Articles

Improving Profits for the 2009 Craft Show Season in North Carolina

March 2009

The economy in North Carolina has taken a hit over the past year. In fact, North Carolina has the 8th highest unemployment rate in the country, but, fortunately, analysts predict that this recession should be over before the end of the year. Even better news than that is the fact that as a self-employed business owner, a crafter in North Carolina can do a lot of things to improve his profits so that the economic circumstances don't take a toll on his business. There are two basic ways to improve profits—to decrease expenses and to increase sales.

There are a number of things that crafters in North Carolina can do to decrease their expenses in 2009. Decreasing the costs of materials that are used for creating your treasures is a good place to start. The first thing you will want to do is take an inventory of the supplies and materials you already have on hand. Improving organization will go a long way in helping to decrease expenses and an inventory will help prevent buying things you don't really need at the craft supply store and last minute trips to the store for needed items that waste your time as well as your gasoline. Try to make as few trips as possible to the craft supply store. Buying things in bulk too will save a substantial amount of money on them. Also, be sure to use coupons whenever possible.

Another advantage of good record keeping is that you should be able to look over the results of last year's craft shows you participated in. Examine how much you paid to get into each show, how much was sold and what your actual profit was. Be sure to book those same shows that netted you good profits last year and try to avoid those that didn't. If you paid $150 to get into a show and if, after figuring your product costs, it only made $50 in profit, you will have to consider seriously whether that show is worth your time. Of course you should take into consideration whether the particular craft you were showing last year just didn't work with that crowd and if the weather was a factor, before ruling anything out, but trying to focus your efforts where they will net the greatest profit is your best bet for improving profits in the 2009 craft show season in North Carolina.

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