If you love making your own hand made cards and would like to take your card making skills one more step further, perhaps it is high time you start planning your own handmade card business. If you are thinking about extending your hobby into a business, take a look at some tips to get you started and put together an initial business plan. There are many businesses offering handmade cards in Melbourne and other major cities.
The Card Making Business
Making and selling handmade greeting cards provides you with a great opportunity to simply earn a few extra dollars on the side or to build a significant income source. Most of the small card businesses fall exactly halfway between these two extremes. Handmade cards have remained popular and almost everyone like to give handmade cards to mark birthdays and other special occasions to their special loved one. The greeting cards market is a $7.5 billion annual industry.
Learning the Ropes
When you are starting a business for the first time, there’s a wealth of support and information available including tons of online groups. When looking at books, make sure you find books that are up to date. The market for selling beautiful handmade cards and other products is constantly evolving. Another great option is online training and calligraphy classes in Melbourne or other cities.
Always Plan Before You Start
Before you start selling your handmade cards always take your time to plan. You need to have a concrete business plan. Investing time in the stages of planning upfront can help you stay on track, meet your goals, and avoid all and nasty pitfalls along the way. There are a number of things you will be needing to consider during the entire process of planning. Where do you want to sell? Who will be your target audience? What makes your products unique? These are just a few simple questions you will be needing to answer as you move forward and develop a roadmap for your business.
Determine Where You Are Going to Sell
One of the first things you will need to decide is where you are physically going to sell your cards. Are willing to sell online with your own store, on a managed platform such as Shopify, or only through the local businesses and crafts fairs? Word of mouth and selling cards to family and friends will only take you so far when it comes to selling cards. Good research will help to determine the opportunities.
The number of increasing online craft marketplaces, such as Etsy, Amazon’s Handmade, Shopify, and many other specialist sites. Selling online is a very suitable option for anyone with access to the internet and can operate a computer.
