Starting a Fishing Tackle Company - finding manufactures/suppliers?

[Jordan_s18]

Hi All,

New here, please move if in the wrong place.

I've been playing with the idea of starting a side business for a while and settled on the idea of starting a Fishing Tackle Company, specifically for Carp Fishing. I'm a keen angler myself it's something I'd like to put my own flavour on some product ideas.

It would be an e-commerce company rather than having a physical presence e.g. a tackle shop, but have reached a blocker around where to start.

I have an idea for a few products, brand positioning, social media marketing etc but don't know where to start around finding potential suppliers/manufacturers for my ideas. I've done a lot of research on this but as it's my first business venture I thought I'd see if anyone had any advice on where to start, if anyone has started something similar and would be open to chat or just some general advice on turning an idea into a physical product.

Thanks in advance.

 

[japancool]

Start with the products you use yourself. You should have the packaging with the manufacturer's details, so contact them and ask for info on distributors/wholesalers.

 

[Socio South West]

Noooooo.... the most fatal of errors!! Going into the business of one of your leisure interests is something that a great number think about, a number do.... but precious few make the transition successfully.
My advice would be to keep your leisure interests an escape from work and/or business.

If you MUST do this, have a good look round and research what your competition are doing: Angling is a competitive sector, especially with e-commerce.

Searching 'wholesale fishing tackle' brings up a good number of companies to research as your suppliers. If you are having a shop for carp, what is there to stop you from stocking other fishing tackle ? ( and if you get some decent mackerel and cod feathers with properly barbed hooks, I'll take 20 sets..... the tale of the one that got away.... )

The other thing you are going to need is some good SEO to get your site out there, noticed and visited. As above, there are plenty of competitors you need to take on to make a success of this.

 

[MBE2017]

OK, firstly, forget products and suppliers for a moment, as an e-commerce store how will people (a) know you exist and (b) find you.

Cannot stress this enough, imagine your website is a single sheet of A4 paper in the only library in the world. It is the size of four hundred football pitches, is eight stories high, and your sheet of paper / store was not listed so will be near impossible to find.

What I am suggesting is start with a marketing plan, how many carp fishing clients are there, how often do they buy, what do they buy, at what price, why would they use you instead of their usual supplier and most importantly where are they? How do you find them?

Only if the figures work consider moving forward, best of luck.

 

[AlanJ1]

Cannot stress this enough, imagine your website is a single sheet of A4 paper in the only library in the world. It is the size of four hundred football pitches, is eight stories high, and your sheet of paper / store was not listed so will be near impossible to find.

I cannot agree with this enough.
People thinking I will create an online store and customers will "find" me are living in a pipe dream.

 

[Shopclicks]

@Jordan_s18 I'll share my start-up story with you because it may help.

I was heavily involved with a sport which my teenage kids also loved. I was working in a different industry at the time for a very big business. My sport was expensive with a high entry barrier and keeping my kids and myself in equipment and maintenance was tough. The clothing required for the sport was available much cheaper in the U.S. And so I was buying on eBay and shipping in. The sport is very hard on clothing and equipment, so I did a lot of buying from the States.

The factory I was working in was closed and I had a choice to move to a new city/new factory or take redundancy. I took the redundancy and started looking for something to do.

Those products I was buying from eBay in the U.S. were selling at half the price they sell for here and even less if I negotiated a bulk deal. So I experimented. I bought a large number of very big boxes of this sport specific clothing and listed it on eBay here, cheaper than it was already selling for on eBay. I was 'grey' importing.

As it is an expensive sport, everybody shops for the cheapest price. It wasn't long before I was ordering more from the U.S. I did this for about two years and made my living from it. But, I was paying eBay fees and started looking for alternatives. My best option was to build my own website and spend the money I was giving to eBay in fees on Google Ads. I was hoping to get more business this way and if it didn't work, I could always go back to eBay. Well it did work, for another year.

However, I reached a point where I was becoming increasingly frustrated by shipping delays and out of stocks on the U.S. side. That was hurting. So, I had to find a solution.

My solution came in the form of a very busy shop which didn't have a website. I negotiated a deal with the owner which gave me a percentage on anything I sold through my website. Their shop was very well stocked and the owner realised that a move online was smart. That relationship lasted about a year.

It only stopped when the business owner asked me if I could build them a website with their branding and run that instead of my own. My kids ended up being sponsored to compete in the sport by the shop, so it all got a lot cheaper for me. So that's what we did. I did that very happily for 7 years and then decided I really liked building websites. And that's what I do now.

So my advice to you - Yes, plan out your business model, marketing, etc. But also buy some stock as cheaply as you can and sell it on eBay for a bit more. See if you really like selling and profit at the same time.

 

[Carbtec]

It is a very large pie (£1.5 BILLION) & even the smallest slice of it could become a good business.

I've just done a brief financial research on Angling Direct PLC & it looks like retail sales are up while eccomerce is down ! I'm gobsmacked that they enjoy a gross margin as high as 25-26 %.

 

[fisicx]

I'm gobsmacked that they enjoy a gross margin as high as 25-26 %.

Why? That quite low for some products.

 

[Mark T Jones]

It is a very large pie (£1.5 BILLION) & even the smallest slice of it could become a good business.

I've just done a brief financial research on Angling Direct PLC & it looks like retail sales are up while eccomerce is down ! I'm gobsmacked that they enjoy a gross margin as high as 25-26 %.

Looks quite thin to me.

However, like all metrics it's pretty meaningless as a stand-alone

 

[Carbtec]

Why? That quite low for some products.

Because competition is intense, the market is saturated & there are very low barriers to entry.

 

[Fagin2021]

This is one of those questions where Bard can come in handy...

The UK market for fishing tackle is estimated to be worth £244.50 million in 2023. The market is expected to grow annually by 4.03% (CAGR 2023-2028).

The UK is home to a large and active fishing community, with an estimated 2 million anglers. The fishing equipment market is driven by the growing popularity of recreational fishing, as well as the increasing number of women and younger people taking up the hobby.

The market is segmented by product type, including fishing rods, reels, lines, hooks, lures, tackle boxes, and other accessories. Fishing rods are the largest segment, accounting for 35% of the market in 2023. Reels are the second largest segment, accounting for 25% of the market.

The UK fishing equipment market is highly competitive, with a number of domestic and international manufacturers competing for market share. The leading players in the market include Shimano, Daiwa, Penn, and Rapala.

The market is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, driven by the increasing popularity of recreational fishing. The growth of the market will also be supported by the increasing availability of fishing equipment online.

Here are some additional factors that are driving the growth of the UK fishing equipment market:

• The increasing popularity of fly fishing
• The growing demand for eco-friendly fishing products
• The increasing number of women and younger people taking up fishing
• The increasing popularity of fishing as a tourism activity

Looks like the best chance of cracking it is to specialise in a demographic market segment. I wouldn't really know though. I'm more the 'chuck in a grenade and see what floats up' type.