Why Do Some Small Art or Craft Businesses Fail to Grow?

14 Reasons Why Your Art or Craft Business May Not Be Growing As You'd Like It To —

1. Mistaking a hobby for a business:

   
   

"Just because you love something or are very talented at doing it, doesn't mean you should convert it into a business."




• Too often businesses fail because the owner thinks their excitement or belief in something is exactly how others feel, too. He or she may feel their passion is shared by others, or that their own talents will be embraced by everyone because they've had so many encouraging comments about their art or craft. However... this is only a beginning and it's oftentimes the early encouragement that gets us motivated and believing that "we could really do it; we could turn our hobby into a viable business and make some money".




• Be sure about what you want to do and 'why' you want to do it. There's usually a lot less glamour and more hard work involved in every new venture than some rightly assess at the beginning.




We've all heard the expression "Get all your ducks in a row". It couldn't be more true. A hobby of itself isn't enough to become a business. But if you have truly readied yourself, and done your homework, some preparation, and understand the entrepreneurial journey you're about to embark on, you can definitely turn a hobby into a thriving and lucrative business.




• Research your business idea and make sure it's viable. Don't judge the value and merits or potential success of something you might like to do, by only your own subjective opinions and feelings.




• Research the market for your business idea. Just because you have no shortage of passion for your hobby, and you know you have creative talents, doesn't guarantee it can become a successful business. There's far more to it than an abundance of passion or creative skill. However, add that to your passion and you can create a highly successful business.





2. Poor preparation — Poor planning:

   
   

"You must have some kind of business plan."




• This is the 'brain-storming' homework you have to do before you ever start any new business. You're not likely to be doing this in one evening. It can be a simple few page plan or a huge 40 page document. The point is that you've taken the time to consider all the aspects of your business and are prepared to handle typical growing pains or problems when they arise.




• Your business plan will help you to focus on your vision, your goals, and your mission in your market, as well as setting out definitive plans for accomplishing them. At the beginning, it is very much your 'road map' for what's ahead.




• And don't forget about it as the months go by — Revisit and revise your business plan regularly. Your market never sits still nor is a business meant to be stagnant. The Art and Craft market is dynamic and with the advent of the Internet, for example, it is presenting many new opportunities and advantageous means for marketing and selling.




"A dynamic business plan is meant to be both guide, benchmark, and a target, all in one. It has to encompass all the plans and strategies within, to attain success."




When it gets down to doing it right and not wanting to see artists or craftspeople waste their time and efforts or money, I want to help; I won't mince words with them…




"If you have some hesitancy or a problem 'taking or making enough time' to do the necessary planning and preparation, you may get lucky, but you are not apt to survive for long — You are not yet serious enough to create a successful business."





3. Entrepreneurial excitement:

   
   

"Don't get your cart before your horse."




Entrepreneurs often get excited about new ideas, but aren't always able to determine if they're 'true opportunities' and whether to put them into practice or not. Some new business owners are more 'emotional visionary' than 'practical worker' and this is where the trouble can begin.




• Test every new idea against your business plan and mission statement before deciding whether to undertake it or not. Ask yourself, "Do I have the time and skill to implement this?" You can always educate yourself further or get help if necessary.




• Be sure you have what it takes to follow through; be sure you have a plan and the resources.




4. Too singularly focused:

   
   

"It's never wise to put all your eggs in one basket."




Sometimes, new art or craft business owners will have only one kind or style of art or craft they create. Oftentimes, they only have a somewhat limited selection of stocked completed art or craftworks. Maybe they only offer one or very few related services, or have only a few big customers or a small handful of family and friends that have bought their art and been their support so far. A lot to them cling tightly to this small beginning because it's bringing in some good revenue, but what if your customers decided they now want brown eggs not white? Maybe they prefer them fried not scrambled?




• You have to grow in a calculated and measured way, but you have to be sure you don't get too comfortable with what works and sells at the beginning; don't stop with 'one good formula' thinking it will work forever.




• Be sure to diversify. Broaden your artistic horizons a bit and create new works for new customers. Something new may tap into an entirely new kind of customer for you.




These same artists often have one preferred way they like to market themselves, and that's courting inevitable trouble. Variety and diversification will cushion you against the ebb and flow of business tides, and changes in the Art and Craft market. Customers have lots of choice nowadays; they're always shopping around, so if you want to continue growing and broadening your customer base, it is good business sense to be mindful of that and regularly offer them refreshing new products.




5. Minding the books — Poor record keeping and financial controls:

   
   

"You have to keep good financial and business records."




This is NOT the fun part, but it is crucial for any successful business. Understandably, artists prefer to do that which they love the most and have the obvious talents for. All too often, less time is spent on this part of the equation, than on creating works of art.




• You have to establish and maintain good records.




• You must review your revenue and expenses each month.




• You must file taxes and other business-related filings.




If you don't know how to do these, or don't want to, at least get help from someone who can manage or help you manage your finances.





6. Lack of experience in running a business or you're new to the Industry:

   
   

"There are numerous 'hats' you'll likely have to initially wear in order to run a business effectively."




Until you can afford to hire extra help, you'll probably be doing more than you want to of those other kinds of things apart from creating your art.




• You'll also have to understand your Industry, its trends, its ways and means. Ideally, you want to get to the point where you can identify its 'pulse' and know what your customers want. You can only do that by keeping yourself of everything that's going on.




• You have to possess the required skills to market and sell your art and craft products and related services. If you don't know about these basic skills, educate yourself. There's lots of help available.




• Talk to others who are successfully running their own art or craft businesses. Talk to Industry leaders.




• Read some books, find resources, find a website that helps you, get a coach, a mentor, and do lots of your own homework. Business development isn't only about taking measures to increase your bottom-line; it's also about educating yourself and further developing and enhancing your own business skills.




Please Note: These are some of our core services and expertise here at A&CNet; we can offer you considerable help if you'd like.




• Keep increasing your business and Industry skills by perhaps attending classes or educating yourself as much as you can anywhere you can.




• Do lots of networking with peers.





7. Poor money management:

   
   

"Be realistic — Depending upon the kind of business you're creating, factor in right from the start that you will need to be able to live for anywhere from 6 months to two years with little to no income when getting started."




Businesses are typically slow to get off the ground. Revenues only 'trickle' in early months until you've made some inroads into the market and are utilizing cost-effective means to advertise and market yourself. The fact is, how much you put into the initial preparation and advance planning will determine how quickly your business gains financial momentum and "catches its stride".




• You have to create and stick to a realistic business budget.




• Make a clear separation between your personal life and business. You cannot constantly drain the business income for personal spending, or vice versa.




We talked about converting a hobby into a business earlier — You can't run a business as a hobby — It's very challenging to effectively run any business 'on the side'. If you're committed to it, commit to it all the way, or else consider whether this is really for you.




• Prioritize between personal and business and allocate enough ongoing financial and time resources to it to ensure it has every opportunity to succeed.





8. Wrong location:

   
   

"Carefully consider what you need for a studio space, and from where you will sell your art or craft works."




For some artists and craftspeople this can be an important issue. For others it matters little.




• Either way, you need to make sure you are convenient to your customers, and near to your suppliers as well as employees.




You've likely heard the expression, "Location, Location, Location".




• Be sure yours is highly visible and very accessible. You may have the most unique and desirable art in the world, but if your customers can't easily get to you, or easily buy from you, there's nothing that will work against yourself more.




• Times have changed and so have customers. It would be very worthwhile for you to also seriously consider the benefits of an online presence, a website, wherein location may not have to be a factor anymore. A website presents a whole new world of possibilities and new methods for marketing your business and selling your art.





9. Anybody in business has competition:

   
   

"Customers will go where they can to find the best products and services."




• In their minds it usually boils down to 'the shortest distance between two points'. They want what quickly and directly meets their needs, their budget, and 'is on their own terms'. Make it simple and easy for them and you'll have an advantage. Customers have ample choices nowadays. Never forget that! What you don't provide, someone else surely does.




• It's important for you to know who your competition is, what they have to offer, 'how' they're offering it, and what makes your own art or related services better. You can learn from your customers and you should always learn from your competitors, too. The more of this you do, the less 'learning the hard way' you'll end up doing.





10. Procrastination and poor time management:

    
    

"We have to face our human nature. We have to learn to 'take or make time'."




• Putting off necessary tasks that you don't enjoy, or that you don't feel you're skilled enough with, will sink your business faster than anything else. It's all about 'maintenance' and being proactive.




• You can't afford to not do something you should be doing.




• You can't afford to waste time on unimportant tasks or ineffective efforts either, while critical tasks and needs pile up. All tasks need to be done. If you don't like to do them or are uncomfortable doing them, or don't want to spend your time doing them right now, then you must hire someone to do them for you.




If your time management and prioritizing skills are rusty, hire a small business coach or take a class to help you. Things left undone, ALWAYS pile up, and have a way of "biting us back" if we're not careful.





11. Ineffective marketing:

    
    

"This is one of the main reasons why many small or new art or craft businesses can't seem to get to the next base, and why some will fail."




• Learn the basics of marketing and make sure that you track the success or failure of each sales and marketing technique you use, then dump those that aren't working.




• Many artists and craftspeople are necessarily utilizing different and new marketing and advertising means nowadays. They're finding the status quo isn't working quite like it once used to, or did for others that came before them. The Internet is a new medium to be capitalized on that offers great flexibility and potential returns. If you don't know what to do or aren't sure what may be the most effective marketing means for you, get help. Don't stagnate or lose business in the meantime. I can't say it enough, "While you continue on with something that is simply not working for you, you're wasting valuable time and resources."




• Never spend good money after bad on anything that's not netting you a good return.




• Be flexible, experiment, try something different. Too many small businesses pick a method or two that seem to work for them, and they stop there. Unfortunately, the market never stops, and customers never cease having more choices presented to them.




Customers' desires and tastes are constantly changing. They have all kinds of options and they want more, and they want it yesterday. If you're not targeting your marketing to effectively meet their unique needs, then they will always find someone else who does.





12. Ineffective sales techniques:

    
    

"Once you have a potential client, you have to know how to lead them down the sales path."




• If you don't understand the basics of selling, get some education on it immediately. There's books, online resources, classes, etc.; there's never an excuse for not helping yourself.




• If a selling technique doesn't work, try another one. Don't lose confidence when customers have objections or legitimate hesitancies.




• Be flexible. Be accommodating. Learn to be creative on the spot. If a customer was so close to buying from you and then they didn't, there was probably only some 'little extra thing' you didn't say or didn't do, that you could have, that would have clinched the sale.




• ALWAYS learn from your experiences. Try a different approach. Don't compromise your values, but do whatever it takes.





13. Poor customer service:

    
    

"Service can be defined in many different ways. You have to make sure you're providing it as your customer sees it."




I sincerely am amazed at what some artists think is 'enough'. Many are accustomed to serving themselves and not used to 'going the extra mile' for customers. Don't let your pride tell you that the customer "has to do it on your terms" or else you may find out they'll go elsewhere... I dare say, not all artists and crafters are 'people' people, but the simple secret is to humbly 'serve them'. Once you have a customer, you have to keep them. Don't only do what you think you should do; listen to what they ask and what they want, and learn. The best customer service may require you to be doing a little more than you may think you need to; you already love your art — they don't necessarily know you from anybody, just yet...




• Make sure you pay attention to what the customer wants (and especially how these wants can change over time).




• Make sure you ALWAYS respond promptly to phone calls and emails. Many people use the internet and email extensively these days. If you have a website or give out your email address, you MUST respond promptly to any customer inquiries. This is a huge complaint we've often heard from customers. If you don't get back to them promptly, you're telling them you don't care enough. It does no good to tell them you were busy on some artwork for somebody else.




• If you pay less attention to your email than you used to because of the tremendous amount of spam or junk email you may receive, get yourself any of the numerous available software tools to reduce or eliminate this. DO NOT IGNORE YOUR EMAIL INBOX where there just might be some serious customer inquiries or orders! If you own a website and don't have effective means designed into it to eliminate incoming spam, talk to us about this. We have all kinds of email addresses on the A&CNet website, and we don't receive any junk email. There are many ways to get around the problem that you may simply not be aware of.




• Avoid billing mistakes or anything that's going to complicate the payment process. Make it simple and easy for them. If your customer has to "jump through hoops" or wait for replies or confirmations back and forth from you just to buy something from you, you're already losing far more customers than you may realize. If you sell anything online, seriously consider offering secure "real-time" payment processing. It costs far less than you may think nowadays. Once you do it, you may then see just how much business you must have been losing before.




• Offer them 'win-win' problem solving and an overall pleasant demeanor in all of your communications.




"The 'best leaders' in business are those who are first, the 'best servants', to their customers." Learn this, be this. Give them extra value in your conversation; be-friend every customer and listen to them more so, than just talking at them. Don't just tell them your premeditated 'sales pitch'; listen and then accordingly meet their need.





14. Entrepreneurial burnout — not just artistically, but business-wise, especially:

    
    

"This is a big problem for too many business owners..." especially when you're out of necessity doing too much due to a lack of people, time, or money resources, and you know 'you've got to do what you've got to do'.




• Owning your own business requires a huge investment of time, money, energy and emotion, mixed with hidden reserves of faith and ample courage. New businesses have even more to do, too. It's too easy to work long days and forget to take time off. But in the end, this only causes burnout; your motivation and creativity will suffer, and a pessimistic attitude can arise. The accompanying stress will have you making "mountains out of mole-hills", and zap all your strength.




• And then there's that occasional depressed feeling... 'Giving up' or feeling defeated or just not wanting to bother to face certain issues can come from many latent places residing deep within you. Don't wallow in self-rejection anytime you get a serious objection or a no-sale or some other road-block or temporary discouraging set-back.




• Don't dwell on what doesn't work. Don't work yourself to death over it. Don't waste efforts on something that you're not satisfied with. Create some "change agents"; create new inspiration. You're a creative person — try new things.




• The growing flames of burnout that want to suck the oxygen life out of you, when you're at your weakest, most discouraged, or 'most spent' times, can always be quenched with common-sense and less-emotional thinking. Back-up from what's depleting you. Take a rest and then review what's happening; regain your perspective. Don't just worry about surviving. There will always be work you haven't yet done, and that's normal.




Status quo's always need to be improved upon in any thriving business, but you must give yourself time to catch your breath, no matter what you think it may cost you.




• Re-think things; 're-arm your self-confidence' again. If not, you'll find yourself unable to balance your business and personal life, and both will suffer. It's an ongoing negotiation and inner combat with things that weigh heavy on you, tire you, steal your time, cause distraction, stifle your passion, zap your energy, and muddy your thinking. They stress you out while you were able to handle them before. So take a few steps back and just breathe!




• Make a list. Write things down. Don't try to carry everything in your memory and be reminding yourself to death all the time. Voice on paper what's in your busy mind.




• Force yourself to think clearly and deal with things in 'bite-size' chunks, not all in one overwhelming moment.




• Schedule 'self-care' time into your work week; be religious about taking time off from your business. Do other totally unrelated things that give you some occasional escape. Care for yourself by taking time to refresh your perspective and re-energize. If you do that as often as you require it, you'll have a lot more peace and happiness than over-wrought burden-bearing and stress.




• I also recommend 'laughter', lots of it, and if you have a spouse or loved one — Take more 'date nights'. Chances are your loved ones play a greater part in your emotional make up and personal and business confidence than you may realize or let on. Take a break together with them and refresh each other.

Dunn and Bradstreet recently did a study and determined that "90% of the small businesses that do fail do so because of a lack of skills and knowledge on the part of the owner." However, they also did a study that showed that over 90% of small businesses were still in business after five years. Our Art and Craft realm is not so different than other small business sectors. We have some unique aspects and differences, but much is the same.

So... allay your fears. It takes work but you CAN do it!

Remember this: Every successful business we see out there or perhaps envy, once upon a time had its own humble start, small beginning, and rocky road of growing pains and some stumblings, too. That's what growing and learning along the way is all about. Don't panic. Don't quickly run back to where it was safe and comfortable when you feel like you need to hide or that something is suddenly too overwhelming. Stand still for a moment; take a deep breath! Then take a break; then return later to logically look at what's happening and where you want to go to... You CAN get there. You can be one of those 90% of small businesses that eventually gets beyond their early growing pains and becomes truly successful.

As Carol and I concluded our coaching session, I had her create a task list of the areas where she needed to grow, new things she needed to consider doing. We made some plans to provide her with the help she needed. Today, she's well on her way to a thriving business and is happily self-employed. You can do it, too. It just takes some courage and some careful planning.

As I've taught my kids in life, (which is equally applicable to business), "If you don't ask, you don't get." I never cease to be amazed at the surprising number of business owners in the Art and Craft Community who will understandably whine and complain, and put up with 'stuff' they shouldn't have to, but yet won't do anything or even the obvious to help themselves.

Affordable help is ALWAYS available. Carol wanted to do it right and didn't want to waste time 'trial and erroring' her new business. She wisely 'asked' and took advantage of some needed help along the way. The sad fact is, many who start out in the Art and Craft Industry, don't ask and they have a harder go of it as a result.

At A&CNet we want to help you so that you can have an easier time of it. Growing pains at any stage of a business 'get in the way'. The key is to eliminate as many of them as possible. Otherwise, they're going to interfere, slow you down, or hinder you from having a successful business. You need to take the right steps so that you don't have to learn the long and hard way. There's no shortcuts for most things. Too many choose to go it alone when they really could use some guidance, some coaching, some mentoring, and some good common-sense advice. Sometimes it can be far more costly to NOT get yourself some extra help compared to what you thought you might save on your own.

I hope this article has helped you or refocused you again on those things that are, indeed, very important to the success of any business.

All the best to you!

Daryl Stratichuk, President, A&CNet Inc.