What does it cost?
If you need to invest substantially in anything for your start-up, it will likely be in equipment for your chosen craft, and perhaps a website to sell your produce. If you’re a beginner it’s not advisable to go for new top of the range equipment. Not just in case your things don't take off, but because it’s possible to find good equipment second hand. “You can try looking in your local charity shops,” Joanne Dewberry of Charliemoos.co.uk suggests. “You'll find lots of people buy all the equipment, give up or never use it. It’s a great way to get started.”
Crafting does not usually require a great deal of investment to start off with. Often, you’ll already have most of the initial stock and equipment from practising your hobby. This was the case for Amanda Ryan of Maisielu.com: “I was lucky that my business was a hobby first so I already had a lot of supplies and equipment,” she says.” I think a lot of craft businesses evolve this way giving the owner a good start up stock.”
Business grew in an organic manner, and very intentionally so, for Fiona Morris of Samigail’s Handmade Personalised Gifts, too: “I was very aware that I was going to start the business on a very tight budget. Except for the initial expenditure in a basic pyrography iron and some wood blanks at every stage of growth the business has paid for itself.”
Organic growth is certainly something to aim for, but at the very early stages, investment needs will vary according to your craft, your equipment and the kind of stock you need to order in. Like any business, it is advisable to have a buffer in place.