So You Want To Start Your Own Crankbait Company? First, Count The Cost!
By Chuck Bailey
Dusty Moulton, lure designer and owner of Intruder Baits, gives us a rare glimpse into what it takes to break into the crankbait industry. If you have ever wondered about the process or the type of individuals it takes to bring us our favorite lures, then sit back and enjoy as Dusty shares openly and honestly the ups and downs of starting a crankbait company.
Many an angler have sat in their boats, fishing their favorite lakes, when an inspiration for a better lure, (or at least an improvement), suddenly popped into their heads. American fishermen are amazingly analytical and creative. And between tying on a new bait and eating lunch, a dream is often hatched; of taking that idea from concept to market.
It is an alluring temptation – a fantasy where the passion of angling melts together with a vision of manufacturing a quality product of your own invention or design. For most anglers, the dream comes like a single cloud on a beautiful day – it slows passes and is forgotten.
Still, for a chosen few, the dream of starting your own crankbait company doesn’t fade. In fact, the single cloud somehow manages to water a deeply planted seed of entrepreneurial longing that not only takes root, but begins to grow until it dominates the fisherman’s thinking.
But before an angler rushes off to resign from their day job, Dusty Moulton offers a little advice: Count the costs! Truth is; a “fulfilled dream” is an expensive commodity! …requiring far more than first meets the eye.
INTRUDER BAITS
Dusty ought to know, he is the owner of Intruder Baits. This determined 57 year old lure designer has for a number of years been tenaciously climbing the steep mountain slopes of the competitive crankbait industry with the hopes of reaching the higher peaks that bring financial success.
Graciously, Dusty Moulton has offered to share the story of Intruder Bait’s challenging journey in order to communicate his vision, and to share the lessons learned along the way. His generous and honest revelations have the potential to prepare other “dreamers” for the road ahead, and if nothing else, give every angler a greater appreciation of the ingenuity, determination, and skills required to bring fishermen a tackle box full of quality crankbaits.
“I absolutely love designing. I almost love designing as much as fishing, …but not quite,” laughs Dusty. For several decades he made his living producing unique, hand-made knives, sold around the world. But his love for fishing spurred him to experiment on two occasions with making his own tackle – spinnerbaits, jigs, and other unique lures that he sold locally. In hindsight he realizes that these were but warm-ups to his dream: to design and manufacture his own line of quality crankbaits.
DESIGN RESEARCH
In recent years Dusty had been inspired by some of the innovative designs and high quality crankbaits that have been coming to America from Japan. He admits to spending tremendous amounts of money researching and analyzing these baits. Dusty confessed, “I’d discover a Japan website and spend hundreds of dollars on lures, only to fish them, and then cut up these $15 to $30 lures to study why they worked the way they did.”
As technologically advanced as many of these lures were, Dusty felt confident he could improve upon these designs and provide something the other guys couldn’t; a high quality innovative design at economical prices.
From the very beginning, it was clear to Dusty, that his complex design and technological advancements could never be produced by the limited manufacturing processes utilized in producing wooden baits. Only a plastic bodied crankbait, produced from a complex metal mold, would provide the details his designs demanded.
Metal molds however are extremely hard to make, requiring the talents of veteran tool and die makers, and are extremely expensive. (Tens of thousands of dollars can be spent on a single mold.) Like a bucket of ice water in the face, the initial financial requirements quickly shocks the holders of small budgets into awakening from these dream of producing crankbaits. With loud sighs, the majority sadly watch as their entrepreneurial dreams float away on the River of Reality.
THREE STAGE PLAN
Dusty, on the other hand, was not to be dissuaded. Not expecting to climb the mountain in a single bound, he planned a route based on taking baby steps. In fact, his sound business plan had three sequential steps to be exact:
Stage 1) Begin by simply purchasing and selling a quality crankbait line, (in order to learn the business, and accumulate funds for future steps).
Stage 2) Modify a crankbait line, (by applying his own visual design to the external patterns and colors, and modifying specific internal and external components). And finally,
Stage 3) Designing and building his own lures from scratch.
Recognizing there would be a high learning curve accrued over time through hard work, Dusty fought the urge to rush into stage three. Besides, stage three was expensive and he would need the first two stages to succeed in order to provide the financial foundation necessary.
STAGE ONE
Stage one required finding a line of quality lures that Dusty could build both a reputation and business upon. “It began when I began trading some of my knives with a man who had a Japanese lure company. And he sent me some, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow. There is nothing American-made like this!’ The way they looked, the way they felt, the way they fished…they were great.”
Selecting the styles and colors he felt would sell best in the USA, Dusty ordered and received a house full of lures and began to sell them on eBay and on his website. “This gave me a better feel for the market, and the time to study more while I continued to develop my own designs. Selling on the internet gave me a feeling for what people liked and didn’t like.”
Did it begin to produce financial rewards? “Yes, and several years before the economy went bad, I was selling tons of crankbaits. I was busy working all the time. Many nights I worked late into the morning hours to get the orders out for the next day.” With a growing reputation for selling quality crankbaits, and increased sales – Stage One was working according to plan, and the future looked bright.
STAGE TWO
Not satisfied with supplying a stock series of completed baits, Stage Two included a new series of crankbaits tailored, (in a limited fashion), to Dusty’s specifications. “Though none of the bodies were of my own personal design,” admits Dusty, “I was at least able to pick out my favorites; the crankbaits I had fished with regularly, found successful, and liked immensely.”
Some personal choices in Stage Two centered around hook choices, type and size of internal weights, and of course, the external paint colors and patterns.
WELCOME TO THE RECESSION
One thing Dusty did not predict and was helpless to avoid, was a recession. Consumer buying plummeted, and sales of Stage One and Two baits slowed dramatically. This unexpected financial storm threatened to blow even the best prepared mountaineers off the slopes, and all Dusty and other small tackle businesses could do was take shelter, and wait. Hurry up and wait.
Had the recession not occurred, Dusty is convinced his Stage Three dreams would have been in full swing, and the top of the mountain in sight. As he hunkers down to wait for the economic storm to blow itself out, he has time to reflect upon the journey – an expedition fraught with challenges and a steep learning curve.
One of the first major decisions Dusty made at “base camp” before starting the long climb, was the decision to go outside the country in an effort to find production assistance he could afford. That naturally takes you to developing countries that are hungry for business and abounding with inexpensive labor. A little research and Dusty concluded that place was China.
OVERSEAS – ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES
Some of the work Dusty needed done could be found overseas at a tenth of what it would cost in America. So… ADVANTAGE #1 – Costs.
But with every advantage come unique long distance challenges. And Dusty admits he learned to handle many of them the hard way. First the language. Some of the companies he found initially had a hard time communicating in English about his quality control expectations.
Sometimes an order would come in with lower than normal paint quality. After contacting the company the owner confessed his original painter quit, but “My brother-in-law is learning!” In their minds the paint job was close enough. “It’ll be better next time,” would come the promise, and Dusty would explain there wasn’t going to be a next time, and the hunt for a new production company would be again.
“The initial challenge is to find the right Chinese company. Ideally you need to travel and visit the prospective factories to study them, then you would know who you want to invest with, having hired a translator to ask questions, etc..,” says Dusty, to which he adds “ …which I couldn’t afford.”
While many Chinese manufacturing companies were listed in national website directories, Dusty was unable to see if his parts were going to be painted or assembled by workers sitting on a dirt floor in huts, or in a quality controlled modern factory. Several ruined orders occurred as he sought to find reputable manufacturers who could produce a product that met his high quality standards.
WE DON’T FISH LIKE YOU DO
“You have to do your homework,” warns Dusty. “I discovered one manufacturer was assembling the parts under a bridge, and I had to have thousands of lures thrown away. Another produced a good looking lure, but water would get in the eyelet, and they didn’t understand how this affects the lure. Some do great painting, but cut corners in other places. Some companies provide great hooks but cheap packaging. Everyone wants your business but initially it was hard to find someone who understood the whole picture.”
One owner admitted honestly, “Dusty, the main problem we have here, is that no one fishes like you do in America or Europe. We don’t have bass – and we don’t understand what you want.”
IT’S WHO YOU KNOW
Dusty emphatically points out that the first step to a long distance manufacturing partnership, and most vital key to success, is discovering “who” you want to do business with overseas quickly. Until you do, you run the risk of finding great amounts of time and money wasted.
Of all the sub par manufacturers Dusty has attempted to work with, only one offered to return his money after a botched first attempt. The others shrugged their shoulders and, as Dusty puts it “They basically just stole the money and profits I needed to complete Stage Three; funds needs for more molds and advancements…”
SIZE
Once a reputable overseas company was finally found, Dusty sent his first crankbait designs to the company to get a mold made, but not before first making some hard decisions, such as size. How did Dusty make the “size” decision? “You have to analyze the market; what is the most common size, and what is selling. I spent a lot of time laying out a whole bench full of the competition’s baits and analyzing them. The market numbers speak louder than my own personal desires. I do want these lures to be mine, but they also have to sell.”
Dusty explained there is always a tension existing between the need to use your own personal creativity and preferences verses what sells. A beginning lure maker is always asking “What will give me a greater chance of financial success initially?” And unfortunately the answer is more market driven than a designer would prefer.
PATTERNS AND COLORS
Once the mold, (based now on a specific size), has been made and the parts are produced, they are clear – and so patterns and colors must be chosen. Again, finances dictate how many color patterns are chosen.
Having already made choices like this in Stage Two, Dusty’s design skills come into play. “I would take a lure picture into Photoshop (an image design software) and experiment until I was satisfied with the pattern and colors. As a result some are traditional crawfish and shad patterns, and a few are brighter reaction-producing colors, (like Chartreuse Pearl). But if you get a good painter, you can do just about anything.”
Dusty continued, “You have to be able to sense what people want. And in the first two Stages of my business strategy I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing which patterns and colors American anglers are interested in. I have discovered which ones keep selling over and over again.” As to quantity requirements? “The Chinese company usually requires only 300 of each color – which not a problem.”
ASSEMBLY CHALLENGES
At this point, an expensive mold has been made, production parts made and assembled, the crankbaits are painted, and hooks and hardware attached. Again, painful experience inspires Dusty to warn other would-be crankbait entrepreneurs not to celebrate until the lure is personally tank tested.
“The first few prototypes sent me might have been hand glued together and run perfectly, but then production methods may use high-tech fusion equipment instead of glue, and for some reason the lure is no longer balanced. Or they may use a PVC glue that begins as beads and is then melted and applied to adhere the parts, but it adds too much weight,” says Moulton. So, even the assembly process has revealed unexpected complexities and unique challenges.
Before the lures can be assembled, the lure designer has to research, find, order, and ship the proper hooks to assemblers. Dusty explains, “Yes, there are a lot of hook companies around, some of them make good hooks and some don’t, so I get samples from them all. For many years a lot of lure manufactures didn’t worry about hook quality, and if an angler wanted sharper hooks, they went out and got them and replaced the factory hooks. But the company I am working with now also makes hooks in a separate division and the ones I am using are the very best quality – very sharp – as good as any I have ever fished.”
PACKAGE DESIGNS
The next need is to design a package. “I did that on Photoshop,” says Dusty. “It helps to be an artist and a designer – so that cut my costs.” So who makes the package? “The manufacturer I use also has the packages printed right there in China.”
Because packages can come in countless variations, from clear boxes to flat bubble cards, the lure designer must agonize over these choices too. “At this early stage in business I still have to consider the cost. What I would like in terms of packaging would cost me double. But I want to keep the price down to enable to anglers to get the best price possible until they gain confidence in the Intruder Baits brand.”
Dusty admits to being a “Triple A” type personality and a perfectionist. With the production of the lure itself – he will not yield in terms of quality. But that means he then has to agonize over items like the packaging, because in the store it still has to look good.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MENTAL REST?
Unlike the mega crankbait companies with their marketing departments, and corporate finances, a beginning lure designer is always asking, “If I can’t afford to go whole hog on everything, where am I going to cut back? …and how do I maintain the image that I am trying to project and still get the marketing that I am looking for?” It appears a designer on a budget never gets to rest mentally.
Dusty agrees, “No, my mind will not stop. It’s stressful, aggravating and hard at times… but personally I love it. However, I just wish I could get the business to the stage where everything was flowing. It would be nice to order a thousand of this and a thousand of that, have the perfect packaging, etc.. and have it all working smoothly. Then I could get back to focusing on the next dozen lures I have designed in my head.”
“But realistically I am going to have to start Stage Three with just 3 or 4 basic new designs, and get them moving in the right direction. You can’t get too far ahead of the process or business plan or you’ll get into financial trouble. Meanwhile, you have to keep so much of the product stocked, because great service is essential and you don’t want to keep customers back ordered.”
IMPORT BROKER
Once the new crankbait order is packaged and crated it has to be shipped from China to the USA. This can be a nightmare for the naive, but Dusty learned quickly the trick to shipping. “Well, I have a broker, an import broker. Importing is a complex business. There are 8 government agencies a company has to pay to get their products off the ship, and recently both governments have added a couple of new divisions – all with their hands out. Each takes a chunk of your potential profit.”
An import broker arranges to have your crates picked up. They’ve got freight connections all over the world and are able to get your crates inventoried, placed in shipping containers, transported by truck to the coast, taken through customs, and placed upon a ship.
“If I had to do it myself I’d be worn out and broke by now,” admits Dusty. “It does add another middle man to the process but it’s worth it to get someone else to cut through all the miles of red-tape and paperwork.”
THE EXPENSE OF TIME
If you haven’t figured out by now, that innovative new crankbait design that an angler came up with in the boat that beautiful summer day… has now taken them around the world and forced them to deal with manufacturing, painting, assembly, and shipping experiences that not only take up a considerable amount of finances, but also something just as valuable: time.
From the moment a crankbait design is handed to an overseas manufacturer to the time the first order is received and ready to sell… Dusty’s experience shows a year may have passed. “Another thing,” he explains, “The Chinese have more holidays than any country I know. Most delivery dates are rarely met as a result, so the delivery date can be as much as 3 to 4 months longer than promised and written in the delivery contract.”
Reorders are also slow in terms of turnaround speeds. “If there are not any holiday delays it usually takes 20 to 25 days make the reorder, and it takes the ship around 20 to 25 days to get here.” So it appears to take as much time to ship the order as make it.
“Actually longer,” says Dusty. “The order comes into LA, into port, and then it waits until customs can get to it and inspect it. Then they send it on a train to Atlanta, where it is loaded on a truck, and shipped to the airport, where another customs group inspects it. It is then flown to Tennessee, (where Intruders Baits is located), and there’s another custom’s house at the airport… to make a long story short, a shipment can be held up for days or even a week.”
HOW MUCH?
Before one can start selling the product, you have to choose a price. Dusty says that in the beginning have a goal – perhaps wanting to make a lure in the $4.50 to 5.50 range. But by the time an entrepreneur goes through this long process filled with unexpected costs, that original “pricing theory” tends to go out the window as the real costs are considered.
Dusty has to total all the mold and manufacturing costs, shipping charges, and import fees, phone bills, etc., and add them up. Then he has to take into account what others in the process want for being middlemen; distributors, and marketers, etc..
After analyzing the market, and the costs, the seller then has to decide “What is enough profit?” Not an easy task. Dusty explains, “I may have to gamble initially to keep the cost down to get the lure out on the market, …on the other hand I have to make enough profit to live and move forward… so you are always walking the razor’s edge.”
“I’ve been hammered by several distributors insisting, ‘Dusty, you are selling your baits just way too cheap.” But I tell them, ‘Until my reputation has been made and my brand name well known for quality, I thing they are a good price for a new lure on the market.’ And they protest saying, ‘But yours are 10 times better quality than many other brands we’re carrying and yours cost half as much.’ Still, as the new kid on the block, I think my prices are fair.”
MARKETING STRATEGY
To hear Dusty talk about lip design, internal weight construction, water flow over the body, sink rates, exterior colors and patterns, and manufacturing processes – it’s clear that despite the many challenges in each area, he truly loves designing and creating lures. Where Dusty admittedly struggles is in the marketing and distribution areas.
“I could really use a guy to be my marketing manager right now, someone who enjoys going to all the shows and selling etc…” he admits, “and a good set of distributors.”
Though Dusty has been approached by a potential distribution group that has avenues into some big name tackle companies, Dusty’s problem is being able to produce the amounts the mega chains might want in the short time they might want them. “If one of the big three took on my product, I couldn’t produce them in the quantities or time they need.”
Many small companies have failed because they grew too fast. A start-up can go out of business because they can’t afford to produce the product up front in order to provide the kind of shipment sizes that large chains often demand right away.
Dusty recognizes that it’s healthier to shoot for slow steady growth instead of seeking one big order you cannot afford to fulfill. “That’ll bankrupt you,” says Dusty. “Every business wants success to happen, but if you get it all right away, and then don’t have the financial ability to buy new materials, pay the bills, payroll etc… then you’re in trouble.” Ironically, a company can fail as a result of no growth, and too much growth too soon.
And still, if the key to success is slow, steady growth, then marketing and distribution are still necessary. Because of Dusty’s unique gifts and personality it is natural that the areas of design and manufacturing bring him energy. However, as necessary as they are; marketing, distribution, and the business end of the crankbait industry tends to drain energy away from Dusty.
Recognizing a company’s success is rarely built upon one set of gifts, Moulton has been increasingly coming to the realization he could use some help in several areas.
ADVICE TO START-UPS
What advice would Dusty give others who are thinking of throwing their hat into the crankbait industry?
1) Build Financial Reserves. “Wait,” says Dusty, “until you have tucked enough money away to live on for at least three years. People don’t always understand, it takes money, money, and more money to make money in this industry. Those who fail to recognize that will get into debt, big dept very quickly. You can take it in small steps, but you always have to have some money coming in, because there will always be money going out. It never stops.”
“Looking back, it would have helped going in, to have a business partner that also had some cash, and the skills to compliment where I have weaknesses in the sales and marketing area.” Which leads Dusty to suggesting to future entrepreneurs…
2) Surround yourself with “complementary talent” in a partnership that you can trust. “You have to belly up and honestly admit there are things you can’t do – so find someone you trust who does those things well and partner with them,” Dusty advises.
His journey in building Intruder Baits has opened Dusty’s eye’s to the fact that no one person has all the gifts and skills required to take a product from design to market. No one is built that way; we all have different personalities, skills, and gifts. After an entrepreneur learns their strengths and specializes in what they’re gifted in, they need other specialists in order to have the balance team necessary in a crankbait business.
Dusty has discovered that it’s not good enough to be a great lure designer, or a skilled tool and die maker, or any one of the necessary gears in the machinery of the lure industry. Nobody has all the gifts to make it from beginning to the end. So he wisely advises - know what your strengths are, and surround yourself with partners that have the other strengths that you need to complement your own.
3) Have a Support System. “If you’re married, you have to have a very, very understanding wife – which I do. This is a major key, because the stress of starting a business can split up a family. My wife is so encouraging. She is believes in my dream and is behind me; she knows what I can do. Often she say’s ‘Honey just go do it! And don’t worry about it.’ And I, (being a type “A” perfectionist), laughingly have to say ‘Honey, that’s not good business.’”
So Dusty continues to climb the mountain, taking smaller, carefully thought out steps, but with encouragement from his partner in life. With all the challenges facing an entrepreneur, it is vital to mental health to have a good support system.
4) “Count the cost”. Dusty suggests before starting up the mountain, do the hard research, calculate the financial resources needed and then double them. Calculate the time it will take, and double it. Be prepared for countless unforeseeable challenges popping up daily, and be ready to test your patience every day.
5) And finally, Dusty say’s “Whether it’s luck, divine destiny, or God's will - (whatever you believe in) – there’s gotta be some of that in there too!”
Dusty Moulton is a man with a passion for fishing, and a talent for lure design. He has a vision of bringing a higher quality but economic crankbait with innovative features to the marketplace. He has poured his heart, mind and soul into Intruder Baits, and been graciously open and honest in sharing his challenging journey with us. One cannot help but admire his integrity, passion, and dream for Intruder Baits.
We leave him now on the side of the mountain known as the “competitive crankbait industry”. Dusty is too far up the slopes to turn back, and still a long way from reaching the peak of financial success. You can’t help but root for this talented and courageous man. He is doing what many anglers have dreamed of, and he has been eager to share his vision and his challenging journey with those contemplating the same goal.
Most of us will never start our own crankbait company; we will remain satisfied to sit in our boats and simply throw our favorite topwater, rattlebait, jerk-bait or deep-diver at our preferred gamefish. But in sharing Dusty’s journey, we will at least walk away with a greater appreciation of the determination, skills, and hard work required to provide a fishing tool we enjoy so much; the common crankbait.
Next time you tie one on your line, think about it: Every crankbait comes into being ONLY after some hard working, determined, passionate, and sacrificing entrepreneur discovered the truth; a “fulfilled dream” is an expensive commodity! …requiring far more than first meets the eye.
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Dusty Moulton is the lure designer and owner of Intruder Baits,
135 Hillview Lane,
Loudon, TN 37774.
His website can be found at http://www.netprolures.com and you can be contact him by email at info@netprolures.com
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