Customer Reviews

Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this book over Thanksgiving and just now got around to reading it. WOW! I wish I had done it sooner! I agree with all of the previous comments. This book is a quick read with much to offer the new crafter in the way of marketing and getting organized.

Taking advantage of the internet is a must for anyone in business these days and Craft Inc. has some wonderful gems to offer in that regard which I am putting to use as I write this. The information is laid out in a non-intimidating way that lets you decide which methods are going to be best for you.

I am inspired by the interviews with successful crafters of various mediums and how they got their start!

If you are thinking about taking your hobby to the next level, this is a good place to begin your journey and you will not be sorry you purchased this book.

Cheers!

The ultimate dream for any artist and crafter is to be able to open up a shop where they can sell their creations and make a living from their passion. Thanks to sites like Etsy crafters can do just this. For those of you who think you might want to eventually swap out your 9-5 job to pursue a business based off your creative designs, then Craft, Inc.: Turn your creative hobby into a business, by Meg Mateo Ilasco, is just the guide for you.

Mateo Ilasco uses Craft, Inc. to hit all the major points of starting your own crafty company. Her writing is crisp and tailored perfectly to today's crafting audience. The chapters are loosely organized around topics such as: is starting a business right for you; overview of business topics; making your product identity; marketing (with heavy emphasis on internet and trade show techniques); production and pricing; and how to live beyond the dream. She teaches you how to make business and marketing plans and how to act when you're invited to trade shows. The book also contains many internet resources to help you along the way to turning your crafting hobby into a profitable business.

Craft, Inc. contains a lot of good information over a very broad scope. Mateo Ilasco covers a lot of ground in 160 pages. I'd almost recommend that you read this book twice. Once to see the variety of information in the book and a second time to really understand what to do with the information. There are lots of check lists to make sure that you have what it takes to open shop or successfully attend a trade show. She also includes some very good questions to ask yourself about why you are doing what you are doing with your craft and business. The book includes many positive success-story interviews, illustrating that craft businesses can and do make it in the real world.

I personally loved the final chapter, "Ups, Downs, and Next Steps". While knowing business plans and marketing styles is important, this chapter goes into the specifics of what to do if your design gets plagiarized, or if you burn out quickly, or want to end your business because it's not doing as well as expected. These are important things that happen to new entrepreneurs and usually get glanced over or forgotten from most business-oriented books.

On the flipside, while the book contains a lot of information, the information it contains tends to be broad and generalized. This is a book that caters to craft-people but it should be read in conjunction with other business books out there. For example, the book talks a lot about marketing and where to go to market your wares. But it doesn't really tell you the specifics of making a great marketing plan that grows with your business over the years. I also would have liked to see more interviews with crafters; especially one or two where turning their hobby into a full-time business didn't live up to their expectations. Adding a touch of realism to all the bright and shiny success stories would ground this cheery, "can do" book back into reality. Craft, Inc. also focuses mostly on US markets and techniques, so I'm not sure how useful this book would be on a global scale; even though Mateo Ilasco does mention outsourcing globally.

The bottom line is that Craft, Inc. is a good, solid book to introduce basic business principles to crafters who think they want to open shop and sell their items. It gives you a complete view of the business process from creation to ending your business gracefully. Like most craft books on the market, this one has a nice graphic design and color scheme that seems to cater to woman crafters over men. But don't let that fool you as Mateo Ilasco does illustrate that the book works for anyone.

Barbara Brabec had written books on the crafting biz that are, I feel, the standard for what one needs to know. However, I am quite captivated by Meg Ilasco's take on the topic because she thoroughly modernized it (e.g. how one can fully take advantage of the Internet to promote one's business). Her style is highly readable and approachable. I like how interviews are interspersed with practical information. The attractive overall design of the book is also a bonus to potential buyers because, obviously, we who engage in the craft biz are naturally tuned to aesthetics.

My only criticism is that the Your Business Mind chapter could be a bit more in-depth, but given that the publisher probably wants to keep the book at the manageable size that it is, this chapter is still a good starting point, and it's up to the crafter to get more info from, say, the SBA.

I had borrowed this book from the library, but after reading it, I will definitely be buying my own copy.

This book is an amazing tool. I am currently in the process of starting my own crafting business and this book is the best "guide" I have seen out there. Practical tips, great advise and interesting interview make it a wonderful book. If you plan to start your own business or even if you just casually sell on the internet or at craft fairs this book is a MUST HAVE!!!!

This book is exactly what I needed, and more than I expected. It helps with virtually every aspect of starting your own creative business, from the technicalities of personal voice and company image to the bones of legal requirements, smart business thinking and how to get the ball rolling. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is interested in opening a store, peddling their handmade goods online, or selling their goods wholesale. It answers questions I wouldn't have thought to ask.

What a motivator! This book is jam-packed full of good advice for starting up your own art/craft-related business. In the midst of a major DIY and craft movement, this book is just the ticket for anyone who has ever thought, "Hey...I could do that."

As an graduate from a fine arts college, I left school feeling overwhelmed about how to make it on my own. Taxes, laws, startup, recordkeeping -- it was all a blur, too much to handle at the time. But now I have (almost) everything I need in one little handy book. And trust me, I had looked everywhere for a book like this.

The interviews are great offered me the most insight for starting up a business. Much of the marketing advice was pretty common sense to me, but might be helpful for those who have no idea where to start. And of course, the design of the book is wonderful. Pardon me for a moment for focusing on aesthetics, but the rounded corners and simple graphic design is very appealing!

I would actually be interested in seeing another volume of this book that would be entirely about legal issues and recordkeeping -- this is the area where most of my questions are, and Craft, Inc. just grazes the surface of it. It would be awesome to read a simple, no-nonsense guide to business and legal matters, written in the same clear and entertaining style of this book.

I would highly recommend this book for just about anyone.
I am freshly starting a craft business and this book is very helpful
and motivating in keeping the dream alive and doin' it right.
Great business ideas for any new blossoming business. Easy to read and execute!

I found this book to be a quick read and full of useful information. It is mainly for the die hard crafter who would like to make a full time living crafting.I'm talking about people who would like to globalize or go corporate. I don't like the layout of the book and found the font hard to read (weird colors and small print). All in all, the book is not bad, but can't compete with the books by Barbara Brabec on the same topic.

Wow! I had no idea that this book was going to be packed with so much useful information! Ilasco questions some crafty designers already a few years in to their business for some real-world know-how and is full of vital information! I took notes on nearly every page and would recommend this for ANY business newby, even other than crafters! She talks about patents, taxes, payments, and more that can even be applied to the average families' life.

I truly enjoyed this book and it was a fascinating and easy read - I didn't even think of it as being a "business" book!

I was hopefully optimistic about this book after such glowing reviews, but sadly I couldn't get far enough into the book to tell if everyone was correct. The font size and color of it all made it really REALLY hard to read. I'm in my late 20s - so not ready for the reading glasses yet! - and still could barely read it. I offered it to my husband to see what he thought and his first comment was "What is with the tiny light colored font?!" so it wasn't just me. 2 stars because I'm not sure the content of the book, because it was unreadable to us. I love modern looking well designed books as much as the next artist and crafter does, but it should also be usable - this is basically useless to me.