keenmaster486
New member
About me: Currently 20 years old, full-time college student studying Accounting
What I do:
I operate a knife and garden tool sharpening service in my town out of my parents' garage. I pick up kitchen knives, scissors, loopers, etc from residential homes (and a few restaurants), sharpen them, and return them in under 2-3 hours.
Why knife sharpening:
I realized that only one or two stores in my town sharpen knives and the reviews are pretty bad for both. Everyone and their mother has knives and few people sharpen them at all and if they do, they're pretty bad at it. There are some mail-order companies out there (like knifeaid.com) but they take 7-14 days to come back. I get them back in 2 hours.
Reviews
The reviews I've received are the key to growing the business. Every review I get is worth gold compared to any ads I run. You can read some of them here:
Though I obviously get the knives sharp, I realized that customer service is far, far more important. I use HouseCall Pro as my CRM and communicate with the customer constantly throughout the process. This is critical in building trust. I always show up exactly on time and try to build as much of a relationship as possible with the customer.
Pricing
I've changed my price from $1/inch to $6 flat rate per knife and $6-8 for tools. Most orders run between $30 and $100. Everyone thinks the price is very reasonable. Probably will raise my prices even more soon.
Revenue
I only sharpen when I'm home from college. Winter Beak 2020 I made $5,500 profit in 3 weeks. Tbh I keep pretty bad records but I've calculated I make $40-$80/ hour depending on the customer and how bad their knives are. On the days that I'm sharpening from 10-5 I usually make $250-$400.
Expenses:
Actual operating expenses are almost negligible. My sharpening system costs $200 on Amazon (Ken Onion Worksharp with the $80 upgrade). If I'm sharpening full time, I buy a new set of belts every few weeks for $15. A set of belts can easily bring $400-$500 in revenue. I only sharpen in a 3-mile radius from my home so gas is pretty cheap.
Advertising:
At first, I was getting 90% of my business on Nextdoor, but now my Google My Business listing brings in the majority of leads. I ask each customer to write a review, which creates a snowball effect. For those unaware, Nextdoor is a social media app designed for neighborhoods. You only see posts from a ~4 mile radius. I found if customers essentially did the advertising for me, I saved money and got far more leads.
Facebook ads have been ok but the quality of leads is far lower since these people aren't actively looking for a sharpening service and require more persuasion.
I now sharpen at my local farmer's market but I've been having trouble turning those leads into customers. I hand out probably 30 cards per Saturday but only get 1-2 appointments from that.
What's next:
I plan on doing this full-time once I graduate. The goal is to start focusing on commercial customers like restaurants, florists, landscapers, etc. I have an employee now part-time so that's been an educational experience in leadership and training.
Books and Podcasts
I credit a lot of my success to the audiobooks and podcasts I listen to while I sharpen. Here are my favorites:
I'd love advice and to answer any questions!
What I do:
I operate a knife and garden tool sharpening service in my town out of my parents' garage. I pick up kitchen knives, scissors, loopers, etc from residential homes (and a few restaurants), sharpen them, and return them in under 2-3 hours.
Why knife sharpening:
I realized that only one or two stores in my town sharpen knives and the reviews are pretty bad for both. Everyone and their mother has knives and few people sharpen them at all and if they do, they're pretty bad at it. There are some mail-order companies out there (like knifeaid.com) but they take 7-14 days to come back. I get them back in 2 hours.
Reviews
The reviews I've received are the key to growing the business. Every review I get is worth gold compared to any ads I run. You can read some of them here:
Though I obviously get the knives sharp, I realized that customer service is far, far more important. I use HouseCall Pro as my CRM and communicate with the customer constantly throughout the process. This is critical in building trust. I always show up exactly on time and try to build as much of a relationship as possible with the customer.
Pricing
I've changed my price from $1/inch to $6 flat rate per knife and $6-8 for tools. Most orders run between $30 and $100. Everyone thinks the price is very reasonable. Probably will raise my prices even more soon.
Revenue
I only sharpen when I'm home from college. Winter Beak 2020 I made $5,500 profit in 3 weeks. Tbh I keep pretty bad records but I've calculated I make $40-$80/ hour depending on the customer and how bad their knives are. On the days that I'm sharpening from 10-5 I usually make $250-$400.
Expenses:
Actual operating expenses are almost negligible. My sharpening system costs $200 on Amazon (Ken Onion Worksharp with the $80 upgrade). If I'm sharpening full time, I buy a new set of belts every few weeks for $15. A set of belts can easily bring $400-$500 in revenue. I only sharpen in a 3-mile radius from my home so gas is pretty cheap.
Advertising:
At first, I was getting 90% of my business on Nextdoor, but now my Google My Business listing brings in the majority of leads. I ask each customer to write a review, which creates a snowball effect. For those unaware, Nextdoor is a social media app designed for neighborhoods. You only see posts from a ~4 mile radius. I found if customers essentially did the advertising for me, I saved money and got far more leads.
Facebook ads have been ok but the quality of leads is far lower since these people aren't actively looking for a sharpening service and require more persuasion.
I now sharpen at my local farmer's market but I've been having trouble turning those leads into customers. I hand out probably 30 cards per Saturday but only get 1-2 appointments from that.
What's next:
I plan on doing this full-time once I graduate. The goal is to start focusing on commercial customers like restaurants, florists, landscapers, etc. I have an employee now part-time so that's been an educational experience in leadership and training.
Books and Podcasts
I credit a lot of my success to the audiobooks and podcasts I listen to while I sharpen. Here are my favorites:
- Sweaty Startup Podcast (Nick Huber has honestly changed my life)
- Home Service Millionaire Podcast
- The E Myth
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
- 48 Laws of Power
- Never Split the Difference
- The Practicing Stoic
- Extreme Ownership
- The Go Giver
- Deep Work
- The Laws of Human Nature
I'd love advice and to answer any questions!