Big Plans...

So let me just start by saying the big news that has consumed my life for the past couple of months: I was accepted to Indie Wed! 

"Huh?" you say.

Trust me, this is huge.  I applied pretty much on a whim, spent a month waiting for the application deadline to pass, and then another 3 weeks biting my nails waiting to hear back.  And I DID it!  This is a pretty sizable wedding event in Chicago that puts me in front of brides that want a handmade and unique wedding experience.  My hope is that if all goes well, I can do a few of these events per year (there's 2 seasonal events in Chicago and one in Milwaukee) and really build up my custom bridesmaid orders.

Does this mean I'm going to stop doing costume design?  No, at least not yet.  I'm sure there will be some point when I have to make that decision, but for now I love the work I do and don't want to stop.  It does possibly mean that my business model will shift from the one-of-a-kind handbags I started with to one that focuses just on the wedding industry.  Which I'm really okay with, but I'm going to let that evolve at its own pace for now.

A conversation with a colleague yesterday led me to a great quote from Daniel Burnham (who is totally awesome and if you don't know who he is go to Wikipedia RIGHT NOW!)

Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work.

This is going on my list of favorite sayings right up there with "Fortune favors the brave", and it's so appropriate right now.  I'm going to carry this with me going forward - no little plans.  Think big.  I can do it.

Tom Petty Was Right...

...The waiting really is the hardest part.  Right now I'm waiting for my business application to be approved by the state.  I don't see any reason why it wouldn't, but what I'm truly nervous about is what comes after it's approved.  

I've been running my Etsy business on the side for the past 2 years, and and my sales slowly climbed I started to realize that I could actually make this a viable source of income, not just a few extra bucks to spend on clothes (okay, more like fabric).  The biggest bump in business came last year when I started to offer custom bridesmaid clutches in my shop, and that aspect of my business is the one I've chosen to really focus on and get it to grow even more by looking into advertising and renting space at bridal expos.

It's the latter that forced prompted me to stop flying under the radar and register as a sole-proprietorship.  In order to apply as a vendor for most shows you have to be legally licensed in the state your business is based in.  So if I want to play with the big boys, I have to be a good citizen and stop flying under the radar.  Which is nerve-racking.  I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm not afraid of Big Brother, I don't have anything to hide... but honestly living in Crook Cook County, IL has made me wary of anything involving local government.  (We had a really bad experience with our property taxes the year after we bought our house that took a full year to resolve and the general attitude of the county was "tough luck".)  I just have this dread that even if I do everything the correct way with my business, the county will pop up with some asinine rule that wasn't listed anywhere and I will owe thousands of dollars I can't afford to pay.  

Oh, the joys of living in Chicago...

But if I want my business to grow I have to suck it up, push those butterflies out of my stomach, and start treating this LIKE AN ACTUAL BUSINESS.  And that means in just a few days, in the eyes of the state of Illinois, I will officially be a small business owner.

Lord help me.

The Cost of Handmade

$620 for THIS?  I bet I can get it for $20 at Target...

I recently read an article in the "New Yorker" about an artisans fair in New York where craftsmen from luxury brands like Hermes (you know, the one that makes $1500 handbags) demonstrated their art for the public.  The author describes how while watching the complicated process of individually screen-printing each Hermes scarf by hand, an avid collector of the brand remarks, "I used to think these scarves were expensive".

There are a lot of guides out there to help artists price their handmade goods, but nothing I've read really hit home like this did.  I do have a hard time pricing my items, for a couple of different reasons.  One, I'm making the mistake of comparing my pieces to those you'd find in a store.  Two, I'm pricing them based on what I myself would pay - the problem here is I'm CHEAP.  Seriously, Ebenezer Scrooge would be proud of my penny pinching skills.  Which is a good skill to have when running a household or small business, but it's bad to base my profit margins on it.

The rich lady paying $400+ for her handmade silk scarf is someone my cheap side laughs at, but my artistic side needs to embrace.  Each handbag I make is 100% constructed by me from start to finish, from the actual pattern pieces I use to cut the fabric, to the little metal clasps that I squeeze on with a pair of pliers.  Even with the steps I've made to streamline my process, each item can take anywhere from 1.5 - 5 hours to complete.  Not to mention the time it takes to develop each pattern, since I don't use commercial designs.

So wake up call to me:  Your stuff is worth it.  That $620 Hermes scarf is made out of just one piece of fabric, and the design is mass-produced meaning there are hundreds of them out there adorning the necks of ladies with too much money.  Your items are complex little pieces of fabric origami, and each is one of a kind!  I probably can't get people to pay $600 for one of my bags (yet), but there's no reason I should charge bargain-basement prices for a unique handmade item.  In the words of the great and wise Stuart Smalley: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."  My work is worth it!  Now I'm off to re-price my Etsy shop!

Handmade with love, from me for you!