We make money on needlework at home: a business plan. A few motivating stories about how a hobby became the main and essential source of income How to start a needlework business

Where to get material?
Where is the best place to sell finished products?
What equipment is needed for home needlework?

A lot of ladies who have gone on maternity leave are thinking about the question of how to make money and at the same time get distracted from routine household chores. Such thoughts visit not only women on maternity leave, but also students, pensioners, as well as all those who have a desire to earn extra money.
Today, there are quite a few ways to earn additional income, such as working from home through your own needlework. Needlework is a good job for students, pensioners, youth.

Advantages of needlework as a do-it-yourself business at home.
. today, handicrafts are highly valued;
. there is no full binding to the workplace;
. this is a temporary job, at any time you can stop working without having obligations to anyone;
. you independently set the rules, including choosing a time period that is convenient to use for needlework;
. a huge variety of types of needlework, among which everyone can find the right one.
If you have decided to build a needlework business, but do not know where to start and how to make it profitable, check out the tips below.

How to start a needlework business?

First of all, you need to choose a direction that you can master. Not the last place when choosing a particular occupation is the satisfaction that you will receive from the process itself, because any kind of needlework is, first of all, a creative process. Start by choosing a direction that is close to your abilities in any particular area. Of course, if you know how to knit or crochet, sew, embroider, then it's easy for you to decide what to do. But what to do if you are not endowed with such skills? The main thing is not to get upset and remember that everyone can choose an occupation for themselves, you just need to study the characteristics of various types of needlework well and choose something in which you can use your abilities. Various directions of needlework are indicated in the next section.
The second step should be a thorough study of the market for the services offered. First, it is necessary to study what demand exists for this type of product. After that, without fail, it is necessary to carefully study all possible proposals. This will help to identify the supply/demand ratio. You need to come up with your own "trump card" or "zest" in order to attract the attention of consumers to your product. In addition, your product must meet the mandatory requirements: quality, exclusivity, objective price (at least for starters).
It’s not bad if, after identifying supply / demand, you draw up a business plan, at least a simple one. In fact, many underestimate its benefits and, as a result, miss many important points, especially those related to investments and costs. Your business plan must include the following:
. the target audience;
. a clear plan for the purchase of the necessary equipment, material, inventory, etc., indicating specific amounts;
. advertising campaigns to promote the product;
. estimated income.
Before you start any purchases, you must decide on a workplace. As soon as you have equipped it, calculated future expenses, proceed to purchases.
So, everything is ready and waiting for you. Now the most important thing is to work for the consumer. Start small and strive to make products to order, your work should be aimed at finding regular customers. Believe me, this is a very good side job that can turn into a real business.

Types of needlework that can be turned into a business.

Lace making, patchwork, felting, beading, knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross stitching, soap making, candle making, glass decoration, artistic fruit cutting, tatting, Ankars technique, jewelry making, doll sewing, floral paintings, metal embroidery ( on metal products and even on cars), newspaper weaving, thread mandala, temari, macrame, decoupage, scrapbooking, carving, quilling, polymer clay, wrong and others.
You can come up with your own direction of needlework and promote it as usefully and efficiently as possible.
Below are the main areas of needlework that can be successfully “sharpened” for business. These descriptions contain basic information, as well as the minimum cost to start from scratch. By having a higher money level, you can make your start faster and more efficient. The description also does not take into account the costs of registering an individual entrepreneur or opening a company if you intend to legitimize your activity in this way.

Characteristic:
Today, products made of beads on a frame, as well as products with beads embroidered on it, are in demand. In addition, it is this creative direction that is considered one of the most “meditative”, as it calms the mind and streamlines thoughts in the head.

Required deposits:
. perseverance;
. attentiveness;
. high degree of endurance;
. availability of time.

Product variations:
. trees, indoor flowers, beaded decorative flowers;
. pillows embroidered with beads;
. scarves, beaded necklaces;
. beaded bonsai (trees);
. wallets;
. hairpins;
. napkins;
. Easter eggs;
. watch straps.

Material for manufacturing:
. patterns of weaving (embroidery) (can be downloaded for free on the Internet);
. canvas with a pattern for embroidery with beads;
. beads;
. beads;
. bugle;
. thin needles;
. machine for beading (wooden, plastic, metal);
. threads;
. sequins, buttons, rhinestones, pebbles, etc.;
. other base materials.

Knowledge base:
. types of weaving;
. types of beads (round, chopped, modern design, etc.);
. fastening methods;

The target audience:

To date, there are quite a lot of beaded products, especially beaded paintings, on the market, so you need to achieve a high level of skill, use original weaving patterns or original embroidery patterns. Plus, surprise potential consumers with the perfect color scheme. Please note that you can increase the level of demand by using the original packaging.

Spending plan:
. purchase of minimum material for samples - from $50;
. purchase of equipment (if necessary) - from $30;
. the approximate cost of one product is 1 dollar.

"Promotion":
Initially, you need to create several products that should be masterpieces in your understanding. Take this step very seriously, because your first show pieces will become "your face". Start your business as positively and confidently as possible.
Take professional photos of your products and post them online. Make the most effective advertising of your samples. Pay attention not only to the positive reviews about your product, but also to the comments that people make about the shortcomings of the product. Objectively perceive any criticism in order to correct shortcomings in a timely manner. At the same time, study the demand of potential customers.

Estimated income:

. it is necessary to sell about 10 finished products to recoup the primary material, but the money received from the sale of the remaining products (about 40 pieces) will be a net profit.

Characteristic:
One of the most interesting, diverse types of needlework, which brings pleasure to the needlewoman and does not bother. You can fantasize, invent, experiment and the results will not keep you waiting. Jewelry can be from the simplest to the most expensive, the main thing is to guess so that the look of your product matches the taste of the consumer. This variety, let's not be afraid to say, "art" has a very beneficial effect on a person, trains the flexibility of thinking, relaxes the "clamps" in the head and develops human imagination.

Required deposits:
. creativity;
. diverse fantasy;
. constantly be aware of fashion news;
. as a last resort, the availability of the Internet to search for thumbnails.

Product variations:
. beads;
. necklaces;
. suspension;
. bracelets;
. earrings;
. rings;
. brooches.

Material for manufacturing:
. beads: metal, acrylic, plastic, glass, etc.;
. stones: natural, artificial, plastic, glass, etc.
. fittings: connecting rings, fasteners, pins, etc.
. tool (side cutters, pliers, round nose pliers, scissors).

Knowledge base:
. types of beads and methods of their connection;
. types of stones;
. fastening methods;
. basic materials, product assembly.

The target audience:
. mostly teenagers, girls and women.

Increasing competitiveness:
Your main task when choosing a specific sketch of a piece of jewelry, especially if you make it to order, is an individual approach. You must make sure that a woman in your jewelry immediately attracts the attention of others. You can also focus on high-end jewelry details, and when your business takes off, it will be very advisable to use expensive materials from well-known brands. Such elite jewelry is always in demand. Do not forget about the beautiful packaging, because these products are very often given as a gift to mothers, girlfriends and sisters.

Spending plan:
. purchase of minimum material for samples - from $ 25;

"Promotion":
Initially, it is necessary to create a sufficient number of products - real masterpieces. It is best when you wear them yourself - then it will be the best advertisement. Be sure to create your own blog, or at least be active on your social profile. Promotion should be built in such a way as to involve in the discussion the maximum number of girls - lovers of various jewelry. Thus, you will not only find out the needs of your potential customers, but also attract a fairly wide interest.
Also, take professional photos of your products and post them online. Take advantage of the sale through specialized stores, if you have such an opportunity.
And, of course, the use of all kinds of promotion methods: participation in Internet fairs, regular stationary exhibitions, etc.
Your main goal should be to open a stationary store, because before buying jewelry, many women like to try it on first, and online stores do not provide such an opportunity.

Estimated income:

. it is necessary to sell about 15 finished products to pay for the primary material, but the money received from the sale of the remaining products (about 35 pieces) will be a net profit.

Characteristic:
This technique is universal, because it is suitable not only for those who can draw, but also for those who lack such talent. You can paint not only pictures, but also all kinds of attributes, clothes, shoes, dishes. Any pattern is obtained by applying dots with acrylic or other special paints. After that, the surface is varnished. The dotted pattern is very well combined with other patterns, for example, decoupage. It is interesting to know that this technique has the most relaxing effect for its performer.

Required deposits:
. a wish;
. using fantasy or the internet to find patterns.

Variations of products (very large variety):
. painting on bottles, glasses, cups, dishes;
. bitmap on bracelets, phones;
. decorative dishes;
. clothes;
. shoes;
. paintings;
. Appliances;
. interior items, furniture.

Material for manufacturing:
. application tool - brush (back side), wand, pencil;
. templates for painting - download for free from the Internet or draw it yourself;
. acrylic or other special paints;
. coating varnish.

Knowledge base:
. no special knowledge is needed, except to understand the properties of paints.

The target audience:
. men, women, girls, guys.

Increasing competitiveness:
Here it is very important that the bitmap and the object of its application are chosen so that the product as a result turns out to be very attractive, neat, exclusive and attractive. Due to the fact that there is a fairly large selection of such products on the Internet, you must comply with the following requirements:
. bright original drawing or darkened, but very impressive;
. a sufficiently high level of accuracy;
. professional photo, preferably additionally processed, to give the desired effect;
. select original and interesting objects of application;
. encourage the consumer to pay attention to your work and kindle in him the desire to purchase a product at any price.

Spending plan:
. purchase of paints - from 2 dollars;
. using a free base to start (an old plate, glass, etc.).

"Promotion":
Of course, first you need to paint a few products with a bitmap and put them up for sale in an online store or on your social profile page. It's a good idea to take advantage of your own blog. The promotion is based on vivid photographs and unusual images of bitmaps.
And, of course, the use of all kinds of promotion methods: through acquaintances, participation in online fairs for the sale of handicrafts, in ordinary stationary exhibitions, etc.

Estimated income:
. the cost of one finished product - from 5 dollars;
. the payback of such goods is very high, since it is enough to buy only paints from materials.

Characteristic:
This is one of the most beautiful techniques, which is why it is so loved by both the women who perform it and those who buy such products. Handmade topiary is the process of creating a "money tree" or "tree of happiness" from any materials at hand. In general, topiary is a special method of cutting trees and shrubs, as a result of which they are transformed into various interesting and beautiful shapes.

Required deposits:
. fantasy;
. sense of beauty.

Product variations:
. figured tree;
. cone tree;
. tree with heart or other images.

Material for manufacturing:
. pot (new from the store, old decorated or any jar lined with material);
. crown (foam rubber, foam, polystyrene);
. trunk (wood, gypsum, polymer clay, plastic, wire, metal tube).

Knowledge base:
. tree variations;
. ways of joining parts together.

The target audience:
. men, boys, women, girls.

Increasing competitiveness:
Due to the fact that the competition in this direction is high, try to come up with original unforgettable tree themes, beautiful pleasant colors, interesting shapes, etc. The created image should evoke tenderness and awe.

Spending plan:
. purchase of the most necessary materials - from $ 15;
. about 5 products can be made from the purchased material (except for the pot);
. the cost of one product - from 7 dollars.

"Promotion":
You need to create some delicate and interesting products, take professional photos and put them on the Internet. Make the most effective advertising of your samples. At the same time, study the demand of potential customers.
In addition, you can donate a few samples to specialty stores that sell similar products as souvenirs or handicrafts.
And, of course, using all kinds of promotion methods: your own blog, social profile, participation in Internet fairs, etc.

Estimated income:
. the cost of one finished product - from 15 dollars;
. the payback of such goods is not too high, but the time spent on their manufacture is minimal.

Characteristic:
This is a new direction, so you have a great opportunity to expand it and bring some of your own exclusive notes. The technique is a special decoration with spiral volumetric elements of greeting cards, boxes, panels, photo albums and other household items.

Required deposits:
. accuracy;
. accuracy.

Material for manufacturing:
. base (postcard, cardboard, etc.);
. paper, fabric, glossy magazines, foil, gift paper, etc.;
. sharp clerical knife;
. scissors;
. ruler;
. template (you can download it for free from the Internet or draw it yourself);
. scotch;
. glue;
. pencil;
. iron (for working with fabric);
. other base materials.

Knowledge base:
. technique of spiral-volumetric drawings.

The target audience:
. girls and women.

Increasing competitiveness:
Due to the fact that this direction is not yet widespread enough, you have a unique opportunity to take advantage of it. The only thing that will need to focus the attention of buyers on the merits and advantages of spiral-volumetric patterns, so that a person has a desire to buy these new and modern goods (for example, postcards) instead of the old boring options.

Spending plan:
. purchase of minimum material for samples and subsequent work - from $ 5;
. the approximate cost of one product is $ 0.5.

"Promotion":
Start with greeting cards. Make a few pieces, take professional photos and put them on the Internet. Spend the most effective advertising among friends and potential buyers. Try to place a few samples in postcard outlets and evaluate the future prospects of this method of sale.

Estimated income:
. the cost of one finished product - from 2 dollars;
. profit from the sale of one postcard - from 1.5 dollars.

Key questions you may face.

Where to get material?
Now there are a huge number of specialized stores where you can buy various types of threads, buttons, accessories, frames, wire, sequins, stones, beads, etc. Pre-select the place where you will purchase the material, because the quality of the finished product depends on the quality of the material, and at the very beginning of business development this is of great importance. It is better to first buy the material only in stationary stores, and later, after fully familiarizing yourself with the advantages and properties of the material, the purchase can be made in online stores, because it almost always comes out cheaper this way.

Where is the best place to sell finished products?
Start trading in Internet resources, and later, after reaching a sufficiently high level of profitability, you can rent a room for a store and trade directly in it.

What equipment is needed for home needlework?
For each type of needlework, there may be specially designed equipment. For example, for professional sewing, a sewing machine is needed; for embroidery, special stands-mounts will be convenient. Some types of work can be carried out without any special equipment, but you must understand that for high productivity, in any case, a special place must be allocated in which equipment, materials, workpieces, finished products, etc. will be placed.

I would like to pay special attention to advertising campaigns and finding customers, because even the most golden hands of a master may not bring profit, since they will remain unknown to most potential consumers.
Product promotion methods:
. creating your own blog: it is very important to promote your blog in every possible way, active participation is required, inviting the “necessary” friends, activating users to discuss certain discussion points on the blog, in general, create maximum attention and interest in your blog;
. proven method of "word of mouth";
. promotion in the social profile: today most of the needlewomen put up for sale their "handmade" in Odnoklassniki, Vkontakte, Facebook and, believe me, the results are quite high;
. active participation in social profiles and periodic publication of product information;
. special virtual trading platforms, fairs, exhibitions: today, all kinds of online fairs for hand-made products have become quite popular; if your business plan includes additional costs for participating in such online events, you can register and list your products for sale. The audience of such sites is quite wide, so this type of product promotion is quite popular among needlewomen today.
. Make the maximum emphasis on product advertising on the eve of big holidays: New Year, March 8, Christmas.

In general, starting a business does not require special knowledge, just be collected, plan everything correctly to the smallest detail and get only pleasure and increase in material well-being from your creative work. Good luck in all your endeavors.

Other articles on your topic:

Instagram has become a trading platform where you can buy everything from jewelry to luxury watches. But what sells better, and how not to make a mistake when choosing a niche? Read the article.

Below are six realized ideas for those who crave craft creativity and the business success that comes with it. These examples should be considered not only as guidelines for complete imitation - but rather as a source of inspiration for the invention of new areas of needlework.

Transparent resin jewelry

Etsy.com, a platform for sellers of their goods, is the place where the serious multi-thousand business success of Silvia Tsalus, who invented and creates costume jewelry from transparent epoxy, began. Her idea - immersing in hardening resin balls of moss, dried wild flowers and their parts, especially dandelion fluff - after a number of sales on this platform, aroused great interest on Reddit, Pinterest, Tumblr, where Etsy visitors copied images and descriptions.

In the blogosphere, photos and descriptions of her products have been reposted on many popular design and craft portals around the world. And this free advertising has not yet created competitors for her - on the contrary, it has contributed to the emergence of not just orders for Sylvia, but also permanent contracts, often with foreign business buyers. Currently, up to 80 percent of its revenue comes from abroad. And more and more often, Sylvia receives special bulk orders for art objects - for example, she was ordered a collection of jewelry by the famous Canadian "Art Gallery of Ontario" from Toronto.

Her brief business history is as follows: Silvia Tsalus has been making money as a needlewoman for more than a decade. Previously, she worked as a researcher at one of the institutes of the Academy of Sciences, but she left this career to focus on creativity; and after that she completed serious jewelery courses. Then the initial investment in equipment and the initial volume of materials amounted to $ 3,200. And having received the first serious profit and having consolidated her success, Sylvia took a chance - and immediately hired several employees: both for routine technological processes and a secretary for communicating with customers.

“Delegation in such a small process is not an easy task, but without it it is impossible to move from a loss-making hobby to a profitable business. With employees, I quickly and repeatedly increased the amount of jewelry produced, for which I alone would not have had enough time. I feel that it is precisely the volume of handicrafts offered that is the step that makes it possible not to earn extra money with this occupation, but to completely saturate oneself in a big way,” Sylvia Tsalus is sure.

Clothes and toys to order: an ancient idea, but long forgotten by the townspeople

One of the incentives to try your hand at crafts is the desire to create something that standard stores are not able to offer. This rule is especially promising in the field of products for children.

More and more parents are turning away from the repetitive designs of clothes and toys offered in stores - hence the demand for individual designs and ideas for these products.

“When I went on maternity leave, even before the birth of the child, I managed to take courses in tailoring and fashion design. I bought fabrics and accessories, and already with the baby I began to produce all the clothes and sewing toys for him. At first, I was sure that this would just be my maternity hobby - the implementation of a personal commitment to natural eco-materials in the spirit of conscious parenthood. However, maternity leave in Poland is the greatest driver of enterprise; thanks to my posting on the social network information about my products, which my friends actively reposted, I began to order tailoring of products and “to the side”, to strangers: often at once with extensive sets of a mass of fabrics. The implementation suddenly went off the rails, I slowly had to hire assistants. And a few years later, my husband was surprised to see that he was already earning less than my mini-workshop for individual tailoring, ”Monika Munoz-Washtyl, who previously worked as a surveyor, tells her story.

Fra bagsGdesigner's cops, puzzle jewelry

It would seem that Lego pieces can only be used for playing. Meanwhile, Agnieszka Bernacka from the town of Gliwice has been decorating jewelry, flash drives and household gadgets with them for several years, and most of all, bags that are actively sold at prices up to $500. Agnieszka simply buys all these products (blanks) in cheap formats - and sells them many times more than the cost price. And if in the first years you had to buy Lego sets, then over time, the manufacturers of the designer “recognized” the artisan as their colleague, created the agabag website for her products and began to provide her with fragments of their designers in bulk for free.

“I got the initial idea from the French fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbayac, who presented a dress trimmed with Lego fragments at one of the shows. However, his product remained single, and I immediately realized that I could produce something like this in large quantities. After a thorough check, it turned out that no one "sits" on this idea yet, Agnieszka recalls.

Currently, its products are actively sold abroad; especially for some reason in Japan. The craftswoman is sure that in the next year more than half of her earnings will come from abroad.

Monika Roth, a student at the Department of Jewelry Design at the Academy of Arts in Łódź, also discovered a similar original niche in the market. As one of the course exam papers, she ordered a casting of typical "puzzle fragments" from shiny elite plastic - and simply added it to various blanks for jewelry. And then the demand for this ironic and mysteriously semantic decoration turned out to be unexpectedly significant.

Knitted youth

Knitted youth clothing by Marta Ivanina-Kochanskaya, a graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Arts and the London studio of designer Tom Dixon, is increasingly appearing at serious fashion shows and fashion fairs in different countries (Fashion Week Poland, Bread &, Butter Berlin), sold in boutiques. The types of modern and non-trivial clothes designed by her are purchased from the knitter by large specialized corporations for thousands of dollars.

“The business idea was born naturally: knitting has always been present in my family. And what I wore aroused the interest of my friends: I came up with such types of knitted underwear, accessories, jackets that were not on the market.

But you can’t connect much alone: you need a flow, mass character; a business designer in the field of knitting should only come up with a cut and knit original new elements, giving any repetitions to the performers. And someone else needs to negotiate with customers. I was looking for start up funds and was lucky enough to receive a $5,200 grant from the Polish Employment Office to hire staff and start a business.

And thanks to the fact that I was an intern in London, my London contacts found me both the first buyers and mentions in the English-language media. As a result, all the first orders were from abroad,” Marta Ivanina-Kochanskaya recalls the beginning of her business success.

Watches and glasses made of wood

A good way to "surprise, laugh, delight" the customer is to use conventional materials in the cottage-based production of items that are "unusual" for these materials. Such materials can be wood, concrete or linoleum.

For example, Michal Napierala makes wristwatches milled from oak wood at home (of course, he inserts purchased mechanisms from Citizen). And Lukasz Mazhetsky creates glasses with wooden frames and temples - including exotic woods. By the way, every time an eco-artisan spends a part of the income from each pair of glasses sold on planting a new tree.

Even more unusual is the proposal of Sylvia Kochanets: she produces costume jewelry from concrete, cast in miniature geometric shapes - hinting at modern architecture, metropolitan life.

Ordinary bags of extraordinary quality

And in conclusion, we recall that in addition to avant-garde ideas, needlework can give business success in the field of traditional solutions - which, in fact, included knitting.

A typical example: Magdalena Purol (designer) and her brother Marcin (entrepreneur) at home produce and sell high-quality bags, covers and accessories of minimalist design from ordinary felt (a kind of felt, dense fabric made from felted wool). They quickly became very popular and bring a decent income to the brother and sister.

So, needlewomen and artisans - to work!

Selling websites for handmade manufacturers (Polish experience)

To make money on needlework, it is not necessary to create, for example, unique costume jewelry. The founders of the Internet services Pakamera.pl and Decobazaar.com have found their niche by becoming intermediaries between manufacturers of handmade goods and buyers. And these portals have grown into a business with a decent profit - the Pierwszy Milion portal tells two business stories, translates the site

The story of a business start ten years ago: cheap and almost by accident

“It was a classic business for one dollar,” Mateusz Wojczakowski recalls the beginning of Pakamera.pl. - In 2005, just $25 was enough to launch a portal that united handmade designers. The graphics of the site were our own, the idea of the engine was also our author's, all expenses were limited to buying a domain and paying for hosting. Then every day I filled this or that niche in e-commerce. We sailed in this wave and found our place.

But what is curious is that initially the creator of the portal, Julita Voychakovskaya, perceived the project only as a common hobby with her husband - something that helps to sell her crafts, mainly to Julita herself. And then the newlyweds seriously planned to make money on the site “on a trip to the cinema”, this is the maximum. Today, Pakamera is the largest selling handmade portal in Poland, organizing a number of educational projects in the field of needlework at its own expense.

In general, 2005 was a special year for the development of handmade trade on the web throughout the world. It was then that Etsy.com was born in the United States, which has long since become the world's largest service of its kind. In the same year, independently of Warsaw's Pakamera, the portal Decobazaar.com began its operations in Wroclaw.

“Our incentive to launch the business,” says Basya Cerny, founder of Decobazaar, “was similar sites in Germany. Our Berlin colleagues in home crafts were "sold" on numerous sites already in the early 2000s. Decobazaar also did not require significant resources to launch, although we immediately created a business plan for deploying a large (by Wroclaw standards) project. And we only invested $2,600 at the start: they went mainly to create outsourced software, as well as to print flyers, posters and advertising on the Internet.

The beginning of the rise of the business

The interest of users quickly began to exceed the expectations and capabilities of the founders of both portals and their husbands, co-founders of the portals. In less than two years after the launch of Pakamera, there were so many activities related to the successful competitive development of the portal that Mateusz Wojczakowski had to either fully devote himself to this project or delegate authority. And although he worked in a promising position in the international consulting company Deloitte, he decided to connect his business life entirely with Pakamera.

And he did not lose: in the crisis of 2008, hired employees were fired in large numbers; but sales of relatively inexpensive handicrafts, on the contrary, then and subsequently grew steadily. This is happening against the backdrop of loss of income for millions of buyers who previously purchased expensive, more mass-produced products, and due to the rapid development of eco-approaches, and due to consumer fatigue from the globalization of the sameness of shopping products around the world.

As sales grew, so did portal revenues. “Profitability was reached almost immediately. The start-up costs unexpectedly paid off after a few months, ”recalls the founder of Decobazaar.

It was in the crisis years of 2008-09 that both portals outgrew a “family business for two” (besides, both families had children just then) and switched to hiring staff. Since then, all these years, both services have been using five employees each - plus outsourcing external execution of a large number of works on the site. The founders of both portals call their advertising locomotive viral marketing, as well as positive customer reviews.

“Funds for development were used from only one source - our current income. Although recently we have often received funding offers from the USA, Germany and Poland itself - and at the start, we probably would have taken advantage of this - but now, however, our business already has strong reserves and is not looking for investors, ”admits the founder of Pakamer .

There is nothing surprising in the interest of investors, which millions of entrepreneurs cannot even dream of. Both portals, Pakamera and Decobazaar, already work with thousands of needlewomen and artisans; each site is visited monthly by over five hundred thousand users, who generate an average of 5-7 million page views per month, and during the holiday season even 10-15 million page views. On Facebook, the Pakamera page has 220 thousand fans, and Decobazaar - 90 thousand (the difference in development success is mainly due to the metropolitanity of the Warsaw Pakamera versus the regionality of the Wroclaw Decobazaar). The potential income from such a flow of visitors is obvious to any investor. In addition, every year the scale of both businesses is increasing by 15-20 percent.

Where is the profit from?

Both sites charge a commission on every craft sold. In the case of Pakamera, it is up to 23 percent - but it becomes less under loyalty programs and during promotional discounts from the portal. Similar fees are inherent in Decobazaar. This does not deter handmade manufacturers: for example, Decobazaar annually has a sales turnover of several million dollars; and Pakamera has entered into an offer agreement for almost 500 thousand products, of which it sells 70-80 thousand products per year.

Simple, convenient, efficient, very fast and very polite interaction with manufacturers and customers, both entrepreneurs call the key to the success of this kind of service. “We provide both effective sales tools and ways to present products. We are the only ones who deal with such things as complaints and returns, without touching the manufacturers for this,” adds Mateusz Wojczakowski.

An important part of the business services of the portals is the advertising of the products presented on it on the Internet, including outside the .pl zone (for example, the “random photo” service provides hundreds of context-oriented displays of photos of each product on clickable banners on different sites). Both companies freely rotate the product display at the top of the subpages for each of the product categories. The portals themselves are actively interviewing needlewomen and artisans. And sometimes they give recommendations on needlework.

“Working with needlewomen goes beyond purely business relationships: we get to know most of our Warsaw clients personally and assume a share of responsibility for their business development,” says Yulita Voychakovskaya. - In addition, it is important to understand and subtly highlight the difference between groups of artisans. Otherwise, it will be unpleasant for professionals to exhibit mixed with beginners. And amateurs, in turn, will be afraid to offer their modest “samples” against the backdrop of the masterpieces of experienced needlewomen.”

Needlework as an educational project

Finally, for the future founders of such portals, the founders of Pakamera and Decobazaar emphasize: their success would not have been possible if crafts were not their hobby, and if the popularization of handicrafts had not been an important goal of the development of portals.

Thus, articles on Pakamera about trends and ideas in the world of needlework and design have grown into a separate educational project - the online magazine Example.pl, whose business plan also includes turning into a glossy printed version over the years.

Pakamera has a permanent showroom in Warsaw. It is used not only as a store-fair, but, in particular, to promote the goods sold among stylists, who can quickly rent them here for photo shoots or video clips. In addition, the Pakamera team organizes every year an event that immediately became the flagship event in Warsaw in the home craft industry - New Year's Fair of Handicrafts (Przedświąteczne Targi Rękodzieła).

And finally, it remains to say that the next stage of development of the founders of both sites was the expansion beyond the Polish market of needlewomen and artisans. And they already have a lot of orders from abroad - including from the distant USA, Canada, Japan and Australia.

Business idea: homemade (hand-made) cosmetics

It is impossible to make a cream suitable for absolutely everyone. Therefore, players in the hand-made cosmetics market are convincing Ukrainians to switch to individual organic cosmetics.

Following homemade things, jewelry and interior items, the female half of the country rushed to master the cosmetic business. Retailers of ingredients for making home-made natural cosmetics are struggling to keep up with growing demand.

8.1 Eco-improvisations

Homemade cosmetics are 30-60% cheaper than branded ones. And this factor turned out to be a weighty argument not only for consumers of mass-market products, but also for more expensive cosmetics. “8-10% of our clients previously used elite cosmetics, but with the onset of the crisis, they switched to individual (DIY cosmetics - ed.), - says Vitalina Reznik, co-founder of Aroma-Vita.

As a result, over the past year alone, the number of orders from shops selling components for DIY cosmetics has tripled - at the moment, each outlet serves an average of 300 customers per month - still with a growth trend of 10-15% in month. Approximately the same amount increased and the average bill - from 150-200 to 200-250 UAH. But this seems to be just the beginning.

“The niche of individual natural home-made cosmetics is very promising, and interest in it will only increase,” says Mikhail Chernyak, strategic analyst and trendwatching manager at RA THINK!. - Since this direction meets several trends at once - "do it yourself", "eco", "thrifty lifestyle" and "healthy lifestyle". 90-95% of consumers of such products are women, and they are more involved in trends related to the environment and a healthy lifestyle.

“30-40% of clients are cosmetologists, chemists and doctors, who, if something happens, can also advise you,” Ms. Reznik jokes. - Trying to reduce the cost of cosmetic procedures, some cosmetologists prepare, say, serums on their own in order to ensure the salon's competitiveness. And although these creams, serums or handmade soaps are not certified, they are successfully sold.

The manufacture of hand-made cosmetics involves the observance of a certain technology. However, like all DIY products, it leaves room for improvisation. Component dealers benefit from these experiments. Having tried once, clients, according to market participants, continue experiments in 90% of cases, trying more and more new components, often increasing the amount of the check. Stable demand is also facilitated by the short shelf life of the received cosmetic "improvisations" - from one week to two months.

8.2 Network beauticians

The Ukrainian market for trade in components for DIY cosmetics is not even five years old, and only five players are its operators. Located in Kyiv, Zaporozhye, Kharkov and Ternopil, they sell their products exclusively online, which provides them with an all-Ukrainian scale - parcels are delivered by courier services or by mail.

Each of the players needed over UAH 100,000 to set up the business. Almost all of this amount is spent on the purchase of raw materials abroad (in Russia, Great Britain, France, Germany, China, Belgium, Holland, Denmark). Purchases have to be made exclusively in bulk - these are the conditions of suppliers. So, for example, the minimum supply of cosmetic oils is 25 liters (from? 15/1 liter), and there should be at least 50-60 such positions in the line of a DIY cosmetics dealer at the start.

For their storage, you will need a warehouse (up to 100 sq. M). Together with office space, you will have to pay 4.5-8 thousand hryvnias for rent every month. Another 3-12 thousand UAH. will go to the salaries of employees, the number of which depends on the scale. Minimum - one person (administrator of the online store). A complete "set" - five people (programmer, accountant, cosmetologist, store administrator and courier).

A beginner who first turned to an online store is consulted by a full-time cosmetologist online, by phone, helping to determine the type of skin and its basic needs and shortcomings. Then the optimal recipe is selected - and the client orders the ingredients. On average, the cost of one cream is from 26 to 100 UAH. The competitiveness of companies operating on the Web largely depends on the established database, recipes and master classes that are posted on the site and forum.

8.3 Crisis aside

Sellers of components for DIY cosmetics position it exclusively as organic, citing the fact that the ingredients they sell consist only of natural ingredients, do not contain chemical preservatives, synthetic additives and surfactants that violate the protective layer of the skin. And they seriously believe that home-made cosmetics can compete with professional, pharmacy, and in some cases even the mass market.

“Organic cosmetics will attract up to 15-20% of pharmacy and professional consumers, since they are aimed at correcting specific skin problems and are more affordable,” suggests Tatyana Kruglik, director of Aroma Shop. Presumably, in two or three years, the share of organic cosmetics in monetary terms will be about $150-200 million.

It is curious that abroad the niche of DIY cosmetics is not limited to the sale of components for home creaming. Perhaps this practice will subsequently be adopted by Ukrainian companies.

So, for example, American Jill Quillin founded a business selling LipStix ReMix System kits (set price - $ 20), designed to repair and create lipstick at home. Thrifty young ladies can collect debris, pieces and other fondant leftovers, melt them in the microwave and pour liquid lipstick into a special mold. The cured lipstick is back to its normal cylindrical shape and fits easily into the case. In addition, you can mix and melt the lipstick of "unfortunate" colors and create new shades. Her business has been in existence for four years. During this time, Jill managed to acquire an offline point of sale and forked out on TV advertising.

And the founder of Eco-Me, Robin Levine, decided to use her great-grandmother's recipes and ingredients to return the cleaning industry to the natural sources. The company develops and markets kits for customers to compose their own natural cleaning products, hair and skin washes. There are pet grooming kits. In an interview with the American magazine Entrepreneur, Robin Levine said that by the end of 2008, sales should have been about $1 million.

But at this stage, Ukrainian players plan to receive additional benefits only from holding master classes (from 300 UAH per hour), developing new areas (for example, selling components for mineral decorative cosmetics - powder, eye shadow, blush).

“It is not advisable to open offline points of sale because of the narrow assortment compared to traditional cosmetic stores,” says Irina Lilovaya, director of Aroma City. But it is worth thinking about opening an office-warehouse in million-plus cities, providing up to 70% of total sales.

This summer I have three important reasons to arrange something interesting, with a bunch of gifts =)

Firstly, I will be celebrating my wedding anniversary soon (wow, how time has flown by)))
Secondly, in early July, it will be exactly a year since my project “Make Money with Needlework” went online (I held the first webinar on July 9 of that year) — i.e. we've been together for a year
Thirdly, there is another reason, but I will not talk about it yet - about it later.

I thought, what would be such an interesting "stir up", and came up with =)

More and more often, I began to receive letters with the following content: “Tatiana, thank you very much, your course / training / webinar helped me a lot, there are already results, your recommendations really work!” And already several times I thought that it would be nice to collect all the stories of needlewomen with specific results (which appeared after studying my training materials) on a separate page. I thought about it, but my hands did not reach.

And then there is another case visiting Tatyana Riske (I already wrote about him, I will repeat myself a little). Everyone was getting ready for the fair of handicrafts, someone called Tatiana's phone. And when she hung up, she told me: “Tatiana, thank you very much! Already the third order from the site today!” (Tatiana made a website based on my lessons, she sells both her own works and the works of other masters of our city, taken for sale) And I thought - but I often don’t even know who got what results after taking my courses or after implementing the recommendations with free webinars. And I decided that it's time to deal with this issue =)

The other day I was visiting Tatiana Riske, in her creative workshop. We were preparing for the fair of handicrafts, which we have tomorrow. Someone called Tatiana's phone, and when she hung up, she told me: “Tatiana, thank you very much! Already the third order from the site today!” (Tatyana made a website based on my lessons) And I thought - why not start publishing such stories of successful masters? After all, it is always interesting to read, but how are other needlewomen doing, is everything working out? Yes, and it is so important to support each other, to inspire to go further! =)

Today she shared her little story with us:

"Hi all! My name is Tatyana Riske, for several years now I have been making candy bouquets. However, not only bouquets, but also various sweet compositions. =) This is my main activity and my main source of income.

I know that many needlewomen do not believe in themselves and their success, because they still do not earn the amount they expect from needlework. And I really want to inspire craftswomen with my example, because making your favorite hobby your main occupation is real happiness!

At first, suite design was just an interesting hobby for me, then it was a huge passion ... I started seriously making bouquets of sweets during my second pregnancy (now my son is 4 years old). Then she decided to make candy bouquets her main business and source of income. It was scary to quit my job, to lose guaranteed earnings, especially since I had a managerial position. But I have never regretted my decision!

Success did not come immediately, and not everything was smooth. There were periods when hands dropped and disturbing thoughts did not sleep at night. But today my dream has come true! For more than two years I have been successfully running a shop at the Masters Fair. We regularly receive orders from our own website. A year ago, I opened a creative workshop where handicraft master classes are held and handmade gifts are sold, including my candy bouquets.

Now I'm really happy, because I really love what I do! We only live once, so it's simply unacceptable to waste precious time on work that you don't like. I am infinitely grateful to my husband - he always supported me in all decisions, did not let me lose heart and give up. Now for me, needlework has become the main source of income, I have long forgotten what employment is, and life has played with completely different colors! needlewoman Anastasia Smolentseva from the city of Odessa. And she will share with you her story, her experience, tell you about the first steps, the very first sales and, of course, the first mistakes. Read, apply, someone else's experience is a cool thing!

The Western world is increasingly proving to us that needlework can not only make good money and elevate it to the rank of international business (as the globe maker did - read How to earn 5 million rubles a year making globes), but that it is such a promising direction today, that you can become a businessman in this area quite by accident.

This is proved by the story of a young American woman who unexpectedly turned her hobby into a business.

A young resident of the American city of Austin - Melissa - once knitted her stockings. I wore them for a while and received a lot of compliments from my friends. Then she decided to list them on Etsy.com to see if they would sell (and she already had one store on Etsy where she sold children's knitwear).

(As Melissa herself said on her page, no one had ever sold such knee-highs on Etsy before her, so she was not sure if anyone needed them.)

In just a few days, she received so many orders that she could not cope with them alone. I contracted all my relatives to knit these stockings (they also knitted leggings).

And within a few months, she registered her company Grace and Lace and began selling her knitted stockings and leggings not only individually, but also in bulk.

And this is not surprising. On Etsy alone, she has already sold over 40,000 pairs of her knitted knee-highs and leggings in 2 years (she sells an average of 54 pairs a day!):

I estimated her approximate profit - it turned out to be 20-30 thousand dollars a month.

This is how the needlewoman (and part-time young mother) suddenly unexpectedly turned into the head of a needlework enterprise (you can read more about Melissa's needlework in the article Knitted stockings and leggings).

Melissa's baton was picked up by another American. She offered the market knitted headbands and turbans (in addition to the same knitted golfs):

This needlewoman overtook the previous business woman from needlework in terms of the number of sales - she has more sales in a shorter period - 54646 (an average of 70 sales per day)!

If you object that American needlewomen are lucky just because they are American, look at other equally successful needlewomen from Ukraine (I wrote about them last year in the article Homemade Art Nouveau Jewelry).

Polina and Sergey from Kyiv have been selling homemade jewelry on Etsy for several years:

For 3.5 years of sales (they started selling their jewelry since May 2010), young needleworkers have more than 19 thousand sales:

Today needleworkers from Ukraine sell at a rate of 20 sales per day!

Last year, I wrote about another needleworker from Ukraine who sells Czechs (Children's Czechs):

The owner of this Etsy shop sells several pairs of his exclusive handicraft every day!

The Ural craftswoman Maria sells her unique needlework even faster (read Ecological decorations made of epoxy resin):

In less than October, she has already sold 108 pieces of her jewelry.

What is the success of today's needlework as a business?

1. There is now a mass production rejection. Mass-produced goods are cold, monotonous stamping. Stamping turns any work of art into a cheap commodity that is easy to buy, but which you no longer want to buy. After the people "ate" mass monotony, they want something unique.

2. Needlework is always exclusivity and individual execution. Needlework can provide exclusive custom-made products. No Chinese (with their mass needlework) are competitors here.

3. Needlework can create fashion and generate an increased demand for a certain type of thing.

4. The Internet helped to connect the needleworker and the customer directly. Moreover, from any country. The potential market for every needleworker today is the whole world.

So try knitting something out of the ordinary (that isn't for sale on Etsy yet). And maybe you will create a new fashion and your own needlework business.

As an example. Today I found one needlewoman from the UK, who offered the market elegant knitted ties for men:

Over the past six months, the needlewoman - a young designer - has sold more than 100 knitted ties.

But it is better, of course, to create needlework for women - they buy better and more actively on the Internet.

To create fashion and demand for needlework, it is important not only to make and photograph it, but also to imagine how it will be worn and how spectacular it will look:

So for those who know how to do something with their own hands, today there is a chance to create their own successful business on needlework.