How to Start a Taxidermist Business

Learning how to start a taxidermist business is not a shot in the dark. This is a very specialized business which is  of great value to hunters and fishermen(women), as well as museums, zoos, and even pet owners.

Learning how to start a taxidermist business involves learning how to preserve animals to a life-like, almost living appearance. The art form of taxidermy involves hands on work and a  knowledge of animal anatomy and habitat. The stuffing and mounting techniques and technology used determine a successful mount that a client is willing to wait for. pay top dollar and proudly to display.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

More than anything else, to learn how to start a taxidermist business, you will need experience and practice. You can learn a lot from trade magazines, books on taxidermy, and the internet, but the only way to perfect your craft and learn the specific skills required is by performing them many times over. For this reason, many people begin by being an apprentice in a taxidermist shop prior to starting their own taxidermist business. Also visit taxidermist shops and ask questions. Most people will be happy to answer your questions and might even offer to mentor you.

A background or strong knowledge of animal biology is recommended to become a taxidermist, and a true love of the business is something all successful taxidermists have in common. Being creative can also separate you from the competition with accurate and natural bases and surrounds.

Your skill as a taxidermist will be the number one factor in whether clients choose your service over the competitor’s. So work hard at perfecting your trade. Stay informed on all the latest techniques, tools and industry trends. Display your workmanship at sporting goods stores, gun clubs, and sports shows, anywhere they let you. Seeing is believing with such a visual product. It needs to look like the living creature.  Take pictures of each job and show online.

Some who learn how to start a taxidermy business open a shop but you can start out working from home. You will need a workshop with tables, taxidermy tools, sources of supplies like forms and glass eyes, refrigeration, storage and legal biological waste disposal, and storage space each project. Your taxidermist business could take up a lot of space.

Marketing a Taxidermist Business

As you think about how to start a taxidermist business, consider where hunters and fishers frequent. For example, it would be a good idea to form relationships with the owners of outdoor and sporting goods stores. Gun shops, hunting and fishing clubs and guides, bait stores, marinas and sports trade shows are potential clients and providers of referrals for your taxidermist business. Create flyers and business cards and ask these stores if you can leave business cards or an actual mount that you created  in their business.

Also, begin building a portfolio of your work right away by taking several pictures of each piece of your work and where it is displayed like at a museum, bar, club. This can also be used if you create a website for your taxidermist business. Enter taxidermy competitions. Winning a competition is the best form of advertising.

Many pet lovers would like their departed pet to be immortalized.  Visit veterinarians and offer some cards or a flyer just for pets. The veterinary hospital may want to offer pet taxidermy as an adjunct service to pet cremation.

Learning all you need to know about how to start a taxidermist business involves a lot of research, time and practice. It is worth it all if owning a taxidermist business is the stuff that your dreams are made of.

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