About:
Do you have the inner itch for arts and crafts? Here is one I can speak to from personal experiences. This large conglomerate category (crafting/woodworking/handmade) is not for everybody, as is the case with every opportunity to grow a money-making venture - it's never a "one size fits all" kind of thing! Have you ever heard of Starving Artist Syndrome? This is the category in which that can happen in! This isn’t intended to sound all “gloom and doomy”, but let me tell you a little bit about some of the harsh realities I faced first so we can get those out of the way.
Road blocks I ran in to were simply the time taken to make a genuinely high-quality craft I would be proud to announce carries my craftsmanship, getting that craft to market and actually making a profit from the sale, with money most frequently being lost in paying for my time to make the thing (labor costs). On top of both those things, being able to sell in enough volume before rent was due at the end of the month just wasn’t happening! As a busy educator with a working wife (also a busy educator) raising two kids (one of them was an infant at the time I tried this) and maintaining a physical household, haha, yeah, my attempt at being a part-time for-profit crafter never came to frutition (at least at that point in time in my life when I gave it a serious shot a few years ago)!
I was able to put some time in here and some time in there to put out a craft project (or two or three if I was really lucky!) a month and basically give it/them away to friends or colleagues to help "spread my name" - or even just use it/them for family use at home. We had many popsicle stick hot-dish-holders in my kitchen at this point in time and several different styles of business card holders and frames you could change the pictures in for those modern-day Instax mini instant film pictures - beautifully crafted, I must say! But, before long, I had to focus my energies back into my "day job" to ensure I could keep it and keep paying the rent.
“But Andreas, the basics of what you are describing sounds like any other business venture trying to catch air and get lifted off the ground!” you say! “If you don’t work hard and tirelessly on it in the beginning then of course it will never succeed!”
“All fair and true!” would be my response. “What my little soiree into this world taught me is that I don’t have the passion to do this for profit, specifically. For me personally, it is better to keep my crafting as a personal hobby - not a revenue-generating business - at least for now and the near future.”
Essentially, making and selling arts, crafts, and other handmade items is just like any other physical goods-for-sale type of business in many regards, except, instead of just basic retail (i.e. buying ready-to-sell goods and flipping them for more), you are adding the element of production into the mix as well. You are functioning as both the PRODUCER AND SELLER, often two different acts in our modern world (in the ancient world these two were much more frequently inextricably linked – i.e. you made something, you sold it).
To do this right you basically need three (3) things:
1) High quality production – whether its drawings, paintings, charcoal sketches, candle holders, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings, wooden chairs, lampshades, or whatever it is you make and sell, no one is going to pay for crap (no, Andy Worhole’s literal crap is not crap, it's a work of art! For the sake of this train of thought, just humor me on this one if you feel otherwise, please.)
2) A name for yourself – I am using the whole “name for yourself” as an umbrella phrase to mean an outlet/multiple outlets, network, and some kind of "fame" (even just being known as "that guy/gal who sells homemade necklaces at the weekend farmer's market" works as "fame" in this case!) so that people will find you, know who you are (and like you on some level), and buy your stuff! Basically, channels through which to be known and sell your work. You can have the best quality arts and crafts in the world, but if nobody knows about your endeavors to make art/craft pieces and sell them, then no one is going to buy them – those arts and crafts are just going to wind up sitting around your house (this I know from experience).
3) A commercially-viable market – as with any business idea, if the market isn’t there, you aren’t going to make sales (or at least you aren’t going to make enough sales to make your idea worthwhile from a profitability perspective). How do you know if there is a market or not for your arts and crafts? Well, this all boils down to doing research – walking through local craft fairs and seeing what is selling – and some trial and error.
Some final thoughts: selling arts, crafts, woodworking and other handmade goods most likely won’t make you rich overnight. Sadly (in some regards "sadly" - maybe it's not such a bad thing....it's all in how you look at it), the world stopped commercially operating like this with the Industrial Revolution; however, if this is something you are passionate about (i.e. that means enjoy doing for its own sake and won’t give up on it even if you don’t see profits for a while) and you can find a market for your wares, then by all means go for it! I much prefer supporting small-time local artists and artisans whenever I can as opposed to the Big Box Mega Giants; although, let's face it, there is a time and place for everything, and there is a time and place when we can show the Big Box Mega Giants a little love, too! Remember: except for the most unusual of circumstances, almost all of those Big Box Mega Giants started out as "the little guys" at some point in time!
External Links/Resources to get Started:
Ted's Woodworking - Instant Access to The World's Largest Collection of 16,000 Woodworking Plans
(Page last accessed November 16, 2020, by the Webmaster of Biz Opp Empire)
I thought this looked cool, but yes, it's a sales page to purchase woodworking plans (16,000 of them....who knows if that's actually the world's largest collection or not - I didn't really check up on that....16,000 is a lot!). No, I won't make money if you buy these plans. I have no financial stake in this offer - I genuinely just thought it looked like a good, fun offer (for those looking to purchase a bunch of woodworking plans, that is!).
10 WAYS TO BOOST CRAFT SHOW SALES
How to Sell at Craft Fairs and Shows
Getting Started with Craft Shows
25 Places to Sell Handmade Crafts Online
WOODWORKING PLANS AND PROJECTS EVERYONE CAN MAKE!
How artisans across the world are crafting a living
Three Big Ideas to Support Artisan Businesses and the Creative Economy
Crafter’s paradise: The US creativity market is a $44 billion industry
Artists Share How They Make Money While Doing What They Love
8 Innovative Ways to Make Money From Your Art
10 hot crafts to make and sell on the side - complete with online marketplaces and print-on-demand enterprise ideas to help give you an idea of where you can both make and sell some of them. A goodie from the GoDaddy Blog.
Do you have the inner itch for arts and crafts? Here is one I can speak to from personal experiences. This large conglomerate category (crafting/woodworking/handmade) is not for everybody, as is the case with every opportunity to grow a money-making venture - it's never a "one size fits all" kind of thing! Have you ever heard of Starving Artist Syndrome? This is the category in which that can happen in! This isn’t intended to sound all “gloom and doomy”, but let me tell you a little bit about some of the harsh realities I faced first so we can get those out of the way.
Road blocks I ran in to were simply the time taken to make a genuinely high-quality craft I would be proud to announce carries my craftsmanship, getting that craft to market and actually making a profit from the sale, with money most frequently being lost in paying for my time to make the thing (labor costs). On top of both those things, being able to sell in enough volume before rent was due at the end of the month just wasn’t happening! As a busy educator with a working wife (also a busy educator) raising two kids (one of them was an infant at the time I tried this) and maintaining a physical household, haha, yeah, my attempt at being a part-time for-profit crafter never came to frutition (at least at that point in time in my life when I gave it a serious shot a few years ago)!
I was able to put some time in here and some time in there to put out a craft project (or two or three if I was really lucky!) a month and basically give it/them away to friends or colleagues to help "spread my name" - or even just use it/them for family use at home. We had many popsicle stick hot-dish-holders in my kitchen at this point in time and several different styles of business card holders and frames you could change the pictures in for those modern-day Instax mini instant film pictures - beautifully crafted, I must say! But, before long, I had to focus my energies back into my "day job" to ensure I could keep it and keep paying the rent.
“But Andreas, the basics of what you are describing sounds like any other business venture trying to catch air and get lifted off the ground!” you say! “If you don’t work hard and tirelessly on it in the beginning then of course it will never succeed!”
“All fair and true!” would be my response. “What my little soiree into this world taught me is that I don’t have the passion to do this for profit, specifically. For me personally, it is better to keep my crafting as a personal hobby - not a revenue-generating business - at least for now and the near future.”
Essentially, making and selling arts, crafts, and other handmade items is just like any other physical goods-for-sale type of business in many regards, except, instead of just basic retail (i.e. buying ready-to-sell goods and flipping them for more), you are adding the element of production into the mix as well. You are functioning as both the PRODUCER AND SELLER, often two different acts in our modern world (in the ancient world these two were much more frequently inextricably linked – i.e. you made something, you sold it).
To do this right you basically need three (3) things:
1) High quality production – whether its drawings, paintings, charcoal sketches, candle holders, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings, wooden chairs, lampshades, or whatever it is you make and sell, no one is going to pay for crap (no, Andy Worhole’s literal crap is not crap, it's a work of art! For the sake of this train of thought, just humor me on this one if you feel otherwise, please.)
2) A name for yourself – I am using the whole “name for yourself” as an umbrella phrase to mean an outlet/multiple outlets, network, and some kind of "fame" (even just being known as "that guy/gal who sells homemade necklaces at the weekend farmer's market" works as "fame" in this case!) so that people will find you, know who you are (and like you on some level), and buy your stuff! Basically, channels through which to be known and sell your work. You can have the best quality arts and crafts in the world, but if nobody knows about your endeavors to make art/craft pieces and sell them, then no one is going to buy them – those arts and crafts are just going to wind up sitting around your house (this I know from experience).
3) A commercially-viable market – as with any business idea, if the market isn’t there, you aren’t going to make sales (or at least you aren’t going to make enough sales to make your idea worthwhile from a profitability perspective). How do you know if there is a market or not for your arts and crafts? Well, this all boils down to doing research – walking through local craft fairs and seeing what is selling – and some trial and error.
Some final thoughts: selling arts, crafts, woodworking and other handmade goods most likely won’t make you rich overnight. Sadly (in some regards "sadly" - maybe it's not such a bad thing....it's all in how you look at it), the world stopped commercially operating like this with the Industrial Revolution; however, if this is something you are passionate about (i.e. that means enjoy doing for its own sake and won’t give up on it even if you don’t see profits for a while) and you can find a market for your wares, then by all means go for it! I much prefer supporting small-time local artists and artisans whenever I can as opposed to the Big Box Mega Giants; although, let's face it, there is a time and place for everything, and there is a time and place when we can show the Big Box Mega Giants a little love, too! Remember: except for the most unusual of circumstances, almost all of those Big Box Mega Giants started out as "the little guys" at some point in time!
External Links/Resources to get Started:
Ted's Woodworking - Instant Access to The World's Largest Collection of 16,000 Woodworking Plans
(Page last accessed November 16, 2020, by the Webmaster of Biz Opp Empire)
I thought this looked cool, but yes, it's a sales page to purchase woodworking plans (16,000 of them....who knows if that's actually the world's largest collection or not - I didn't really check up on that....16,000 is a lot!). No, I won't make money if you buy these plans. I have no financial stake in this offer - I genuinely just thought it looked like a good, fun offer (for those looking to purchase a bunch of woodworking plans, that is!).
10 WAYS TO BOOST CRAFT SHOW SALES
How to Sell at Craft Fairs and Shows
Getting Started with Craft Shows
25 Places to Sell Handmade Crafts Online
WOODWORKING PLANS AND PROJECTS EVERYONE CAN MAKE!
How artisans across the world are crafting a living
Three Big Ideas to Support Artisan Businesses and the Creative Economy
Crafter’s paradise: The US creativity market is a $44 billion industry
Artists Share How They Make Money While Doing What They Love
8 Innovative Ways to Make Money From Your Art
10 hot crafts to make and sell on the side - complete with online marketplaces and print-on-demand enterprise ideas to help give you an idea of where you can both make and sell some of them. A goodie from the GoDaddy Blog.
