Start & Run a Craft Business. William G. HynesЧитать онлайн книгу.
START & RUN A CRAFT BUSINESS
William G. Hynes
Self-Counsel Press
(a division of)
International Self-Counsel Press Ltd.
USA Canada
Copyright © 2012
International Self-Counsel Press
All rights reserved.
Preface
Since its first appearance, Start & Run a Craft Business has gone through numerous editions and reprintings, and I have received much positive feedback from fellow craftspeople. I now feel justified in my initial assumption that the book’s generalist approach would be useful to the beginner as well as the more established craftsperson.When the book was first published, there were very few books available about the business side of craft making. Since then, numerous other books on crafts have appeared, some focusing on particular aspects of business as they relate to crafts, others concentrating on the techniques of the various individual crafts.
This book continues to be unique in that it provides a kind of overall blueprint for starting and running a craft business. No matter in what particular medium a craftsperson works, or on what scale he or she wishes to operate, this book provides detailed advice on how to proceed. It covers all the important areas of craft business for the part-time, single-person operation as well as the larger factory type or cottage industry craft business. It also looks in detail at the issues and problems involved in expanding a small craft business into a larger operation.
In the present edition, I have expanded the book to include a new chapter on selling crafts on the Internet. I have also added much new information throughout the book. There have been many changes in the North American economy in recent years, but one thing has not changed: the popularity of handcrafted products continues to grow. According to a recent survey by the Craft Organization Directors’ Association, the fine crafts market is worth approximately $14 billion dollars annually to the American economy.
The number of men and women starting up craft businesses has also grown greatly. While in some cases this has led to increased competition among craftspeople, craft businesses continue to flourish throughout North America. This is partly due to the growing appreciation of handcrafted products by a public that has become increasingly knowledgeable of and educated about crafts. Continued popularity of handcrafts has led to a general rise in craft standards. The quality of today’s Canadian and American handcrafts is higher than ever before.
In recent years, mass-market producers have tried to cash in on the growing popularity of handcrafts by copying craft designs and turning out vast quantities of cheap imitations. This is seen as a problem by some craftspeople, but others regard it as a challenge and an opportunity to widen the market for genuine handcrafted products.
What is certain is that these challenges and opportunities point toward an exciting future for craft businesses in the years ahead.
1
The Advantages of A Craft Business
A successful craft business can be started and operated by almost anyone who is prepared to follow the suggestions in this book. If you are already involved in crafts as a hobby, you have a good head start, but even if you have never produced a handcrafted product, you can still learn to set up and operate a successful craft business.
One man, bored and frustrated with a dead-end job, turned his woodworking hobby into a profitable business that now provides full-time employment for himself and an assistant.
A homemaker and mother of two small children wanted to do something in addition to looking after her children. She did not want to go to work for someone else, especially since she had no specific job training except as a secretary, a job she had always disliked.
Then one day she had a brilliant idea. She had always enjoyed designing and making clothes for her own children, and she thought that just for fun she would try selling some of her work in a local craft market. Two years later, she had built up a successful part-time business making handcrafted children’s clothes. Her part-time business brings in more money than she earned as a full-time secretary, and it allows her to be at home with her children as well.
These two people love their work and, by properly organizing the business side of their crafts, they are making good profits at the same time. What more could a person want?
Craftworkers are made, not born.
There are several hundred thousand craftworkers in the United States and Canada. These people range from individuals who earn extra income from their part-time businesses to designers/craftspeople who own and manage substantial companies and direct the work of highly skilled employees.
The technical efficiency of our modern society and its cheap, mass-market products with their built-in obsolescence has created a large and growing consumer craving for finely wrought, individually produced, handmade products. Each year, billions of dollars worth of handcrafted products are sold in North America and the market is growing rapidly.
Most of these products are made by individual craftworkers and small- to medium-size craft companies. Most of these craftspeople work out of their own homes. They usually started their craft businesses in their spare time, so there was no need for them to give up their jobs until their businesses were off and running.
This is one of the biggest advantages of a craft business — that it can be started at home in your spare time. There is no need to invest in a costly plant and equipment. Most handcrafted products are made with the simplest of tools and equipment that rarely cost more than a few hundred dollars — and in many cases, much less.
Your initial workplace can be your garage, basement, or even your kitchen. Most crafts are relatively clean and quiet, involving no personal health or environmental hazards. The level of skill required varies widely, but most craft skills can be easily acquired by a person of average intelligence and manual dexterity.
Craftworkers are made, not born. In the past, they learned from their parents, and skills were often handed down from generation to generation. Today, most craftspeople learn their skills through practice, by taking craft courses, or from a friend.
Large numbers of people are already good amateur craftworkers. Think of the vast number of men and women who make, usually as a hobby or a way of saving money, handcrafted sweaters, socks, furniture, toys, and thousands of other items. These people may not think of themselves as craftworkers, though they already have many of the skills required to start a successful craft business.
Even if you are not making anything now, you can still train yourself as a craftworker. The list of possible handcrafted products is so extensive and the levels and types of skills required so varied that it is hard to imagine anyone who is not capable of making something handcrafted and, with the help of this book, turning it into a marketable product.
A craft business can give you a great measure of personal independence.
In fact, this book will show you how to start no matter what stage you have already reached. It covers topics such as —
(a) acquiring the skills you need,
(b) identifying a marketable product,
(c) setting up a production crafts workshop, and, above all,
(d) making your business profitable to achieve financial independence.
The value of