Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: Washington on November 11, 2009, 08:23:23 PM
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Just wanted to start a topic whereby the guys that have set up their own business eg SAF, Black Cat, Hell 4 Leather etc, can tell us new comers to this forum a bit about themselves? Why the name? Their experiences etc. . . I find it intriguing and would love to hear your stories :)
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you missed out the "BIG MAN" - - - - Talisman.......the most anticipated launch of 2010......
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Sorry didnt mean to offend the 'BIG MAN' as i said im a newcomer and just thought it would be an opportunity for the guys to showcase themselves before the new season . . .by the way BIG MAN would be a great name for a bat . . .actually no it wouldn't I take that back!
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You missed out me :(
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Sorry Tom . . .how about you start us off then . . .
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SAF = San Andreas Fault
the boys at the club named it after the sesmic fault I have when batting, if you bowl me a straight ball you'll hit the stumps. I like it and kept the name
A brief note about myself and the cricket bats I make. As an ex-Engineer I became a bit obsessed with what makes a cricket perform and why! As I delved more and more into the various engineering aspects I got to producing my own bats. I realised fairly quickly that I still needed to produce them in a traditional way as willow is an organic material and differs from cleft to cleft. This lead me to create cricket bats that are all handmade using traditional tools and from English Willow. I do not machine make any of my bats, to get consistency you can’t and I do not import from Southern Asia and sticker my cricket bats. The whole concept for me is to create a cricket bat that performs, for me to know why it performs and why that willow cleft can be used for that particular bat or customer.
I also only set out a target for x number of bats a year and fully [bat] sponsor a local player a year. Also I try my best to sell 2 or 3 bats a year with all the money going to a Charity
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Thats fantastic and a great anicdote on the name :)
Ive been keeping an eye on your posts, and you seem to be a self confessed bat 'geek' and i must admit you seem extremely knowledgable! The concept of your inaugural willow is facsinating . . .love the website too.
So is SAF just a side project or a full time venture?
Finally thats very decent that you sponsor a local player and raise funds for charities.
This forum is fantastic as you get the chance talk to bat makers before, during and after buying gear and your not just blindly buying something and filling someones else's pocket!
Cheers Norbair. . . . . . whose next guys?
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hobby that turned into a side project
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When you move your workshop to The Dog & Duck your life will be complete eh Nobby?
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So norb you only make bats on the side??
the way the site looks makes it looks like a full time job
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When you move your workshop to The Dog & Duck your life will be complete eh Nobby?
you're right not "if" "when" :D
So norb you only make bats on the side??
the way the site looks makes it looks like a full time job
Is that a bad thing?
My full time job allowed me to the earn the money to start up, fit out a workshop and make bats. I'd be foolish to think I could startup a brand and work fulltime in the space of 3 years with no marketing etc. I started making a hand full then more and more. I've actually turned people away and directed them to other bat makers also you'd be surprised whose been around to see me, emailed me or talked to me about bats.
Doing it as a side project doesn't make the process of making a bat any different, if you've got a passion for it then full time, part time or hobby you can still produce an excellent cricket bat. If you haven't you can screw up loads of bats even as a full time bat maker.
I think I said somewhere in the last few years I've seen loads of bats but the best one I've seen hands down was made by an old chap that does it for a hobby and he won't sell it either
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No I think its very impress.
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norb are you referring to nipper by any chance?
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with the trilbee hat ?
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and a lovely trilbee it is!
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the wise old owl !?
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matt perhaps you could regale us with stories of your humble beginnings in the batmaking world?
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Just wanted to start a topic whereby the guys that have set up their own business eg SAF, Black Cat, Hell 4 Leather etc, can tell us new comers to this forum a bit about themselves? Why the name? Their experiences etc. . . I find it intriguing and would love to hear your stories :)
Don't run my own business anymore but I'll go ahead anyway.
Aged 14, set up and ran the Fusion website. Ended up getting more friendly with them and Bill & James were great in allowing me to spend a fair bit of time at their farm learning more about the batmaking side of things. Have a lot to thank the Cornford's for. 17 set up Itias, which was derived from the word willow in Greek. The idea of the name was to have something abstract and totally different. Did a fair bit of research into what made a good company name and this stuck. Designed stickers, site and imported a few bats from around the world. Also hand finished a couple myself but to be honest it was the marketing/sales side I preferred more.
Whilst 17 went to India and spent 6 weeks hanging round factories there which gave me a further insight into manufacture of bats and softs. Couple of months after coming back it was May. I got into working for Mongoose, a new manufacturer that had launched, and ended up moving down to London. 6 months down the line and I'm still at Mongoose, which is great fun.
Brief idea of how I got into it. Any questions fire away...
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Tom-
Did you ask Mongoose for a job, or did they approach you, or did you know MCF?
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Bit of both. Didn't know MCF.
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Charlie, how did you start Black Cat?
Dan thanks for starting this topic.. really cool..
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How old are you Charlie? And how did you get into it?
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Tom who runs Itias now? Do you still make bats?
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17 to start up a company thats incredible!
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So Tom how come you have given up Itias?
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Started Black Cat because I fancied it really. It's a bit more complicated than that but that's for another time... I thought it would be fun/interesting/rewarding, and it is all of those things and more.
I was frustrated with the fact that so-called English quality brands were in fact importing a large chunk, if not all, of their bats from overseas. Before you ask, I'm not a racist- I just think there is a big demand for a quality English brand that is honest in the fact that all the bats are made in England. I conducted surveys and the level of ignorance (not by people with the knowledge of the typical CBF user, but normal people) about where/how bats are made was staggering- so I decided to push the 100% handmade in England aspect.
I decided that it was going to be a sustainable business, and have got thus far having spend £0 of my own money, mainly because I wanted to show that anyone can do it, and money really isn't a factor.
I don't manufacture my own bats, and there are good reasons for this:
1. I'm not a batmaker- to get to the level of the batmaker I currently use would take years of practice. To employ a batmaker would be very expensive, and a big risk if the venture doesn't work.
2. I was able to try out all sorts of manufacturers, most of whom were very keen to contract make bats for me (including some big names), so you can be sure that Black Cat bats are some of the very best anywhere.
3. If the quality falls below my high standards, I can quickly and easily resurrect this problem by changing supplier (I don't have to hire another batmaker etc.). That said, I don't see this happening at this rate- the bats my maker produces continue to surpass my high standards.
4. I can personally focus on the business side of things. For me, cricket bat businesses should have different people managing the manufacturing and everything else, from a business perspective. There are countless examples of cricket brands under-performing because the batmaker is/was in charge of the whole business. All batmakers want to do is make bats, and they should be left to do this, leaving the managing of then business to someone else.
I was also frustrated by my customer service experience on a few occasions, and I'm a firm believer that a quality product and good customer service are not mutually exclusive!
Loving every minute of running my own cricket brand, and am particularly enjoying my involvement at the different levels of production, from planting/growing/felling the willow, to deciding what shapes etc the bats are, to designing the stickers and running the website.
One final thought to finish: I sold a bat to a man the other day, which was going to be his son's birthday present. He replied to me saying his son was so pleased with his bat, and it had really made his day. THAT is why I do it...
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Sounds a great story.
Have you set up a workshop/shop yet or not ?
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In what sense..?
Shortly customers will be able to make an appointment and head down to the workshop and have a bat made there and then for them.
There won't be a shop there, though. You can buy online, and maybe through a few retailers, but I haven't gone down that route yet.
Answer your question?
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Yeah, just wondered whether you had a workshop really to go and pick up bats etc...
Sounds good to go and have your bat made there and then.
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So Tom how come you have given up Itias?
Felt the market was saturated, I was only turning over a couple of grand a week during the height of the season. Every company is doing the same in cricket, i.e restickering bats and softs. And jumping on the restickering bandwagon wasn't going to make me rich or keep me busy.
Heard about Mongoose and thought I could help with the input with that, they're doing something different which is pretty unique for cricket and is why we have all the coverage.
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17 to start up a company thats incredible!
It's incredibly easy, setting up Itias would rank incredibly low on my list of achievements. Setting up this forum, turning it into a profitable business, having upto 100 members at any one time and then selling it would be higher.
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you just need the contacts for cricket gear - like tom says, this forum is a more impressive display of whats achievable!
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Some really good stories so far thanks to Norb, Tom and Charlie :)
But there surely are more???
Come on guys dont be shy eh :)
Matt how about you?
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Tom in reply to your post about Mongoose cricket do you think it will ever take off big time? I know there are a few international players using it now like ashraful of Bangladesh. . .but do you think it will ever be able to compete with traditional bats across all formats or do you simply see it as 20/20 bat that merely compliments the tradiational design i.e something that a crickerter would have in his bag alongside a traditional bat rather than replacing it?
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The MMi will never be a Test match bat and we'd never sell it as such. Although it has it's uses in Club cricket. Particularly as people are often playing on wet, slow wickets against not always the quickest bowlers. I think it will be popular amongst youngsters too.
The CoR3 the more traditional yet spliceless bat will be our bigger seller in the next year I'd think, it's already being put to good use on the International circuit, with players being signed (still yet to announce a main marquee player) and being stocked in most retailers it will be pretty popular.
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spliceless altogether or splice in the handle that isnt visible on the face? is this 'marquee' player playing today by any chance?
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Spliceless blade sorry, i.e splice in handle. And no he's not.
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spliceless altogether or splice in the handle that isnt visible on the face? is this 'marquee' player playing today by any chance?
Anderson won't be a marquee player for them I wouldn't have thought as hes a bowler, although he has already been signed.
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good value for money in the test matches though! block block block
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Yeah! Shame he will be using the Cor3 and not MMI though :(
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could you make a spliceless full length bat tom?
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Yes
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Matt / Shilly - Yep it was Nipper phenomenal single piece bat that sounded and pinged like an illegal laminate
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Great idea for a topic. Thanks for starting it - I've really enjoyed reading through your answers so far.
Tom - Does this mean the Itias website will be closing down at some point in the future? Do you have any ambition to run your own cricket equipment company again in the future?