Small Business How To...

  M y daughter loves to bake.  She bakes quite often but not in any sort of routine. (I should have seen this but I didn't.)  Her baked products are delicious and she often gets complements from others who have eaten her creations.  One day she was complaining that she needed to earn more money.  I suggested she bake muffins and cookies for sale.  We could sell them in our farm market and she could receive all the proceeds.  She baked and her baked items sold out quickly.  She enjoyed the money in her pocket.  I asked her to bake on a regular basis for our farm market.  In her excitement of her new earnings she agreed, I think.  When it came time for her baking to happen, she didn't bake.  We went to market with no baked goods.  Customers asked about them.  I asked her to bake again for us.  She never did.  It turns out that she has to be in the "mood" to bake.  The pressure of baking on a regular sched...

W hen choosing a product for sale, consider a product that will be used up.  The customer will want to buy more because they like it.  A bracelet or a painting is a great item to sell but once your customer has purchased that particular item they really don't need another one that is the same.  Yes, they may buy another bracelet from you but there is a limit to the number of bracelets they will own.  Same with paintings, home décor, furniture, etc.  Products that get used up will bring you return customers who will be needing more.  Candles, soaps, wax melts, and food items are great items that guarantee repeat customers. We have sold a lot of different things over the years.  I am a crafter by nature and my husband is a salesman.  We have always worked best when together.  I craft he sells.  We used to spend our weekends in the summer at a camping resort.  Several times over the summer we would participate in craft shows and sales....

  S ometimes a great product will be a temporary sale.  Once everyone has the product they don't need to buy more and you will have to shift to a new product. However, don't be afraid to ride that wave.  Social media and the internet can be a great source for helping you find a great product that will sell, if only for a short period of time.  When the COVID pandemic hit, I had been selling embroidered kitchen towels in a few local stores.  One store manager asked me if I could make him and his employees cloth facemasks.  This was all we knew that could help with the virus spreading at this time. I had no idea how to make a mask, but I said I could and figured it out.  Then I made some for my family.  I posted on social media that I was making masks and if anyone wanted any I would be happy to make them. Orders started coming in. The manager of the store where I made the masks for asked if I would make some for him to sell to customers.  Then...

The other day I bought a new printer for my computer.  I opened the box and on top were two items.  One was a booklet about 20 pages in total detailing all the steps to get my new printer up and running.  It also included a detailed guide, with pictures, of routine maintenance and a section on possible reasons my printer has stopped working.  The second item was a piece of cardstock folded in half with the title "Quick Start Installation Guide".  I grabbed this piece of cardstock, looked at the pictures and went about setting up my new printer.  Only after I had it installed did I grab the 20 page in depth book to identify the symbols on the display panel.   Some people will go for the in depth version of installing a printer making sure they have all the details covered and they fully understand how to work their printer before turning it on.  Others will grab that "cheat sheet" and then wing it until they need additional knowledge. Starting...