TALKING SENSE
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online to fi nd out what some of the big players are like, with surprising outcomes. Our fi ndings are then built in to how we run our business.
You made a conscious decision to specialise in match fi shing – why? And has this worked for you?
Yes we did. We did play around with a few different areas within the trade like carp and predator, and even though our own fi shery was set up as a carp/specimen water it is not where my heart is. We quickly saw the business had to be about what I believed in and in a way it needed to be built around me. I love the rivers and more traditional angling styles like stick fl oat fi shing.
One thing Land Rover taught me was that you cannot truly sell or build customer confi dence and loyalty if you yourself don’t believe in the products yourself. To that end I strived to only stock brands I’ve grown up with and use myself.
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I remember being at a T & G Show and quite a big name told me I wouldn’t survive without a certain brand name. That was over fi ve years ago!
Harping back to not playing with other shops, big or local, I realised that if they’re all basically selling the same few brands they are competing against every man and his dog the world over. But there are those that don’t use those products either because it doesn’t fi t their angling style or they don’t like it. By not stocking some of these names my competition base is drastically reduced giving me a more niche angle on things. Every one seems to stock carp gear yet all I hear from people is ‘I’m sick of carp!’. There’s a massive up-rise in river fi shing, especially locally on the River Soar, and again we’ve had to look outside the box to another name I know of old from Italy. British companies seem to be stuck with their carp blinkers on. With Colmic I can now supply the demand for proper river rods, lines, fl oats and more.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start their own business in the tackle trade?
Please carry on as the masses are! No, really don’t unless you can try and compete with the big players. Why make a penny when you can make a pound!
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. For example, I looked back to tackle shops of old when there was a closed season. Tackle shops of our size back then were selling far more than just tackle. Fishing these days is massively weather orientated and I bet 90 per cent of customers are solar powered anglers – they only fi sh when the sun is out. You need something to keep the till ringing when the sun ain’t shinning.
Think outside the box and don’t be a ‘sell it cheap’ fool as the only people that benefi t out of it are those that buy it cheap from you and the company you by your stock from. The result is inevitable - you will be the one working for nothing!
Scott Johnson Fact File
Age? 42 Married? Yes Children? Two
Favourite book? Screwfi x Direct catalogue
Favourite quote? Not printable! 1
Specialising in match fi shing has really helped
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Bait is a key for Soar Tackle
42 | Tackle & Guns | June 2017
Favourite album? Rammstein Mutter Current car? Land Rover Defender Best fi lm? Leon
SOAR TACKLE T 07703 650 727 E
sales@soartackle.co.uk W
www.soartackle.co.uk
www.tandgmagazine.com
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