If you're creative and enjoy working with your hands, a crafts business could be your path to financial independence. With a minimal investment, you can start grossing up to $100,000 a year doing something you love.

This guide starts with an overview of the industry, looks at some specific crafts businesses, and then walks you through the step-by-step process of setting up and running your new venture. You learn about basic requirements and startup costs, daily operations, and what to do when things don’t go according to plan. You gain a solid understanding of the sales and marketing process, as well as how to track and manage the financial side of your business. Throughout the guide, you hear from crafters who have built successful operations and are eager to share what they learned in the process.

This guide makes a great homebased business. Add our e-Business guide to your order, and learn how to take your business online.

Chapter1

Assembly lines around the world are churning out mass-produced items that are purchased almost as fast as they can be made. But consumer acceptance of low-cost look-alike goods hasn’t eliminated the demand for handcrafted items—although those items are likely to have a much different function today than in the past.

Many handcrafted items are now valued as works of art, but historically their value was primarily utilitarian. For example, baskets and pottery were essential for transporting food, water and other items. And weaving produced fabrics that could be made into clothing and blankets.