Working Around Using Your Home Address as Your Arts and Crafts Business Address
When I'm called in to consult with brand new arts and crafts business owners, a frequent problem is the fact that they are operating their business out of their home and they having a zoning issue or a privacy issue with that fact. I understand completely. I wouldn't want my clients or users of my business plan to know I operate out of my home nor would I want them to know my home address.
People, especially customers or investors, are weird. Too nice a residence, they think they are paying you too much. Live modestly your customers or investors will doubt your success and be hesitant to do business with you. Additionally, some customers may feel that since you don't have to pay studio rent, you should charge less for your products.
I recommend using an alternate business address for your business plan, letterhead and business cards. And, I suggest a real street address, not a P.O. Box. An actual street address provides a more professional image for your business. Keep in mind this is just for your business plan, customers and other non-vendor business contacts. It's totally unwieldy to not have your raw materials and supplies shipped to your home if that's where you work.
Finding Alternative Business Addresses for your Arts and Crafts Business Plan
Now, how to find that alternative address? Many office buildings rent mini-suites for a nominal charge. To cut costs, approach other artists and crafters in your area to rent one mini-suite to share. Keep in mind, the more people you have sharing an address, the more people you'll have to trust each month to pony up the cash for the rent.Consider renting a street address from another business. An arts and crafts business owner friend of mine has this arrangement with her real estate agent. For a very nominal fee, the real estate agent collects any mail that comes to the address and takes messages from the infrequent walk-in traffic. I don't know about you, but I receive little paper mail from customers. Just about all my customers either call me or email me.
In addition, there are plenty of mail processing storefronts renting office street addresses. I've used a Mail Boxes Etc. address on and off throughout my business career. They provide a bunch of different business related services and are relatively inexpensive.If you are interested in having a chichi secondary address, there are online businesses that rent street addresses in New York, Los Angeles and points between. It doesn't matter what part of the U.S. or even the world you live in, when the mail drop business receives your mail, they scan it, shred it and email it to you via an adobe file. Doing a search using the key phrase 'mail forwarding' will give you plenty of alternatives from which to choose. Some will offer virtual offices as well.
Leasing Space From an Artist or Crafts Co-op
I understand that many new businesses need to keep costs as low as possible, which is the whole reason why they operate out of the artist or crafter's residence. But another alternative is to lease space in an artist co-op. In an artist's co-op, many of the financial hurdles facing individual artists can be overcome as a group. Sharing a studio or gallery space, for example, means that you may have the ability to rent a space in a high-traffic area. This is a plus when you start writing the marketing section of your business plan.
Next, let's talk about your arts and crafts business telephone and fax options.
