Crafts
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Do you sell the crafts you make or give them away?
I started making Wine Glass Charms to help myself unwind after a crazy day dealing with the crazy schedule I have. I would then give them away as a small gift to different friends and then would give them to friends of friends as well. I then sarted making more and more of them and was running out of people to give them to.
I was then asked why I didn't sell them to recover my costs. After some thought I decided to do a craft show for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Although it was not a huge profit making day for me I figured the only way to make it more profitable was to advertise it a bit more via social media and do another craft show in the near future.
My real question is if I start getting busy and selling more what do I need to do as far as starting a business? I have seen the "Cube" advertised for small businesses to use while on the go to accept credit cards. I really would like to get this hobby into a successful small business but not totally sure what is actually need to do to make it a legit business.
Should I talk to an accountant about this?
Being I am only starting out I don't want my expenses to get to high before I start making a profit if this makes any sense at all.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advanced!
Re: Do you sell the crafts you make or give them away?
My very tiny business started a couple years ago when I started giving my stuff to friends. More recently (in the past year) friends have requested items they can give to other people so I just charge them minimally - mostly to cover materials and a very small bit of my time. I have a full time job so my business is more of a hobby that I hope to make enough money from to pay for itself and some other fun crafty supplies for myself.
Should you decide to start a small business for yourself, you will want to check with your state's tax laws and business start-up requirements. I can only speak to Florida requirements, which I imagine are very different.
Since it's just you, I would keep it a sole proprietorship. If you want to come up with a business name, you can, but you can also just keep it under your own name if you like. You can open an Etsy shop or just use a Facebook fanpage and word of mouth. Completely up to you. The nice thing is that wine charms are small so shipping will be cheap and easy for you to do from your home.
Etsy has a ton of information on starting a business, and I would also check with your local chamber of commerce - there might be consultants in your area who give free workshops on business ownership.
Good luck!
Check into your state's laws for sure. There might be sales tax issues.
I have an LLC for my blog and consulting but since there is no product involved all I do is file a schedule C with my taxes. The most important thing is to keep good records of income and expenses, not only for tax purposes but because then you'll know if you're making or losing money.
I'm doing the wine charm thing too! haha
There's a lot of sellers on etsy (to the point that I'm having trouble getting seen, and therefore haven't sold anything). I've been hearing that craft shows and facebook/twitter promotion works well for some people, as well as just plain having a website to sell from. You could start auctioning items on Tophatter or ebay as well.
Like others have said - check your tax and business laws in your state. I had to register and collect sales tax. Also make sure you have a solid business plan and policies -- especially if you plan to sell online. There are TONS of resources around the internet about starting your own small business. do some research, get yourself organized, and go!
Good luck
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