How to start your own business

If you want to start your own business selling hand-made items, the most important thing is to talk to people with experience. That's why I collected a few advices from our group.

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Antoniya Koleva has a passion for crochet and comic books. Her shop combines delicate doilies, fun decoupage bracelets and signs for home decoration. Here's what she says:
Failing to plan is planning to fail. Create short and long terms measurable goals and stick to them (it's harder than it sounds, I tell you from my own experience :) )


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Nevena Avramova is owner of two etsy shops: one for great hand painted glass and one for accessories. (they definitely are a conversational starter!). These are her thoughts on the subject:
If you find you're talented, do not think it will make you rich right away. First you work for your talent - and then it does the same for you! Handmade doesn't mean made in primary school arts classеs. You plan on starting your own business? Think if you can afford it. It's very expensive.


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In her spare time, Elena Kozareva is a designer. She makes amazing dresses and accessories for tango and/or other dances. Start with some tests on your work, she says. For example, I am a very passionate tango dancer myself and so it took me quite some time to see which designs and materials are best for tango. Only after that I was confident enough to start my own business. Test your items in various situations.


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Diana Radeva is oh so very talanted. She makes clutches and bags, mandalas, necklaces, scarves and brooches. Here are her advices for Etsy:
First, take a good look on the cite. Do a research of the items sold on Etsy. Consider the opportunities - what do you do, what can you do, what you love doing. What is the thing you're great at. Than, for starters, decide on one or two options for manufacture. Decide how many finances you can invest. Considering all this, organize your Etsy shop. It's good if you develop it in one direction or in a few similar ones. To start on Etsy, you'll need: 1. a Visa Electron card; 2. a PayPal account. To start your business, you'll need: 1. to make a detailed and well thought-of plan; 2. to prepare a few items to start with; 3. to make photos of your items; 4. to write a good description of your items. And something for the photos. I'll say it again: research the cite and learn from the best. The photo of your item should be beautiful, with a nice composition and it should be easy to see what exactly you're selling. Make it realistic. You can accomlish this after a few hours of shooting. Don't make it look like a Hollywood production. It's really important to keep them real and beautiful... Good luck.

What are your advices?