Start & Run a Craft Business. William G. Hynes

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      Whether you are teaching yourself or taking a course, you will experiment a lot on your own, testing new techniques, investigating new materials, and learning new skills. You will experience one of humanity’s oldest and most deeply ingrained urges: the desire to create, to make with your own hands an object that has both an aesthetic and a functional value. Whether you’re making hand-dipped candles or jade pins, the feeling of satisfaction from creating is the same.

      This is all very fine, you say, but what about business? You’re not making crafts just for the feeling of self-fulfillment that you get. You want to make some money at it too.

      This is where you differ from most of the people who become casually involved with crafts. Most of those in your pottery or ceramics course, for example, want to make pots or paint figurines for relaxation or as a hobby. You are taking up pottery or ceramics with the intention of starting a business and selling your work at a profit.

      Whether you’re going to learn your craft as a pleasant way to pass the time or in order to make products to sell, you still have to master the basic techniques of the craft. There’s no real difference there. The important difference between the professional and the hobbyist is in the way you select and design the particular products you make. For example, if you’re involved in woodworking as a hobby, you can make what you please. If you fancy making elaborate sideboards and other big pieces, that’s fine. But if you plan to sell your work, you have to follow the market. You won’t make any money producing big, one-of-a-kind items, no matter how nice they are, if people are chiefly interested in buying small, less expensive pieces like cheese boards or spice racks.

      If you plan to sell your work, you have to follow the market.

      This applies no matter what stage you have reached in your craft career or what kind of products you are making. A number of friends of mine were formerly enthusiastic amateurs, producing work chiefly for their own pleasure, before they turned to crafts to make a living. In each case, they have had to substantially modify the items they produce in order to make their work marketable on a significant commercial scale.

      In some cases, it may be necessary to make a radical change in the products you make if you want to be successful in the marketplace. This happened to Arthur and Betty Allthumbs. They started out by making elaborate pieces like sideboards and chests with carved oak panels. Their work was extremely impressive and beautifully done. It got a lot of attention at craft shows, but few buyers.

      Arthur and Betty made numerous efforts to promote their work. They exhibited frequently, had brochures printed, and set off their displays with attractive props, including flowers, vases, and stuffed toys. Still, they sold only a few pieces here and there, not enough to make a living from their craft. Worse, from Arthur’s point of view, was that people kept wanting to buy their “lovely” props, especially the stuffed toys that Betty made to advertise their work.

      Finally, they realized they had been ignoring an excellent opportunity. Betty increased the number and variety of toys she made. It was not long before Arthur’s carved chests and sideboards became booth fixtures for displaying the stuffed toy animals. Soon, Arthur joined forces with his wife to produce the new product line. Within a short time, the couple built up a substantial business producing handmade stuffed toys.

      If you want to make any money selling your work, you must produce with your eyes fixed firmly on the market. You must have a quality product to begin with, but you must also produce what is marketable if you expect to make a living from your craft.

      You don’t usually have to go to the extreme of switching to a completely different medium as Arthur and Betty did. There will be a market for your work in virtually any of the main craft categories, provided you are producing the right product. But in order to do this, you first have to test the market.

      a. Market Research

      You may think market research is only for big companies with big budgets, while all you want to do is sell a few pots or handknitted sweaters. You can go ahead and sell a few pots or handknitted sweaters and not bother about researching the market. But if you really want to sell significant quantities of a product and make substantial profits, you have to know the market; that is, you have to know what people want to buy.

      Your research need not be expensive or time-consuming. You will certainly find it worth the time and effort to find out what you can about potential markets before you start producing goods for sale.

      Your research need not be expensive or time-consuming.

      Aim to find out as much of the following as you can:

      (a) What are the possible retail outlets in your immediate area? (Look at chapter 8 on marketing for the different types of stores that carry handcrafted products.)

      (b) Who are the typical customers of these shops? What are their approximate income levels? Are they mainly men or women? If, for example, you are producing clothing accessories like scarves and handbags, you would expect to be selling mainly to women.

      (c) Is there a significant tourist trade in the area or do the stores cater chiefly to the area’s residents? If tourists are important, try to think of products that may easily be identified with the area. For example, products with a nautical theme are usually popular with tourists in coastal areas.

      (d) What kinds of prices are being paid for products similar to the ones you plan to make? How important a factor is price? A few handmade products are true luxury items and price is not a major factor in determining whether they will sell, but most products are more price sensitive.

      (e) Is your type of product affected by fashion? Most clothing items are.

      (f) СКАЧАТЬ