Business "Handmade Products", how not to go into the red? Why manual work is “expensive” Only manual work.

I present to you a selection - "Handmade photo gallery". Here are the works of famous artists and masters of a variety of techniques: from felting from wool to hand forging from steel.

The culture of any people perfectly and very clearly manifests itself in folk craft. Quite a lot of crafts and needlework have survived to our time, which are not only of value for folk art in general, but also of cultural value in general.

Handmade - what is it?

Basically, when it comes to needlework, any person seems to be a woman engaged in this business. After all, sewing, knitting, weaving and embroidery are predominantly an occupation for women. However, if there is imagination and strength for creativity, almost anyone can do this.

Each product that is made by hand has a value for a person. Those who become the owner of the product receive some kind of affection, primarily not material, but emotional.

Even bread, as is often said, tastes better when made by hand rather than mechanically. The same is the case with needlework; for many, needlework is not only a way to distract or spend time, but also a way to earn money.

Handmade souvenirs - embroidered, molded or painted - are successfully sold in the shops of the same name and for tourists or art connoisseurs they have their own value. Someone is interested in seeing the reflection of mythology in intricate embroideries or paintings on pottery, someone loves the history of a single people, and someone simply liked a souvenir.

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

Borrowing foreign words for the modern designation of some crafts is a common practice, but this can confuse or even frighten some beginner needlewomen; it is much easier to say "patchwork" than "patchwork", although the second one is shorter, but in the first case it is more understandable to most.

Blacksmithing is an excellent example of a kind of extinct craft. Of course, there are still blacksmiths in the tenth or more generations, but there are extremely few of them, and blacksmithing is not really needed in modern times - life has become more measured, armor and armor at the present time are needed only for decoration, rather than protection.

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

One of the examples of an artist-jeweler is Carl Gustavovich Faberge, his famous Faberge eggs. Of the contemporaries, Alexandra Tenzo clearly shows herself, in whose products oriental and northern colors are intertwined, coupled with great-power chic, which perfectly characterizes the beauty of the country.

The modern craft cannot escape from joinery and carpentry. Feel free to say that both of these crafts are needlework, but with the use of auxiliary tools (such as saws, hammers, planers, etc.). Mostly men are engaged in this, since not every woman will be able to saw, cut and plan a tree physically; perfectly harmonizes carpentry and joinery with subsequent painting and woodcarving after manufacturing.

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

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

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

All of them will become a unique and exquisite decoration of your home. It is a completely new direction. Think about what kind of needlework you have a soul for, look around and use your imagination.

Hand forged and welded steel

Author's casting paper, hot stamping photo

Chamotte, glazes, enamels

On Instagram, I read not only friends, but also different designers and handmakers. And in their comments, I often see phrases like: “I want it, but it’s expensive” or “Why is it so expensive?” or something else like that.
I've always wondered what these questioners are counting on? What will they offer a discount now? Or that the seller will be ashamed, scratch his turnips and say: “Damn, yes, I turned it down. Half price!

Some 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 could not understand the intonation in a comment on the Internet, but in fact it is not. If it says something like: Damn, well, and the prices you have here ...”- then the intonation, in general, is guessed. But, apparently, these commentators do not realize that they managed to prick themselves first of all.

Because what is "expensive"? This is a subjective assessment. So you would like this thing for yourself (which means the thing is good), but you cannot afford to pay such a price. And this means only one thing: you have not earned your desires. And the seller is not to blame.

A thing that you don't need can't 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 that he has such a price. So what? You don't need him anyway.
And, unfortunately, not many people understand what the prices are made up of. Moreover, the price of handmade designer items. I didn't understand before either.

Even simple bracelets that are on memory wire, do you think it's so easy to make? Of course, it seems, sit down for yourself, stringing beads. But, firstly, not everyone will sit through stringing 7 rows of small beads like that. 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.

I'm not talking about jewelry, where these beads are not strung, but sewn on! This is a hell of a job for me. And although such jewelry is not close to me personally, I understand how difficult and painstaking this work is.
Often, when I write about designers, I am surprised at how affordable prices they put on their work! In particular, about one bag designer alreadywrote to a magazine and from another waiting for pictures. In my opinion, they have amazing and very inexpensive bags, considering genuine 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 will receive this thing? And in general, would they like this thing, lie it in the trunk, stuffed with a bunch of other things?

After all, what makes up the price? Of course, firstly, this is the cost of materials. Then it is the time and work of the master. And also this is packaging, and a beautiful presentation, and photo shoots with models, and just beautiful photos. After 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 photocube, and other gadgets.

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

And the question is: what do you prefer to receive? A beautiful thing in a beautiful package with a beautiful presentation, or “something” from the collapse of “everything for 10 rubles”? If the thing is from the collapse, then why do you even come to the 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 - it's one thing when you buy 10 pieces of already finished things at once - then yes, you can ask for a discount. And it’s a completely different matter when you ask to make 10 pieces of something for you personally and ask for a discount for it!

Manual work from the volume only becomes more expensive. This is when you bought a machine for a million for a factory, you divide its price by the output. And then, of course, if you produced one thing on it, its cost will be a million. And if a million things - then 1 ruble. And then, of course, wholesale is cheaper.

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

Handicraft is now appreciated more than ever. Everyone is well aware that factory production will never reach such a level. And so handicrafts as a business is a profitable business. But even here there are subtleties and pitfalls. Let's deal with them.

Business "Handicrafts" - where to start?

To begin with, it is worth deciding on the form of work. Handicrafts are made to order or for sale. Both types of work are different. The advantage of working under the order is that you do not waste time and money in vain. You complete the order, knowing in advance that it will be paid for soon. In the case of manufacturing products for sale, you do not think about deadlines and work in a relaxed mode.

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 may be the child's mother or father, or maybe grandparents, or family friends. But most often it will be the mother who will buy the clothes. Therefore, your target audience is not everything, but only mothers. It is not worth wasting energy and money on the rest, these are only a few.

Once you've decided on your target audience, look for ways to connect with them. We're talking about advertising. Come up with such advertising places that most of your target audience will be able to see. Since it is irrelevant for a business selling handicrafts to use expensive promotion methods, use social media, forums, bulletin boards.

How not to burn out?

Most often, this business is preferred by girls, because for them the choice 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 crafts are made at an amateur level, you don’t think about costs, unplanned expenses and maneuvering between the cost and the final price. You just do what you like. As soon as handicrafts move from the category of handicrafts to goods, then the process itself should become different.

1. Contrary to expectations. For those who are engaged in the manufacture of products to order, you will have to prepare for the fact that the share of creativity in your work will lose all meaning. After all, each of your customers will have their own vision, their desire and their requirements. Therefore, it is important not to go too far and not to do it your own way. The more subtle you hear and understand the customer, the more he will be satisfied. It doesn't matter if the end product looks beautiful to you or not. It is important that the customer wanted to get 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 get better, they only get worse. Proven fact. Therefore, do not skimp on training in your field: improve your production skills, learn to sell, study latest ways promotion of sales and interaction with the client.

1. Cost accounting. Now that your products are making a profit, it's important to learn how to count. Keep a record of all your expenses for the materials you use for production. Do not forget about even the smallest expenses, because sometimes several of them together amount to a tangible amount. Costs must be taken into account both after the general purchase and after the production of the order. So you can find out how much of the money you spent on the manufacture of one thing.

1. Smart economy. 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 the sold product brings. For example, in the manufacture of topiary, foam balls are often used. You need to buy them or make your own. The first is money, the second 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. Likewise with the rest.

1. Buyer analysis. The better you know your customer, the more productive your sales will be. Analyze demand, divide your customers into groups according to 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 anticipate demand. For example, knitted sweaters will not be relevant in the summer, and on the eve of the holidays you will have to make a double rate of souvenirs.

1. Wasted time. Not only the cost of goods should pay off. Your work, your time and effort should also pay off. Therefore, set a decent price for your product. But do not forget that everyone wants to buy cheaper. Therefore, analyze the prices of competitors. 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 the allowable barriers, and a real exhibition of dolls, a winter garden of topiaries or a significant warehouse of caskets and decoupage panels 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 countries of the post-Soviet space can hardly be called a grateful consumer: over the long years of chasing cheapness, people have forgotten how to appreciate painstaking manual labor. Nevertheless, a wealthy stratum of the population has already emerged, ready to pay for the exclusive. Conquer the hearts target audience not so simple - 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 enthusiastic artisans can easily push you into the background with production volumes, ideas, prices. Therefore, when starting your artisan start-up, you should keep both factors in mind.

The unspoken rules of selling

Many artisans complain that they only manage to earn 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 indicated date. In handicrafts, 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 goods with a “face”.

Photo quality, background and small details play a huge role

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

Working with personal history

People love stories. Sentimental and humorous, vital and fantastic. If the work has a name and a history, then there will definitely be a person close in spirit who will definitely acquire it without hesitation.

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

Respect your client!

And it's not just 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 craquelures, cheap fabrics and flowers from funeral services stores. Such tricks are easily recognized in comparison with high-quality materials from foreign manufacturers.

Do not 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 the Internet pages characterize you negatively - if you take someone else's photo, then you personally have nothing to show.

learn

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

Finally, keep in mind the most important factor, unique selling proposition. Works made under one line quickly become boring to consumers. Applying imagination, you find yourself one step ahead of the competition.

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

Arts and crafts fair
www.livemaster.ru

Quite a large Internet portal. In addition to placing finished products, you can take orders that are freely available. The Orders table is still working in test mode on the basis of a tender. Selling your work is quite easy - you need to register and create a store with detailed description and photos of their products. Among the shortcomings of the site, one can note mandatory payments for placing goods for sale. You can place only 3 products for free, then you need to purchase a club card (monthly payments).

Skafos / Skafos
https://skafos.ru/

Skafos.ru is a unique, modern and, most importantly, safe platform for buying and selling handmade goods.

Terms of cooperation on Skaphos:
1. Skafos.ru has money-back guarantees for buyers if the goods are of inadequate quality.
2. Money comes to you only after receiving the parcel and only in the absence of any claims.
3. The buyer has three days from the date of receipt of the parcel to check the goods and contact Skafos.
4. If the buyer has no complaints (the product corresponds to the photos on the site, the description and without defects), the platform transfers money to the Master minus commissions within three days.
5. The commission is 8% of the value of the sold Order.
6. There are no restrictions on the number of exhibited goods.
7. The buyer pays for the delivery, the delivery cost is fixed and amounts to 250 rubles, it does not need to be registered when adding a product, it will appear automatically. If you have an expensive and heavy package, everything above 250 rubles is recommended by the creators to take this into account when forming the cost of the product.
8. Skafos does not take money for registration and for placing goods, everything is free. The platform keeps only a commission from the sold product.

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Pretty interesting resource. It contains a lot of interesting information, you can view master classes, start your own blog. And, of course, to sell the work done by yourself

When you think about where to place your goods on the Internet for sale, large online malls such as eBay (www.ebay.com), Etsy (www.etsy.com), the new project Artfire.com (www.artfire. com) or our Runet Masters Fair (www.livemaster.ru). However, there are other places that can become a good platform and attract their customers to you, even if only a few people.

Runet

Information from the site http://lencanovst.narod.ru/article002.html

First, let's look at the step-by-step process of publishing photos. Tip: if you are shooting models of knitted clothes, then in the photo the clothes must be on a person or at least on a mannequin! On a hanger or on a horizontal surface, clothes DO NOT look, DO NOT reveal all their beauty! Note: if you are preparing a photo of napkins, blankets, curtains, etc., then shoot in the interior - a napkin on the table, putting a book next to it or placing a vase, a curtain - on the window, etc. For a knitted thing in itself is not interesting to the viewer - it is interesting how she lives, how she decorates the world.

Step 1. First you need to prepare your photos.

1.1. Prepare the products themselves and accessories (decorative pins, brooches, ribbons, etc.) for them as needed.

1.2. Find a model on which you will shoot knitted clothes, and a photographer. If you shoot yourself, then select / find a camera, preferably a digital one.

1.3. Decide on the location and time of filming. If a professional photographer shoots, then you can hold a photo session in his studio. If you are going to shoot yourself, then it is better to choose either shooting outdoors (there may be difficulties with the weather or dressing up a photo model), or indoors against a neutral background.

1.4. The moment of shooting. Shoot as many frames as possible from all possible angles (this is where you will appreciate the beauty of a digital camera). In the frame, most of the frame should be devoted to the model itself - do not capture the entire surrounding area, the viewer will be interested not in the surrounding landscape, but in a detailed image of the clothes.

1.5. Photo processing. You (or to whom you entrust this stage) need at least a superficial knowledge of one of the photo processing programs - ACDSee, PhotoShop or others. Leave the originals! Better yet, save them on a CD so as not to lose them in case of possible computer failures / reconfigurations and other cataclysms (for example, due to hindsight, I lost the source photos 2 times). Experiment with copies of the originals. Burn the finished copies to a CD as well.

Next step.

Step 2. Go online

I'll give you some advice right away.

Tip 1. Get a profile file to save addresses, logins and passwords.

Since there are a huge number of sites, forums, mailing lists, etc., and in many places they offer to register, you need to remember the site address, your username and password for each such source. Tip: get yourself a separate file (word or excel - as you prefer), in which you will write down all this information (source address, your username and password) - do not hope that you can remember all this or that by ticking "remember me ”, you can not remember the password. And if you forget the address of an interesting site? And if you get to this forum only after a month or two? And if you reinstall something on your computer and all the settings get lost?

Tip 2. Do not neglect the "Chosen One"

Frequently visited pages can be added to the "Favorites" of your web browser.

So where can we make ourselves known online and/or find interesting information knitting?

2.1 Forums. A forum is a tool for communication on the site, where topics are open in various sections, to which you can write messages. Each of the messages has an author, subject and actual content, you can attach pictures. Messages posted to the forum can be stored indefinitely, and the answer may not necessarily be given on the same day that the question was asked.

And many others; there are also communities in other languages.

"Knitting" and similar needlework communities on Dairi -

It is necessary: ​​to register on the site, then, if desired, join the community. Although comments on many diaries can be left anonymously. You can read without registration (without entering under your login).

Pluses: there are a lot of the same knitters with whom you can exchange information; comments on the entry may be duplicated to you in the mail.

Cons: Recordings are in chronological order, not in any structural order.

What, already too many addresses, logins and passwords? But you got yourself a separate file to record all this information (you can call it a profile file), and quickly go to sites from Favorites?

Is it difficult for you to deal with all these registrations, terms and concepts of information tools? Well, there's nothing you can do about it - of course, at first, the search for information or registration can be shifted to someone else's shoulders (relatives, acquaintances), but sooner or later you yourself will have to master it. There is really nothing terrible and difficult, the main thing is gradual assimilation and unflagging interest.

2.3 Photo albums - special sites for organizing and viewing photo galleries. You can usually add a title to photos, short description and audience comments.

There are also foreign languages, for example, http://www.flickr.com, but working with them requires knowledge of a foreign language. But even if you figure out how to place your photos, think about your Russian-speaking visitors, who may not be able to navigate your folders.

Required: Register.

Pros: You can upload all your photos, and send to your friends not megabytes of photos, but just a link to the address of your album. You can view view statistics. On some sites, you can block access to photo albums. Some photo sites allow you to search by keyword, author, etc. For example, on http://photofile.ru try to search by the name of the albums "knitting".

Cons: You can't chat much on photo sites, you won't leave much information, and you don't need to - the main goal is to publish photos.

Required: Register (on free sites or buy Domain name). Create a website and place it at the selected address.

Pros: You are the owner of the site and that says it all.

Cons: Requires at least an advanced level of PC user, although free sites build a site based on quite understandable templates. Or you can order the creation of a site for a fee from professionals, but you still need a lot of special knowledge if you want your brainchild to be interesting, useful and visited, and not just “by itself, there is - and okay.”

Of course, such a topic may not take up several pages, but entire books, but now we are just getting acquainted with the possibilities, choosing what suits us best from all this diversity.

I hope that in the issues about the Internet for knitters you found something new and interesting for yourself, were able to post photos of your work on the global network, talked in forums, made announcements in communities on diaries, perhaps sent photos of your knitted creations to which some website, or maybe even made their own personal page. But this should not be the end of it.

And our next step

Step 3. Communicate, communicate, communicate… keep in touch

After all, you not only “showed yourself”, but also “looked at people” - you probably met interesting craftswomen-colleagues or found links to interesting sources. Do not lose this valuable information and contacts. Links to sites can not only be saved in the browser's favorites, but it is better to duplicate the address entry in a separate file, contacts with knitters can also be saved in a file or in the mailbox address book. This will make it easier to store and find the information you need. After all, you went online not for a one-time “demonstration”, but for frequent and fruitful communication? So let's communicate and exchange the most valuable thing we have - information :).

Information from the site http://lenchanovst.narod.ru/article002.html

Website I CAN-SHOULD.http://www.mogu-nado.ru/

On this project you can find application for your talents. You can just show it, or you can put it up for sale. You can do charity work or find business partners. So far, sales and participation in the site are FREE.
Try your hand! Meet other masters! PM

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