Airgun related businessmen

[JonnyReb]

  Just wondering how many of you out there are supporting yourself through this awesome hobby and in what fields you are in. Also curious as too how the business has held up through the recession? Would you agree that airgunning can only grow dramatically in the coming years in the U.S.?

  As i grow more and more weary of a life in the service industry.. having to be licensed.. deal with employees and customers.. the insurance.. the taxes..almost 20 years of it..has me almost worn out and while i'm daily thankful for my work and income, i'd love to work in a field that concerns my hobby, rather than someone crawl space or toilet. So i've been considering what niches are out there within the hobby and wondered if anyone would share their own stories or experiences working with A/G's  from pest control to retail and whatevers in between..    J

[yote300wsm]

Myself, Agricultural specialist. Everybody has to eat! The grain elevator next door just loves it when I thin out the vermin (pigeons, rats, etc..).

[airiscool]

Beware of what you wish for.

I've been lucky to work in just about every field of hobby I've ever had. Boats, model restorations, wood working, cars.

Still, 30 years ago, my older brother tried to warn me when I started my own business to work full time at one of my favorite hobby's. He said that, "It won't be a hobby anymore".

He was correct - it became a job instead.

The only life-long hobby I've never "worked" at is shooting and I hope I never get a job in that field !

I'd suggest that if your going to work at your hobby, pick up another hobby so you'll have something to do when your not "working" !

Paul

[CharlieDaTuna]

One thing for sure... although you might be able to make a few extra bucks, you will never get rich working on airguns...lol...

[ezman604]

Excellent points Paul. Never really thought about it but you are so right. I love to fish. I would also love to have the knowledge of the bass pros....but for the VERY reasons you state, I would NOT want to be on the tournament trail as a pro. It would turn from a love of the sport to a job depending on my making a living. I love woodwork and have been saving and debating on a duplicator to make custom gunstocks. I will NOT do this as a means of making a living. I'll do it because I love woodwork, any gun related sport and the pride of making something myself. And I too believe if you love what you are doing, you will do a FAR better job of it and it will show in your product!!!!
So if you are thinking of getting into any form of airgun business, I'd just plan on doing it because you love to do it. Don't do it as a means of support. It will lose it's luster REAL quick!!!!
Happy Shooting!!!!
Dave
 

[uncle paulie]

It happened to me in photography, absolutely loved it in my teens, thought it would be great to make a living at it. Spent 30 years in the business, got out in 2000 and rarely touch a camera these days. It just became another job. Not that I feel any different about it, just hard to get the motivation to get into it as a hobby again.

pv

[shadow]

As Bob put it you won't get rich working on the airguns. Some job's you got to enjoy what you do and I do enjoy working on the airguns. It's like this buy part's, tune airgun then ship airgun back out wash rinse and repeat hehe. I knew from the start that in this business that I would never be rolling around on a pile of money. I can pay the bill's and keep the wolves at bay get another shooter and pellet's now and then and keep the hunting end of my hobby active. Ed

[Korak-again]

 I'm semi-retired ( that means I did not plan well enough to be fully retired) I drive a van for a school for troubled kids. I collect SS and have a small private income. I have just started OSAGE AIR GUNS. I hope to sell enough to support my addiction.
I worked at my hobby one time. I have always loved shooting. For 2+ years I was head of member service for a major shooting sport.

[JonnyReb]

 Great stuff ya'll. Thanks for sharing. I know all of you are dead right about never getting rich off airgunning but i think anymore you are never going to be rich off anything. I've been running a plumbing co for 16 years and have seen good times and bad but the bills are always in relation to your output and income. The less i make the less i owe and sometimes simpler is better. So i've been daydreaming about various ways to turn a profit out of something i like, pretty much realizing i'll have to stay in my current business and feel blessed to have it but at the same time considering ways to suppliment my income with something "fun".  Probably my best bet would be to try and take an undeveloped product to market, something simple and inexpensive to produce. Course what i'd really love to do is become a full time pest service complete with marauder but i somehow doubt i could ever make enough money to pay for the gas on my hunts, let alone the mortgage. Same goes for an invention as well though, lots of time and effort, plus money tied up way before any profit could be realized. Maybe it is best left a hobby but it's hard to stop thinking in entrepreneurial ways about what i do, hobby or whatever.

  Good luck with Osage air, Kora and good luck to all of you in business. look forward to more comments.. J

[clip]

Like most all of you, airgunning is a hobby with me...a hobby I returned to about 3 years ago. As a boy, I always envied the guys that had those high-powered airguns made in Germany but couldn't afford. I remember one of my friends had an air rifle his father brought home from WW2...what a powerhouse THAT gun was! Now that I've retired, I have the time and necessary funds to indulged myself in some rifles that run the full range of power. I retired as a barber after 30 years behind the chair and still keep my license active..(which makes me in the trade for nearly 41 years, now..) and I still catch myself asking how many haircuts will a particular gun cost...LOL.