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2024 Video Walkthrough

How to Start a Knife
Sharpening Business

By Michael Kempf, professional knife sharpener · Austin, TX|Published 2024|~18 min watch
How to Start a Knife Sharpening Business, Michael Kempf

The 2024 walkthrough, same system behind $25K in 6 months, $60K in year one

What's covered in this video

✓Exactly what gear to buy for under $280, and what to skip
✓How to price per knife so your hourly rate climbs as you get faster
✓The channels that actually get first customers (and the ones that don't)
✓How to build Google reviews so local search does the selling
✓How to approach restaurants and turn one visit into a recurring account
✓The porch pickup and booking systems that let you scale without more hours

Chapters

0:00Why knife sharpening works as a business
2:00The $280 starter gear setup
5:00How to price per knife from day one
8:00Getting your first customers
11:00Building Google reviews
13:00Landing restaurant accounts
16:00Systems that scale the business

About Michael

Michael Kempf is the founder of Seriously Fast Sharpening in Austin, TX. He started the business with a Work Sharp Ken Onion belt grinder and a strop, roughly $280 in gear, and cleared $25,000 in the first six months while ramping up part-time. His first full year brought in ~$60,000.

He now runs the Knife Sharpening Business Accelerator, a structured video program that teaches the exact system he used to build Seriously Fast Sharpening, compressed into a course new sharpeners can follow from day one.

Real numbers from the business

$280
Startup cost
Work Sharp + strop + compound
$25K
First 6 months
Cleared, part-time ramp
~$60K
First full year
Full-time revenue
$2,000+
Best single day
Restaurant + residential route
$100+/hr
Experienced rate
On a busy route day
$50–80/hr
Beginner rate
Realistic from day one

Ready to build your own?

The Knife Sharpening
Business Accelerator

The structured video program built on the same system in this video. Everything Michael wished he had on day one, gear, pricing, customers, reviews, restaurants, and scale.

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