If you want a small business opportunity that is manageable, interesting and literally hands-on then you could consider making and selling handicrafts. Making craft products isn’t a difficult business to do, and making and selling craft products could offer very good profit margins.
How to Make Money From Crafting
Here are some if the things you need to think about for profitable craftmaking:
What sort of crafts can you make to sell?
There are no limits on what crafts you can make and sell as a small business. Ideally, it needs to be something that you enjoy doing, that is practical, and most importantly something that people will want to buy. (Tip. If it makes a good gift even better as lots of crafts are bought as gifts.)
Here are a few ideas to get you started: Jewellery. Greetings cards. Candles. Ceramics. Fabrics. Silk flowers. Leather goods. Toys, including soft toys and wooden toys. Enamel craft. Wrought iron. Pot pourri. Models. Paintings, sketches and prints. Photography. Fragrance products. Sculpture. Artisan foods. Clothing items, such as knitwear and t-shirts.
Here’s a useful article with more ideas on things you can make to sell
Methods of making money from crafts
There are lots of ways of selling craft products for cash. You can use some or all of them.
* Arts and crafts fairs. These can be found in all parts of the country and give you instant access to a ready made market for your crafts. Here’s a handy directory of events you could try.
* Sunday markets. Cheaper and more cheerful version of arts and crafts fairs, but a step up in quality from car boot sales.
* Shopping centres. Think about renting a booth or a stand in a shopping centre or mall. If it goes well you could even try a pop up shop.
* Online platforms. Depending on what you’re selling you could try eBay, although it’s not ideally suited to crafts. Then specialist crafts sites Folksy.com and Etsy.com are good.
* Party plan. With party plan you can actually demonstrate your crafts products in an enjoyable, social situation.
If you’re interested in this, here’s an article you might find useful: What Is Party Plan Selling? Could Party Plan Selling Make You Some Extra Money
More tips and advice for crafters
* Investigate the market before you plump for a product. Have a look to see whether other people are already selling similar things, what they’re charging and how they’re doing.
* Go for a product that has potential to bring repeat orders. For example, things like cookies, candles and pot pourri get used up and your satisfied customers will (hopefully) order more from you.
* Buy your tools, equipment, materials and supplies from a wholesale source. You’ll be able to make much better margins than if buying from a crafting shop. Also try eBay for supplies as there can be some very good deals there.
* Do a full costing. Work out exactly what all the bits and pieces used in your product will cost you. Add a reasonable allowance for your time and labour. Then make sure what you can sell your product at will allow for a decent profit margin.
Just because it’s a handicraft doesn’t mean you can neglect the business side – to make sure whatever you make actually makes you money!