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A CRAFTERS JOURNEY ~ The August Update!!!

I need to have my hands seriously slapped and make a big apology to Diane, as she sent me this article well over a month ago and it’s taken till now for me to get my act together, I even had to ask her for a couple of updates which have been included! Lx

3. A Place to Set logo

This rather long-winded journey I’ve taken myself on towards having a little crafty business is taking a slightly more determined step right now. Not only have I agreed to help out a friend on her stall at a local craft fair but I’ve also taken steps towards the operational business side too.

Firstly, the craft fair. A few months ago I started going to a little crafty get together called ‘Crafty Saturday’. During my first visit Polly mentioned that she’d be doing a stand at a Church group run craft fair in September. I thought this was a perfect opportunity for me to take the plunge, so I said that I’d share her stand. This will serve as a ‘breaking in gently’ of the selling face to face market. I intend on taking a variety of items with me to test the water.  One of the main items will be the portable coaster sets but I’ll also have a place mat and coaster set and a tote bag or two.  I’m going to do some bunting to just decorate the stand and some either felt or paper flowers in a vase.  I’m still not comfortable with a name yet but that’s irrelevant really before I’ve started getting my items sold. I’d like to perhaps have an ipad playing with a slide show of items I’ve made in the past, to whet people’s appetites.  Chris went to the bird fair this year and he said that a lot of the stands had videos running either of the craft being performed or just displaying various projects previously made. It might grab the attention of people and get them to linger a tiny while longer by the stand and then I can perhaps get them involved in conversation, which will also make it all more fun for me. In regards to pricing, I’m thinking about £35 for the 6 placemats and coasters, as there’s machine quilting on those, hand sewing and patchwork. The portable coasters will be sold for £5; tote bag will be priced at circa £10 possibly.  I also have an owl cushion I could sell for £25.

Pic 1 Aug 2013 ~ A Place to Set Placemats

This photo is rather busy but perhaps it works to make you focus harder on what you can actually see?

Learning about the business aspect has finally seen me join the Enterprise Nation Club. Please do visit their website for more information about what Emma Jones (MBE) co-founded – http://www.enterprisenation.com/about-us/.  As well as that, I’ve also signed up for one of their Start-Up Saturday events in September.  They hold them in a wide variety of locations; most in British Library buildings from what I can tell. I’ll provide a link to a video which shows you in a far more professional manner than I could achieve – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikP1Mcgl6F8 . That’ll be nerve-wracking as well, as I have no idea how much experience the other marketeers will have, compared to me.

Pic 2 Aug 2013 A Place to Set Owl

Before I get there though, I’ve also signed up for the FREE 12 week email course about starting up a small business. I will have read a lot of the information before but I feel this way is a more structured, determined way of learning what is necessary.  There are many good reviews of course on the site. I’m suspecting that it will focus more on the website selling opportunities, rather than the face to face selling, as EN is not purely for craft related businesses; it’s for the whole range. Internet selling is fine by me, as hopefully most of you know that I have dabbled on Folksy for a while now and it can definitely reach a wider market.

First Update – I’ve since received three of the emails and I’ve actually actioned the ideas and made a very basic (needs much more specific financial information) business plan!

Update October 2013 ~

Start-up Saturday.

Despite getting there a tiny bit late (how I mixed up the start times is beyond me but then again, so typical of me!) I really got into the whole feeling of the day very quickly. That feeling was one of ‘yes, I can do this business malarkey’.  Everyone explained what their varied business ideas were and Emma Jones responded very quickly and professionally to them all and continued to refer to them throughout the day. It’s almost impossible for me to briefly tell you what went on but the main thing I took away from that day, was that crafting businesses are quickly becoming a boom business. I got the impression that kits are the way forward, as many people love the idea of crafting but don’t have the time to go and resource the patterns, materials and ideas and all of that which is required to craft. Providing everything in a box and posting it off, is also a relatively cheap way of providing people with goods. I’m considering this but have yet to put it into action. I might have to be quick to catch the boat though. I agree wholeheartedly with what she said, as I’ve bought kits myself  and love the ease with which they make the creating. They’re maybe not as personally satisfying but for the average person, it could really spur them on to try things more from scratch or they just keep buying kits; mine with any luck! 🙂

We were given ‘The Start up Kit’ book which will be some of my holiday reading next week. That as well as the new magazine I’ve signed up for which is ‘Patchwork & Quilting’ which has a little kit in it for a Christmas bauble make and I’ve also got a Corinne Lapierre kit for some scrummy little lavender houses.  I rest my case about the kits! 🙂

Update on My first craft fair

At long bloomin’ last! I’ve done my first craft fair at a local Church event. The weather was glorious, so that pulled in the punters. I was originally comforted by Polly, as she was doing the stand and asked if I’d care to join her. I swear that was just a ploy to get me to do the stand; if that’s right, I’ll be eternally grateful.  I ended up being on my own on the stand, which was a good job really as my stuff took up a lot of room. I didn’t do a great job on setting it up but hey, we all have to start somewhere. Here’s a link to the blog post I did about it, please do pop by and see how I got on: HERE

(TCN Note:  Ignore Diane, for a first timer her stall looked FAB, Lx)

I’ve since had other commissions, I’ve set up a Facebook page (Click HEREand I’ve started an Etsy shop (Click HERE), with a fancy shop banner and logo (as seen at the top of this post), which I decided to pay for instead of messing about trying to spend hours to do and make myself. I also finally decided on the business name ‘A Place to Set’.

Another thing I’ve learnt recently is that there are just some things which have to be outsourced.  I won’t always be able to pay to do that but this time I did; seize the moment! Beg and borrow as much as you can to get your business where you want it to go.

I’ve barely started and some days I think this is too much but other days (such as straight after Start Up Saturday) I feel really empowered and motivated.

Progress not perfection is my target.

See you soon.

Diane x

A Place to set logo

 
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Posted by on October 16, 2013 in A Crafters Journey

 

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This Crafty Business ~ How to make the Jump!

So, what does it really take to decide to make the jump?

A few weeks ago, I ran several Open Craft Nights which was a chance for me to catch up with folks who I hadn’t seen in a while but also to meet new people.  One of the ladies whom I met for the first time was a lady we shall call Lady D, who as it turns out, had read my last posting for This Crafty Business about filing your taxes. She left a comment on my posting, of which I have taken a bit from, the bit, that when we met, Lady D, wanted to speak to me about in the flesh (so to speak).

‘This is definitely one area which stops me even considering a business; although truth be told, there’s probably the slight issue of what area I would choose to create a business around too. I shouldn’t let that stop me though as creating barriers to progress isn’t productive.’ ….

Lady D said, stuck filling in a tax return wasn’t the issue deciding to make the jump was the problem.  She admitted that when she thought about making the jump she got a bit overwhelmed with the big picture of what that entails….so in usual Maeri style, I told her I would make it my next post so that, if anyone else out there is mulling over whether a career in crafting might be for you, then please read on…..

(To see more information about Maeri’s Open Craft Nights visit: (http://themakeanddostudio.typepad.com/the_make_and_do_studio/make-and-do-open-craft-night.html)

But reading this comes with a WARNING – this is not for the faint hearted and this is for someone that wants to make it a business and not a hobby.  I have no problems with crafting as a hobby but making it a business means, well, you need to be business minded. And it also assumes that you know what you want to do for a crafting career or at least have an idea (and by the way, you will not be surprised to find that sometimes what you start out thinking you want to do and what you actually end up doing are not the same!)

Do a skills, traits and abilities self-assessment – never mind that you want to have a craft business, do you have the appropriate skills to work independently and most likely from a small room in your home? Can you see yourself being self-disciplined enough to work on your own?  Being in business for yourself means that, in the beginning, you have to carry the whole load and some people won’t want to have all that responsibility.  If you own a jewellery making business, how good are you at keeping track of your stock? If you are a painter, can you keep track of what your materials cost so that when you price up a painting, you know the price is reflective of the amount of paint actually on the canvas?

Once you start to gain momentum, then you can perhaps outsource some of the things you like less or find don’t come naturally and that is a great goal to work for, but you still need to know that at the end of the day, you are okay with what “going it alone” entails.

When I first thought about Make and Do, I really wanted to sell fabric as well as offer workshops. I had convinced myself this was a great move, think of all the lovely fabric! I even met with the wholesalers who told me the vast quantities I was going to have to order and then keep track of in order to sell on.  But then I thought “wait a minute, keeping track of stock means I need to be quite detail oriented and ummm, that really isn’t me”. So that decision was made for me.

Speak to the captain to see if he/she is on board

You may be lucky enough to make the decision to change to a crafting career without having to discuss with anyone else whether it is an option or not. But I am speaking to those of you who need to think about how working from home on your new venture will impact your home life, your partner (or parents) might not be thrilled at the idea of having people coming in and out of your home for dress fittings in the room that was once his “man cave” (their living room)!  But if you can sit down and discuss the actual semantics of what your working from home might look like, will it involve weekends at craft fairs, does the responsibility of the children and their needs have to shift a bit, will the house need to be re-jigged around to make space for the new venture, you have a much better chance of making the business a success, rather than a source of arguments.

A few more factors to consider –

There are a few more things that I would also factor in once you have managed to work your way through the two areas mentioned above:

  • How likely is it that the business will be profitable?  You need to research your potential career change to see if it is even viable. Google is a wonderful tool for each sector of crafts, there are bulletin boards to join and blogs to read to help you get an “on the ground” look at the different sectors.
  • What is the competition? Do research on what the competition has to offer and look at how, what you will do will be ….different/better!
  • Is there a need for the product/service I want to offer? Do you really think your recipe for ‘fried moon rocks’ will be the next big thing in baking?  I would do a bit of research first…..
  • Am I ready to make a commitment to the business? It is a commitment that is much like a child, in the beginning it is a lot of work for not much return but as your business grows and matures, you will hopefully reap the benefits. But you have to be in it for the long run!

I think that is enough for people to consider for this instalment… the next post will involve more specific information on how to set up your accounts (okay, not interesting but very necessary!), register as self employed, getting insurance, the magic formula for pricing and some basic marketing tips, so I hope you join me next time.

As always all comments, feedback and questions are very welcome.

Thanks

Maeri

Want to keep up with what is going on in the Studio? Check out our blog at. www.themakeanddostudio.co.uk, find us on Facebook and on Twitter!

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2012 in This Crafty Business

 

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