A Career in Taxidermy: 5 things I wish I knew
– Douglas Cockcroft
It’s fair to say that over the past 25 years, there’s very little I would want to do differently.
I’ve had an incredible career and a wonderful experience in this industry, and I truly can say that every morning I wake up, and I love going to work. But looking back, there are maybe a few things, literally a handful of things, I might have done differently. I’m going to discuss five things that I could have possibly done differently, whether they would have had a better outcome or not, I’ll never know. I’m very grateful to be where I am today and able to share with everybody a few of the things that I’ve learned along the way and how they could possibly help in someone else’s journey going forward.
Number One – Email Address
So, let’s start with number one. Splitting Image Taxidermy is one long e-mail address. Back when I started and emails were well in use, but we weren’t thinking that far ahead – we didn’t realize how many email addresses would come about. Spitting Image Taxidermy was the name of the company. I do believe in naming the company after a process, not after a person. And I do believe in keeping the brand in line in terms of what the email addresses are, what the URLs are, what all the details around the brand stand for. But if I’d known that it would take so long to spell my email address out on a questionnaire, when someone’s on the phone or someone else is on an email, and how many times it would get spelt incorrectly, I think I would have made it shorter. So that’s number one. Keep the email address short, sweet, to the point – as much as possible.
Number Two – Say No
This is a big one for me, and in reflection, it’s something that you have to look at yourself and be very honest with yourself about. I wish I’d learned to say no earlier. It’s a short, simple, English word, with a whole lot of power. But in the early days of building a company, I very rarely said no, especially to opportunity.
Can you do this? Yes. Would you like to do this? Of course. Have you done one before? Yeah. Maybe.
I didn’t learn how to say no until later on in my career, when I realized that there are certain things that you need to keep within your field of view, and certain things that fall outside of it. If it falls outside of your vision – say no. Don’t be scared. I was too scared to say no for many years. Now we look at things in a totally new light. There have been so many wonderful opportunities and so many learning curves that that myself, and businesses like mine have gone through. I’m sure that many people would agree. Learning to say no at the right time – it’s definitely going to help you.
Number Three – Tax Laws
I wish I’d spent more time understanding Tax Laws and Accounting. Tax laws impose on our ability to hunt more to do the things we love more. Tax laws are so critical to the clean running of a business that if you don’t understand them fully, you become limited. In the early years of my business, if I could have understood the tax laws better, I would have been a more effective businessman and run a cleaner company. Through the school of hard knocks, I’ve learned over the years. I’ve also learned to employ very good people, to bring great accounting firms into the business. I’ve learned to empower the team that’s built this company to do more, to further their studies, to further their abilities in their specific channel. So, I would like to have had more understanding when we started. But the school of hard knocks has taught me well, I have a clear understanding of what it takes in terms of the business side of taxidermy to run an efficient business.
Number Four – Data Mining.
I wish I had kept constant record of every single client and contact I’ve made in the last 25 years. We live in the digital revolution. This is a time in history where everything is AI, digital and online, but all of it is connected to people. So, the bigger your database, the bigger your reach. If I could go back and gather all the contact information, all the details, all the names of the people that have helped build this business, that have been so incredibly passionate about hunting, to invest in South Africa, I believe I’d have something of value. We’d be able to share our story. We’d be able to contact folks that we did work for 20 years ago and say, thank you, look what you helped us achieve. I definitely would have kept all of the data of the clients that we’ve done work for. For the last 20, 25 years.
Number Five – Sculpting
I believe taxidermy has evolved – from technology, methodologies, to the way people view taxidermy. But the foundation of truly beautiful taxidermy lies in the ability to create lifelike, anatomically correct mannikins. Early on in my career, I was given some advice by a very good taxidermist who said: “Focus on the sculpting”. At that stage, I didn’t have the opportunity to split myself yet again and sculpt, mount, do work, market, run the business and still try remain human. So, I put a lot more emphasis onto the onto the business of taxidermy, onto the structures within the company. The service offering and how we deliver the service offering. I focused less on mannikins in the early days, and it worked well. But the minute you start to evolve, you realize you need the basics in place. The foundation of a great mannikin. A great mannikin means great anatomy, and then you can produce beautiful taxidermy work, which has always been at the heart of every taxidermist’s dream. So, I should have spent a bit more time doing that. 25 years later, we have an entire sculpting department that that is dedicated and focused on the creation of beautiful mannikins, that are anatomically correct.
Those are five simple things that I think I could have changed. It wouldn’t change the outcome today, but perhaps it’s a bit of advice to someone who is starting out that these are things to keep in mind. I appreciate the opportunity to share what has been an incredible journey, and hope that your journeys going forward are Worth Remembering
