Discover if you have what it takes to start your own craft business.
One of the doubts a person can have regarding starting a business is whether they are actually cut out to run and grow a business.
There are certain traits and qualities that all successful entrepreneurs share. Let’s see if you possess them by outlining them briefly in this article.
Before I progress, I want to emphasise that I know many talented artists who have made a great success of the business without knowing a lot about running a business. Two things work in their favour. Being very driven and passionate about their craft and having the right guidance for handling business side of things.
Regardless, here is your “Can I Run a Craft Business” checklist…
The edge of desperation.
It’s true. A lot of entrepreneurs admit that they only started the business in desperation. They reached the point in the minds where nothing else would do. Things had come to a head and the urge to start something on their own was overpowering. If you reach this stage you can find that you are a very driven person and ready to do tackle all the steps necessary to start your own business.
Ready to tackle the finances.
Either you have enough money put a way to support your craft business start-up or you are willing to make cutbacks in your lifestyle to nurture your business.
Either way, money matters have to be planned in advance and taken care off. Quit a full-time job and you need to be doubly sure you can support the business and yourself. Starting small and part-time is a wonderful option is to keep the business start-up money woes at bay.
Driven and passionate.
Are you passionate about your craft? That’s the kind of people who usually are the most successful with the aircraft business. Do not let it be about just the money.
Because you will be doing it every single day for a very long period of time. Crafter who feel deeply about their work tend to do better. The commitment transforms in to the craft and the creativity and people love that. It is the drive that sees them working harder for what they want to achieve and not giving up easily.
Do you enjoy responsibility?
As someone starting a craft business you are going to be responsible for a lot of things connected to your success. It’s good if you enjoy shouldering the responsibility for getting things done. As a small business start-up you are going to have your fair share of them.
Do a reality check.
Do you have enough information about what it’s like to start a craft business and making it a success? Just like people have unfounded fears about starting a business others have unreasonable expectations. They have seen the outer glimmerings of other business and not seen the hard work and labour that goes into running the show or whether that business even actually makes enough money. Do a reality check. Look before you leap.
Ready to learn?
You have to be willing to learn. Not just because you needed to understand how to run a business but because a business needs to evolve and grow over time. So at all stages you’ll be learning new things. You will be putting new practices in place.
So if learning anything that is not related to your art is not your idea of how you want to do things, make sure you have someone who has the know-how and is willing to provide you with long-term assistance.
There are many things to be learnt such as how to sell online, how to do branding, dealing with customers, business practices etc. Ideally the part of learning all this should excite you.
I know that all this can become a little bit much when you need to find time to do some actual crafting as well. Therefore if you can find someone to help you it will be a great help. Remember, the idea behind starting a business is to make it grow. That will require growing yourself as an entrepreneur.
Do not presume you will just be able to focus on your art and ignore the rest.
Ready to except help.
A smart person knows when they need help with the business. Be smart about getting the right people to give you the right advice in the right areas. Accepting help is not always about hiring professionals to get a job done. It is just as much about keeping an open mind about the people around you. Many of them could have the potential and the willingness to help you with your business.
Download the complete Art And Craft Income Handbook to learn everything you need to know about making money online with your crafting talents.
