Hello Mamas! I am a SAHM of 3 , (6/3/1) and my husband works very hard to provide for us. I'm always thinking of ways I could help out financially but still stay home with our children. One day I made myself a bedazzled pair of flip-flops from the craft store. My friends started noticing and asked if I could make them a pair and they would pay me, and I started making them for bday gifts for my close girlfriends. So far ever Everybody is loving them. I make them custom whatever color you want, to match your sports teams, outfit, bathing suits etc. I have bridal ones with pearls.... You get the point ;) A friend of mine this morning got a coupon for 200 business cards and she made them for me and my new little adventure. I posted a picture of the card with pics of the sandals and I've already gotten about 10 orders today. I have fun doing it, I can make a couple pairs a night after my kids go to sleep. Is this a good idea?? And how would you promote this?? Facebook page, Etsy, going to smaller boutiques, and asking if they want to buy them?? Can you even do that? Ahhh!! I have no idea!!! I'm kind of excited because I feel like I finally came up with a little something but am I being silly??? Any and all tips or comments or a anything would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!
I'm definitely Thinking of getting a space at the Farmers Market, Swapmeets, and having a ladies get together kind of like Pampered Chef thing but for bedazzled sandals.
Actually, I think it's brilliant. I hope it is very successful for you. I very much admire women who take a little unique skill they have and enjoy and make it into a smashing business.
Best of luck to you!
ETA: I second Angie's suggestion of a great website too.
:)
A friend of mine has a similar story. She started making hair bows for her young daughters and everyone liked them so much she decided to launch a business. She has a very professional look (professional looking website, tags to clip the hair bows onto and plastic baggies with her logo on all of these things,) and I think that is a big key to her success. She has really hit up the craft fairs and vendor shows to get her name out there. She also offers sales and drawings on her facebook page, along with photos of her newest accessories. She has even branched out into some boutiques around town, so yes that is a very good idea to hit up some in your area. Good luck! Sounds fun!!
HTH,
A.
Congrats on your innovation! Have you considered taking out a small ad in your local paper? What about setting up a booth at a fair, festival or farmer's market? I'd get out in the public just as much as online! Good luck.
Hello! I am also a SAHM. I make scrapbooks, etc for people. Word of mouth is at the top of the list for home made items. Put your name out there in as many places as you can (family and friends, Ebay, Etsy, Craig's List, blogs, Facebook, boutiques, craft shows, etc). People are always looking for one-of-a kind things! If you are going to consider doing this as a business, come up with a creative name and register with your secretary of state. Then get an EIN from the IRS. Get a website! Don't think that you have to pay hundreds of dollars to create a website. I can help you do it for under $200, inbox me for details! Good luck to you!
How fun! We wear flip flops all year here. Maybe my daughter and I can decorate some over summer vacation. =)
I own a business. I ALWAYS have business cards on me. Also, wear them yourself, everywhere you go. And when people comment on them, whip out your card and there you go!
Also, check out Meetup.com (its free) and search "business networking". There will be groups of businessowners that meet to help each other. They meet at all different times and it will help you to get word out. Good luck!
Congratulations to you for finding something fun to do and makes a little cash! I hope it works out well for you.
You could work with school booster clubs to make the flip flops and they sell them for a fundraiser and you both have a profit. One of the dancer groups at a school here had special flip flops and sold them for $20 a pair. They made money as did the person who made them! PTA's always have fundraisers, sales, etc. Word of mouth is best of course.
Craft fairs and festvals are a great place to go as well.
Now for the business side.... although you are small, you still have to pay taxes. If you collect sales tax you must have a sales tax form from the state.
Your best bet is to talk with a good CPA, find out what is needed per law in your state, give him/her your business plan.
We run our company from home. I manage all the financials which include all the payroll, payroll taxes, IRS monthly taxes, quarterly reporting for the IRS, Workforce Commission, Sales Tax, etc. I have to file a sales tax report and we don't collect sales tax but my sales have to be reported.
Just make sure you get all your t's crossed and i's dotted just right per the IRS so you don't end up owing money, getting audited, etc.
As for a website, we created our own through yahoo and we pay roughly $14 a month to keep it up. Our business is much larger than yours but hey.. everyone starts somewhere!!
Facebook page sounds like a good idea and have friends "like" it.
Best wishes to your success!!
I like the idea of space at a farmers market or swapmeet.
For online, Etsy would work for you to sell them. I would do a Facebook page as well, so that you have your customers sign up and see what new items you have, and keep people coming back. I would also see if you can get your friends to post photos in their flip flops on Pinterest, and/or give them to you to post on Facebook. Pinterest is a great way to share things with a bunch of people fast, and you might get some sales out of that as well.
Also, if you want to some free Facebook advertising, think of Facebook pages that are in your area, related to shoes, related to planning weddings, anything that is related enough to have people with an interest in buying your specific product, and post an image and some text, along with a link to your Etsy page. No cost, and you will get people seeing it.
Oh, and hopefully you haven't actually printed your business cards yet, you should really put your Etsy (or whatever your website will be) address on there. If you already sent them to print, you could just get little stickers (like printable address labels or smaller), print the address on there and put them on the back, it is just a pain and doesn't look as nice.
That sound fantastic! I know yahoo has a small business web site program that let you set up a web site etc.
If you start advertising etc. you need to see about Sales Tax (not sure if that is an issue in CA, but it is her in NY) and insurance.
Also, flip flops can be "dangerous" in that if someones foot slips and and they fall they could sue you (after all no one is ever a klutz, it is always someone else fault - pet peeve of mine sorry)
Good luck! It sounds like a great plan!
