Is a hand made craft business right for you?

Part of the all-important planning and research process is to ascertain whether a hand made craft business is right for you, and whether you are right for a hand made craft business!

1. First and foremost - you are very unlikely to get rich! If you want to get rich you should find another opportunity fast. If you love your craft, love talking about your craft with others, and love showing off your products, then you can probably tick the first box!

2. Do you have the personality for it? Running a handmade craft business means working from home most of the time. It also means managing inventory, order sheets, taxes, etc. You not only have to be organized, but also be able to commit and invest without knowing the outcomes of what your craft will be. Discipline is also required to finish projects and to carry out with setting up craft shows and online businesses. 

3. Can you sell? Although many craft-addicts like to hide behind their crafts, you are going to have to go out and sell yours - either to shop owners or direct to the public through craft shows and the like. Selling in this way can be hard work; at times it can be soul destroying! You must have confidence in your ability to sell and keep on selling, even when your product is criticised, your prices are laughed at, and every customer is abrupt and rude!

4. Business skills. Do you have the right business skills for a craft business, or can you learn them quickly from someone who does?  Marketing, finding the right customers, and being in the right market are all vital factors for success. You will also have to be adept at organization, time management and paperwork.  

5. Growing your business. Even if you have identified the right market, produced the right product and hit the right price point, the time will come when you will need to move on and upwards. Do you have the motivation, the stamina and the imagination?

6. The Family. Running a hand made craft business will inevitably impact on your family. You will need to commit hours to your business that you might otherwise have committed to the home, you may have to be out selling at the weekends and during holidays to find the right customers, and your supplies and finished products may take over the house!  You will need the support of your family if you are to succeed.

7.  Finding the space. Do you have sufficient work area in the home? Can you store your things safely - especially if your kids are very young? Will you be able to shut the door on your work and spend quality time with your family?

8. Time commitments. Craft shows can be terribly time consuming and exhausting. Preparing for them is equally time consuming. Will you - realistically - have sufficient time to devote to your business to get it off the ground and generate sufficient income to make the sacrifices worthwhile?

9. Benefits. Can you do without the benefits - insurance, holiday pay, sick days, etc - that would be available to you if you became an employee elsewhere?

10. Social contacts. Can you do without regular company? Working at home on your crafts can be a lonely business.

Finally, are you prepared to invest in the future - both in terms of time, and money. To build a successful craft business you will need to test new products, build up inventory and stay ahead of what is happening in your markets. In the short term, you may not have much money coming in and a lot of money going out! Remember also that most crafts get a big push in holiday times. Can you afford to ride out the lean times and wil you be able to discipline yourself to save during the good times?