Forecasts indicate an annual growth rate of 10% for the handicraft sector over the next five years. This growth will not be achieved in a vacuum, as these handicrafts flourish in developing regions such as India and China due to the low capital required for the establishment and their dispensation with industrial expenses such as machinery, electricity, and fuel.

If handicrafts fall within your area of ​​interest and within your future plan, the task of this topic is to help you establish your handicraft-based project and reserve a share for you in this rapidly growing pie.

table of contents:

What are handicrafts?

Handicrafts or handicrafts are simple crafts that do not need many machines and people but need skill and experience. For example textiles, accessories, embroidery, glass, and more. Handicrafts are a fertile field for creativity and innovation and a window for local cultural heritage.

Handicrafts contribute effectively to the growth of the economy and the creation of productive societies in rural and remote areas and constitute one of the tools for raising incomes, improving living standards, and helping women find job opportunities. 

Kinds of handicrafts

The handicraft sector is characterized by a great diversity contributed by factors such as geography and history, as each geographical region has handicrafts that are the result of its culture, and each era has its artistic tendencies that push some crafts to rise at the expense of others. Among the most widespread types of handicrafts are the following:

  • Crochet, textiles, beads, embroidery, and knitting.
  • Engraving on metals such as silver, aluminum, and metal tools.
  • Wood industries such as furniture, marquetry, wood carving, and woodwork.
  • Toys, toys, gifts, and souvenirs.
  • Collages, mosaics, and dried flower paintings.
  • Pottery, pottery, and ceramics industry.
  • Glass industry.
  • Leather products such as genuine leather handbags and shoes.
  • Silver and gold artifacts and imitation jewelry.

How do you turn your craft into a business?

First Step: Choose the craft field you will be working with

If you are creative but still in the process of searching for the right handicraft sector to learn first and then create your own business, then this first step is for you. Of the many possibilities that may translate your creativity, choosing a niche is the most important in the beginning.

Think about what product you can master and what the niche is. For example, in the field of textiles, there are different categories such as embroidery, crochet, and knitting. It is important to start with one specialization and master it through the many methods of learning crafts online or in specialized training workshops so that it is easy to determine the supplies you need and visualize your brand identity as well as accelerate the pace of production.

Step Two: Study the market and the audience

Your choice of the product you will make depends not only on what you like but also on studying the market and understanding the opportunities it presents for your handicraft activity. Study your field of work and think about market gaps and products that you can manufacture to increase the likelihood of buying from you, for example, you may be creative in making women's bags, but among the many sellers like you, how will you stand out among them, you may consider, for example, the production of multi-use bags suitable for day and evening also.

To find out what products the public is searching for in your field of craft, use Google Trends and tailor the search to the geographic area you are targeting. You can also ask those close to you about the products they want to buy. The market study follows the study of the target audience, one of the basics of the success of any business.

To determine your target audience, think about the people who are likely to love your products, for example, if you are making children's toys, your primary customers will be parents, not only these, but it is possible to attract relatives from aunts and grandparents who want to buy gifts for the child.

Studying the characteristics of your target audience should include its primary objectives of purchasing the product, related needs and problems it faces, aspirations and fears, age, gender, and geographical location.

Step Three: Create an action plan

The piece you produce with your skill requires advance planning and so does your business as a whole. Your business needs a business plan that acts as a compass to guide you in the right direction. The plan reminds you of your vision for the project and prompts you to think about important aspects that you did not pay attention to before, such as marketing and sales strategies.

When you are seeking financing from a bank or backing from an investor, a business plan will be an essential document required. The business plan should include a set of key items, which are an executive summary, a description of what your new craft project offers, market and competitor analysis, a SWOT analysis, a marketing plan, teamwork, and financial projections. You can complete the business plan through the fives market for microservices, which has professional specialists to assist entrepreneurial projects.

To ensure that everything is set up correctly from a legal perspective, this step should be well thought out. Whether you work alone or with a team, your business plan will help you determine the legal structure of your business. Is your business a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, or other?

At the beginning of the craft business, the sole proprietorship will be the most common legal structure because it is the simplest and easiest, although this does not mean that some important considerations should be taken into account.

For example, any debt incurred by the business will be your responsibility, and you may be subject to lawsuits if your products cause injury or harm to the customer. As your craft activity grows, it will be appropriate to expand the legal framework to, for example, a limited liability company.

This is followed by fulfilling the legal requirements for your project, such as registering the project with the official authorities and obtaining the required licenses and permits to start practicing your handicraft activity in a manner that does not violate the law. The last thing you want is to incur a heavy fine or face legal trouble after launching the project.

Depending on your country, your business structure, and the type of craft activity, the types of licenses required will vary, in addition to making commercial insurance for the labor that joins the project, understanding shipping costs, online selling licenses, product shipping restrictions, and intellectual property rights such as patents and trademarks.

Unless you are familiar with all these legal aspects, it will be necessary to obtain legal advice from a legal expert familiar with the law of your country to protect your project from the legal complications that you may face in the future.

Fifth step: Develop a detailed visualization of the production process

Each handicraft includes many products that can be produced. Similar to the crafting field selection step done earlier, in this step you will aim to further define the products you want to sell and what your crafting business will produce. To help you do this in detail, do the following:

1. Answer the following brainstorming questions

  • What kinds of products inspire you?
  • What products do you have experience in manufacturing?
  • What is the size of the market demand for these products?
  • What is the best place to sell these products (online sale, exhibition, or physical store)?
  • Where is the resource located where production inputs are sold? And what are the cost of raw materials and the production process as a whole?
  • If you are going to start your project from home, what equipment and space are required for production to run smoothly?

2. Find the right supplier

Raw materials are the main expenditure item in the handicraft business, so it is important to think about the best ways to obtain them. If you are considering working with a supplier on a long-term basis, there are two important considerations to consider:

The first is to find a supplier near you to avoid any delays in the arrival of raw materials. Two: get samples of raw materials first to make sure they are suitable for your project. Once confirmed, make an agreement that you will have access to the raw materials for a long period of up to a year so that there will be no shortage at any time.

3. Sketch out the designs that sell the most

At this stage, the craft product will become more crystallized, as you will think about the design of the products you will present. Make sure to create designs that customers want to buy and not just like them. The craft market is full of works and products that have great aesthetic value but that the public does not want to own. In addition to the above, it will be useful to keep the following factors in mind when considering the design of hand-made products:

Size: In his book “ The Ultimate Guide to Handcrafted Success, ” Bruce Baker, a handcraft trainer, remarked that large-scale products are the products that sell out quickly from exhibitions and shops, as they witness the demand of the wealthy to fill the voids of homes Large with wide spaces.

This observation highlights that large-scale designs may be the winning option in some crafts aimed at a wealthy clientele. In the same vein, you can think of size as one of the factors that affect the popularity of an item so you keep it in mind while designing.

Style: “Simple elegance” is one of the most popular styles from years ago and is expected to continue. Adopting this style in your designs will attract the modern buyer. Another method that receives great attention is the products that suit different environments, for example, they are suitable for traditional homes and new homes alike.

Color: The fashion landscape is constantly changing and in light of this the dominant colors change every few years. In the handicraft industry, color is one of the essential ingredients for a successful design, so take note of the color scheme and constantly adjust your color palette to keep your products up to date.

Functionality: It is easier to sell products that perform a useful function than purely decorative ones. It seems challenging in some crafts but the benefits to the customer will make it easier for you to convince the customer to buy because of the useful functions of the product. For example: “Folding table with small side drawers for storage.” This does not mean neglecting the technical side, because the main reason for buying handmade products is their uniqueness which impresses others.

Trends: Some handicraft artists feel disturbed by popular trends, as they see them as extraneous to art that imposes itself only by de facto power. However, looking at it as a friend and not as an enemy will make it one of the tools that reserve a place for your products among competing products. It is easy to identify new trends from websites, specialized magazines, and wholesale fairs. We will single out the trends in a detailed discussion later due to their importance.

Step Six: Build a professional brand

Branding with its components is the best tool to stand out among competitors. Your new project needs three main components to build a professional brand:

1. A suitable brand name

A brand name is an effective way to associate your products in the minds of the public, which is why it is important that it does not evoke negative feelings or have strange connotations and that it does not conflict with the products. Avoid fancy, cute, traditional, and popular names, as they may be recognizable now, but will become obscure after a few years. Make sure to register the trade name with the official authorities to ensure that no one else uses it.

2. An effective business banner

Banners are an essential tool in your branding. If you sell products in a store or exhibition, they should be professional, appropriate, and artistic in nature, like your products. Stay away from cheap plastic and fabric materials, as they become less aesthetically valuable. On Souq Five, there are banner design services provided by professional designers.

3. An inspiring profile

A complete profile includes many elements, however, at the beginning of establishing your handicraft business, you will need to focus on writing your “ about us ” story professionally. Be sure to formulate your story in an attractive, inspiring template that explains what is new in your project and what is your future vision. Briefly list the development and growth that is taking place in the project, and then quote some of what you wrote in the design of promotional materials such as landing pages, emails, and brochures.

Step Seven: Determine the prices of the products

Most craftsmen do not have a pricing culture, and they may make the mistake of selling at one price to both the customer and the wholesaler. A proper pricing method takes all costs into consideration while making a profit. The basis of which wholesale price is determined first, followed by determining the selling price to individual customers. Some estimates indicate that the selling price to the public should be twice the selling price to the wholesaler.

Advice: When convincing your customer to buy according to the price you set, tell him useful and strong details away from boring technical information, details such as its distinct functions, its historical value, or the special meanings it reflects, keeping up with the latest color trends, its multiple uses, and its compatibility with different environments.

Market trends are the result of the many interactions of current events and prevailing culture that characterize each era. Trends determine what people buy and contribute to shaping their buying habits. You can monitor them from many windows that you look at constantly, such as magazines, catalogs, websites, print, and television ads, and on store shelves. While making design decisions pay attention to the colors and styles that reveal themselves in those spaces.

Trends are not only related to designs but also related to the market and the audience as we notice from the following trends that you must be aware of to make the most possible use of them in your business:

The first trend: shrinking middle class

Many countries complain that the middle class is shrinking and is in danger of disappearing. This shrinkage resulted in her reluctance to buy artisanal products after she was the first consumer in the past. The middle class now cares about function and product value and is worried about their own future and the future of the planet in general, so you can appeal to them again by adding value to your art and highlighting your eco-friendly manufacturing practices.

The second trend: the growth of the upper class

One of the forms of shrinkage of the middle class was the movement of some of its members to the upper class, and the latter witnessed growth. This segment of the population tends to own more than one house with large areas, which made it an eager place to display handicraft products. Convincing this segment to buy requires innovative marketing with out-of-the-box ideas, a large scope of work, and a huge expansion of the project to provide comprehensive solutions to their large wants and needs.

The third trend: is an online shopping

Some handicraft activities have websites, but many of them do not function effectively. To achieve this, the site’s ranking in the search results (Search Engine Optimization) should be improved to develop sales and attract young customers who resort to Google in every small and large matter in their lives.

The fourth trend: the new simplicity

The chaos of the past has given way to modern designs that are simpler and more elegant. In your designs, you should take into account the use of clean lines and pure designs that are far from clutter, complexity, or exaggeration.

Fifth trend: the cooking revolution

The proliferation of cooking shows all over the media from TV channels, YouTube clips, and Facebook pages has created a “revolution” in food cooking and spawned new trends in preparing, presenting, and eating food. This revolution carries with it a window of opportunity for all handicrafts related to cooking, such as tools and others, such as wood products, ceramics, and glass.

Sixth trend: environmentally friendly production

Eco-friendly products have become a growing art trend that integrates manufacturing with environmental preservation, whether in the raw materials used to the packaging methods, which attracts environmentalists.

The seventh direction: inner peace

In a stressful world like the one we live in, with wars, chaos, hunger, disease, and epidemics threatening us all, art can provide people with a safe haven that provides them with inner peace. Connect meanings of peace, spirituality, and utility in designing your products to get better responses from customers.

The most important methods of marketing handicrafts

Depending on where you will display your products for sale, whether online, in an exhibition, store, or local market, you will be able to clearly define marketing strategies to display your products in front of as many potential customers as possible:

social media sites

It is the primary destination if you are going to sell your products online or in your own real store. Instagram and Facebook will be the two main platforms in your marketing plan, followed by Pinterest. Display your products attractively and convincingly. A high-quality camera is an important tool for presenting your products professionally, which means that you may need to invest in buying a phone with a professional camera to take photos and videos and add them to your Instagram or Facebook account without having to use a computer.

website

It is your chance to combine different aspects such as the colors of your visual identity, professional logo, and product pages so that together they form a complete interface for your online store on the Internet. Creating a professional-looking online store using platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce is easy online.

If you cannot create it yourself, you can resort to e-commerce services and get the help of professionals. However, the important considerations that you must pay attention to in your online store are summarized as follows:

  • Writing attractive and inspiring product descriptions.
  • Add high-quality images of products and promotional materials.
  • Design a powerful landing page that encourages the customer to respond to the call to action (CTA).
  • Include the Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Return and Shipping Policy.
  • Determine prices and geographical areas to which products can be shipped.
  • Checkout payment pages are clear without the complexity and various secure payment methods.

Recommendation Marketing

Recommendation marketing is one of the most effective marketing methods because it relies on word-of-mouth marketing, unlike direct advertising. The most common form is to encourage your existing customers to recommend your products to other friends and relatives. Ask them to do so clearly when they praise the product and offer them promotional material such as a brochure.

Recommendations may take a more widespread form on social media via influencers. Marketing through social media influencers is an effective tool for marketing craft products to the public. All you need is to send the product to the influencer to try it out for themselves, then tell the audience about it and motivate them to buy. To learn more about how to choose the right influencer, read this article: Influencer Marketing: How to Choose the Right Influencer to Promote Your Product

Participation in exhibitions

Exhibitions are one of the most important ways to market handicrafts because they hold great selling and expansion opportunities if they are well exploited. When you apply to participate in the exhibition, be sure to convince the organizing body to write a simple and direct descriptive presentation, while selecting words with art, just like making your products. Once accepted, follow the following practices to get the most out of participating in the exhibition:

  • Before you begin designing your exhibition space, measure the space first to ensure that the design will fit the actual space.
  • Use a simple design on the walls, shelves, and all elements of the space. Simplicity is the key to beautiful design.
  • If the display area allows visitors to enter it, allocate a place wide enough for customers to enter and exit. Neglecting this matter will reduce the number of customers and discourage them from entering your space.
  • Be creative in lighting and make sure to provide good and sufficient lighting. Renting exhibition lights may be expensive, but the alternative economic solution is to buy LED lights with rechargeable batteries and install lighting with the strips designated for that.
  • When considering fixtures, look to buy lower-priced used fixtures rather than new ones, just make sure they are suitable for your products, lightweight, and portable. To repair scratches and signs of wear, re-coat and surface-treat them back to full functionality.

Conclusion

Striving for success In the competitive markets in which all kinds of trades live, agility for any craft-based activity seems to be one of the secrets of success. Agility means the ability to quickly develop products and embrace new trends.

When establishing your new craft project, use the mini-services provided by specialized professionals on Fiverr to help you launch the project successfully, for example designing a logo and banner, creating a website, SEO services, e-marketing, writing content, etc.

I hope this article paves the way for you to establish your own handicraft business. We are interested in knowing the challenges you face, so feel free to share your questions and ideas in the comments.