I was thinking of starting a craft business, any thoughts?

Question

I had the idea of creating and selling crafts like painted t-shirt, postcard, tole painting, priate stuff, corcheted juwely amoung other things. But I tend to get lazy and distracted a lot. Should I just fous or just make stuff for myself when the mood stricks me?

Answer 1

I would say make things when the mood strikes and once you have enough to offer for sale, then go to a craft fair, or you could post on ebay, etc.. But don't take orders. I'm the same way you are, I like to do crafts, but only the ones I want to. I don't take orders for this reason. I find it takes me way too long to do it because it's something I don't feel like doing.

Answer 2

It's hard when you're easily distracted, because you might have a day when orders are pouring in and you just want to play on Yahoo answers! But as long as you're honest and offer peoples' money back if their order is late, you'll do ok.

I started my website with a long list of items, just like you (not the same items though) and over the course of about 2 years, it whittled down to what would sell and what I enjoy making. Some items sold well but were no fun to make, and I actually got busy enough to turn down work that I don't want.

You sound young, so your distraction is probably not yet being outweighed by the specter of poverty!

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Answer 3

I tried this once on a small level doing area craft shows, and a mall show. I sold on consignment in 2 stores. I found it was not worth all the time it took to make the items. For instance a fancy doll I made wearing a gown and hat sold for 25, and the store got 1/4 of that. I spent hours making one doll for $19 or so dollars. The retail businesses now sell what we made in crafts for so very cheap that craft are not hot anymore.

Answer 4

Start out small. Start setting up at craft shows, flea markets, swap meats, etc. From there you can figure out if what is selling and what isn't. This type of situation will give you more time to make things and you can still turn a good profit. Once you notice you are making more each time you do it, then think about opening a small shop. Good luck. I have done this with my crafts, and it can help put money in your pocket and it allows you to do the things you like with the crafts.

Answer 5

If you have nothing else to do, but crafts, and you have a stable income source or this venture will be of low risk to you, then you should go ahead with it.

Before you start crafting away, you need to come up with two things: (1) Legal Plan, (2) Business Plan.

Imagine what would happen if your products cause some customers to break out in hives and die from some kind of allergic reaction, or a child swallows on of the things you make; I can go on forever, seriously, I really can, go on forever. lol

Talk with a lawyer on setting up a corporation. I think today, there are lawyers out there which charge around $100 to set up a corporation, plus filing fees. This ensures that in the event you are sued, you have no liability.

After you take care of all the legal mumbo-jumbo, come up with a business plan. Structure your Corporation as an S-Corporation to avoid double taxation. Structure an organized accounting system to track down income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity. Devise plans to minimize taxes by declaring item repairs as revenue expenses which will counter any income earned, as opposed to capital expenses which will just keep assets the same and not bring net income down. Use the double-declining balance for depreciation of assets so you can expense most of the asset during the early years when your company is starting up and leave room to grow. Do some research on accounting, and feel free to e-mail me for any other questions you have for your new venture. Don't worry, advice is always free.. lol

Second part of your business plan should be MARKETING! Get to know your local market. See if there are any other people around your area which are doing the same thing. Are there similar products out on the market? If so, how close are they to your target market?

Do some market research. Print out some questions on paper and mail them out. Ask people what they would like to have on a t-shirt, ask them what ideas they have for their own post card... When you get back this information, organize it into categories and punch the numbers into a program like STATA or Excell. See what your market looks like and what it wants.

If you end up going through with it, be warned, the first year is not easy. 85% of all new businesses close after their first year. The good news is, that less than 15% of those that make it past their first year close due to financial failure. Start-up costs for a small business may be higher than the first year's income. Computers, fax machine, printing.. These items may cost you more than you actually make in the first year. But only you will be able to tell if it is worth the first year's loss.

If your market research is well-earned and well-analyzed, and if sales start picking up during the last two quarters, you should consider seeing this idea of your through to the end.

Hope that helps, wish you the Best.

Answer 6

make things when the mood strikes you and in summer take what you have created to a local arts and crafts show and sell what you have.

Answer 7

try to come here to dubai you can find your opportunity