Each is unique
Yes, I am one of those saddlers whom seems to fall prey to the condition of having a need for making each saddle that bears my name unique. And, yes, I am also one of those fellows who is in business that goes against the "better business grain" which states that the "replication of conformity is the modern method of financial success" and of course success is measured by the stack in your Bank account.
Photo by: Jeremiah Watt
Title; custom saddle, Wade tree, flat plate rigged, Daffodils and block stamp pattern, inlaid padded seat done in "Snow Flake Sting Ray.........caught on 2 pound test line right here in our Warthan Creek!
Well that may be, if you are Intel or Ford Motor Corp, but I am a small business man that deals with a selective little niche market product. All of us that make saddles, or silver bits and spurs, or whatever hand made product that you find yourself making and moving into the marketplace is in the same small business boat......and I am sorry to say it is a boat that many in the business schools fail to understand. The secret is not in the dollars spent on an advertising campaign, it is not in the 4 color catalog, nor the size of your internet site............sorry folks no secrets here, the state of our own economy is wrapped entirely in the quality of work that we do.
Photo by: Jeremiah Watt
Title: top of saddle horn, before wrapping and oiling is done.
All of us whom find ourselves busy would state catagorically that quality is of paramount importance, quality, when it is aparent will encourage a customer as I had tonite, call from France and order a Wade saddle with carving like those cowboys ride "Okay Mister Watt". Quality combined with shop integrity will convince a man to load his 3 horses in a trailer and drive 8 hours from the San Diego area so that I can meet him, see and measure his horses for the saddle very nice saddle that he intends to order. I do not want to mislead anyone out there, Jeremiah spends plenty of time trying to find ways to make his shop more profitable. I read books on Small Business, brain storm with freinds over good ideas, and even have a web site...........of which I am the reluctant web-master.
BUT, I ALWAYS KEEP FOCUSED ON THE FACT THAT FOLKS SEEK ME OUT SO THEY CAN HAVE SOMETHING QUALITY, SOMETHING UNIQUE.
You would be mistaken if you thought that unique meant it had to be bizarre or expensive. Save that for when you go shopping in Paris. No what I have learned is that folks want too see that you have taken time to make there saddle well, and special to them, by way of even little details that add to the personel appeal of each saddle to its end customer.
Photo by: Jeremiah Watt
Title: taking a look at the back of saddle, the rear jockeys layed in place to see how it will all look when done.
As small shops go, I cannot say what an industry average may be since it is seldom answered honestly or in some cases even given a numerical value. But in my own shop, we like to keep track of our repeat order percentage and itcurrently runs in the 40 percentile. I think that this is a good barometer for business, since it shows satisfaction for one when a customer comes back. It is also useful for making predictions into the next year when we are planning for how busy things may or may not get, we can look at that number and know that a good precentage of customers from just a few years ago will indeed be back. BUt there is a hidden gem at work her that can certainly go overlooked if we are not made aware, and that is the satisfaction factor. This is powerful stuff in business accumen, it is the amount of bragging that one man does to another after he spent 5-7 thousand dollars with you and loves what he got. These are new customers too your saddle shop, purely on account of the quality of the effort you put into a past customers order, can it get any better than that.
Yes I do advertise, I understand the power of advertising I didn't just fall off the proverbial "feed wagon". I will not lay claim to being the most savvy of advertisiers, but learn what I can about it and think we all need to do some of it. And yes, as stated I have a website, and also would not be without that area of my business plan or model. It can be a pain though, to take care of it. You may choose to hire that part of your business out, and I can certainly see there are reasons why it may be better than taking control of it for yourself. We do print "cattle-logs" as we call them, copyrighted along with " cow-lectors", and we send out hundreds per year, and around the world quite literally. I spend time producing my own mini-movies for Watt Bros Saddles that we then place on CD's and send to those customers whom we deem to be very positive customer prospects but remain undecided at that moment.
Let me say it one last time though, for those of you whom are saddle makers as well, and for those of you reading whom think that you would like to buy a new saddle from the many very good saddlemakers that are out there. There is only one ingrediant that can be built into a saddle that works equally well for both makers and buyers, and that is quality.
Photo by: Jeremiah Watt
Title: details of a leaf, we made 2 special shaders so that it would have a deep angular shade effect to it.
Comments
Jeremiah~
Been awhile since i stopped by and said hi. Hows the old barn? Hope it hasnt sagged any more or gave in to old age. I still have that spade bit you gave me, my hammerheaded bay gelding sure likes it. Its in need of some repairs though and i havent been able to use it lately. The rings where the reins connect came off and were lost. Im not even sure how it happen. Anyways, i was looking into getting a saddle made, a nice saddle, and you came to mind. Im still in the thinkin' process, turning ideas over in my head and trying to figger out exactly what i want to do....wade or team roping saddle. After seeing the one with the stingray seat its almost impossible not to want to go that route.....good lord what a beautiful saddle. That my friend, is flat out awesome and the nicest saddle these 2 eyeballs have ever seen. Ive been team roping ALOT lately, basically year round. Arizona in the winters and going full throttle here at home. Id love to have a wade but dont think id get to use it as much as id like. Ive only been getting to go to a few brandins a year since im gone to Az and roping so much. So...im thinking of something similair in looks and tooling, but QH bars and functional to rope in. I dont know of anyone doing high quality team roping saddles and id think theres a market there to explore. Ive won some saddles the last few years but their not what i consider nice and dont always fit a horse too good. Most the trophy saddles are junk and alot of them are starting to look like a frikkin' nascar with all the logos and crap plastered on them. Well its late and beds calling. Ill stop by on my way through next time im in your neighborhood.....hopefully ill remember to bring ya a box of lettuce, romaine or spring mix. Adios, Jon Tracy
Posted by: Jon Tracy | August 22, 2006 12:13 AM