Dakota Posted August 29, 2010 Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 Just kinda curious. I'm finishing up my Associates Degree in Business Administration and am then thinking of going to Vermilion Community College in Ely, MN for their one semester long Taxidermy program. Then, of course, I want to open up my own studio. How did all of you taxidermists get started and do you have any advice? Thanks! Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewink Posted August 30, 2010 Report Share Posted August 30, 2010 Dakota, I don't have a taxidermy studio, but I do make Custom Fishing rods. Same rules apply, though... You would probably want to start by 1st finding out what it is going to take to get your buissness license. That will depend on your state, county and possibly the town you live in. From there, start finding what you want to specialize in. It would be great to be able to do everything, but you have to start somewhere. Get some buissness cards made up. Get some flyers made up. Hand out some cards, put up some flyers. The boards at sporting goods stores are a good place to start. Then get some friends and family to commit to buissness. Start mounting your works of art. Make sure your mounts are always top notch. Customer service should always be your # 1 priority. Fast turn around doesn't always mean good customer service. Top notch product and honesty will always put you at the top of your customers contact list. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTF Posted August 30, 2010 Report Share Posted August 30, 2010 What Mike says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewink Posted August 30, 2010 Report Share Posted August 30, 2010 Another word of advice. Never under any circumstances bad mouth your competition. If your customers want to vent, let them. Talking bad about a competitor will be the ruin of your buisiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted August 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Thanks for the advice, Mike! I think I'm going to specialize in antelope, deer and other big game. I'm hoping to visit Vermilion in the spring and see what the courses and the students' mounts look like. My taxidermist said that when spring comes he'll show me how to mount a deer so I at least have an idea of what to do when school comes around. Fortunately, I've got a skull of a broken up 4x4 that I shot in 2007 (shot it in November, we couldn't find it and my buddy found it the next April while checking for calves on the ranch) that I can use; I've been wanting to get it mounted for a while now, too. So...I'm looking forward to the spring! In the meantime I've been visiting taxidermy forums, have ordered a couple of books off Amazon, am hoping to get a DVD (how to mount a whitetail step-by-step) for Christmas (in addition to more money to pay for my mounts lol) and been watching my taxidermist and his assistant work in their shop. Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewink Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Dakota, Check out this site for your video. Decent prices, and this guy is very good! I don't have anything mounted by him but I do have things mounted by one of his students. http://americantaxidermy.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 (edited) I had wanted to learn how to do taxidermy since I was a kid, so I looked around at several taxidermists until I found one whose mounts I liked. Then I traded work for knowledge. I split firewood, helped with bills, gathered driftwood, got new clients, etc. all in exchange for him teaching me how to mount critters. This summer, I built my own shop, and now, I'm in the final stages of gathering my tools to start work. I'm about $500 away from having everything I need. It started out as a hobby. Now, I'm looking at it as a part time job to pay for my own mounts and my hunting addiction. Edited August 31, 2010 by TN Bucknasty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunter109 Posted September 3, 2010 Report Share Posted September 3, 2010 hey man i was going to help the guy that is doing mine but after he was going to leave he said he dont want anyone to learn from him to work on there own stuff and then make a biz out of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted September 3, 2010 Report Share Posted September 3, 2010 hey man i was going to help the guy that is doing mine but after he was going to leave he said he dont want anyone to learn from him to work on there own stuff and then make a biz out of it I can't say as I really blame the guy. It would be like training your competition. I guarantee there is someone out there who can help you though if you really want to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layin on the smackdown Posted September 4, 2010 Report Share Posted September 4, 2010 Well Dakota, heres why i did it...This economy sucks in a thousand big ways; however, the majority of hunters arent going to sit back and pout about it - they will still be in the woods chasing whatever it is that gets their blood pumping. I've been wanting to learn for years, and finally had the best and perfect opportunity to learn...So i went to a week long school. Now i have the knowledge, notes, video and personal resources to continue learning and practicing taxidermy/ wildlife art. In terms of getting business - my plan is to (once i get good enough and confident enough to build a customer base) get permission to hang some of my mounts in a local or a few local bow shops...let people see my work, and have my card or phone number available to them. The deal is, most hunters already have a main taxidermist they go to, regardless of price - they have been going to him/her for years. But with the giant increase of new hunters every year, they are going to "shop around"...I plan on grabbing a few people each season, and making them keep coming back. This is not a career as of now, but it sure is great side work for winter, and a great way to increase residual income while building a customer base that keeps coming back. Good luck, and i'll post my pic of my first mount once i get his nostrils, nose pad and eyes done. dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abear491 Posted September 8, 2010 Report Share Posted September 8, 2010 That all sounds pretty cool. My one question is that how much money does it take to get it all started. I may not open my own shop, but I would really enjoy to start mounting my own animals just to save myself some money. If i get good enough who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 That all sounds pretty cool. My one question is that how much money does it take to get it all started. I may not open my own shop, but I would really enjoy to start mounting my own animals just to save myself some money. If i get good enough who knows. That all depends on what you want to mount. I do mammals only and bought all of my tools for about $3,000, but that includes a $1,200 fleshing machine. a band saw, a router, etc. On the other hand, I also saved a lot of $ by building some of my own tools. You can get away without a lot of the more expensive stuff if you're not going to be doing much work. You could probably set yourself up to do your own mammals for under $1,000 including your chemicals. You can plan on it being pretty difficult without the big ticket tools, but it can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTF Posted September 10, 2010 Report Share Posted September 10, 2010 I think these type of questions should also be asked on taxi.net where you will find the truth about starting your own taxidermy business. You can also search their archives for these type of posts. http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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