Mother/daughter craft business possibilities?

[greenfish]

Okay, hopefully this belongs here.

My Mom always worked with my Father in his business, but the situation now calls for her to get a job to be independant of him.. this is after 16 years of working together, and she wants out.

Anyway, she is awfully talented and crafty. And I've been trying to tell her to use her talent at home..

So, what do you guys think? What is something profitable that she could do at home? I mean, I make jewelry, and its my little job on the side, however, my mom likes to get more down and dirty with crafts..
How do I convince her, and where would be sell? Etsy I suppose.. but how should I make it more realistic to her?


Thank you girls..and guys.

[Berry Apple]

Making Clothes, and also Painting. If you live in a reasonably busy area you could set up a stall or stand right outside your house.

[greenfish]

I live in Philadelphia, so we are quite busy, but in the city.

[xthena814]

You could try going to smaller kinds of stores and see if they would want to sell what she would make. I have no ideas the iinner workings of business, but that could potentially work.

 

[batgirl]

What about teaching classes at a local craft store?

[CraftyChef]

I'm not sure what the totality of her "independence" means, but if she wants to be financially independent as well I wouldn't advise crafting as a way to do it.

Crafting as a full-time endeavor is - particularly in the first couple of years - all spend, spend, spend, plus there's a lot of time-consuming marketing, PR, and sales involved, never mind the creation end. It's really a 24-hour job. If she's been involved in the business end of a business she might be a good planner - maybe not, I don't know.

If it's something SHE really wants to do, I would encourage but not "convince" her. She might try it as a paid hobby at first.

[leesespieces]

has your mom SEEN etsy.com? show her all the stuff other people are selling on here, show her craftster.org, show her this board! make her see that other people out there are doing it FOR REAL and that you think she has the talent to join in. tell her to just give it one try, make a few things and list them, it's just ten cents to give it a go. point out that she's obviously got business skills since she's got 16 years experience, and she's got talent, whats she got to lose? go for it!!

i just started an etsy, and i like it, also, advertising is a main key. everywhere you can, post a link to your etsy, or tell people about it, make little business cards, anything you can think of to get your name out there. good luck!!!

[greenfish]

has your mom SEEN etsy.com? show her all the stuff other people are selling on here, show her craftster.org, show her this board! make her see that other people out there are doing it FOR REAL and that you think she has the talent to join in. tell her to just give it one try, make a few things and list them, it's just ten cents to give it a go. point out that she's obviously got business skills since she's got 16 years experience, and she's got talent, whats she got to lose? go for it!!

i just started an etsy, and i like it, also, advertising is a main key. everywhere you can, post a link to your etsy, or tell people about it, make little business cards, anything you can think of to get your name out there. good luck!!!

Thanks.. thanks to everyone. I appreciate both negative and positive feedback.