We recently connected with Erich Orris and have shared our conversation below.
Erich, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
I really feel that one of the biggest challenges to profitability in my industry that hits hardest on makers is simply time invested in fit and finish. It is simply time invested in fit and finish. I really find I have to constantly be trying to improve my methods to get the fit and finish that I really want to give my customer, without ending up putting an enormous number of man hours into producing the product. And the more time that is put into it, the smaller the customer base grows. It is a real balancing act putting out a product that is so nice it absolutely wows the customer, while still keeping the cost of the product in a reasonable place.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a second generation blacksmith. We were tool makers when I was young, and as I came back around to doing this as a profession (It was at hobby level for some time while I worked in other industries), it just seemed the natural progression to get into making fancier tools. The knife is really that quintessential hand tool, and so I have had a life long love affair with it, as I think most humans do if they develop it. Except for fire, the knife is really the tool that I believe made us what we are today. I make a number of products, lots and lots of cutting tools, but I also do decorative ironworks and railings. The finishing and quality of my product is among the best in the industry, but I think what really sets me apart from my peers is my style. I have always tried to make a product that someone who knows my work can spot from across the room.
I make everything myself from raw materials here in my little shop in the Smoky Mountains. Years and years of practice, loads of failures, and a commitment to excellence has really brought me to where I am. All this work however has gotten my knives to where they are really a joy to work with, and certainly make a statement in a kitchen when hanging on a magnet.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I was determined to learn to pattern weld stainless steel damascus. What a long road it was. When I was trying to get it, almost no one would help anyone learn it. Still very few makers are capable of it. Everyone had learned it the hard way, and no one wanted to let anyone have it easy. I worked at it for almost 2 years. Every couple of days I would try again, and again. I had failure after failure. I ruined at least 3k dollars worth of materials trying to figure it out. I continued, and continued to fail. I finally caught the little thing I thought I was missing, and boom I had a success. I thought I had it, and then went on to fail another dozen times. After all of this, I finally did realize what I was doing wrong in the preparatory process. From that point on, I had it. It was truly a grueling affair, and was absolutely destructive on my entire self-image and confidence. When you hit these spots, you either have to give up, or just keep smashing yourself into the work until it eventually makes sense.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I funded my business pretty grass roots. When I decided to get back into this as a full time profession, I kept my day job and slowly funneled every extra dollar I could into it. I additionally reinvested every penny I made back into the business. I did this for about 3 years until I finally had enough tooling to step out full time. From there I lived a pauper for another 2 years, reinvesting everything I could. This did slow me down a bit verses taking a loan, but now I am tooled up, making a profit, and I have no long term debt to show for it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fudoforge.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fudo_forge/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FudoForge