SPOTLIGHT - BUSINESS MONDAYS - The Orange County Register

 

ANGLER SPORTS - June 11, 2001 By SUSAN FUNK

 

Owners: Shane Pase and partner William Soto
Business address: 6312 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road, No. 200, Anaheim Hills 92807
Telephone: (714) 685-9664
Web site: www.AnglerSports.com
Type of business: Fishing-tackle manufacturing
When opened: January 2001

 

Describe your business and where you got the idea:
Fishermen had only a couple of options for storing tackle -- a big plastic box or an over-the-shoulder case. My buddy Shane and I didn't like either. His wife Michelle got the idea. There wasn't anything like it on the market, so we made a backpack tackle box with plastic containers, special compartments and a rodholder. You can carry gear without having to carry anything in your hands. We're in 11 tackle shops and three online shops - just since January.

 

How long did it take you to get from idea to open doors? What did you do during that time?
Shane started talking to people in the industry. He eventually stumbled on a retired fishing-boat captain in Orange who manufactures baby bags. He did the prototypes. It took nearly two years to get to this point. I did the logo and Web site. We got into the Fred Hall Fishing Shows. We sold 30 bags our first show. We were ecstatic. We've been approached about different uses for the bag. We just like to fish. Now we're making other products.

 

Did you write a business plan?
We started one, but only got about halfway through it because we were selling so many bags. We need to go back and crunch the numbers for long-term projections and stuff like that.

 

How much did it cost to start the business? Where did you get the money?
Shane put $15,000 down on credit, and we started from there. We thought: If it fails, we have business experience. If it takes off, even better. It's going full speed now. We're going to a big trade show in Las Vegas in July.

 

How old are you?
I'm 24 and Shane is 31. We met at Cal State Fullerton. We've been great friends. We both love to fish. We go wherever the fish are.

 

Your expected revenue for this year?
We're hoping between $175,000-$225,000.

 

The biggest thing you didn't think of before you started?
We didn't think it would start moving so quickly. There's a lot of work behind starting a business. There were so many things we weren't quite ready for, and a lot of things we're learning along the way.