Welding Hobby Leads To Sideline Business

Welding Hobby Leads To Sideline Business 27-5-8 When Todd Eldridge, Collinsville, Mississippi, bought his first welder a few months ago, his intent was to make a few add-ons for the Deere Gator he uses to maintain his immaculate lawn. Those add-ons have mushroomed into a nice little business for Eldridge, a Federal Firefighter at the Meridian Naval Air Station, who works every other day. His schedule gives him a lot of spare time. Until recently his yard was his hobby. "I am a very avid lawn maintainer," he says. "I pull a 58-in. reel mower behind my Gator to cut the grass. I have an electric fertilizer spreader attachment and a 15-gal. sprayer with a 9-ft. boom to apply herbicides and insecticides for ant control. "I bought the welder to make some attachments for my Gator including a two-piece receiver hitch, dumpbed side extensions, and a box front basket for carrying supplies and tools," says Eldridge, who couldn't find any of the items on the market. "These add-ons made my Gator even more useful, and people started asking me to make things for them," he says. Eldridge found a good steel supplier, added more metalworking equipment, and started running a small part-time fabricating shop. Because he's just getting rolling, he doesn't want to tie up a lot of money in inventory. So he's been marketing his Gator add-ons one at a time on the Internet, through the on-line auction site e-bay. "That way, I can control what I sell," he says. "If I don't have it built, then it isn't for sale." He says after he's listed something on e-Bay, he usually gets e-mail from several people who want to buy products."My online customers pay me via the internet using Paypal. When payment is received, I build what they ordered and ship it to them," he says. He figures this web-based operation is the best way to run a small business if you can't always be in the shop or office to answer the phone. "I do have a business phone, but hardly anyone calls on it. I'm gone half the time, so there's a good chance anyone calling will get the answering machine," he adds. "I do check email several times a day, though, and try to always reply promptly." He'd welcome email, or even phone calls, from people who'd like more information about his Gator products and other items he's made in his shop, or who'd like to know more about how he established his on-line business. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Todd Eldridge, HunterworksLLC, 9291 Collinsville Circle, Collinsville, Miss. 39325 (ph 601 626-7449; email: todd@hunterworks.com; website: www.hunterworks.com).

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