Many people enjoy making hand crafted products as a hobby and some would like to generate an income by selling what they make.
If you would like to develop a craft hobby into a craft business, it is important to consider whether there is sufficient demand for what you make, if you can sell what you make for a profit and how you are going to find your customers.
This site has been designed to help you find fairs to attend, venues to book, suppliers etc. It is a good idea to sign up as a member and then to list your crafting details.
Product Choice
Product choice will depend upon what your craft skills enable you to make and what people want to buy. Good places to look for inspiration include craft shops, gift shops and relevant magazines. Also you could ask friends and relatives what things they would consider buying. If you attend craft fairs, in addition to seeing the work of others, you might make useful contacts in the craft community and find new craft materials suppliers and additional outlets for your work. You might decide to improve a product that already exists or develop something new, to meet an opening in the market. You could enhance your existing set of skills and expand your product range to meet market demand.
Pricing
Pricing requires you to combine costs such as materials, insurance, tools, packaging, distribution, stationery, utility bills and the amount you pay yourself for the time you spend working on the business. You should also take account of any tax that you will have to pay.
Once you have calculated your unit cost and compared it to the going rate for similar craft products, you can decide how much you are going to sell your work for. Too high a price could make you less competitive and reduce sales, whilst too low a price could increase sales but reduce profits and even cause your business to run at a loss. Your aim should be to find the right balance, which provides you with a good cash flow and a healthy profit. By reducing your costs or improving your productivity, you could increase the profits needed to invest in the growth of your business and help with finances during any periods of low sales.