ABSTRACT: Many of us have certain talents in our hobbies, whether making crafts or cooking. Those talents can be turned around by creating a home-based business.
CONTENT: I like to present an overall means of earning income from a home business, and not just by finding opportunities via the internet.
If you have some kind of skill, say in crafts or maybe in cooking you can turn that skill into a home-based business that will give you extra income. While one may enjoy buying store bought items nothing can beat something that is hand-crafted or home cooked or baked. Whether what one's skill is that is either hand-crafted or baking, both do take a lot of patience, dedication and time, but are made with care, pride and from the heart. Whatever skill you might have it might be only a hobby type thing, yet it might be that something you love doing and are good at that could be expanded into a home-based business. Are you into the hobby of pottery? Did you ever think of making it a full-blown business and selling your work? How about that hobby skill of woodcrafts? Sewing? Crocheting? Embroidery? Maybe you even tinker around making genuine homemade candles. All these are endless possibilities in turning that hobby you love to do into a boda-fide business. But with any business, you have to do some research into it before going pell mell out into that big world out there.
At first, you might be content in selling whatever craft items via friends. Word of mouth is probably the best way to pick up on a business. This is how I got my start with my own crafting business, in which I make Native American type products, from teddy bears with a Native American theme to them, my Dreamcatchers, suede beaded money pouches, Dreamcatcher necklaces, feather necklaces and hand beaded earrings. Believe it or not, the great way to start the ball rolling into your aspiring craft business is to give one of your craft items as a gift to a friend, in other words giving it to someone free. Yes, that might sound a bit ludicrous, but you'll probably have the same experience as I had when giving something to someone free to get those orders to start coming in.
What usually happens is that the friend that you gave your craft item to for free, might like it so much, that they start thinking along the lines of..."Oh, gee, you know this would make a perfect gift for my friend, (or cousin, or aunt, or mother, or whomever)... could you make another one up?" Bingo, you've just had your first order.
Now here's where your first bit of research comes into play, probably the most important part, and that is how much to charge, a real tricky dilemma at times. If your craft item is a fairly popular one and the type that is already on the market, say Dreamcatchers, hunt on the internet and do a search for Dreamcatchers and how much the usual asking price is being charged somewhere else. This will give you a good basis on what you should charge. However what you're going to have to do is perhaps knock down the price just a bit. Why? The usual price you see for any item being sold usually is the price of what the crafter sold to the company PLUS an extra charge by that company so they can make a profit, after all that company needs to make money off that item as well.
In other words, don't price your item the same as what can be bought on-line as that might actually be considered overpricing. Also, never price an item too, too low either though. Almost all crafts take a long time to do, some more than others. You know how much skill, time and effort went into your item, so don't demean yourself by pricing too low. If you price your item too low, it could make it appear that your time, skill and effort in making it didn't matter. You don't want that, do you?
Once you start thinking along the lines of creating a legitimate craft business, if you're like me, one can make a complete little pricing list, or better yet even a whole catalog. You can then start handing out these catalogs to your friends or mail to distant family members. I myself have a ten-page color catalog that I can print out right from my computer. Be creative in the catalog. Not only have a description of the item, including the size, dimensions, color (if applicable), the materials used, it's price, but if you can add a photo right alongside the description the better. The easiest way to add a photo, at least for me since I use a Mac computer, is to do a drag and drop of a photo from my photo library, and I then can resize it however big or small you want it.
The next step one might consider in selling your crafts is exploring the possibility of selling your crafts at fairs or church bizarre type sales, however, this can be costly as one usually has to "rent" space for the day and could wind up costing quite a lot, sometimes in the hundreds. One of my mother's friends did this for years, but dropped out of selling her crafts this way as she actually lost money just on the renting fees alone, as she just didn't sell enough of her crafts to make it worth her while. Another means is to set up a table on a street. This is done a lot in my neighborhood, where people will set up a fairly large-sized folding type table that can easily be set up. Selling anything this way however, requires that you get a business license otherwise, if your are caught selling without one, your items are seized and confiscated and you will be slapped with a fine. There are certain guidelines in each city and or state for how one can get a business license and one can do a search for one's state, and for general information about business licenses one can go to the My Business Website
Last, one can even set up a website, and there are many free web-hosts that one can set up and sell on-line. Think of this as an on-line version of a catalog, with descriptions and photographs of the crafts you are selling, set up pretty much the same way as that printed catalog, but on-line instead. The potential then is even greater for success as you are reaching out to millions of potential buyers. There could be one real major hiccup to this approach however. You would now have to think in terms of bulk items, that is, to always have on hand a ready made stock of each craft item you sell, otherwise, if you become lucky and your craft business picks up big time, you're going to find yourself having to explain to potential customers that you need to place the item as a backorder. Many legitimate businesses not only have a backorder policy, but if the wait is too long are obligated to refund the money. So just be very, very prepared if you decide to go this route of selling you crafts on-line. Another consideration of course, now you also have to think in terms of adding shipping/handling fees, and you have to ask yourself, just where do you plan to send the items, in one's own country only to save money, or worldwide where shipping costs could be quite hefty? These are all things one has to think about seriously, if one wants to sell via on-line.
Once you start thinking in terms of selling your crafts big time there are other considerations one has to make. Does your business have a craft name? If so, you might want to look into the possibilities of trademarking that name so that no one else can use that name you have picked out for your business, and in effect all items you make under your trademark are also legally protected, that is no one would be able to copy your designs and call them their own unless they want to be sued. Registering a trademark, however isn't free as there are a variety of fees. For more information about trademarks, one can go to the United States Trademark and Patent Office
So far, I've been talking about selling crafts, but how about if your skill is your love for baking cookies, cakes, breads, or even make candies and you're thinking along the lines of selling your baked products? Believe it or not, entrepreneurs such as Mrs. Fields and Famous Amos got their start by baking their famous cookies right in their own home kitchen. Almost all the ideas I've already mentioned about selling crafts and how one can turn it into a business can be applied in selling one's homemade baked goods, with one big major exception. Once you start thinking of selling any baked items that you make at home especially if you are going to make bulk of your baked goods, this will now be considered as falling into the category of a catering type business, and one will not only need that business license, but also one will have to undergo routine health inspections to make sure you are not making baked goods in conditions deemed not healthy.
Lastly, the most important advice is simple actually: treat your business as a business, be as professional as you possibly can be. If you manage to get a real go of what you are selling, you're going to have to keep track of what you're selling. That means having inventories, records of sales, date of sales, the whole kit and kaboddle. If you do sell on-line you're also going to have to have copies of invoices of the sale, and not just stored in your computer, but it would be wise to also have two physical invoices printed up of each and every sale, that is a copy for yourself, plus that copy to send with the product.
One might ask, is all this effort worth it? It does take a lot of planning, calculation, mapping out of just how you want to proceed turning your love for making crafts or baking goods into a lucrative business. It won't happen overnight if your truly wish to be a success, but in these economic times, running a business from home can be a great way to add some badly needed additional income. And one never knows, do they? Maybe that special teddy bear you designed or that recipe that has been in the family for years, or one that you thought up may be the next big selling hit.
IMAGE SOURCE~©MELANIE NEER~Photo of my Native American themed Teddy Bear "Swift Bear"
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