[Nfb-krafters-korner] Creating a business

Thu May 8 20:21:19 UTC 2014

Does this mean you get one pair a month for that price.  Does the customer make the choice.
Write me direct if you want.

Terry Powers
Terry.powers at nih.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisamaria Martinez [mailto:lmartinez217 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 4:14 PM
To: List for blind crafters and artists
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Creating a business

I'm curious about this too. I've started an earring club among my friends and it's a lot of fun and challenging. I want to make this more of a business and be official but the licensing and zoning stuff and tax thing really gets me overwhelmed. I'd love to hear from folks who've done it and find out what needs to be done. I've done some research online but it is all confusing.

As for the details of the crafting ... I collected interested people from my friends on Facebook. I asked folks to commit to a 3 month trial period for $20 a month. I gave them a free pair of earrings in the first mailing.

I purchased padded envelopes, earring cards, and all the materials needed for the earrings I was making. I'm tapping into the vast amount of beads I already have and am trying to get rid of. All of the materials for shipping was super cheap.

Every month, in braille ro print, I write up a description of the earring I send to the customer.

shipping was pretty cheap, and even going to Hawaii which was the furthest away, wasn't that expensive. Each envelope was less than an ounce so shipping was less than $3 per envelope which is why I had my monthly subscription at $20 a month.

anyways ... I'm happy to hear more from folks who have done this.

Oh yeah, I currently have 7 customers and am always looking for more people. Eamil me at lmartinez217 at gmail.com if you are interested.

On 5/8/14, minh ha <minh.ha927 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for all the advice. I'm still in colleege so I was thinking of 
> making this really small. Does the licensing/tax requirements apply 
> even if I'm, lets say only selling 50 dollars worth of stuff a month?
> It does sound really daunting.
>
> Minh
>
> On 5/8/14, Annette Carr <amcarr1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>> Licensing includes zoning and tax regulations.  I know all of this 
>> sounds a bit over whelming, but just take it a step at a time and you 
>> will get through it and not have any regrets later.
>>
>> Annette
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Nfb-krafters-korner 
>> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On
>> Behalf Of Nancy Yeager
>> Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 11:28 AM
>> To: 'List for blind crafters and artists'
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Creating a business
>>
>> Min,
>>
>> You also have to check licensing requirements in your state and/or 
>> locality.
>>
>> Sorry if this was already mentioned.
>>
>> Nancy Yeager
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Nfb-krafters-korner 
>> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On
>> Behalf Of Ramona Walhof
>> Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 10:29 AM
>> To: List for blind crafters and artists
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Creating a business
>>
>> Min, you need to figure out how much volume you will be able to make.
>> Then
>> test the market, so you know you are making a product that will move.
>> Packaging and shipping is a matter of calling the post office and UPS and
>> getting rates. You can do this online also.   Of course, you will have to
>> choose some destinations to price as examples, but you can learn 
>> their basic approach.  The farther it goes, the more it costs.  UPS 
>> will come to your business and pick up items ifyou have enough 
>> volume.  I would go look at packaging materials.  IF it is just a few 
>> items, retail packaging materials may be best.  But if you will have 
>> a lot, then wholesale would be better.
>> There are a lot of large envelopes these days made of durable materials.
>> Write me direct if you like.  My data isnot current, because I closed 
>> my business some time ago.  But it included a mail room.
>> Ramona.walhof at gmail.com.
>>
>> p.s.  When you are ready to go, the first thing you need to do is get 
>> a tax ID number which can be done by phone.  If you are going to be 
>> big enough to hire one or more employees, there is a bunch more 
>> paperwork.
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "minh ha" <minh.ha927 at gmail.com>
>> To: <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 11:52 PM
>> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Creating a business
>>
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I am inerested in creating a business for the crafts that I am making.
>>> I was wondering for those of you that have experience in this, what 
>>> are the things I should consider before embarking on this. My 
>>> boyfriend is a web developer so he's going to make a website for me, 
>>> but I'm not really sure what I need to do to get this off the ground.
>>> Packaging and shipping costs would have to be considered, but how do 
>>> I go about figuring this out? Thank you so much for any advice you 
>>> can give; I'm goign to make this my project for the summer.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Minh
>>>
>>> --
>>> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the 
>>> dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
>>> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on 
>>> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>>>
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>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty 
> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on 
> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
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> https://www.facebook.com/pages/NFB-Krafters-Division/269246643109571
> "Follow NFB Krafters Korner on Twitter: Our Handle is @craftingblind 
> Don't have a Twitter account? You can still follow Krafters Korner on 
> Twitter. Go to: Twitter.com/craftingblind To unsubscribe, change your 
> list options or get your account info for
> Nfb-krafters-korner:
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> inez217%40gmail.com
>

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