308: How to Start a Knife Sharpening Business

Every house in the country is a potential repeat customer...

Matt Rowell set himself the goal of generating an extra $5k over 5 years to fund some passion projects, and he’s well on his way.

Matt runs AmericanEdgeSharpening.com on the side from his day job as captain of a research vessel. It’s a knife sharpening business, which was up to $250-500 a month when we spoke and is earning him $30-60 per hour.

He saw an ad while posted abroad with the Navy that gave him the idea for his business. 

And then he took action. Matt:

• Picked up a knife sharpening kit
• Taught himself how to sharpen knives by watching YouTube videos
• Offered to sharpen knives for family and friends for the practice
• Found paying customers

The best thing about the knife sharpening business?

“If you drive down the road, every house that you pass has a bunch of knives in it,” Matt said. That means an almost limitless number of potential customers.

Tune in to hear how Matt got started with this idea while he was deployed in Djibouti, Africa, including his equipment, how he learned how to do it, and how he’s marketed and priced his service.