ALL my products are either handmade or personalised by me - Dee. I am a one woman band in my tiny business.
Almost everyone who runs there own handmade, craft business does this on their own. A lot of love, care, passion, time, money, mistakes, remakes, satisfaction goes into every single item.
Each item we make we use materials we have to purchase such as glue, ink, resin, card, felt, leather, vinyl, embellishments, ribbon, the list is endless. Then there is the hours we put in to make or personalise each item. Once it’s purchased and we post it, we package it with love and care. The packaging may consist of tissue paper, envelopes, boxes, tape, thank you cards, business cards, offer codes, sealed bags, again, the list is endless.
Yet, time and time again we all hear the same thing, “it’s expensive“, we all get the customers that think the item “should be cheaper”. As a sole trader, an individual making an item with their own hands we have to factor in the cost of materials, our labour, our time, our packaging, and then we price the item. It usually leaves us with a very small profit.
We can’t compete with the “big high street stores”, the big names that run a huge production and supply in bulk. Our products are unique, individual, handmade and personalised just for you. Yet our business is our dream, our dream could be our livelihood, yet still people almost expect something for nothing. This amazes me when you go shopping and purchase items from high street stores and pay for example £45 for a t-shirt….what exactly are you paying for? Is the brand name? Is the material? Is the quality? Small business owners, crafters, anyone that creates an item with their own hands could easily be using good quality material, we just don’t share the brand name. Does this mean that our products are worth any less than the £45 high street “brand name” item? Absolutely not! You are simply paying for the name.
Almost all individual makers will actually, probably take more care making your item than the machines that are making the expensive high street item because they want you to love it just as much as them. They are passionate about the satisfaction of putting a smile on someone’s face, passionate about satisfaction of knowing you’ve just created something that’s beautiful and made with love!
Most of us try to keep our prices low, some probably keep them too low. This is our passion, our dream, our livelihood. Support your local small handmade businesses because it means the world to them.
It is also a good mental health tool because for some it’s what keeps their mind active, strong and healthy.
Hence my “poem”.
Comments