Yesterday, I shared some of my thoughts on why your craft business gets stuck. And many of you chimed in to talk about the issues you were dealing with. But I wanted to ask a little more directly:
What do you need to grow your business?
What kind of time, money*, help, resources, services, or information would allow you to take your business to the next level?
And how can I help?
*If you’re answering the time or money part of the question, feel free to be as concrete as possible. If you think it would take $20,000 to get your business where you want it to be, it’s ok to say that. We’re all friends here.
What I need to grow my business? Time. Time to work, time to think about design coherently and without interruptions for more than five minutes at a time, time to research more venues and galleries and create the inventory I need to pursue them – time… I’m a mom of a six year-old and a three year-old and married to a founder of a high-tech start-up, though, so time isn’t going to be something I have access to for another couple of years. It’s frustrating to be champing at the bit like this…
Great question Megan, where do I start…! Well, I seriously think I need about $8,000 to get to the next level- that would allow participation in a trade show and then presumably a cushion to help hire some assistance to fill orders/ expand into stores. That is only a purely product level. I have to say that something always seems to be neglected, be it PR or web updates or blogging, it would be very helpful to have a fresh critical eye pointing in the right direction and telling us to back away from the time-stealers!
One issue I have is that finding out what to do can take as much time as doing it, especially for the uber-researchers amongst us, like myself. But essentially, prioritizing is where I could use some help, sometimes it is hard to see the wood for the trees. With such limited time, and such expenses in daycare for the kids so I can be doing this, it feels like every minute must count, and yet the most important part, the blueprint, is the part that is constantly being pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. I think a mentor is needed, perhaps.
I need PR, better marketing. Being able to show people my photographs, collages and notebooks, because once they see what I do, they tend to love it.
And to do this, I either need money or the “right people” to notice me and help me out.
I also need more collaborations when it comes to the other side of my business; working as a translator (English – Swedish), proofreader and as a hired photographer and writer.
And I do need more money – soon – just to make a living. I love what I do and I work hard to create beautiful, meaningful things.
I too need time. I work a full time job and would like to devote more time to growing my craft business, but it is really difficult.
I need to do more research on building an ecommerce site, what kind of permits or licenses are needed for my area, and how to keep better records. I guess that all falls under more time too. 🙂
Just got laid off from my day job and leaning strongly towards making my craft work full time. I’m a part time potter without a studio, and have wanted for years to open a nearby studio to offer classes where I can also make and sell my own. I need a solid plan, investment money, and a place to set it up. I imagine I’d need more to get it off the ground, but these are the basics. I have a little savings, lots of time (being paid for two more months), and knowledge of pottery, but have never done this. A mentor or coach is what I need. Still also selling pottery online too and sales are slow.
I need help with a brand identity crisis I am having. Dealing with my own design maturity has created a great deal of confusion with how I see what I first created the brand as and where it is now headed. I am starting to be very proactive and am beginning a huge re branding effort. I am fortunate to have an awesome team to support the change, but it doesn’t help my own inner turmoil and fear that by changing what I started will cause the company to no longer be successful.
total novice to all this, but just checked out your web page…interesting that you are wanting to “re-brand”… couldn’t you just find someone to run your business as it is (since it seems to be really popular), or sell it…? There’s a retail clothing store in Asheville, NC called “Honey Pot”…They recently opened a “spin-off” store with more “high end” items, and it seems to be working pretty well…Just ideas, no need to respond if not inspired:)
Good Luck…
I think I would need about $20,000. I would put my son in daycare so I could make this more of a 9-5 job instead of whenever he will let me work. 2nd, I would like to hire someone to handle the books. I am very bad at finances especially when it comes to crafting. When I have an idea, it is soooo hard to stop the spending that come with creating that idea. Lastly, supplies supplies supplies!!!
Dora – I would highly recommend outright.com for bookkeeping. It seriously changed how I run my business. I also had been thinking I needed a bookkeeper – turns out all I needed was outright!
I’m lucky in that I already have an MBA and a solid past career as a brand manager so I know how to run a business, launch a product (using finance, marketing, operations and sales/distribution tools) and manage brand equity. What I desperately need is seed money and minions! Lots and lots of minions, LOL! All that experience isn’t worth much if you don’t have the staff and money! Looove your site, by the way 🙂
I need to physically be somewhere else. My current environment is actively inhibiting my ability to do even the most basic work on my business ideas. I’ll be moving in two months, but I’m worried that my escape plan will just trade one constriction for another. Even so, something has to change, and I don’t see this plan leaving me any worse off than I am now.
I think I could probably get to the next level of my business if I had $5000. I have an ideal ft job(Mon-Fri 4am- 12pm) and a very patient family so I actually get quite a bit done during the school year. Summer is a whole different story though. Good thing it is usually too hot to have many craft shows in the summer here in Texas.
Honestly, I need the ability to quit my day job! My day job is very time consuming and involves tons of overtime and just plain takes up too much space in my head. This leaves me with enough time/energy to either create or to market/promote, but not both. Lately I have been erring on the side of creating, but I know I need to do more promotion and marketing if I’m going to be successful.
So, as long as I’m dreaming — if I quit my day job that means that I need access to health insurance that I can afford and that will accept me (have been denied before due to minor preexisting condition — come on, 2014!), and I’d need enough money saved up to cover the mortgage and bills while I grow my crafty business into something that can support me and my partner, as I am the main breadwinner. I’m not really certain what that amount is, which is probably one of the things holding me back as far as planning. I think I’d feel comfortable with a year’s salary in the bank, and I’m about halfway to that point now.
Finally, I’m coming to the realization that I need a car. I live in a major city where it’s really common not to own a car, and is actually much more convenient not to have one. But it is just KILLING me how many summer craft shows I can’t even consider doing, as I have no way to haul a tent and other large items that are needed for an outdoor show. (could rent one but I am not yet selling in the amounts necessary to make back the cost — it is expensive!)
Full or part time assistants, both to help with studio work, and paperwork. Ideally, a larger studio. I’m incredibly lucky to live in a live/work studio, at a subsidized rate for artists, but I’m pushing the limits of what I can do in the space. Money is always an issue, but I think with more help, and the space to make the work, I’d be able to make more than enough to cover the additional costs. Rebranding is on my mind right now, I have a team working on a new website for me, so marketing and PR will wait until that’s in place. Time and space are my biggest problems right now.
TIME! I feel like I can do all things {I am sure this isn’t realistic} and I just need more than a few hours a day.
I am saving right now and hoping to quit my day job at the end of the summer to focus full time on my business. At this point, I believe that the extra time I have will enable my business to really grow.
For those who have said money is the issue, try the SBA MicroLoan program. Loans up to $35,000.
More info here:
http://www.sba.gov/financialassistance/borrowers/guaranteed/mlp/index.html
I need to stay focused : )
p.s. Like the new website!
Or kickstarter.com!
Time would be wonderful because I babysit my grandchildren 5 days a week. But I would love to get a shop built. That would take around 20,000.00 for one the size I need. I have a ceramic shop that I run from my house complete with molds in a barn, and on my carport. I have been reading about branding, but still not sure what or how to. I sell at craft shows and am trying to finish my web site. Right now I depend on family to help where they can. I love your site, and I’m learning a lot.
motivation. either that or a big kick in the butt. i’ve been wanting to set up a big cartel or etsy site for some time now and i’m almost there.. i’ve been stuck at 90% there for a long time. i don’t know why i can’t just sit, buckle down, and come up w/ product descriptions, shipping rates, and my policies. (this is my first time posting on your site.. love it and can’t stop reading it since stumbling upon it!)
Time! I need more time! I usually work 45-50 hours a week at my full-time and part-time jobs. After I make sure I’ve spent enough time with family and friends, take care of my house, my 5 pets, etc., I don’t have nearly as much time as I’d like. I’d like to spend more time improving my photography skills and establishing a stronger brand identity.
I wouldn’t mind a little extra cash, as well. I was so proud of myself for making back my start-up costs before the credit card bill was even due (and thus not having to “borrow” any of my personal funds to start my business), and now I’m reluctant to borrow from myself at all. Now that it’s outdoor craft show season, I’ve realized that not having a canopy is quite a disadvantage, so I really want to get one. I also really want to step up my display for shows, invest in more/better marketing, and get product packaging that has my logo on it. It wouldn’t take all that much money, but it would be more than my current profits and at the moment I’m being too stubborn to float myself a loan. I’m pretty dead set on my business continuing to be self-sustaining, since it really has been from the start, but investing a little extra money would definitely help my business grow.
Two things I can identify that I need right now would be a) money and b) a PR person.
In Tara’s class last night, we talked about outsourcing the tasks we don’t like to do, and I would love to hire a social media consultant to handle my social media sites. Even if they kept to my current schedule, it would free up so much of my time a week.
And money – who doesn’t need some? I think I’d need around $5,000 to get things the way I want them (like my own professionally designed ecommerce website), $10,000 for a little more cushion.
Like many on here I need more time. I’m not too worried about it though. The little one will be in school soon enough. I’m also one of those people who build up their business little by little. I guess you could call me the little engine that could:) I’ll get where I want to be when the time is right. For now, I’m enjoying the ride:)
I need my husband to quit his job & join the empire. No seriously, that’s really what I need for my business right now. I need his detailed thinking, his obsessive-compulsiveness that I can’t stand, and I need his hand with family matters.
Plus, he’s going to be a great internet entrepreneur too.
All we need to do this is a few more month’s time to save, then open an IRA, and purchase health care. We set a date: January 1.
Wow. Bizarre. I popped over here from your big thinking post to check out this one and saw your comment. I was just thinking the other day that the kind of person I need to “hire” is my husband who is totally OCD, focused, and steady. 🙂 Best wishes with the time frame!
I am in desperate need of time. I’m a stay-at-home-mom to a 2.5 year and a 9 month old. The attention needed to care for them, my husband, and to maintain a household is incredibly time-consuming.
I need about $10,000 to get my finances into a place to where I’m more comfortable with pursingmy art, in its entirety, full time.
I need a childcare provider for little-to-no-cost.
I need a studio space. Our living quarters are tight. My desk/office is also a play area and dining room. I need places for my books, noteboks, art supplies, inspiration, and space to work on my different projects with worries that my toddler will eat/draw on/throw water at my work.
I need confidence in myself and my capabilities. Right now I’m working out of my bedroom and I’m running out of space so I need my own studio or work space. I also need help with time management and getting a marketing/publicity plan in place.
This post is so appropriate for me right now because I had a mini breakdown today where I didn’t like anything I was painting, writing about, or photographing (is that a word). It wasn’t pretty!
I like the new layout of the site by the way, very cool!
I’d like someone to clean my house every day after a full day of chain cutting and wire scraps wind up on my floor.
I’d like to know what other information I can possibly give to a potential customer to let go and let me help assemble their jewelry for them so they can go off and design and expand their business. I get tons of inquiries and I get to the meet and greet stage and then it seems they can’t quite let go of the thought of letting go. I can help them. I’d like them to see that and benefit from my expertise.
Then I’d like a little more room to spread out and have a space where I don’t have to worry about sweeping the floor every single day.
Ditto time. Outside a full time job, there are only so many hours left in a day. I am also spending a significant amount of time wedding planning at the moment so hopefully after that is over in three months I have some more time freed up to work on my business.
I dream of a bigger studio of my own too. It’s not a necessity at this stage but it would be much more convenient not to have to move everything off the dining table every time we need to eat!
Either
a) A pro-bono web designer
or
b) $1000 to pay a web designer I found that would be awesome – I tried applying for a grant (in Australia) but it didn’t work, boo!
Production assistant!
I am always looking to expand my audience. I kind of feel like I have hit a wall lately and am not sure how to reach new people.
A production manager that can help me make my processes more efficient while organizing my supplies and inventory. A freelance bookkeeper. A regular Production Assistant (which may allow me to then be the production manager better). more time and energy. more money (14k minimum for all of my large-scale crafty plans to get into place). A good start would be one of those big retailers that keeps eyeing my samples to actually place an order. (they will, I know it. this week, would be nice, though)
An assistant would be amazing! Someone who could help with production, paperwork, or running to the post office and other business-y errands. Of course, money to pay this imaginary person would be fantastic.
I think a lot of what is holding my business back is myself! I feel like I am balanced on a precipice, and I can either give up, or forge ahead, and expand my business, and turn it into a full-time life. It is a leap of faith to believe that I CAN do this, and a lot of that is confidence.
I am probably older than a lot of folks that read your blog (56), and I would love to quit my 32-hour a week job in a boring insurance company, collect the pension from them, and run my bag business full-time.
To get things off the ground I need time, which really translates into a better routine b/c I can’t farm much out yet. That and more hard work. And focus. Tools to translate all my creative, go everywhere energy into productive results. Thanks for the great blog!
While I do feel very blessed to have my own personal art studio in my house, I’m still definitely lacking in the time, money and personal assistant departments. At the risk of sounding cliché, I do think that there are not enough hours in a day. I create a gamut of products and services – from new media design to wedding dresses, and I can never seem to be able to devote enough time to each of them. It would be great to have some sort of magical/robotic assistant to do all the grunt work (packing/shipping, running errands, cleaning the house, etc.), as well as bookkeeping and accounting. And for free, to boot! That, or somehow find a way to effectively run a business without needing a wink of sleep.
Extra cash is always nice. Several thousand dollars would do the trick in setting myself up for craft shows, as well as updating some of my studio equipment.
I need the written word + strategy + trustworthy assistance.
I need to funnel my big ideas into textual content that allows for them to take root in fertile soil, which will ultimately yield a field of opportunities. I have BIG vision and clear ideas & need help grounding those ideas into words that allow others access to the opportunities my business offers.
I need a damn good copy writer and the money to hire said genius. I also need the most brilliant launch campaign that people effortlessly want to sign-up!
I need more time. No, we all have the same amount. What I really need is to be more organized with my time and plot out my days. Anyone else?
I noticed that more time is the “big” answer for this question – and more money too. My business is very small right now – still determining what direction to take it – jewelry making or teaching with polymer clay – how to balance the two if I want to pursue them both. I definitely need to learn about e-commerce as well – not sure how to budget for it yet – just using what limited knowledge I have to get the word out about what I do. Again so much to do, so little time and money to do it all – I value everyone’s input on this – the aspect of having an online community of artisans/crafters wanting to grow their business offers so much encouragement. You realize that you are truly not alone in this venture and hearing from everyone gives me a better perspective on how to make my business grow and what one can expect to happen along the way – thanks everyone,
Amanda:)
A need for e-commerce help is huge, huge, huge! There is a big hole in the craft market for books targeted toward craft-based e-commerce with tailored advice that just doesn’t fit well with the general business help books out there. Those of us who believe in doing it yourself could benefit from these kinds of resources so we don’t have to rely on scattered, though informative posts about search engine optimization and the like. Having solid sources in one spot would save a lot of time and avoid the need for crafters to hire often sketchy and unreliable e-commerce help.
The few craft business books out there are well organized, but they don’t spend much time on the ins and outs of e-commerce, where most of us set up shop, so to speak. It’s common to see a statement like “check out your local small business association for information on SEO” or “SEO is too complex to get into and beyond the scope of this book.” Without a storefront, we have to become noticed amidst a sea of millions of other sellers on the Internet! Many e-crafters are not aware of the kinds of marketing they are going to have to do, let alone strategically designing and listing their item descriptions, etc. We want to DIY, but we have to spend an inordinate amount of time locating reliable information.
I need more Canadian business. We do very well all over the world except our home country. Canada is so vast but with such a small population – it’s very hard to market to all corners of the country. Our brand is well known in other countries but not Canada – even my neighbours don’t know what I do! I just haven’t found the right route to Canadian buyers yet – it’s very frustrating. Anyone got any ideas?
i agree with faith:
i would love to have someone do all the research and then just tell me step by step what to do so i can focus on doing what i do best-creating my artwork!
my time is freer than most; no little kids, just taking care of my elderly parents; my job is seasonal…and if i get my jewelry business going strong, i’ll quit that as well.
BUT i find i can literally use up the entire day on the computer researching SEO or about blogging or any of the other many tutorials online that we NEED to learn how to do… it all takes so much time that days will go by without me working on a single piece of jewelry.
Wow – it’s so amazing to see the different things that would help you all grow your businesses! Thanks everyone.
This has given me lots of ideas for posts and other things to help everyone achieve their goals. Look for some of them in the next few weeks!
Time to create and design thinks, I think 1 day would make a huge differents so im working on that. Also maybe 10.000 euro’s so I can by some of my stock in bulk so I have more money in my business. I always break even at this point.> sell> profit> buy new stock> balance zero. So at this point im slowly growing
I just came across an article on Design*Sponge where they talked about having a proper financial process and not just looking at the checkbook. I think that would be a great topic to cover.
Thanks for the suggestion Bridgett – I’m adding that to the list! I know I’ve gotten a much better sense of how well my business is doing now that I look at numbers beyond the bank account balance!
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Very good information. Lucky me I recently found your blog by chance (stumbleupon).
I have book-marked it for later!