Some love carving wood, others will favor quilting or needle points... hobbies many of us enjoyed for years. These days the Internet gives us the possibility to share our passion and who knows, considering the growing popularity of hand made objects, we may even turn our pass time into a job. We must keep a cool head about it though, and remember that in any business, basic management skills can make the difference between failure and success. No matter the field of activity, the newly self employed will need a few Management tools to work with. First we must learn the basics of inventory management... to avoid loosing customers for lack of supplies. And since most sales these days are made online, smart web content management is also in order, to keep our clients well informed about our products. Considering an image is worth a thousand words, the craft person wishing to sell the fruit of one's creativity will need photographs of one's work, to display on the Web or send to potential customers. There are many photo management softwares on the market that almost anyone can handle. And since earning a living is the whole point of the enterprise, basic knowledge of financial management is a must, to make sure one doesn't loose money rather than make some. Crafting is an art, and artists tend to be forgetful, so setting up a time management schedule is probably wise... some devoted to create... some to promote and sell. Selling those objects we enjoy crafting may not get us rich... but is it not wealth enough to make a decent living doing something we truly love.
