Do you carry or plan to carry "Ready to ship inventory"?

[Opagon]

I have been reading and rereading the Business name thread quite a bit over the last couple of days as I am thinking very hard about trying my hand at making my hobby a business.

My questions to every one that is already in business or also in the process of starting their own is -

Do you carry or plan to carry "Ready to ship inventory"? If so how many items/categories do you keep on hand? Pro's and Con's? Would having an example of each item available for customization be of help or an unnecessary step in the process?

Thanks in advance!

Heather

[Johanna]

Carrying ready made inventory depends on the kind of work you do, but one thing it is essential to have is pictures to show as examples of your work. Whether they are used as references on a website or placed in a hand sewn photo album to be placed into a customer's hands, pictures will help your credibility and sales.

Best of luck, Heather. It is my dream that all competent leatherworkers have the option to quit their day job.

Johanna

[Ross]

i never carry inventory. my business is web site based since i'm now working from my home and there is no room for storage of inventory. besides, i do my best work when i'm making it for a particular person. just making something to make something winds up with something that shouldn't have been made. for me anyway.

[Opagon]

I did a couple of small Tack Shows this summer and brought along my photo journal along with some pieces to sell to pay for the space. I sold about 60% of what I brought and came away with the impression that if I had more on hand for people to choose from that I might have gotten closer to breaking even. (Gas prices killed me...) I am thinking of the website end and those that always seem to want items right away. I know for myself that certain items are more of a hands on kind of thing. I am currently making all of my "ready to ship" items from the odds and ends scraps and the good parts from some of my OOPS pile. They are mostly braclets, neclaces, key fobs and zipper pulls. At the show I found these items great for getting my card in more pockets and covering lunch but I dont want to be wasting alot of time making tons of them. I have room for storage but I agree with Ross, I do my best work and am more motivated when I am making it for a particular person.

My hubby and I are looking to move to a place where I can set up a proper shop (Rather than the dinning room...) and maybe have a store front too. I know if that happens that I want to have select items available at all times but I just havent quite figured out how I want to run the Website part of it yet.

Ross, Can your customers pay online?

Suggestions and others experiences needed,

Heather

[Opagon]

Never mind Ross, I just went to your site. I am still pretty green to alot of this computer stuff. Nice stuff!

[HorsehairBraider]

Here's my two cents...

For some of my items I keep them on hand at all times... so if I sell the last one, I make more. Some items experience has shown I will only do custom, so for those items there are pictures on my site that people can see. I explain on the site that my craft takes time and that they will have to expect to wait a given amount of time (although I try to be faster than I say, so that they will be pleased they get the item sooner than they expected). I have not had a problem with people waiting. They know they want something special and are fine with waiting for it.

People can buy items right off my site, but again I explain that it is an ORDER and I will get it done as quickly as possible. If it is jewelry and I have to cast, I contact them right away and let them know about the delay. I always am ready to refund if people don't want to wait but... I have not had to give a refund yet.

At shows, people will buy what you have. For the most part they will not order, at least in my experience. They may keep your card though, you just never know when you might hear from them again. At that time, they probably will order.

Good luck in starting out a new business. It can be tough (I hate all the paperwork) but it is nice to be your own boss. However I'll let you in on a little secret - you will probably find you will work far harder for yourself than you ever would for any boss, no matter how much they paid you!

[K-Man]

It's a two-edged sword - you either don't have enough or you have too much. And like Johanna said, it really depends on what you're going to offer. It depends also on who you're going to offer it to. Do some research - check out what others have a lot of on their tables at the shows - is it selling? What are people asking for? If you have a fair number of folks asking for the same thing, then that should indicate to you that an in-stock inventory will sell.

If you go the website route, it's essential if you want to make money, there's a number of ways to set it up. The "store" is actually a separate entity from the informational pages, yet it will appear to be seamless. Accepting payment through the website can be done by using/linking to a service like Paypal (or similar), accepting credit cards, accepting checks. There's a fee tied to each of those as well, so you need to consider that. There are a number of companies available that offer the credit card processing aspect and their fees vary greatly.

A storefront operation can encompass a lot of things. You can have it set up where your manufacturing is done at the same location as the storefront. The "storefront" can be as simple as a couple of display cabinets or you can have it looking like Wal-Mart.

There are so many things to take into consideration, it's really hard to try and cover them all in a single posting/response. So suffice it to say that you have to make it as convenient as possible for the customer. It's not easy doing that sometimes. Keep in mind that it takes a LOT of initiative, a LOT of flexibility, and some amount of common sense to run a business successfully. There are some folks who are too idealistic about it. They then get frustrated and end up failing at it. I heard a saying recently that I agree with - people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.

[gary]

I'm in the early stages of starting a business. I'll be building it up in steps, the first one being custom items - mainly dog-orientated stuff, and I've been touting myself round pet shops, field sports shops, saddleries, riding centres and stables to do some test marketing.

A lot of people want to have a look at what you are able to make so I have a selection of items available for them to see and feel (and quite a few sniff them too!). They also make a useful starting point for a conversation about what people want (type and colour of leather and stitching, hardware, decoration, and so on).

I also carry a bunch of photographs to illustrate other work that I've done so they get a better idea of what they may want. I've found quite a few people know exactly what they want but need some help in describing it or, if I need to illustrate a point, there's a handy example to show.

Some want to buy the samples I've taken while others take a card and get back to me later. I think leather is one of those things a lot of people like to touch before they buy so the tactile input is another point of sale (or order) technique.

Gary

[CitizenKate]

I've been selling only made-to-order items (some custom, some not) for five years, but now am starting to build up more ready-to-ship inventory.

The advantage of made-to-order is, you don't have any money or space tied up in inventory. The disadvantage is, you're behind the eight-ball all the time, and the money is in limbo (not quite the customer's money, but not quite yours, either) while you're building the order. Sometimes customers get skittish having their money tied up in a long turnaround, and I've had a couple get cold feet before the order was completed, and cancel the order. (This is for non-custom work. For custom work, the prepaid amount is non-refundable.) I was able to sell the items in the end, but it's still not good when that happens.

The advantage of maintaining an inventory is, you can work more at your own pace, and when an order comes, you just package up the item and your money is free and clear. It is a lot more fun making stuff when I don't have someone breathing down my back to get it done. And it's a lot more fun selling something that's already made. It also makes it easier to go to art & craft fairs, since you need to show up to those with a pretty full array of merchandise. I've considered just building display items and taking orders, but I'm sure I'd lose quite a bit of business that way, and the 3-6 months following the fair getting all the orders filled would be hell.

So, just some observations from my experiences, for what it's worth...

Kate