And don't forget the tax man.... federal and state and/or local. Then if you use paypal, be prepared to pay fees for every turn associated with that outfit. I don't mean to sound negative but its reality. Then don't set aside the biggest hurdle....the customers and they can be the worst people in the world to deal with along with those with open hands.
A website is a lot like a full time job because it is if you want to be successful If this were me looking to get back in the market knowing what I know after having been there, I'd find three or four privately owned and successful bait shops in an area around home that are 40 or so miles apart and on different water so they are not directly competing with your tackle and work in a way to get three or four bait types in their hands at reasonable rates. I'd deliver the goods in small ziplocks with a paper hanging tag with only the bait's name on it. Nothing else. Let the shop owner give out information on you if he wants. And do cash deliveries. No checks, no paperwork...nothing but green when you leave. Keep orders from the shops doable in the most time effective sizes. Track whatever you put in the shops...color, length bait style....and put the dead weight after a couple months. If it isn't moving out the door at the same rate as another color or size its just taking up space. Market standard colors that are easy to make and easy for you to keep in each shop's inventory. Make your rounds on a regular basis and spend time talking with each place to address their concerns or their suggestions or wants. The gist of all this is to keep it manageable and keep fees and tax payments out.
I've been down the road a couple times and can tell you up front that it starts as an adventure but in the end you'll be so happy to put it behind you you'll party for a year when its gone. I still fill a few orders from people who have been customers for a long, long time and who know that I won't do large volume orders. These are mostly custom baits and expensive. I don't stockpile any baits...they are all made to order and I never promise a delivery date that will hurry me or put me at odds with the customer or life in general. Because my baits are not something found on shelves or hooks I don't "give them away" and you shouldn't either. I powder coat simple jigs but I airbrush jigheads like the Diner Shiner or the Teardrop/wire keeper, or the Underspin Minnow Head and others that call for eyes on a custom basis and use paints and colors that I mix and blend myself and that simply cannot be found anywhere. Basically I will cater to those who want "different" and that market is the best paying.
The best way to sell? Start small, grow slow and demand green.
