Handmade is now more valuable than ever. Everyone understands perfectly well that factory production will never reach such a level. And therefore, handmade products as a business are profitable. But even here there are subtleties and pitfalls. Let's deal with them.

Business “Handmade Products” - where to start?

To begin with, you need to decide on the form of work. Handmade products are made to order or for sale. Both types of work are different. The advantages of working to order are that you do not waste time and money. You complete the order, knowing in advance that it will be paid soon. When making products for sale, you don’t think about deadlines and work in a relaxed manner.

Where to look for buyers?

Before looking for a buyer, determine your target audience (target audience). Let's say you make children's clothing. Your buyer could be the child's mother or father, or maybe grandparents, or family friends. But most often it will be the mother who buys the clothes. Therefore, your target audience is not everyone, but only mothers. It’s not worth wasting energy and money on the rest, these are just a few.

Once you have decided on your target audience, look for ways to contact them. We're talking about advertising. Come up with advertising places that most of your target audience can see. Since it is not relevant for a business selling handmade products to use expensive promotion methods, use social networks, forums, and message boards.

How not to burn out?

Most often, this business is preferred by girls, because for them the choice here is huge: you can sew, knit, sculpt, burn, draw and much more. And any of these types of business starts with a simple home hobby.

And when making crafts exists at an amateur level, you don’t think about costs, unplanned expenses and maneuvering between cost and final price. You just do what you like. As soon as handmade products move from the category of crafts to goods, then the process itself must become different.

1. Contrary to expectations. For those who make custom products, you will have to prepare for the fact that the amount of creativity in your work will lose all meaning. After all, each of your customers will have their own vision, their own desire and their own requirements. Therefore, it is important not to go too far and not do things your own way. The more subtly you hear and understand the customer, the more satisfied he will be. It doesn’t matter whether you think the final product is beautiful or not. It is important that the customer wanted to receive exactly this.

1. Don't skimp on improving your skills. In the handicraft business, your greatest asset is your skills. And if they don't improve, they only get worse. Proven fact. So don't skimp on training in your field: improve your production skills, learn how to sell, learn the latest ways to stimulate sales and interact with the client.

1. Expense accounting. Now that your products are bringing you profit, it is important to learn how to count. Record all your expenses for the materials you use for production. Don’t forget about even the smallest expenses, because sometimes several of them together add up to a significant amount. Costs must be taken into account both after the overall purchase and after the order is made. This way you can find out how much of what you spent on making one thing.

1. Reasonable savings. Reducing costs (time and money) without compromising the quality of the product is the task of any company. The closer you are to this point, the more profit one unit of goods sold brings. For example, foam balls are often used in topiary making. You need to buy them or make them yourself. In the first case it is money, in the second it is time. Instead of foam, you can use crumpled paper wrapped with tape. The surface will still be covered with decor, and the quality of the product will not deteriorate. Same with everything else.

1. Customer analysis. The better you know your buyer, the more productive your sales will be. Analyze demand, divide your consumers into groups based on characteristic characteristics. Later, think about how to increase sales within this group.

1. Demand analysis. For those who produce products for sale, it is important to be able to predict demand. For example, knitted sweaters will not be relevant in the summer, and on the eve of the holidays you will have to produce a double quota of souvenirs.

1. Time spent. Not only the cost of the product must pay off. Your work, your time and effort should also pay off. Therefore, set a decent price for your product. But don’t forget that everyone wants to buy cheaper. Therefore, analyze competitors' prices. If you don't have a compelling advantage, relatively high prices will ruin your business.

Sooner or later in the life of every passionate person, a moment arises when the cost of materials exceeds acceptable barriers, and a real exhibition of dolls, a winter garden of topiary, or a significant warehouse of boxes and panels using the decoupage technique is formed at home. And willy-nilly, thoughts arise about how to make money on your own manic hobby.

Hand-made in Russian

The audience of the post-Soviet countries can hardly be called a grateful consumer: over many years of chasing cheapness, people have forgotten how to value painstaking manual labor. However, a wealthy segment of the population has already emerged, ready to pay for the exclusive. Conquering the hearts of the target audience is not so easy - in some cases, these people have a high sense of beauty, are neat and do not tolerate flaws.

The other side of the coin is competition: hundreds of mothers on maternity leave, pensioners and simply passionate artisans can easily push you into the background with production volumes, ideas, and prices. Therefore, when starting your artisan start-up, you should keep both factors in mind.

Unspoken rules of sales

Many artisans complain that they only manage to make money at exhibitions, while others cannot find even a minute to relax, and they have to sign up for an order a month before the designated date. In the craft industry, the same laws apply as in small business: in order to push aside competitors, you need to have an original offer and the ability to present the product “with your face.”

Photo quality, background and small details play a huge role.

It is not at all necessary to study the art of photography to take high-quality photographs of your own work. You just need to give up evening photo sessions and choose well-lit places and interesting angles. Perhaps simple souvenirs and little things that are in every home will help you beat the work.

Working with personal history

People love stories. Sentimental and humorous, life-like and fantastic. If a work has a name and a story, then there will definitely be a like-minded person who will definitely buy it without hesitation.

We must not forget about people’s craving for the mystical. All kinds of amulets and talismans always quickly find a cozy home.

Respect your client!

And it’s not just about the communication between the seller and the buyer. Many craftswomen are ready to save on everything in order to reduce the cost of work: PVA craquelure, cheap fabrics and flowers from funeral service stores. Such tricks are easily recognized in comparison with high-quality materials from foreign manufacturers.

Don't use other people's work as an example

Firstly, no one has canceled copyright, and you may encounter well-founded claims from the master. Secondly, examples from Internet pages characterize you negatively - if you take someone else’s photo, it means you have nothing to show personally.

Learn

Don't be lazy to gain new knowledge on working with your material. If today you successfully sell flowers from foamiran, then tomorrow decoupage of tea houses may be at the top of popularity.

Finally, remember the important factor of your unique selling proposition. Works made under one line quickly become boring to consumers. By using your imagination, you find yourself one step ahead of your competitors.

Handmade items are exclusive goods, not intended for a wide range of people. Meanwhile, many enterprising and purposeful women manage to create a reliable business in the field of their own hobbies.

On Instagram I follow not only friends, but also various designers and hand-makers. And in their comments I often see phrases like: “I want it, but it’s expensive” or “Why is it so expensive?” or something like that.
I've always wondered what these questioners are counting on? That they will now be offered a discount? Or that the seller will be ashamed, scratch his turnip and say: “Damn, something is wrong, I bent. Prices are half!”

A certain percentage of them want to prick the seller with their comment. This is clearly evident from the context and the intonation in which the comment is written. One would, of course, think that one would not understand the intonation in a comment on the Internet, but in fact, no. If it says something like: " Damn, what are your prices here...- then the intonation, in general, is guessed. But, apparently, these commentators do not realize that they managed to inject themselves first of all.

Because what is “expensive”? This is a subjective assessment. This means that you would like this thing for yourself (which means it’s a good thing), but you cannot afford to pay such a price. And this means only one thing: you did not earn your desires. And the seller is not to blame for this.

A thing you don't need cannot be expensive. If you don't need a Ferrari, then it doesn't matter how many millions it costs. And it’s not expensive for you, it’s just his price. So what? You don't need him anyway.
And, unfortunately, not many people understand what prices are made up of. Moreover, the price of handmade designer items. I didn’t understand it before either))

Do you think even simple bracelets made on memory wire are so easy to make? Of course, it seems, just sit there and string beads. But, firstly, not everyone can sit like that and string 7 rows of small beads. Secondly, vision gets tired. Thirdly, one awkward movement, the wire springs and all these beads scatter across the floor. And you have to start all over again.

I'm not even talking about jewelry where these beads are not strung, but sewn on! This is generally hellish work for me. And although I personally am not close to such jewelry, I understand how complex and painstaking work it is.
Often, when I write about designers, I am surprised at how affordable their prices are for their work! In particular, about one bag designer alreadywrote to the magazine and we are waiting for photos from another one. In my opinion, they have amazing bags that are quite inexpensive, considering the natural leather, handmade, and limited edition. But even they have expensive commentators.

And I didn’t ask, but I’m wondering: people who are “dear” don’t care in what form they receive this thing? And in general, would they like this thing if it lay in a trunk filled with a bunch of other things?

After all, what does the price consist of? Of course, firstly, this is the cost of materials. Then it is the time and work of the master. And this includes packaging, beautiful presentation, photo sessions with models, and simply beautiful photographs. After all, all this is also not taken from the closet. The photographer needs to be paid, the model needs to be paid, the studio needs to be rented. Or buy a good camera, buy a photo cube, and other gadgets.

Plus time for processing photos, writing texts, adding all this to stores. Here, too, you either pay freelancers for their work or waste your time. But in any case, these are costs that the sold item must then cover with its price.

And here’s the question: what would you rather receive? A beautiful thing in a beautiful package with a beautiful presentation or “something” from sale “all for 10 rubles”? If the thing is in disarray, then why do you even come to stores that are dear to you? Go to the collapse and enjoy shopping.

Another aspect is the so-called wholesale. For some reason, not everyone understands that wholesale in factory production and in manual work are two different things. And even in handmade work, it’s one thing when you buy 10 pieces of already ready-made things at once - then yes, you can ask for a discount. And it’s a completely different matter when you ask for 10 pieces of something to be made to order for you personally and for this you also ask for a discount!

Handmade work only becomes more expensive due to volume. This is when you bought a machine for a factory for a million, you divide its price by the products produced. And then, of course, if you produced one thing with it, its value will be a million. And if there are a million things, then 1 ruble. And then, of course, it’s cheaper in bulk.

But handmade to order is a completely different story! Manual labor only becomes more expensive in quantity)) Because it’s one thing when a master creates from inspiration and does what and as much as he wants. And it’s a completely different matter when he needs to sew 10 identical skirts by Wednesday. First of all, it's boring. And, secondly, these are his hands, his vision, his time, and the amount of work does not make it any cheaper.

I present to you a selection - “Handmade photo gallery”. Here you can see the works of famous artists and craftsmen of various techniques: from wool felting to hand-forged steel.

The culture of any nation clearly and very clearly manifests itself in folk crafts. Quite a lot of crafts and needlework have survived to this day, which are not only valuable for folk art in general, but also cultural value in general.

Handmade - what is it?

Basically, when it comes to needlework, any person imagines a woman doing this work. After all, sewing, knitting, weaving and embroidery are primarily activities for women. However, if you have imagination and strength for creativity, almost anyone can do this.

Every product that is made by hand has value for a person. Those who become the owner of the product receive a certain attachment, primarily not material, but emotional.

Even bread, as is often said, tastes better when it is prepared by hand, rather than using mechanical instruments. The same is true with needlework; For many, handicrafts are not only a way to distract themselves or waste time, but also a way to earn money.

Handmade souvenirs - embroidered, molded or painted - are successfully sold in shops of the same name and for tourists or art connoisseurs they have their own value. Some people are interested in seeing the reflection of mythology in intricate embroidery or paintings on pottery, some love the history of a particular people, and others simply liked the souvenir.

Modern needlework and handmade souvenirs in general are often called “handmade”, or translated into Russian as “made by hand”.

Borrowing foreign words for the modern designation of some crafts is a common practice, but this can confuse or even frighten some novice needlewomen; It’s much easier to say “patchwork” than “patchwork”, even if the second is shorter, but in the first case it is more understandable to most.

An excellent example of a somewhat extinct craft is blacksmithing. Of course, there are still blacksmiths of the tenth or more generations, but there are extremely few of them, and there is no particular need for blacksmithing in modern times - life has become more measured, armor and armor in the present time are needed only for decoration rather than protection.

Like blacksmithing, pottery, jewelry and carpentry have also existed since ancient times. One of the literally brilliant crafts is jewelry; Jewelry artists' main mission is to make it look beautiful and have artistic value, while most of them work with soul, and the end result is beautiful jewelry.

One example of an artist-jeweler is Carl Gustavovich Fabergé, his famous Faberge eggs. Among her contemporaries, Alexandra Tenzo clearly shows herself, in whose products eastern and northern flavors are intertwined, coupled with great-power chic, which perfectly characterizes the beauty of the country.

Modern craft cannot escape carpentry and carpentry. Without hesitation, we can say that both of these crafts are handicrafts, but with the use of auxiliary tools (such as saws, hammers, planers, etc.). Mostly men do this, since not every woman can physically saw, chop and plan wood; carpentry and carpentry are in perfect harmony with subsequent painting and wood carving.

For each of us, home is a haven where we want to return, spend warm evenings with our family and take a break from everyday problems. Modern household appliances, new furniture, electronics make living in the house comfortable and convenient.

But how can you make your home cozy? How to create comfort with your own hands in your own home?

And here handmade crafts made from natural materials, patchwork, crafts made from wool, paper, ceramics, glass, etc. will become indispensable.

All of them will become a unique and exquisite decoration of your home. A completely new direction is. Think about what type of needlework you are passionate about, look around and use your imagination.

Hand forged and welded steel

Author's cast paper, embossed photo

Chamotte, glazes, enamels