I know some of you are following along with interest on the business piece of the whole Sprout incubator endeavor, so here are screen shots of my sales so far in December.
(This is the little booth in Berwyn, where I pay $200 / rent for a 12×4 space, and work three 5-hr shifts / month — artist co-op model. There are a few spots available right now, if you’re interested in applying.)
I don’t think I’ll quite hit $1000, which is what we’ve calculated I need to sell to break even on rent & supply costs for this hobby, but pretty close. I expect January to be VERY QUIET by comparison.
You expect a new business to take a while to get going, and the plan is to give this a year at least, but this was a very interesting month to look at.
I need to go through and figure out exactly what is selling best at the store — I think it’s mostly the pressed flower & resin bookmarks and jewelry (which is great, because I love making those, each one is different, so I don’t get bored), but that’s an impression. I need to actually count.
I’ll note that some of my prices for items are quite low, just barely covering costs — that’s generally because it’s a craft I’m new at, and I’m not quite doing it to the professional standard I’d like to yet. Those prices will likely go up, as I get more skilled.
Although there’s also the question of what the market will bear — I think people are prepared to pay more, on average, in Oak Park, than they are in Berwyn. But I’m not really positive of that — I sell some things in Oak Park, but not in the same kind of store set-up, more at maker fairs, which aren’t really a good comparison. Ditto for selling online. It’s not apples-to-apples, more apples-to-oranges-to-watermelons. 🙂
