Would like to find a at home craft business of my own?

Question

I am a wife of a husband with a Post Polio, so he cannot work no more. And I have custody of my grandson of 51/2 years old. And I love crafting and would like to make a small home based business out of what I love to do. Would like some adivse on how to get started. I don't want to get rich, just want to be able to make enough money to be comfortable. I am 51 years old and just want to be home with my grandson so I will be able to send him to school and be able to be involved in his school programs, as well as make alittle more money on the side. Thanks for any help that could be given

Answer 1

The best routes to take are to research the process of starting a business as well as the industry you're interested in.

I recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box.

Associations may be a good avenue to explore as well. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links.

Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can about the industry. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* Start Your Own Crafts Business (Entrepreneur Magazine's Start-Up ; Guide #1304) by Entrepreneur Press
* How to Start a Home-Based Craft Business, 4th by Kenn Oberrecht
* The Basic Guide to Selling Crafts on the Internet by James Dillehay
* The Crafts Business Answer Book & Resource Guide: Answers to Hundreds of Troublesome Questions About Starting, Marketing, and Managing a Homebased Business Efficiently, Legally, and Profitably by Barbara Brabec

There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 2

Selling your stuff is the problem you'll need to solve - it sounds like you can't be out and about doing that all day, every day, so you'll need to not just make stuff at home, but possibly sell it there, too. Here are some ideas to consider:

1) Do you have friends or acquaintances who also create handmade and craft items (pottery, fabric arts, jewelry, glass arts, paper arts, photography, etc.)? If so, you can plan regular events where all of you show your work and invite everyone you know. You can have this event in your home and use mail, email, and phone calls to get the word out.

Have a little food and drink and find other little ways make it a fun event for people (like a party, but don't let people lose focus on why they're there). Be sure to have a mailing list so people can sign up to increase the number of people who come to your events. Plan to have at least four events in the year. I have friends who have been doing this for a number of years; their customers came to look forward to each event and now they've gotten so successful they have a store.

2) Do you know anyone who does "direct marketing" parties? You know, those events where people get together and learn all about and buy candles, or kitchenware, or lingerie, or vitamins. There are parties for clothing, jewelry, food, wine - you can find them in just about any city. You can use these parties in a few different ways.

First, you can ask someone you know who does this to include your work in their event - you can tell them that having your work will enhance the appeal of their event and bring in more people (from your list of friends and acquaintances).

Second, you can bring a number of various direct marketing sellers to your home to do one big event. It has become more and more popular to combine multiple products that are different from each other in one event (and that includes mass-produced stuff combined with hand-made stuff). This type of event gets a whole lot more people (multiple mailing lists) and they get more interest because people may have already seen one of the offerings, but not the others.

The more people you can reach using these methods, the more likely that you will meet someone who will continue to help you sell your work (in one way or another). Be on the lookout for connections that will help you sell your work in more places. Perhaps you will meet someone who does the craft show circuit who would be willing to take your work with them when they exhibit; maybe you'll meet someone who can help you sell your stuff online (that's a whole other ball of wax I'm not covering).

3) The craft show circuit is where many people make a living. It sounds like you can't personally travel, but there are craft shows that do not require the craftsperson to attend the event. You might consider looking for someone who would be willing to get into craft shows and exhibit your work for you. You would also be able to enter any craft show if that same person were to actually help you make your crafts.

Here's a set of pages that explain the ins-and-outs of craft shows:
http://artsandcrafts.about.com/cs/retailcraftshows/a/aa072601a.htm

Here's a database of many craft shows (notice all the ways of searching on the left side):
http://www.artandcraftshows.net/

Best of luck!

Answer 3

I easily have had to do a craft-proper employer for decades. lack of capital has been my superb undertaking/ i'm attending a seminar on the best of this month to study how i'd coach & and percentage my crafting concepts through a weblog.

Answer 4

yuo can make your things and get some craft booths in summer and fall on saturdays that r at your leisure to get your name out there and make business cards. maybe if you had a front room in your house that u could turn into a shop with a outside door and set your own hours