The Covid19 pandemic suddenly gave a lot of people a lot more free time. Some turned to gardening & others to community projects. But for many it was crafting which got them through the lockdowns & has put home crafts & crafting back on the map.
The crafting movement origins are as old as time. Traditional crafts such as sewing, pottery, woodworking, etc were the underpinning of communities as traditional crafters produced essential everyday items.
As technologies advanced & automation became the norm, many traditional crafts were lost along the way, with crafting becoming an Artisan lifestyle, rather than an essential practise.
However, the pandemic saw a huge shift in this & with home deliveries becoming lifelines for many, crafting supplies became in big demand. One example of the increases seen in the early lockdowns was Crafting retailer Hobbycraft who saw a 200% increase in online sales alone in the first 6 months of the pandemic.
There has always been a large tradition of crafts & craft fayres in the UK & often you can find a lot of them strategically placed around the major holidays of Easter & Christmas.
One of the greatest crafting success stories has to be Sara Davies MBE. Sara known as the Crafting Queen, has built her portfolio & crafting empire from humble beginnings into a multimillion-pound business.
It was while at university that Sara discovered crafters were putting their beautiful handmade cards into standard white envelopes. It was at this point that Sara identified a gap in the market & subsequently came up with a product called the Enveloper; a shaped piece of MDF which helped home crafters make bespoke envelopes.
From these humble beginnings Crafter’s Companion was born & 16 years later it is a global retailer with headquarters in the North East of England, employing more than 200 people around the world.
As the passion for crafting continues to grow, it is no wonder that many people have turned their hobbies into small businesses or as is the case of Sara Davies MBE, a global crafting phenomenon. With television programmes such as The Great British Sewing Bee, The Great Pottery Thrown Down & The Repair Shop adding to the great interest in crafting; this homebased tradition looks set to continue on its growth trajectory.
However, if you are considering turning your hobby into a business, what are the key elements to consider before you start?
Over the next two weeks, Virtually Smart Ltd will share some ideas to get you thinking & maybe help turn your tabletop hobby into a blossoming business.
Product
What is your craft & what can you sell? If you have a specific talent & can turn it into a craft; you are most of the way there to starting a small crafting or artisan business.
However, before you take the plunge & rally family & friends or take to social media to announce your new venture; take a look at the competition.
There will always be someone somewhere making the same item as you or something very similar. Therefore, ask yourself, how can I make mine different?
Another large part of crafting is considering your materials, their sustainability & how you can promote your environmental considerations alongside your product range. Also consider how you can purchase some bulk items to save money while you set up. You may have to pay a little more for some bulk items in the first instance, but it makes much more sense than smaller quantities which cost more in the longer term.
The next thing you need to consider is who are you selling to, who is your target customer base? Understanding how your product can appeal to certain age ranges, demographics & budgets will help guide your advertising going forward.
What’s in a name?
A business name & or brand name helps identify what you are producing/selling. But there are different ways of developing a catchy & memorable business name.
Some names can be chosen simply for their obvious connection to the product or the family name can be used. Crafty Bee, Craft Village, Makers Market, Handmade by SuzieQ, Morris Artisan Bakery, Tailor & Thompson Wax Melts, Hannah’s Handmade Soap, etc
Crafters Companion is a classic example of how alliteration can work in product names. Alliteration is where two or three words alongside each other start with the same letter.
This persuasive literary device helps the human brain to remember products easier. Other very successful companies using alliteration in their product & or brand names are Coca Cola, Coco Channel, Golds Gym, Range Rover, PayPal, Beaky Blinders Bakery, mono motorcycles, etc
Another technique is using alternative letters with the same phonic sound. For example, Krispy Kreme (doughnut manufacturer) use the ‘K’ in their product name as a play on the words ‘Crispy Cream’.
Changing letters in business names for greater effect is another way of creating a memorable name. A local architectural vinyl wrapping company has the name ‘WRAPT’, a play on the word ‘wrapped’ & another crafting business based on using industrial materials, cogs & gears, has chosen to emphasize the ‘s’ in the name by changing it to a ‘z’ – Cogz & Gearz.
So, you have your product & you are working on a name. What next? Next week we will take a look at selling platforms, soft launch & social media.
Written by Katy-Jane for & on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd
