Chapter 6

Creating Your Arts and Crafts Micro-Business from Scratch

In This Chapter

Using your creativity for profit

Buying low and selling for high arts and crafts profits

Making money from renewing, repurposing, and recycling

Taking something from virtually nothing and creating a beautiful product that you can resell for a profit and provide someone with something that is unique and uplifting is a true joy. It’s the essence of creativity. Many micro-entrepreneurs have started their own home-based businesses by making something beautiful or unique and selling it to others who appreciate the handiwork.

If you're interested in starting your own arts and crafts micro-business, you've come to the right chapter. Here I discuss how it all starts with an idea and your time, effort, care, and maybe a few bucks. You can then take your hobby and turn it into a satisfying business. This chapter also looks at the different types of arts and crafts you may want to sell and examines Etsy (www.etsy.com), the most popular website, and many other sites for selling arts and crafts.

From Nothing to Something Good: Entering the World of Arts and Crafts

Doing an arts and crafts business is a perfectly good way to make money because many folks are really good with their hands and most people have some spare time. Creating a physical product takes some handiwork. For me, my handiwork is creating something from nothing — in other words, writing and publishing. (Check out Chapters 9 and 10 for more on writing and self-publishing.)

If you’re a whiz with your hands and can make interesting, useful, and/or unique items, you may as well as make your goods and make money, too. Fun and profit sounds like a good combo, and your options are almost endless. In fact, I know one guy who could turn a trashcan into a condo in two weeks (give me a hammer and in 30 minutes I could turn it into a doctor’s visit). Okay, perhaps a bit extreme, but no matter what you can make, whether it be a unique handbag, an attractive piece of pottery, or a modern painting, you can turn your arts and crafts hobby into a business. These sections cover what you should consider before you officially start this type of business.

Making your art and craft and a profit at the same time

Creating a physical product is only half the battle — the greater half of the battle is to sell it. Therefore, you should only create a product that other people will actually pay for. Don’t get me wrong; creating something that will beautify your home or make a nice gift is nice. However, that personal approach won’t make you money. For the scope of this chapter, you want to make something that people will buy (and I don’t mean your aunt!).

Therefore, before you do anything, do some market research. Market research basically is figuring out who your customers are and what they’ll buy. Chapter 13 provides more in-depth discussion about researching your market. Here are some questions to keep you focused:

What do you want to do?

This question is simple, yet profound. Arts and crafts encompass literally thousands of different things that can spring from imagination and become objects of physical beauty (and may be useful, too). A simple list of all the ways your creativity can take shape could easily be hundreds of pages long. So you need to decide what you want to make and then sell. Ask yourself what types of arts and crafts excite you and what you really enjoy.

Choosing something you enjoy is the first (and probably most important) criterion. In fact, like I discuss in Chapter 3, following your passion is the primary way to succeed and having staying power. Big bucks don’t come easily or quickly in this type of business; enjoyment will carry you through to where this hobby can be a viable for-profit activity.

For example, my wife loves to make decorative wreaths and silk floral arrangements to decorate our home and as gifts for housewarmings, events, and holidays. She can sell these to party planners as centerpieces. Because she enjoys teaching, she offers classes in adult education venues and has had a profitable business teaching others while having fun making crafts.

If you need some help to figure out what arts and craft idea to pursue (perhaps you’re a crafty person, but you aren’t sure exactly what options might work), don’t worry. Great craft ideas are everywhere. Here are some places to do your research for craft ideas:

Directory of Arts and Crafts Online Marketplaces (http://artsandcrafts.about.com/od/sellingonline/tp/Selling-Arts-And-Crafts-Online-Marketplaces.htm)

Homemade Money Guide (www.homemade-money-guide.com/best-selling-crafts.html)

The Arts & Crafts Society (www.arts-crafts.com)

What is your experience?

Any experience you have in terms of constructing or creating something can be a big plus, particularly if you plan to offer a variety of items. You obviously want to stick to something you enjoy, but you also want to select something for your business that you have hands-on experience doing in order to achieve greater success.

If you have enjoyment in some area of art and crafts but you don’t have experience, then take the time to read and master the skill. The good news is that a wealth of education is available to help you excel in any craft niche, right at your fingertips.

Here are some great resources you can tap into to help you become more familiar and master a certain area of arts and crafts:

Michael's and other arts and craft stores: Places like Michael's (www.michaels.com) regularly offer arts and crafts workshops. These works are usually free or low-cost.

Local adult education programs: Thousands of arts and crafts courses are offered inexpensively through adult education programs sponsored by local boards of education across the country and through local community colleges, adult education companies, and so on.

Your local library: You can find a plethora of resources, all for free, at your local library. If your library doesn’t carry a specific book, you can often ask for an exchange with another library that does carry it.

For Dummies books: This helpful series of books has a wide range of books on arts and crafts. You can find books on nearly any topic you can imagine, from knitting and crocheting to watercolors and acrylics to jewelry making and stained glass windows. Check out www.dummies.com to search.

Spotted Canary: This website (www.spottedcanary.com) offers craft projects to make yourself. This offers you the opportunity to get a head start on a project and add your own personal touch and uniqueness for sale. You can also search for online craft classes.

eHow: This great site (www.ehow.com) is a resource to find out more just about every craft. It also includes great information on ways to sell crafts online and at fairs.

Arts and crafts at About.com: You'll be surprised at all the great hands-on articles and helpful pieces of information you can find at this site (www.artsandcrafts.about.com).

Even if you’re well versed in a niche, you can keep on learning. The more you know about your craft, the better your products will be and the more you can create. The more you can create, the more you can sell.

Who is your customer?

You also need to find out who will buy what you have to offer. To do so, you need to research your target market. To find out who your target market is, study your customers to determine their buying habits, what they like, and where they buy this type of product. You can read more about researching your target market in Chapter 13.

You don’t want to try to sell all sorts of crafts to all sorts of people. You need to study local trends and styles. For example, a silk floral arrangement of high-quality wildflowers will sell to customers with country decorating themes in their homes.

If you do stretch yourself too thin, you’ll end up providing lots of average stuff rather than offering your specialty — the item that you can provide better (and more unique) than anyone else. Stick to your specialty so you can build your reputation and your brand identity, which is the name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies your goods or service as distinct from everyone else. Focus on knowing who your customers are and providing them the best maker of whatever product you’re selling in a specific niche.

How do customers buy your product?

You want to know where customers can buy your product so you can better market and sell it to them there. Etsy (www.etsy.com) is a great online way to sell your arts and crafts. Etsy specializes in handmade items, so buyers coming to the site are specifically looking for unique finds. I discuss Etsy in greater depth in the "Selling your Creations: Focus on Etsy" section.

For other places where you may be able to sell your arts and craft creations, check out the later section, “Identifying Other Online Selling Venues for Your Crafts” in this chapter.

Who is your competition?

You not only want to reference the people who are your competitors but also the organizations and websites. Buyers will buy whatever product you’re selling from you or your competitors. Understanding how you stack up against your competitors (including strengths, weaknesses, price differences, and so on) is important because this information allows you to price effectively (so your products sell quicker than your competitors’) and also gives you a better sense for the latest trends in color, style, and so on.

If your prospects are buying from others, find out why. Study your competitors’ marketing strategies and tactics to see how your product stacks up against the competing product. For example, if wreaths sell well in flea markets, find out how best to position yourself so customers see your products first or ensure you prominently showcase your products’ difference.

Finding the raw materials

If you're making anything, you'll need to obtain the raw materials and know where to find them. Where you get them all depends on what you're making. If your creation is made using paper, for example, you may be able to set up an account at a local office supply store like Staples (www.staples.com) or Office Depot (www.officedepot.com) as you start out.

Ultimately, you'll need a wholesale account from a paper vendor like Paper Papers (www.paper-papers.com). For specialty paper needs (like card stock, invitations, vellum, and so forth), you can use vendors such as

LCI Paper (www.lcipaper.com)

Paper and More (www.paperandmore.com)

For more craft-oriented supplies, you can check out these places:

Create for Less (www.createforless.com)

DCC Crafts (www.dcccrafts.com)

Michael's (www.michaels.com)

Fire Mountain Gems (www.firemountaingems.com)

Wholesale Supplies Plus (www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com)

Buying wholesale

Buying wholesale allows you to buy in bulk and create an inventory for your arts and crafts business. If you’re able to purchase your supplies at low wholesale prices, your business will be more profitable.

To buy wholesale, research online for companies that manufacture the product you require. After you locate some companies, directly contact them and ask for bulk discounts if you order a certain amount. Many manufacturers have a wholesale price list for the available items and what constitutes wholesale for them. You may need to partner with other crafters to get bulk pricing.

Some manufacturers will be willing to give you a bulk discount on a limited quantity if they see a potential for future orders. You may not have the bulk order yet, but if you can convince the manufacturer that you’ll be promoting its product and project many sales in the future, the manufacturer may give you bulk prices from the first call.

Touring the World of Crafts

The types of possibilities for what you can create are endless. Here I break them down into six basic categories. When starting a home-based arts and crafts business, your best bet is to choose a single category and master it so that you can become a dominant seller.

Wearable crafts: Some call this category textile crafts because it’s about taking materials like cotton and wool and turning them into sweaters, hats, or whatever you can wear. You can create something beautiful and something useful, too.

Doing crafts in this category definitely needs to be a labor of love because creating a sweater or a scarf can take a relatively long time, easily days and sometimes longer. Knitting, macramé, quilting, and similar skills/activities apply here.

Paper crafts: Think of what you can do with paper. Origami, decorative paper works, and even greeting cards fall into this category. Supplies can be inexpensive and easily available. However, unless you’ve made an amazing piece of handiwork, don’t count on getting big bucks for your individual pieces. On the other hand, if you crank out lots of items, you can make it up on volume.

Usable crafts: This category includes everything from making pottery and utensils to crafting soap to making a unique stool and chair. In other words, making a unique craft that people will buy for their daily use is usually a hit. For example, purses and wallets can be knitted from supermarket plastic bags. The idea of re-purposing an item makes it unique, fun, and usable. Soaps and homemade hand or skin lotions are other useable craft items that sell well because the ingredients are typically organic and natural. You don’t have to be the town blacksmith and need to fashion horseshoes from molten metal, but you can still command some good money in this category.

Fashion crafts: Unique handmade jewelry, including earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and so on, are the types of crafts that make great gifts and offer a good market for either birthdays or holidays like Christmas.

Edible crafts: They look good and taste good. too. Edible crafts are a niche that you may not think of. I saw a local franchise that creates what looks like a flower bouquet but was actually made of berries and melons. Use your creativity here and conjure up some delicious profits.

Holiday crafts: Holiday crafts are always a strong market, so see if this category suits you. Can you make some unique Halloween items? How about for Valentine’s Day? You know, making some unique decorations for the Christmas tree may be right up your alley.

This list includes general categories. You may be able to think of something else. Crafts are suitable for many markets, demographics, cultures, ethnicities, age groups, and so on. Keep researching to find a suitable niche for you.

Adding Beauty and Profit

Perhaps you have an eye for beauty and you have a real flair for creating something visual. Maybe you are a painter or you can draw with the best of them. If so, you may want to take your passion for artwork, start your own business, and sell your artwork. Doing so is easier than ever.

Here are some websites that can help you sell your art:

The Abundant Artist (www.theabundantartist.com)

Empty Easel (www.emptyeasel.com)

Imagekind (www.imagekind.com/sell/art-photography.aspx)

Proud Artists (www.proudartists.com)

Yessy (www.yessy.com)

Zazzle (www.zazzle.com/art)

Keep in mind that some of these sites also provide a selling platform for crafts. Sometimes one person’s craft is another person’s artwork. Visit some of the sites in the previous section on crafts because some of them offer sales opportunities for artists too.

Selling Your Creations: Focus on Etsy

If you want to sell your arts and crafts, you have many options. The big kahuna for doing so is Etsy (www.etsy.com). You may already know that Etsy is an online marketplace, but I suggest you take a closer look at what it all has to offer. It prides itself on being a robust marketplace for handmade goods while being the crafter's best path to global buyers (more than 15 million members worldwide). The recent stats show that Etsy has monthly traffic of 8 to 9 million visits, and that number pops up to 11 million during the gift-buying season of October through December.

If you have handmade goods, then Etsy is worth checking out to find your buyers. The following sections take a closer look at how you can use Etsy. You can also check out Starting an Etsy Business For Dummies by Allison Strine and Kate Shoup (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).

Setting up on Etsy

Whether you are buying or selling (or both), you need to register (the account is free). When you put in your location, the site figures out what currency you’ll be using (Etsy is truly international). You also need to enter information, such as arts and crafts shops that you like, find people that you may deal with or are seeking (perhaps people well known for their handiwork).

Take some time and research the types of crafts being sold on Etsy. Pay special attention to the types of crafts that are in your niche or area of expertise to see how other crafters list them, how much they charge, and other appropriate information.

When you create your listing on Etsy, make sure you post great pictures of your crafts. To do so, here are some great sites that offer guidance on how to take photos of crafts for Etsy (as well as eBay and other selling venues):

About.com's photography site (www.photography.about.com)

Crafts Report (www.craftsreport.com)

Your Craft Business (www.yourcraftbusiness.com)

Selling on Etsy

When you choose to sell on Etsy, you have three basic categories that your selling falls into:

Handmade goods: These are the main category and consist of quality handmade crafts.

Vintage goods: They don’t have to be handmade, but they should be at least 20 years old.

Craft supplies: They’re supplies that go into creating quality handmade crafts.

You don’t have to pay any membership or maintenance fee on Etsy, but you do have to pay listing fees (similar to eBay). To list an item (which can last up to four months), you pay 20 cents. When it sells, you pay 3.5 percent of the sale price. If your item doesn’t sell after four months, there is an option for auto-renewal.

When you’re setting up shop on Etsy, you’re literally creating an online shop, so you want it to be attractive where you can showcase your wares (upload sharp digital photos) and provide full details to your visitors regarding product details, your policies, and so forth. (Etsy has templates for much of this.)

Don’t think you’ll get rich by offering a few items; remember that your site on Etsy will be similar to a crafts boutique, so have a nice array of offerings to entice buyers.

Identifying Other Online Selling Venues

Arts and crafts have lots of opportunities for you to have a rewarding business. You want to sell your handiwork and want an online outlet to do so. In addition to Etsy, which I discuss in the previous section, you have many other options. Feast your eyes on a list worthy of any arts and crafts marketer:

Art Fire (www.artfire.com)

Artful Home (www.artfulhome.com)

Bonanzle (www.bonanza.com)

Cargoh (www.cargoh.com)

Chictopia (www.chictopia.com)

Coriandr (www.coriandr.com)

Da Wanda (www.dawanda.com)

Ecrater (www.ecrater.com)

Folksy (www.folksy.com)

Handmade Artists (www.handmadeartists.com)

I Craft (www.icraft.ca)

Made it Myself (www.madeitmyself.com)

Not on the High Street (www.notonthehighstreet.com)

Novica (www.novica.com)

Poppy Talk Handmade (www.poppytalkhandmade.com)

Ruby Lane (www.rubylane.com)

Silk Fair (www.silkfair.com)

Storenvy (www.storenvy.com)

Supermarket (www.supermarkethq.com)

Tophatter (www.tophatter.com)

Uncommon Goods (www.uncommongoods.com)

Yokaboo (www.yokaboo.com)

Zibbet (www.zibbet.com)

Tons of arts and crafts items are sold regularly through eBay and other auction sites. You can find out more about selling on auction sites in Chapter 7. In addition, many people sell their wares through their own sites and blogs. Many places on the Internet can help you set up a relatively inexpensive store site. A good example is Webstore (www.webstore.com).

If you want to boost your product sales, don’t just list them and wait for results. Do some active marketing, too. Here are some strategies to consider:

Search for art categories in the free classified ad sites, such as craigslist (www.craigslist.com) and Backpage (www.backpage.com).

Set up a Google alert (www.google.com/alert) with keywords like "craft" or a brief description of your item. When new pages with your keywords are set up on the Internet, you can go there and check for any new marketing opportunities for you.

Find blogs and forums on arts and crafts and participate. You can create opportunities to link back to your craft page where you sell your item.

Keep in mind that the sales of products may be subject to sales tax. Although you, the business owner, don’t pay the sales tax, you may be obligated to collect it from the customer and subsequently submit it to the appropriate sales tax authority. The sales tax is considered a state and local tax issue. Check with your tax professional for specifics, depending on where you live.

Eyeing Offline Selling Opportunities

Don’t think that the only selling opportunities are just online. The offline world also has plenty of opportunities for you. Here are some venues and ideas too:

Events and shows: Craft fairs and shows are everywhere, and they aren't difficult to find. Do your searches with your favorite search engines. Also check with sites such as the Trade Show News Network (TSNN) (www.tsnn.com) to find local trade shows and related events. Every event is run differently, but you can get contact information for the event organizer at the TSNN site. If an event is running in your area, go first as a visitor. Doing so can give you a chance to see how the event is operated and if many people attend. Then you can meet the organizer to determine when he will be back in your area and other details (costs, benefits, and so) so you can decide if you want to participate the next time the event is in town.

Consignment shops: Just as there are consignment shops for clothing, there are also similar shops for items such as arts and crafts. You place your item at the shop, and if it sells, you split the profits with the shop. To find them in your area, use Super Pages (www.superpages.com) or you can get referred to local shops through their trade group, the National Association of Resale Professionals (www.narts.org).

Fund-raising vehicles: I was at a craft fair recently for my church. It was successful for both the crafters and the church. You can find and create plenty of opportunities in this venue. Approach your favorite charity and discuss the possibilities! You’ll probably split the profit with the organization — a win-win.

Branding considerations: Remember that arts and crafts can pave the way to bigger and better things. When you have a reputation and a brand that you have created, you can forge a very successful business. Some good examples of arts and crafts leading to big things are Thomas Kinkade (I love those paintings!) and iconic craft items such as Precious Moments.

Focusing on the Four Rs

I’m a real stickler about not wasting. In fact, many times I have even reused aluminum foil or a paper plate. The fact that this practice is good for the environment is a plus. It can also be a bonanza for crafters! Lots of items could have ended up in the garbage bin and clogged up some landfill, but that actually has utility and sales value.

Imagine making a nice profit by selling something that effectively cost you nothing — even common items that you find in your kitchen or garage or in a junkyard. Try out a website like Earth 911 (www.earth911.com) to find lots of great ideas about turning items that would have been discarded to reuse or repurpose them. You'll never look at garbage the same way again! You can find materials that are cheap and readily available and convert them into a profitable item — and reduce waste that would otherwise pollute the environment — all in one fell swoop. Cool!

I refer to this practice as the four Rs:

Reuse: Is there anything that you can reuse? In your house and your neighborhood, many things can easily head into the trash bin and clog up some junkyard or landfill. Use your creativity (and a chance to profit) and reuse items.

Recycle: If you find raw materials, consider foregoing on the creative stuff and make a buck by recycling. Think of the materials that are valuable and that you can get paid for just because it is what it is. Aluminum, plastic, and so on all have value because society can use it again in another form.

Renew: Look to see if you can refurbish something, renew it, and then resell it. For example, I saw one example where a creative person took aluminum cans and remade them into decorative pencil holders.

Repurpose: It's amazing how you can take things that seemingly lost their usefulness and have a creative person turn it into a great new item. Check out Ehow (www.ehow.com). I went here and did a simple search using the word "repurpose" and found some great examples.

As you scour the world of arts, crafts, and all things creative, keep in mind an aspect of your business that can reap some good bucks without being creative or decorative at all — finding raw materials and waste items for profit and benefiting the environment.