Ways to make your business profitable while working full time and going to school?

[LoveLouella]

I love what i am doing, creating things for my business does not even feel like work. I love doing it in my free time. I am pretty busy and want to find ways to get my business out there. I really want to go to craft fairs...but I can't get myself to pay for a booth, i feel like there are craft fairs where you can get a booth for really cheap or free but i can't find one in MN. Since i am just starting out i don't want to invest too much money if i am not going to make a profit. I want to see where this goes before I invest money in things like this.

[henryz]

You will always need to invest a little even if it's a simple website, your advantage is that you have a full time job and can help finance your business as it grows, advertising, supplies, inventory or equipment. I'm sure if you look really good on google you will find a small crafts fair in MN.

[tallen]

There are craft fairs that are put on by commercial promoters, by arts and crafts organizations, and then by locals schools and churches. We have not done the big commercial craft fairs, but have done the latter types. In our experience, the fairs that have been running a long time (20+years) have been much more successful for us than relatively new fairs. Also, if your work is a real hand-made craft, you want to make sure that you avoid fairs that are open to buy-sell vendors -- in other words, look for "juried" arts and crafts fairs (rather than "flea markets"). Finally, consider the demographics of the neighborhood where the fair is being run (and the type of organization that is putting it on) -- make sure your product matches the people (and their pocketbooks); we tend to do better with a slightly more up-scale crowd.

Our very first fair, we barely covered the booth fee, but it was a valuable learning experience. We got better and better at successive fairs, although now we think we have maybe saturated our local market. You just have to take that first step.

[Steve B]

If you are going to be in business you're going to have to take risks. Typically, that includes paying for things like this and finding out what works best.

[Wozcreative]

Have you tried Etsy?

[sarahfriedlander]

As Wozcreative suggests, Etsy is a great place to start. I've had quite a few friends that have started their businesses through Etsy. Through Etsy they were able to build a customer base and also network with other like minded artists in the Etsy community. This allowed them to get featured on Etsy marketing pages, or even receive press on other sites and magazines.

It seems to me if you build a good profile on Etsy and offer products that people are keen on, it can't go anywhere but up with using their service engine.

[Harold Mansfield]

Since i am just starting out i don't want to invest too much money if i am not going to make a profit. I want to see where this goes before I invest money in things like this.

You will NEVER be successful with that attitude. There are no sure things. There is no success without risk and you can never be completely sure that you will make a profit. You can't tell what works, until you know what doesn't work. They go hand in hand. However the more you learn and try, the better you will be at making decisions that have the best potential.

If a booth at a fair spells opportunity to you, I would investigate the best way to prepare myself so that I give it 100%, and the best possible presentation and spend the money to get the best location that I could afford with the most foot traffic, and give it a shot. It may be a rousing success and it may be a bust, but you will never be able to determine either by sitting on the sidelines afraid to get into the game.

[Wozcreative]

Harold is right.. but another perspective you can look at is that time = money. Are you spending as much time as possible researching how to market your product? Are you sacrificing your TV, Video, Dates, Playtime etc for work and research on how to cut costs and how to do things better with low cost?

If you aren't investing time or money you will NOT get far at all. You will need to sacrifice yourself for a good 2 years without much profit to get you going. If you aren't prepared to do that.. you should reconsider bothering with the whole idea.

[Freelancier]

The problem isn't the cost of marketing, it's going to be the model. With crafts, how exactly do you get your customers to buy more once they've found you? How do you get them to come back year after year to buy another? The most expensive marketing cost is to find the customer, once you've found them, it's cheaper to keep them. But what does "keep them" mean in your business? How do you increase revenue each year? Is it continuously selling more to new clients? If so, then be prepared to spend money to keep finding new customers.

I think figuring this out is going to prove to be important to getting the most bang out of your marketing bucks.

[shadojake]

I just joined here so I just came across this thread. I started a craft business back in December of 2012. It is hard work, but so worth it. As others have said, you have to make an investment up front to see any benefit. Unless you have a lot of extra cash laying around, expect to start, and remain, in the red for a while.

I have done several craft shows, last spring with more to come this fall. I believe the ones that have a long track record are the better ones to be in. They have repeat shoppers with money to spend. These shows may cost more to have a booth but many times you'll draw a better customer. I have been in some that I won't go back to, for a variety of reasons ...
1) The organizer did sloppy work/was rude
2) Lack of advertising
3) Too many buy/sell booths vs. crafts
4) Etc.

If you have not been to craft shows in your area in a while, go to some as a shopper and check them out. Look at the booths as a business person. See what is appealing to the eye and what is not. Talk to the vendors and ask what they like about having a booth in that particular show. Ask if they will apply for future shows with that organizer. That can tell you a lot right there. if they won't, ask them discreetly why they will not. If it is nt convenient to talk "shop" while at the show, ask if you can call them after the show is over to talk about their experience.

The main thing to remember is that reap any reward, you have to put something at risk ... money, time, other interests, etc. I have had to give up time doing other things to make my business successful. I have had to spend money on my new business that I could have spent elsewhere. I have sacrificed Saturdays at craft shows in heat and rain, some in good weather. I have spent weeks leading up to craft shows getting stock ready for the show. I have also made cold calls, passed out business cards, done lots of posting on FB, spent tons of time on a website, etc. To me it has all been worth it. Only you can decide it the effort and expense is worth it to you.

Blessings,
Cindy

[Brandscribe]

As Wozcreative suggests, Etsy is a great place to start. I've had quite a few friends that have started their businesses through Etsy. Through Etsy they were able to build a customer base and also network with other like minded artists in the Etsy community. This allowed them to get featured on Etsy marketing pages, or even receive press on other sites and magazines.

It seems to me if you build a good profile on Etsy and offer products that people are keen on, it can't go anywhere but up with using their service engine.

This is a 3rd +1 for etsy, it is made for just this situation. You can have a shopfront which can attract far more people than a craft fair, and you don't have to 'man the stall' at all times, as the sales process is automated. Like with anything, to do it properly takes time and effort, but you should definitely look to etsy as a solution. I also recommend you read (or audio book) The 4 hour working week, which will give you some insight into how to automate your processes and help you fit your craft business around your other commitments.

Best of luck