worn out tools, taxes, travel expenses, advertising, and a whole bunch of other stuff is taken into account, I'm lucky to get 50% of the total for my living expenses. That means that I'd still be making around $31 an hour that I'm building knives- but that's only if the knives are selling as fast as I'm making them, which seldom happens.

Also, if I sell wholesale, I make even less, but that's another thing...

The bottom line is this:

Is my rent paid? Do my wife and I have food and medicine? Do our vehicles have gas, and are they registered and insured?

I remember visiting with a guy who said he'd looked for jobs in Vernal and in Provo Utah. After finding that the Provo area paid nearly twice as much as the Vernal area, he said that it was a no-brainer for him to move out there.

Remembering horror stories I'd heard about the exorbitant rates charged for rent in the Provo area, I mentioned that item and asked if he was really making more money out there than he would be in Vernal. He acknowledged that housing was indeed pretty steep, and he couldn't give me an answer as to whether or not it was more profitable for him to live and work in Provo rather than Vernal.

In my knife business I'm pretty open to swapping and horse trading. I've often traded knives for antlers to be made into knife handles, which has proved to be much more economical for me than hassling with money.

I got the forge I use for knifemaking by trading a knifemaking lesson for the work and material from my student to make the forge. One of the best trades I made was when I gave a farmer a knife for letting me shoot an elk on his property. Also, when some folks stopped by my booth at a show one time, they half jokingly asked if they could trade some hay bales for knives. My dad was needing extra hay for his horses, so I jumped on the opportunity. We swapped knives for hay, and both parties were happy- and the government didn't get any taxes from that deal!!

As long as I can get the things I need, the amount of money changing hands really doesn't matter. Horse Tradin has always been a part of my personality, and I imagine it will continue to be an important part of my business strategy.