[Nfb-krafters-korner] Starting a Business in Crafts

Tue Oct 5 10:32:01 UTC 2010

You've hit all the right points and then some!  It doesn't happen over night 
and just because you like it, doesn't mean enough people out there will 
either.  Farming and crafting isn't easy, but it is sure satisfying to one's 
soul!

Susan R.
dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Laurie Porter" <freespirit1 at tds.net>
To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 3:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Starting a Business in Crafts

> Hi:
>
>
> I have been selling my jewlery now for over 15 years.  You certainly ask
> alot of questions.  I wonder if you can tell me what made you decide to do 
> this and do yu have any experience with your soaps and cosmetics you've
> made? For example, have you made them for people and gave them as gifts or
> something like that. I ask this only because I have learned through my own 
> business and have watched others of my fellow vendors many of whom are 
> soap
> makers and basket weavers  and the one thing we all have in common is that 
> we work long hard hours in this business.
>
> Let me give a bit of my  background.   My husband and business partner 
> and I run a company called wildlife
> preserves. We make over 85 varieties of jams jellies butters and fruit 
> spreads as well as a host of dried goods and spice blends. I also sell my 
> beaded jewlery creations. We are in the middle of our 15th year in the 
> business. We  sell our products at 4 local farmers markets and I do a few 
> craft shows that
> I have time for. I also have  some of my beaded jewlery in a few retail 
> locations. My husband also manages 2 of the markets and he is in charge of 
> many vendors. We get calls all year long from people wanting to come 
> andsell at our markets. Many of whom he has to tturn away.
> the first thing I can tell you and this might answer your question of how 
> to sell your items in a crisis economy.  the first thing is that hand made 
> soaps and basket weavers are everywhere. Everyone is now looking for extra 
> ways to make a few bucks, and the crafting world has been saturated.
>
> The only thing that has kept both me and my fellow vendor's heads above 
> water is a combination of uniqueness of product and diversity in our 
> ability to get there as a business. For 8 months of the year, I work 12 to 
> 14 hour days with only a few hours off once in a while and I am as happy 
> as I can be about it. My work is my     pashon, but pashon alone does not 
> put dinner on the table. One thing that makes most crafting businesses 
> fail is the lack of understanding of how to run a  successful bisnesss. If 
> you want to get the best out of your rehabilitation experience in order to 
> achieve the goal of perhaps eventually getting off social securitiy, I 
> would enroll in a small business program at a technical school or junior 
> college in your area. If  that is not a practical thing to do than maybe 
> you can find small business seminars. there also is a variety of webinars 
> and other internet resources on how to write business plans.  There is 
> gobs of craft report and craft business publications available on the 
> internet free of charge. You can find them on the crafting sites  and 
> forums you visit most, ring hubs, and make google your new best friend. 
> You can ask your councilor to help with the cost of some of the small 
> business seminars. Based on some of your questions, it sounds like the 
> more research you do on your perspective products, the better it will be 
> for you to find more financial support.
>
> the first thing I did was research my perspective product thoroughly. I 
> first read any website, publication, and book I had ac cess to online and 
> I spent a bit on supplies and for at least  a full year, I played. I made 
> lots of beaded creations, some of which are hidden in a dark corner of my 
> closet and as first attempts may never see the light of day again  lol. 
> Most of what I did took very little money. It took the one thing I had at 
> the time and that was time. I had time on my hands and I put it to good 
> use. I made learning about crafting my full time job.
>
> I was fortunate enough to have David who has previous experience in 
> running a business as he comes from several generations of small family 
> farming. However, I availed myself of another resource I had near me and 
> that was the other blind people I had contact with who run vending stands 
> and cafeterias. they may not know much about crafting, but they are 
> trained to know everything about business. I do not know if you are near 
> an  NFB chapter in your state, but if you are than most likely you will 
> find one of these vendors who are enrolled in the vending program.
> They told me lots of things like how to get my own tax number. How to work 
> with holesale and retail distributors. But it sounds like you aren't quite 
> there yet. Just take it one step at a time. I'd like nothing better than 
> to see another blind person gainfully employed in his/her own small 
> business.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Eleni Vamvakari" <magkisa83 at gmail.com>
> To: <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 2:57 PM
> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Starting a Business in Crafts
>
>
> Hello to everyone,
>
>  I'm sorry that this is so long but I really am serious about this.
> So hopefully, someone can help me.  As I stated in my introductory
> post, I'm very much interested in starting my own business.  For now,
> I intend on making soaps and candles but wish to eventually expand
> into baskets and other wicker items like mats, toats and more, maybe
> even chair caning.  I may even create other cosmetic products like
> shampoos and lotions.  I'm also interested in making brooms and/or
> brushes but am not really sure what the market is for those right now,
> since most people whom I know buy the synthetic versions.  The first
> two seem the quickest, the cheapest and the easiest.  So I've been
> asking questions of Joyce and she's been giving me excellent advice
> about making candles and soaps, from places to get materials to tips
> and tricks that I can use as a totally blind crafter.
>
>  At any rate, I recently read that there is something called a plan
> for achieving self-support (PASS) offered by Social Security.  The
> site explaining all of this is here.
>
> http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/11017.html
>
> I receive SSI so am eligible to apply.  If they accept my plan, I can
> get extra money to put towards my business.  I could use it to
> advance my knowledge of these trades, particularly wicker working, for
> the materials to make the soaps, candles, baskets etc., and maybe even
> the brooms, since the supplies for the latter are extremely expensive.
> I could even use some money to go to local stores to buy my supplies
> so that I can reduce the need to pay shipping.  if I desire.  But the
> process for setting up the plan, filling out the form and especially
> for creating a business plan, seems extremely difficult.  I can easily
> answer some of the questions but others are confusing.  I need to
> know, for example, who my customers will be.  I'm thinking some will
> be online consumers and others might be found at craft shows.  If I
> get lucky, I might even sell to stores!  But I'm not sure right now.
> I also need to know what my items and services will cost.  As I don't
> know the amount of customers that I'll have nor the competitive
> prices, I can't answer this accurately.  Then, they ask how I'll pay
> for it.  Isn't that what this money is for, to get me started?  Of
> course, once I start making an income, then I could use that to pay
> for supplies etc.  They also ask how much I expect to make within the
> next four years.  How can I properly answer this without having had
> the experience of selling these items and in an economy that is in
> crisis?
>
>  They say on the site to seek professional help.  So I've contacted
> my vocational counselor from the New Jersey Comission of the Blind as
> well as the woman who runs the local job club.  The latter is on
> holiday so hasn't returned my e-mail and the former I will need to
> contact again on Monday, since I haven't heard from him either.  But I
> was told that some of you have had experience in this regard.  Would
> anyone here be able to help me with formulating a plan or at least
> with some ideas as to how to get this started?
>
>  How much product should I buy for the first batch so that I can test
> the waters but not be overwhelmed or underwhelmed with too much or too
> little?  Where are the best places to sell my things?  I've considered
> craft shows but heard that these can be quite expensive to attend, and
> right now, I don't have much money.  I know there's always EBay but
> I'm not sure how popular these types of items are on there.
> Craigslist seems like a good option, provided that I can ship the
> items to my customers.  Etsy, I think, is overloaded with those kinds
> of things so I really don't know how mine would sell when compared to
> others.  I'm still seeking a mentor who works in basketry or at least
> advice as to which books, tapes or videos are the most accessible to a
> totally blind basket weaver.  So any help there would be appreciated.
>
>  Finally, last night, I came across something called the BOS (Blind
> Online Success System) which is a free program teaching the basics of
> business marketing.  They were mentioned by the ACB and by the APH, so
> I'm pretty sure that they're not a scam.  Their site is here.
>
> http://blindonlinesuccesssystem.com/info
>
> Has anyone worked with them, and if so, is it worth it for me to do so
> given my plans?
>
> Thanks,
> Eleni
>
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