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Let’s have a look at some examples of successful businesses in the crafts sector. These will give us a clue on what is important to be thinking about when starting a new business.

Here are the main success factors:

• Understand the cash flow
• Carefully plan business growth 
• Create a product niche
• Make your product seen 

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When starting your business, it is really important that you understand where your income will come from and what you need money to pay for.

Unless you can figure out how the money cycle will flow in your business, it will not be sustainable.

Let's have a look at this chart proposed by the Cr@fsman project.


This shows us that if your income cannot cover the costs of your material, financial, and human resources, you won’t be able to have long-term success.
Check out this quick video about operating costs.

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How can you understand how much money you will spend vs. how much you will make?

And how can you make this relationship profitable for your business?
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Hints inspired by our case studies

• Offer a product or service that is profitable from the get-go.
• This means studying the market to understand the need for your product and how much people are willing to pay.
• It is also important to have a reasonable idea of how much it will cost for you to offer a quality product or service.

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Business growth might not always be as easy as it seems.

If you grow too soon or too fast you could end up with too many people/products and not enough demand. If you grow too late or too slow you could end up not being able to satisfy the demand or emotionally burning out from overworking.

Let's have a look at the case of Vitrail Saint-Georges company.

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Vitrail Saint-Georges

This company can teach us the importance about business growth. They offer a service to create and restore stained glass. When trying to expand, they made the mistake of growing too quickly, incorporating team leaders who were not ready to take on all the responsibilities handed to them. In this case, what may appear as growth can really be a setback because not only do you risk damaging internal relationships between workers, but also harming the companies reputation.

Luckily, this company has been able to re-organize and properly re-establish itself within the stained glass community.

Watch a short video about the final product produced by this company here


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How do you decide when it is time to expand your business?

What factors are important to keep in mind when growing your business?
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Hints inspired by our case studies

• Make sure you are ready to expand your business.
• Carefully consider all the factors that could contribute to a positive or negative growth.
• Adjust your plans to fit the new business structure.

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What is a product niche?

When you create a place in the market where your product fits perfectly. This means that your clients are dependent on what you produce to fulfill their needs. Your product niche can be created locally or internationally (with the help of the internet and technology development).

When your product or service fits into a specific niche, that means that you have come up with a innovative offer that the market is looking for.

Let's have a look at the case of Luc Vaganay company.
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Luc Vaganay 

This artisan and his team have years of experience working on and restoring old furniture. Some of their projects take more than 500 hours to complete. The expertise that this team has, therefore, is unique in comparison to other professionals in the area. They off a specific service and will be valued by the potential customers. This company, therefore, has a market niche.

Watch a short video on niche marketing.


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So how do you find a niche that is right for you?
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Hints inspired by our case studies

• Focus on your skills and talents – what do you have to offer?
• Innovate your product. Be the first ones to get an idea out there and be the best at what you do so that your clients keep coming back.
• Market to the group of people that correspond to your niche, don’t worry about people you are not trying to sell to (ex. If you are selling baby diapers, don’t market to people who don’t have babies).

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In a world where there are thousands of products and services, you have to think about how your product will be seen. There are many ways to make your product be seen, but not all of them are right for you.

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How can you make your product stand out when compared to others?

Different labels or certifications can make your product stand out when compared to other products. Consider labels such as “handmade” or “Made in…”. This information adds value to your product and can help you catch customers’ eyes.

Or perhaps you create a blog which connects to a customer, while showcasing your product.
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The way that you make your product or service visible to your desired clientel base depends on: what you are trying to sell and who you are trying to sell to.

Let's have a look at the case of Grandi Maioliche Ficola company.

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Grandi Maioliche Ficola

The company Grandi Maioliche Ficola works with handcraft ceramics and volcanic stone to create unique, durable, beautiful products. However, the crafts market in Italy might not be strong enough to support the business alone. As a solution, the company has internationalised. The website is available in different languages and its Instagram is in English, making it easier to contact with consumers worldwide.

Check out the company’s Instagram here


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Hints inspired by our case studies

• Identify with something important to your consumers (such as “handmade”).
• Don’t necessarily limit your customer base to where you are physically. Think about how you can internationalize.
• Market to your client.

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Are you ready to try it on your own?

Here are some questions for you to think of (assignments).

Consider your business plan. In what ways can you improve you plans in:

• The way you interact with your client?
• How your final product benefits their needs?
• Your innovation process?
• The way your business and product(s) interact with the community?

It is important to take into account what you are already doing, and to try to build and improve on your base ideas.
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More information on this topic (additional material)

Use websites like Skills for Sustainability to better understand what you are trying to achieve, and how you plan to achieve it. Consider the article “Understanding Business Needs”, available here

Online resources such as the Green Biz Magazine that has articles about sustainability, and reports like “Planning For a Sustainable Future” released in 2016, available here

Understand what Corporate Social Responsibility means to the European Union by reading their summary of legislation – available in multiple languages here

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