Having taken a bait to market from scratch I can attest to the fact that custom bait making is not a great business model. Yes, you can make some money and it is certainly rewarding. The large bait companies make money on volume. Profit per lure is relatively small and they are quite automated. If you choose to hand carve and finish or even use a high tech duplicator as I did, at the end of the day you are working for minimum wage or maybe less. It's simply a volume business and volume will make you a slave to it. The market demands a certain level of quality and achieving this quality can cost you tens of thousands and don't expect not to break even for several years. I'm really not trying to sound negative or discouraging here but sometimes hobbies are better as hobbies and not businesses. I'm just sharing my personal experience. Some guys here may be doing well at it, I don't know. Bait making is labor intensive and unless you can hire cheap labor to do the work it's not real profitable or you work for small wages yourself. If it's for love, wonderful. If it's for profit, not so wonderful. A leader in balsa bait manufacturing once told me "if you like to fish...don't go into the bait making business". How true this was. Now I enjoy bait making as an art and without the baggage of bottom lines. Good luck.
Another things to keep in mind. If you sell direct to the public you will maximize your profit, assuming there is any. If you sell directly to a retailer, they generally like to make 40% (there goes your profit). They are making at least that on mass produced baits. If you use a distributor then cut another 20% from the 40%. Advantage is you will sell more baits.
I like the idea of selling fewer baits for more money. Problem is the market will only bare so much. To get your production cost down you have to make a certain volume. Commercial grade paints and coating don't have a long shelf life so you have to use it with larger productions putting you into the volume business game of small margins.
Hope this helps or at least it is personal experience and insights.