Now that the New Year has begun, it's time for you to get your arts or crafts business off and running. Your objective is to have a functioning arts or crafts business in time to be able to make a respectable presence in the 4th quarter (October, November, December holiday season) marketplace.
This article is your jumping off point. I base the steps and types of advice in these next articles on my personal experience running a successful craft business with tips and techniques contributed from my arts and crafts peers and clients.
Your Arts and Crafts Business Concept
Before you pick out a name or order business stationary, you need to have a concept for your arts or crafts business. Your preliminary steps to deciding on a concept is three-prong:
- Can I do it?
- Can I learn how to do it?
- Can I make it marketable?
Can I Do It?
The 'it' here is your expected line of arts or crafts products. Right now your main objective is to have a general rather than specific idea of the type of art or craft you want to handcraft. For example: jewelry, clothing for children, functional decorative items - whatever.
Do you have the skills to make this product? Remember, making items for friends or as a hobby does not require the same professional skill level you need for arts/crafts product you want to sell to actual customers.
After working with many different types of artists and crafters, I've come to realize that the learning process never ends. Refining the 'can I do it?' question, do you have at least the basic skills you need for the type of craft you want to make? In my experience, it's important to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of these handcrafting skills in the planning stage of your arts or crafts business.
Based on your skill level, your 'learning how to do it' may be as minor as perfecting your technique so you can put out a quality product in a reasonable amount of time. Or it could require minimal education in the form of specialized classes to perfect your technique.
For example, if you plan to make clothing or sew decorative items and you are a great designer but have never plugged in a sewing machine, it's probably a good idea to take a few classes at your local technical college or sewing studio. If you want to try a skill you've never used before, there are many schools with intensive one or two week classes that will provide the building blocks for your new handcrafting skill. Depending on where you live, these classes may be around the corner or you might possibly have to fly cross country (a great business deduction!).
Before committing to a product line or skill set, evaluate whether you can create a market for your product. I say create because there isn't an art or craft out there that hasn't already been done in one form or another. So you need to create a niche for yourself within the type of art or craft.
So, what twist are you adding to your arts or crafts items to attract a customer base? Keep in mind that eco-friendly is a term that has been bandied about in the arts and crafts trade for the past few years - everyone is doing it so you need a slightly different hook.
Could you use an unusual raw material? Can you buy a certain element in extreme volume so as to use a lower purchase price for your art or craft as leverage?
There are many different tacks to take on this. Research your business, competition and potential customer base to formulate an idea that works for you.
The next article in this series about starting your arts and crafts business talks about picking out a business name, website name and tag line.
