Hooked Goodies

Small Business is something that is in these days. You see pages like Etsy, Flipkart and Amazon giving chance to small sellers to showcase their talent and sell their stuff. They encourage people to do something on their own. Something you love doing, out of the box, non-conventional. Please do not mix up a startup with a small business. They both are very different with different characteristics and different needs. Here we are talking about a business where one has his/her own business with her own money, time and talent at stake. Generally, crafters have a small commercial business which they run mostly from their homes. A small business like crochet, knitting, pottery or making polymer clay based products like stitch markers and Ergonomic Crochet hooks are on top on Etsy. Though there are people who love handmade stuff many of them think handmade is way too overpriced.

Please note and remember that a craft is never overpriced. 

A person is charging the amount of money because he has that particular talent and of course so many years and patience of practicing and making a name in that particular business. The charge is for the hard work he has done in past and he will do to make the product that you have ordered. Of course materials and an artist’s time count too. So you may think it is overpriced but it is not. It depends from case to case for every different art and every different artist. So now for the ones who do not want to buy from a small business let us list down what are the benefits of buying from one. You will be surprised to know how you change their world for good. We have also listed benefits to the owner.

 

Benefits to Buyer for buying from a Small Business

1. Get something unique: –

   Small businesses generally make things in a number of 10s or 20s. And in the case of crochet, it is only one most of the times. These are really very less in quantity as compared to things made in bulk by big brands through machines. Due to this you always get a different and unique thing which only hardly some other person will have. Not to mention, also each handmade item is unique in its own way. So actually there are very fewer chances that someone will have the exact same thing that you have.

2. Get good Quality product: –

   When someone has a small business he/she will always concentrate on giving a good quality product and will never ever compromise on that. WHY?? for the simple reason that for us it is majorly the word of mouth publicity that matters when it comes to marketing. If we provide a good quality product to you, you will go and tell others to get our products and the chain continues. But if we give you a cheap quality product you will warn people not to buy from us. Hence good quality and nice service is our focus point.

3. Get what you want: –

   You need the X product in Y colour you will get it. You say and you have it, another colour, other designs, shapes, sizes, fabric…you just need to tell us and we will serve you. Ask for any changes that you want and we will do it because it is our job and we will serve you. Customization is something we would love to do, but yes you need to have patience in case it is something that takes time.

4. Direct contact with Owner/Maker: –

   This is the best part of buying from a small business. You get to contact the maker directly and not some customer care executive who will take too much time to solve your problem and ultimately there is nothing you can do. In this case, you can actually talk or text a real person who will modify/change or provide a refund for your order. Again word of mouth publicity plays a big role here and hence you will get a good after sales service as well. You can tell your problems, concerns or even appreciate a real person. Being in this field, let me tell you it feels so good when someone appreciates your work.

5. Supporting an Economy: –

   It is said that Small Businesses are engines that drive an economy. You should always support your local shops and artists to support your economy. As per the economists every $100 spent at local businesses, $68 returns to the community. So your shopping will benefit the economy overall.

6. Making a Difference: –

   Now, this point really makes sense. Just imagine you are buying a product from a big company where you know the CEO/Owner is someone big, has all that he wants in life, roams around in a chauffeur driven car and is basically Rich and Unkown to you. Will you, buying a factory manufactured good, make any difference to his lifestyle/mood/family??? NO. But instead, if you buy something handmade from a person who works hard to make a name and do something on their own, won’t it make a big difference. It will be a huge boost in their confidence and they will be so excited by just one order you give them. These photos from google will say it clearly.

 

Benefits to Maker/ Owner of a Small Business

The pictures above if you see from our point of view those are our benefits too. Let us see a list of the benefits though

1. We get to pay our bills: –

   Yes and we are not shy to say this, this is what we do for a living. Even we have a family to take care of and this is the way we contribute to our family income. We are proud of our jobs and our earnings and this helps us to pay our bills and buy things like any other normal person does.

2. We get to meet new people: –

   In this whole process of making something for someone, we get to talk to new people and know them better. Since we guys never have a separate department for each task we are the ones who go out and post things, buy materials, talk to buyers etc. In this process, we get to know many people and to know different cultures and sometimes even languages 🙂

3. We do what we love and we love what we do: –

   YES, this is the highlight of the whole Small Business thing. We get to do what we love, for a living and we love our work. This is not the case with people in big corporates who mostly do not have job satisfaction. This is the best part and it is actually best since you get to be your own Boss. What more do you want 🙂

4. We learn new Skills: –

   We are like a one Man/Woman army 🙂 In a small business you have to play different roles like the owner, maker, advertiser, public relation official, customer care executive, blogger, techie. You also have to go out and search for new materials and places where you can sell your products. Yes, we got to do it all. That is the reason we slowly but surely learn all the new skills and ultimately run our businesses without an MBA degree 🙂 How cool is that. Having a small commercial setup makes you tough and responsible, and we Small Business Owners have it in us 🙂

5. We get to be at home: –

   Most of us work from home since we do not have separate offices. This one is though a benefit can also be a problem since sometimes you actually can’t concentrate on your work. But all in all who does not want to be at home and working. No getting ready, going out, wearing makeup every day 🙂 you can be in your PJs and work 😀

6. It makes us Happy: –

   Your one order will make us 🙂 Very Very Happy 🙂

So we believe this is it. We have listed benefits here but believe me, only we know how we run our small businesses. All owners will agree with me on this. We do not get any benefits that corporate employees get like insurance, allowances etc. Also, we will never get a pension (in some countries). We have to pay our own phone bills unlike corporate employees and much more. But we always look at the brighter side of it and believe in making people happy.

So serving people makes us happy and we are proud to be the owners of a little business of our own 🙂 To conclude buying from a Small business is a Win-Win situation for both the buyer and the seller. So go ahead and make someone’s day by ordering a little something from their shop. Also, if you like it do not forget to appreciate their art, talent, and hard work 🙂

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