Starting a Home Craft Business: Cashing in on your Artistic and
Creative Skills!
How can one forget the craft classes at school? You must have
enjoyed putting together colorful pieces of paper and varied
craft stuffs to give form to dolls, teddy bears, boats, aero
planes, flowers and so on. Have you ever considered making
innovative and attractive crafts could earn you a profitable and
stable income? And you could work at home without having to set
up any office or shop to sell your craft items.
You can set up a craft workshop at home with you being the boss.
If required you can take the help of a few assistants. They
could help you out with the various aspects of making craft
products.
Does that sound interesting enough? You can surely give it a
try! Starting a Home Craft Business is just so simple!
Overall summary of business:
Starting a Craft
Business is a perfect idea for a home business. You can create
wonderful and visually appealing craft items using your
creativity and innovation. So a craft hobby can be converted
into a lucrative home-based business. You can freely work in the
relaxed environment of your home adjusting the working hours
according to your personal preferences.
Now what kind of craft products do you want to sell? Well that
depends on your interests and hobbies. What exactly you enjoy
making/creating determines the collection of craft items on your
sales list.
There are a variety of products you can make such as flower
arrangements, jewelry, soft toys, hand embroidered sewn items,
clay crafts, wood crafts, paper crafts, stained glass items,
scrap craft (craft made out of scraps and thrown away products),
leather craft, hand painting, electronic craft, and the list
goes on. You can specialize in Japanese craft making styles such
as Origami, Ikebana that are just so beautiful and pretty. Your
customers will grab them like 'hot cakes!'
Estimated start-up costs:
The initial start up costs
for a Home Crafts Business is extremely nominal. The major
investment for a start up is in buying all the necessary
equipment and accessories that will be needed to create and make
the craft products. You do not have to worry about setting up a
separate office for starting the home craft business. Any
suitable room of your house can be converted into a craft
workshop. And an additional space can be allotted to store the
finished products ready to be sold. That's not a big problem at
all! This business does not need a huge amount of capital. Your
start up cost can be as little as $50 dollars.
Financing sources:
You can approach banks, financial
institutions, moneylenders and trade associations for financing
your Home Crafts Business at the initial setting up stages.
However, since start-up costs are so low, you may not need
financing at all.
Pricing guidelines:
Price you items low enough to
make sales, yet high enough to cover the cost of the materials.
A general rule of thumb is to charge twice the amount of the
cost. For example: Materials cost $4.50, you charge $9.00. If
you plan on selling them at wholesale to retail outlets, you
should charge $6.75. You split the profit with the retailer.
Advertising and Marketing Methods and Tips:
Attend Craft Fairs Bring samples to jewelry stores and
gift stores Build a website to promote your products
Local Newspaper ads Yellow page advertising Print
pamphlets and brochures Craft Home Parties
Essential Equipment:
The essential equipment needed
to start a home crafts business depends on what kind of craft
products will be making. In addition to the basic stationery
item such as adhesives, tapes, scissors, craft papers, staples
and so on you will need a computer to lookup information, latest
designs and ideas, bookkeeping, website building, etc.
Recommended Training, Experience, or Needed Skills:
To start a home based Crafts Business you do not need any
special skills, equipment or formal training. There numerous
easy to follow instruction manuals available. Guidelines to make
crafts and related items are also available on the Internet.
Just use your creativity.
Income Potential:
$20,000 to $80,000 depending on the
type of craft items you will be selling.
Target Market:
The target market for home made craft
items is diverse. With proper marketing techniques you can
target almost all kinds of people who love arts and crafts and
indulge in collecting such items for themselves or for their
friends and relatives. Crafts and related products are also used
for decorating purposes at weddings, birthdays, and shower
parties; they also serve as gift items. You can also sell your
craft pieces to gift shops and craft stores.
Success Tips:
Research your market, watch TV craft
shows, go to craft fairs and check out handcrafts in the
marketplace.