Even though I have been sharpening for many years, I started my business up about five years ago and I'll pass on some of the things I hope will be of assistance. This post is not about sharpening a knife, I am going to assume that if you plan on charging people you should have a good handle on that aspect of the business.
Now, another thought is to gather as many knives from friends and family and do theirs for free, you need to sharpen a lot of knives to get to the stage where you are confident enough to take a strangers knives out of their hands, their very protective hands and sharpen it.
You need to start somewhere though and you don't have to turn the knives into blades ready for eye surgery, believe me, when you do start, you will look at yourself in 2 years down the road and see an incredible improvement in your skills. You just need to improve the customers knives, they will be pleased if you can make them sharp. There are many many different levels of sharp and you just need to change them from dull to sharp Level One. You may already have the skills to go way beyond that but there is a lot more to this than sharpening.
Here we go.
1. Create a Business Card - When I started I went to the different kitchen stores and asked them who they recommended for knife sharpening, I got very very lucky, they didn't have anyone so I told them about myself. I had the Manager give me some knives of his/her own and I sharpened them and it went from there. I did that several times and those stores have become Drop Off and Pick Up areas.
In other words, you can drop of the knife at the store, I pick it up, sharpen it at home and return it. I told the Manager that they should get something from this as well so what they do for me, is that they handle the financial aspect of the arrangements. The customer pays them, and then at the end of the month, the store pays me and they take a cut. This way, I get the customers and the stores get something as well, whether it is 20% or 30% I don't care, without their support I would not have all those customers. The stores are convenient for people to get to, that's the idea behind it.
SO......you need to be able to prove to the Store staff, if you go this route that you know what you are doing, and if you have competition well you will have to work around that.
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My email address has changed and the tag line is also something I have changed but I really like my cards, this is about the 10th edition. When I first started they were nothing fancy but they got the job done. A business card establishes credibility.
Knife sharpening at a professional level involves breaking down barriers, people are reluctant to hand over knives to a stranger and men, well we all know how to sharpen a knife anyway so why give it to a person and pay for it when we can just take it out to the shed and use the grinder. (That is how many people think). Do you know how many wives have brought me the knives that their husbands have screwed up because they refused to have them done professionally.... a lot :) )
2. Establish a price - I agonised over what I would charge people and at first, I was only charging 5 bucks a knife and I was spending a lot of time on just one knife. (This is 5 years back) Now I charge $1.25 per inch of blade for kitchen knives and 15 bucks flat rate for anything else. I have never had anyone complain about the pricing by the way, not once. Also, what about repairs, consider tacking on another 5 dollars for any repairs like nicks and broken tips.
3. Ease their pain- Regardless of the quality of a knife, in many cases it is their only knife or knives and it/they have been in the family for years and years. In fact, the cost of sharpening is often higher than the original cost of the knife. You NEED to make them feel that that knife is just as important to you as it is to them. Say whatever comforting words you can think of to make their fears vanish and they don't have to worry that you are going to do the same thing the neighbour with the grinder did or the "GRIND SHOP" down the road that does the knives, every knife in under three minutes.
If you are worried that you will scratch the blade of a knife, tape it up, despite how sharp you get it, the last thing you want to deal with is a scratch in their heirloom. I have have carving knives 70 years old given to me to sharpen, wedding gifts, so I treat all the knives I get as if they were very fragile.
Now if the knife looks like it was dragged behind a car for a few miles before I got my hands on it, I don't worry about that.
Having said that, I've never scratched the blade of knife anyway, not free handing. Now with the Edge Pro, you do need to be very careful about that, keep that blade rest on the EP clean, I rinse if off all the time. The grit will get underneath the blade and scratch it very easily.
4. Inspect the Knife - When you get a knife, take a look at it and see if there is any damage and ask the person if they want it repaired. I don't charge extra for micro chipping, that comes out easily but for major damage, I always point it out. Keep good track of the knives, have a plan to organise them in case you get several customers knives simultaneously.
The cool thing about a damaged knife like this is that you are going to blow people away by returning the knife not only razor sharp but better than new, you can't go wrong, this is very rewarding work. I see this all the time, so will you.
So how do you prepare for a "broken knife"?
You get some and break them and practise fixing them, you don't practise on a customers knife. I purchased some knives and just broke the tips off and did whatever I could to them to make them "ugly" and then I made the beautiful again......then I broke them again. Remember, sharpening a knife is a skill that improves with confidence, you BUILD LAYERS of confidence by sharpening and fixing.
5. Get your name out there:
This was a difficult one for me, I do not go door to door or to restaurants and try to sell myself.
At first, whenever I went to restaurant, I would ask the waitress to leave my card with the head chef, I did this about 15 times. You know what, it did not work once, not one call.
Now, 5 years later I do sharpen for most of those chefs at those restaurants but it was all from word of mouth, I think my cards were ignored.
The trick is to create network of impressed people and this takes time, a friend tells a friend and one of those friends may work at a restaurant so just be patient.
Social media is good of course but although I am on Twitter and Face book, I am not convinced that it has brought me any more knives, I think it has just helped establish credibility, so it is important.
Be prepared to have one knife given to you by a person who has 10 dull knives, you will need to run the gauntlet and prove yourself, over and over. This is normal and don't be offended.
Also, don't expect people to get back to you and tell you what an amazing job you did, even though you did an amazing job. I used to be paranoid about that but not anymore, it is just peoples nature but be assured, if you screw it up, you will know.
HOW to handle COMPLAINTS.
Now to be honest, I have not had a single complaint, I don't mean to boast and I know it must sound like that but I haven't, but I do have a plan.
Treat a complaint with urgency, offer to resharpen the knife immediately and also to return the money, you need to get that person back on your side. Word of mouth is a double edge sword so be all over a complaint.
Now, you may find that the issue is that the husband of the said knife took it to a Steel as soon as the knife was back home and the edge that you put on the knife was removed, but that's okay, just fix it up. You may wish to tell the person that they can watch you sharpen it and test it right there in front of them, tell them to bring a tomato or have one there.
(Prepare yourself for scenarios like this by having the ability to sharpen a knife to the extent that it slices a tomato beautifully)
Be nice to people, they like talking about their knives and how their father or grandfather used an oil stone out in the shed. You will get a lot of older folks, men who will tell you that the oil stone they used 50 years ago was the way to go, so just smile and respect the fact that they sharpened their own knives and/or tools. Never tell them that what they did is inferior to what you can do....I know you wouldn't say that but remember, folks are sensitive about their knives and how they were sharpened in the past.
I did the Farmers Market thing for awhile and I hated it. I like to be in my own House of Zen and sharpen without any distractions and while it was cool to sharpen and have folks watch and tell me their own sharpening stories, I just felt pressured.
If you are sharpening using a belt than this is different, you will be fine in this environment I think.
Another thing I dealt with was chefs who think they know who to sharpen but "I will let you do these anyway, because I am too busy" One chef had 8 Globals and asked me what angle I was going to sharpen them at, I think I said " Approximately 16 degrees" well I could tell that the lady thought I was out to lunch because the Global website says to sharpen globals between 10-15 deg. I didn't think fast enough but I should have asked her if she could tell the difference between a 15 deg and 16 deg edge. These were on Globals that I could have licked the edge and not cut my tongue by the way.
(Don't test your knife edges this way by the way)
Questions:
"How often should I get my knives sharpened" This is the most common question I get.
Be honest and tell them every 2-3 months, you can't keep a knife sharp for longer than that, not to the degree of sharpness that you had on the knife when it was given back to them.
I tell them that the dulling process starts immediately, so be realistic about it. Have a sharpening plan, get them done 3-4 times a year. Perhaps you could establish a discount policy for returning customers which would encourage them to get their knives done regularly.
All knives are not the same as you know, this is a Twin Cermax with a hardness of 66. So this was harder to sharpen than most other kitchen knives but it just takes a little more time. Nothing scary about it, just need more patience. (The scratches on the blade were there by the way). This is an extraordinary knife, the edge was awesome when it was all said and done.
CREATE A BLOG:
A BLOG is free so use it. When I started my Blog I thought that I was the only one visiting it, I felt like I was talking to myself a lot and it didn't matter, I still enjoyed it. Then I started getting emails from folks all over the world (seriously) from people with encouraging words and that really surprised me and encouraged me. I still get them from very nice people (Thanks Les) and I enjoy hearing from people who ask me to post on a particular subject (you're the man Jim).
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When you create your Blog, remember to make sure your photos are not fuzzy, I did that a few times at first, posted fuzzy shots and it looks amateurish. I am no photographer but I do try my best to make the shots interesting and I continue to do that.
I hope this helped. Enjoy yourselves and have courage, you are providing a much needed service.
Thanks Peter!
ReplyDeleteGreat job.