Book Recommendation: Craft Inc Business Planner

Several months ago I reviewed the book Craft Inc and I really liked it. So I decided to buy the author's Business Planner when it was released. Well I've had it a few weeks now and really love it. I'm not naturally a very organized person so the planner really gets me to focus on what I'm doing.  Once I've filled the planner I can take the various worksheets like revenue projections and do it in just a regular notebook because I'll have learned how to do it. This is best paired with the Craft Inc book but works well on it's own.

My new laptop arrives today so assuming all goes well I'll be resuming long posts Wednesday by answering a big Q&A question.

A Business for Kids

Monday I spoke at a local school for a bunch of art students and a lot of business stuff came up about selling online. There are a lot of great creative kids out there who would like to sell the things they make. Personally I think it can be a very valuable learning experience for a kid to start up their own little business. So if you have a creative child who wants to try to sell their work, give them a shot at it but realize it is going to be work for you as well as them.

Legally children under 18 can't enter into legal contracts so as the parent you are ultimately responsible for any online accounts, bank accounts and so forth. This means that you're going to have to do a good bit of work, the younger they are the more work you'll have to help them with. Research with them local rules for businesses, help them with the books, you'll have to accompany them to the bank to set up an account for them (most states don't allow kids under 18 to have a bank account on their own), and teach them how to manage their money.

Most selling venues online require a credit card to set it up (and paypal prefers you have one on file). Since I don't think most kids should have access to a real credit card instead of using your own consider using a prepaid card or setting up a checking account with your child that has a debit card with a credit card logo.

On the subject of money I think you should put rules down at first about how their money must be spent or saved. A portion should be for personal spending, a portion goes back into the business, a portion to savings, and a portion to charity (let them pick whch ones, it'll mean more to them). What the proportions should be will constantly change depending on their age and how much the business is making. For a younger child (say 9-10 years old) an even 1/4 split between them would be simplest to handle but as they get older they may want more money to go into growing the business or going to college savings. Discuss it with them every few months. As your child gets closer to 18 you need to back off and let them make more of the decisions to prepare them for when they'll be on their own.

Links:
Etsy Guidelines for Sellers
Forbes article on Raising an Entrepreneur
These Kids Mean Business Documentary (aired on PBS)
Kids and Money Books on Amazon

Book Review: DIY: Do It Yourself Design

DIY is an interesting introduction to design for people inexperienced with design. It's less about the details of design than a book of ideas you can implement. A few of the topics covered are business cards, books, tshirts, logos, posters and more. While it does have some how to projects and advice about design I found it more useful as a source of inspiration on things I'd like to try.

If you need a good run down of creative ways to brand your business or promote yourself this is a good book for you. If you want more in depth information on graphic design you should pick up a more focussed book.


Pros:

• Lots of ideas
• Beautiful photos to illustrate the ideas
• Covers online as well as offline design
• Very focussed on doing things yourself versus outsourcing your printing

Cons:

• Lack of depth about design principals
• Chapters are very short
• Instructions could be clearer

Book Review: Craft Inc.

Welcome to the first ever book review for the Handmade Business Blog. I'm a bit of a book addict so this is fun. I know I said there would be a guest post this week but it's not ready so it may run instead of the usual Friday or Monday post instead.

I recently bought a copy of Craft Inc. Turn Your Creative Hobby Into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco. This is a very well written book, the author has an approachable conversational style of writing which I enjoy.

This book has a breakdown of various issues a person starting up a handmade business needs to consider. I think the strongest chapter is called "Your Business Mind" which covers things like registering your business, accounting, writing a business plan, etc. These are topics that no one really enjoys and so there's a tendency to want to ignore this area.

Pros:

• Good interviews with entrepreneurs
• Covers a variety of important topics like pricing, marketing, craft shows, selling online, etc.
• Emphasizes the nuts and bolts of running a business without being boring.
• Discusses how to stay moptivated and having realistic expectations.
• Delves into how to handle growth and when you should consider delegating some of the work.

Cons:

• Not as in depth in some areas as I would like, such as the press kit section.
• Doesn't give references to check out for further information. For example: when talkign about trademarking a link to the US Patent and Trademark Office would have been useful.
• I think some visual examples would have illustrated some of her points better than just describing them.

Overall I think the book is worth buying as a primer for getting your business started. Now you can find a lot of the information elsewhere but having all the information gathered together is worth the $12 just for time saved.