stay or go?

If you can afford the rent and enjoy then stay as long as you want. You have to do what makes you happy. Kristine in Germany

Hi Jenny,

If that is your dream, then go for it.

Hugs,

Nora

If you are enjoying what you are doing and you don't have a problem with paying the rent for the craft booth... then go for it and see how it goes in the New Year! And from me... good luck to you in your endeavors. :o)

Gem

- and you're welcome for the picture being up.

Jenny, you must do what your heart and mind tells you to do, never mind what you friends tells you. Make up your own mind based on solid ground money wise and for the love of what you like doing. I would think that 6 month is a good test time. Go for it girl....

Els

It sounds like you have a good location; the rent seems reasonable and you say you can afford it. The difficulty seems to be volume of sales.

I used to read articles about professional business advisors who gave free advice to entrepreneurs. If they're still around maybe you could get some tips. Maybe the local better business bureau or chamber of commerce would have some ideas.

Do your local newspapers have an occasional free three-line ad? Sometimes a single small ad focused on one single item can get results.

Do you also take commissions? (If you do, then be sure to get the cost of materials up front and a written description of exactly what is expected and when!)

After Christmas is traditionally a very low period for sales. Even stores that do excellent business have been known to close down and do their restocking for a month or two. Could you do that and still get your location back? You said you started mid-month; is the rent pro-rated? Would you save a few dollars if you took a vacation for the second half of January, after the After-Christmas sale?

You might do better to have a Last-minute Before Christmas sale, the way most of the mall stores do nowadays, and advertise it a few days in advance. Some people will buy things anyway because they don't want to come back later and risk missing a unique item, but others might be attracted by the last-chance sale aspect.

I guess the bottom line is, if you can afford it and enjoy it, go ahead. But there's a limit to how long you can run at a loss and still claim it's a business and not a hobby.

=Tamar

It sounds like inexpensive marketing, and if it does not take you away from designing and production, go for it. You might, however, consider some other types of marketing. Your crafts mall will only reach a limited audience. If you want to make a go of it, you will need to consider reaching more than one type of population. I have heard of some crafts people who do home presentations like Tupperware. There are lots of ways to use free and low cost marketing techniques - ads in weekly newspapers are very cheap, the local business review will be interested in posting a notice when you actually create your business, you may get some mileage out of the business section of your local daily newspaper. You will need to make those initial contacts.

Have you thought of a one-sheet "newsletter" to hand out? You might put in some informational articles as well as a bio. A coupon would help you to see if you have any repeat or word of mouth business, and will help you build a mailing list. Also, hold a raffle (be careful of gaming laws, sometimes you can't use the word "raffle" without a license or permit). That will draw people to your booth. Require enough information so that you can add them to a mailing list, even if you don't use it initially. The newsletter is something that is a bit larger will reinforce the message that you're there. The informational article might be enough to keep the paper from being circular filed. Do you have tags on your items? Even if they are removed, it is another reinforcement. If the item is a gift, it will advertise to at least one recipient and maybe more than one. You might consider teaching what you do for free - small workshops or to do it for a local organization - this will also get the word out.

(I'm sorry - are you in the US?) if you are, then you might contact the small business administration. Also, there may be many women's groups that could help - my local Business and Professional Women's group (BPW - it's an international group) has a newsletter that has very inexpensive advertising, for an example. Also, membership is not terribly expensive and will also give you more exposure.

I found that it is very important to not just see your cost of business as cost of materials, but to also bring in the factors of time and overhead. When I did craft shows years ago, I was competing with folks who did not charge for their time. Many of them used craft shows as a way to recoup the cost of materials for their hobbies. I was trying to make money to supplement my family's income. Both are valid, and you must make the decision of what you want to accomplish.

You must do what you feel is right, but to also look at using good business practices if you want your business to make a profit.

Good luck! We need more small businesses out there!

Susan K

You're going to have to follow your heart there. But, as a business owner (not crafting) I have 2 cents to contribute:

$125.00 a month for four days sounds reasonable enough. It sounds like a six month commitment of $750.00 might not cause you financial ruin.

The fact that the people are great and you "LOVE" having the store, speaks volumes, we all need something we like to do.

When your boyfriend says you are wasting your time and money, is it possible there is a real message he is trying to send you? As any business owner will tell you, making time to spend with family is difficult, especially when just starting out, and family often resent sharing you with the business. While that may not be the most important issue when you want to own your own business, your boyfriend's attitude certainly ranks as an issue, since your personal happiness is affected by his feelings.

Now, the nasty little financial analysis.

--Rent==>It costs you approximately $28.85 per week to rent your space.

--Payroll==>You spend 3-4 days at the site. Assuming you spend 6 hours per day, that is 20-24 hours per week. Even if you are willing to forgo a regular wage in order to start up, you must plan for one eventually.

--Materials==>In addition to crafting supplies, you have business cards, website maintenance, credit card fees if you accept charge cards, sales forms etc. Total those up. You need to generate enough income to cover your business expenses.

You have additional non-business expenses as well. Driving to the Craft Mall, lunch and or coffee while you are there. Although these may not be directly deductible for tax purposes, you should be aware of these additional lifestyle expenses (just as you would look at childcare, wardrobe, and increased convenience meals if you had children and were considering working outside the home).

You said you have sold $300.00 in craft and flea market items. Was that total since mid-August? Or is that a monthly sales figure? Was that gross sales(before expenses?) or net? For the sake of this example I am going to assume that the figure you gave was a monthly figure, and that it was the amount of profit after expenses. If that is the case, you are spending 20 hours per week to earn seventy five dollars. That is a rate of $3.75 per hour. A bit lower than minimum wage, but unfortunately comparable to many folks who craft for a second income.

Now the worse case scenario. You've made $300.00 in sales since AUGUST. And that total didn't include the money you spent on materials for the crafts you made. If that is the case, you are spending close to thirty dollars a week on rent, to net less than twenty dollars a week in sales. And you have materials costs for the items you sold as well.

You spent $500.00 in rent. I'm going to estimate $150.00 in crafting supplies, and an additional $20 in business cards and forms. If this is the case, you spent $670.00 to 'earn' $300.00. In other words: it cost you three hundred and seventy dollars and over three hundred hours of your time to pursue your dream. (The 300 hour figure may be low, as it does not include any crafting time off-site).

The question now isn't "should I stay and see how it goes", but instead "how much money (and time) am I willing to invest (and possibly lose) on my crafting business" and "what can I do to ensure a profit". Ask yourself, "what kind of income do I want to generate for myself". It may be that you would be happy with an hourly rate of $5.00. Then you need the sales volume to cover that. Assuming half of the product value is materials, you would need to generate WEEKLY sales of about $260.00. ($28.75 rent, $100.00 wages, and materials of $100 in $200.00 worth of product). Don't forget the need to spend more time to craft additional product.

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