How to Start a Craft Painting Business

Saturday, July 13, 2013

How to Start a Craft Painting Business

Craft painting provides endless enjoyment for both the crafter and the recipient. Whether personalized or holiday specific, craft painting can add dimension to ordinary wood projects and crafts. Starting a craft painting business can let you share your joy of painting with the world and showcase your talents as an artist at the same time. For the creative type, craft painting allows you to practice various types of painting while serving and satisfying your clientele.

Step 1

Write out a business plan. Highlight the goals, needs and desires for your craft painting business in an overview section. Include information related to the types of craft painting services you will offer, such as personalized crafts and craft painting classes. Provide details related to equipment and supply needs, your target market and any current or future niche marketing opportunities. Include detailed financial statements that demonstrate potential profits or losses, expenses and future income. Seek help from industry professionals or the U.S. Small Business Administration for additional information on creating a purposeful business plan.

Step 2

Name your business. Focus on creating a name that portrays the unique features of your business. Take into account future expansion plans when coming up with a company name. Check with your state’s secretary of state office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office to verify the chosen business name is indeed available.

Step 3

Find a location for your craft painting business. Consider starting out at home or renting space in an art studio to save money. Larger enterprises will need to find an appropriate retail or warehouse space for their operations. Keep in mind expansion goals when choosing a space.

Step 4

Check license and permit requirements with local and state agencies. Businesses operating out of a home office should check zoning requirements with local authorities. Check with your state’s Department of Taxation concerning the collection and payment of taxes.

Step 5

Secure supplies and equipment. Find a wholesaler for wooden crafts or secure the materials to assemble crafts yourself. Consider other options for craft painting, such as ceramics and glass; include the need for an oven to bake painted crafts made of ceramic or glass. Order paints, brushes and cleaning supplies.

Step 6

Market your craft painting business. Consider the service you offer and identify the target market. For instance, advertise painting class offerings aimed at children with local day-care centers and schools. Contact local craft stores and fabric centers. Provide them with brochures or flyers to hang at their location to help advertise your services. In return, purchase some materials and offer to help them advertise.

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About the Author

Nicole Long is a freelance writer based in Cincinnati, Ohio. With experience in management and customer service, business is a primary focus of her writing. Long also has education and experience in the fields of sports medicine, first aid and coaching. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Cincinnati.

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Saturday, July 13, 2013