Adventures in starting a craft business

[Crafty.Canadian]

I really, really want to start selling things I make.  I've started reading some books regarding how to sell crafts, and how to start craft businesses.  I haven't really found anything that's a step-by-step idiot-proof, here's how you get started.  So, I'm giving myself some assignments, and posting them here. Hopefully someone else who is struggling with taking the first steps towards making money from crafting will learn from my mistakes.  Hopefully people who have taken this journey already will comment here and help me struggle through this.

So... here goes:

Assignment 1:  Sign up for a craft show.  This will give me a hard deadline (motivation) to at least get some things done business-wise and make enough stock items to sell that I won't embarrass myself the day of.

I e-mailed the lady who runs the "Nick of Time" Christmas craft show at the Buckhorn community centre.  The fee is only $60,  so I figure it's a small cost, even if I don't sell anything.  At least I can say I have done a craft show.


Assignment 2: Pick a name for my business.

A while ago, before my second baby was born, I started an etsy shop called The Turnip Truck Co.  My husband calls me Turnip Truck sometimes, so that's where that idea came from.  I think it was a decent name, but I don't want to use that name going forward.  I think the name suggests a certain sense of humour, which I like, but I think it also pigeon-holes me into making items with a sense of humour.  If one was looking for a goofy monster brooch, then they might look in a shop called "The Turnip Truck Co"... but the name doesn't really lend itself to handpainted fine home furnishings.  Since I make many different things and I haven't really done any market research yet, I need a name that will work no matter what the shop contains.

I came up with two options I like "Jennifer LaBelle Handmade" (origin self-evident) and "Artisan 82" (being that I'm an artisan and I was born in 1982.)  I really like the word artisan and like calling myself an artisan (rather than artist or craftsperson) because I think it most accurately describes me.  I took a quick e-mail poll of a few friends whose opinions I respect in this regard, and the majority liked "Artisan 82".

So... officially the name of my new craft business is "Artisan 82".  Yippi!

Assignment 3:  Make a logo.

Realizing that I will need to make a sign for my craft booth and probably some sort of facebook and/or blog page, I will need a logo.  I really wanted a logo that said: crafty, handmade, stylish, professional.  I started by scribbling my company name in a sketchbook:



I thought I could manipulate my own handwriting on the computer to make something that I liked.  I traced around the letters in autoCAD, and struggled for hours playing with the image in a free image manipulation program called GIMP http://www.gimp.org/ that I didn't really know how to use.  Here are various versions of what I came up with.






After sleeping on it, I looked on the above with fresh eyes, and determined that I needed to try a completely different approach.  And so down the tube goes two hours of struggling frustration

Well, an education is never free... and in my struggles, I noticed that this nifty GIMP program I was using had a 'create logo' function (did I mention that this software is free!).  So I messed around with that for a while and came up with this (using a free, scribbly looking font I had.)


Although I don't love this, I was getting close.

I took a similar approach with a different font, and I think I found my winner:



The flourishes make it look artistic and stylish, but I like how there's some gouges and splashes... it gives it a hand made look.  I think I'm sticking with this one.

My next goals:
Get a facebook, blog, and etsy account.
Make business cards with the above information on them.  This way at least I'll have some form of marketing material to hand out at the craft fair.
Oh yeah, and stock.  I need to produce stock to sell.  That should happen too.

I'm going to keep this post going, even if nobody reads or comments as a way to be accountable to myself.  I do hope that somebody does read it...  Oh, and if anybody reading this thinks that my final logo stinks, please tell me!  I'd like to know before I start printing business cards. 

[teag]

Good Luck! Sounds like your off to a good start-

[Antidigger]

Please carry on with this thread, I'd love to see how you manage and what happens. If it helps, I'll offer you my experience so you can compare & contrast.

I started the other way around: I built my stock first, then signed up for a show, then finally after a couple of shows got around to making some business cards. I'm making so very little, but at least I'm covering the costs of the show and discovering what sells and what doesn't.

[thisbirdsabsurd]

I love hearing about your thought process and how you decided on your logo.  You know better than anyone what the "feel" is that you're looking for.  (By the way, I think "The Turnip Truck" is a spectacular name and could apply to anything - but Artisan 82 is perhaps more sophisticated.)
  I'm also looking forward to hear about your progress, and my only advice would be to give yourself an identity.  I'm also kind of a "Jill-of-all-trades" when it comes to my artistic interests, but when I do craft shows I find that it helps to narrow down my "wares" to a few things. It will make your booth/display less confusing and make more of an impact. (That's the lady who sells dolls, or ornaments, or paintings, or cool refinished furniture, as opposed to - that's the lady that sells a whole bunch of stuff.)
  Best of luck and keep us posted!

[pinokeeo]

My advice to you would be to start with the business name before you sign up for the craft show.  That way you are starting out as a professional.  You can figure out the logo before the show, but after you have signed up.

Good luck to you.  I wish you the best.

[Chris in VT]

If I may, I'll give some advice from someone who does craft fairs/shows for a living.

Your sign: The bottom one looks messy to me.  As a customer it would look like the ink ran. The next one up is unreadable. The next one up is perfect. It's easy to read, and a customer can see it and read it in the five seconds you will have to attract him/her to your booth.

How many fairs have you attended? I strongly advize you to go and attend as many fairs as you possibly can as soon as you can. Go to small shows as well as big shows run by promoters with professional exhibitors. You have to see how it's done before you do it. You need to look at displays, and notice that exhibitors who just place things on a table don't sell, while others who have varying heights always do better.  
Here is a page from a promoter I do about 12 shows with. It shows individual displays. You can click on a photo to enlarge it.
http://www.castleberryfairs.com/photoalbum.php

Make sure you have lots of lights in your booth. You can never have too much light, so always spring for electricity. As a customer, I will always gravitate to a well lit booth over a dark one no matter how well lit the building is.

Speaking of customers, here's the hard part. How old are the customers? This is why you must do research. If you have items for twenty somethings and your customers are forty somethings, guess what?  You must have a product that appeals to everyone. From those in their teens to retired people.

When you go to the fairs, look at the booths. Many will have walls on three sides. That makes your space your own shop. Your sign goes up on the back of the center wall, not on the table.  Your lights then shine down on your work.

Here's a page from a show I'm doing this weekend. The promoter is giving tips on displays.  http://www.chestercraftshow.com/helpfultips/index.html

This is a good start. As the season progresses, if you have any questions about doing shows I'll be happy to help. You will find that if you like doing physical shows, and you garner a following, you will make more money in one weekend than 6 months on Etsy or online. Customers will always prefer to buy face to face over a website.

[Crafty.Canadian]

Wow, I'm so happy that people have responded.  I will definitely keep updating my step-by-step struggle through this.  I appreciate the pointers people have offered.  Gotta love Craftster!

[Crafty.Canadian]

So I've been trying to set up facebook, etsy and a blog under my new business name, and I've learned that the logo I love looks horrible on these sites.... Back to the drawing board.  I might have to take Chris in VT's advice and go with something much more simple. 

[Crafty.Canadian]

I've rejiggered my logo and started a facebook, etsy, and blog under my Artisan 82 business name.  There's no content on any of these pages, but at least I have them all locked down so I can put the urls on my business cards.

In the mean time, I wanted a little project to do A) to get me away from the computer, B) to give me a some material to start populating my blog C) I was thinking about the craft show and I really wanted to use brown paper bags as the 'shopping bags' for my customer, but I thought it would be really cool to if they had my logo printed on them.  I looked about ordering a custom logo stamp online, and the prices were ridiculous! So,  as any self-respecting crafter would do, I did some research, got myself a coupon, and headed to Michael's to grab some materials to make my own.

[Antidigger]

That looks smashing. very nice indeed.