Niche in the market?

[RubysGold]

I'd quite like to make Dog collars and maybe harnesses too
Would make them to measure with a choice of colours and patterns, maybe with fleece to pad it as well.

Do you think theres a gap in the market for something like this?
And do you think it would be easy to get hold of all the clips/D rings/materials that I would need?

Would practice lots before actually selling them, and test them on my own dogs so that I can be certain of the quality before selling

 

[CorvusCorax]

Making them out of what? It is quite competitive and I can think of at least two users on here who do this as a business already, they could maybe offer advice.
You would probably spend quite a lot on materials, not just the small bits and bobs but actually the tools to make them as well.

 

[soloabe]

I make my own and sell that at small dog events here (not that this helps because we are in a different country) but i have found to be competitive (which i have no interest in being) You have to offer a massive range of options.

Hundreds of different fabrics and collar styles.

Have a look at this website for an idea.
http://www.collarmania.com/

That and have a bloody good machine because making collars are tough on them.

 

[lexiedhb]

look at ella's lead too.....

http://www.ellaslead.com/

 

[2Greys]

My friend makes collars, leads & accessories Dog 'o' Nine Tails, she mainly caters towards sighthounds (although will do any breed), partly as that's where her personal interests lie and as buyers we tend to be happy to spend money on fancy collars. I bought my first martingale collars from america 3yrs ago as preferred them to what the few makers here were selling at the time, but since then loads more makers have started up and that's just those aimed at sight hounds whose specialised collars aren't that well covered by usual pet stores etc.

The materials are easily available but i think you need to know what you require, not all snap fasteners are alike some are designed for things like bags so wouldn't be strong enough for a collar and you'd need welded d-rings so they don't open under strain.

My friend does this a hobby, but it can mean she has busy periods in order to make stock for shows or to fulfil orders around her normal job/family commitments. Summer can be busy going to dog events/shows in order to sell more & get known and she has had days where she's got up at crack of dawn, sat all day and barely sold enough to cover pitch/petrol let alone her time.

Make some for you own dogs to find out if its something you really want to spend your free time doing, do product costings and in the meantime research the market & find places you could sell. There could be room if you can offer something different locally, but maybe a more competitive market than you think.