Writing a business plan is both nerve-racking and exhilarating.

It can be stressful to work

through each section, dealing with problems and exploring alternative solutions. However, you’ll
find that it’s positively thrilling to work through those problems and find out that yes, this is a
doable proposition!

Most business plans have the following eight main sections; some also include an appendix.
Keep in mind there is no right or wrong way to develop a business plan and your particular type
of art or craft will shape its format.

1. Executive Summary
Consider the purpose of the business and briefly state how you intend to achieve that purpose.
The objective here is to be direct and to-the-point. You’ll follow up on these basics in other
sections of the plan.

Executive Summary

The executive summary section of your business plan gives you the chance to introduce your
business – kind of a thumbnail sketch of what’s going on behind the business name. While
everything in a business plan can vary from the norm, for a small business, the executive
summary is generally less than two pages.

Below is a brief executive summary for my fictitious craft business. The name of my business is
Authentic Costuming and this business researches, designs and makes period garments for
special events. I’ve been in business for 10 years and have decided that it’s time to expand my
business by providing period costuming for the motion picture industry. Here’s an example of
how my executive summary would look:

Authentic Costuming, Inc. has been in business in the Chicago, IL area for the past 10 years and
specializes in authentic, period garments. The business is well known in the Midwest section of
the United States as a supplier of quality costumes for parties, special events and stock theatre.
The company plans to expand into the motion picture industry over the next three years.

Authentic Costuming plans to achieve this goal by staying current with motion picture industry
trade publications. When notice of suitable film projects are announced in the trades, the
company will research the appropriate historic fabric and styles and pitch the producers of the
movie with line drawings of the fabrications. The company expects that its ability to expand into
this area will depend on brand awareness, competitive pricing and providing complete
authenticity and superior customer service.

Tailoring the Executive Summary

Depending on the type of your craft business you can then go into a brief explanation of your
shop’s square footage, how you plan to market and advertise your business, if you plan to
outsource any of your work, if you have a web presence mention it here and just briefly,
financial projections of gross receipts and net income.
You can also describe your company’s qualifications for the start-up or expansion: skills, talents,
accomplishments, and personality traits. Don’t go crazy. Pick out your company’s top three skills
and explain how those make your company stand out. For example, for my fictitious executive
summary, I would mention that a principle in the business majored in art history and took their
secondary education at the Rhode Island School of Design. This is just a suggested list. You
probably have already thought of other information specific to your business that you can add in.

Think of the executive summary like the cover letter for a resume. Like a cover letter, the
executive summary makes your first impression and is another way of introducing yourself to a
potential business resource. What it says about you can be the difference between getting in the
door and missing your chance.

2. Basic Company Info

List the contact information for your business here: name, address, and phone and fax number,
how long you have been in business, hours of operation — you get the idea. Remember, the
business plan is a work in process. Get the fundamental company facts down on paper now and
you’ll find that updating the business plan in the future will be a snap.
Your basic company information for your business plan is pretty much the same as what you'll
put on your letterhead or business cards. This isn't exactly rocket science, you should know your
address and telephone number. Although I must admit after I got a new cell phone number I had
to write it on the back of the phone because it took me months to remember it. I had the old one
for 13 years so I guess that's sort of an excuse. That aside, what I'm going to discuss in this
article is how to get around thorny business address issues for your business plan.

Working Around Using Your Home Address as Your Arts and Crafts Business Address

When I'm called in to consult with brand new arts and crafts business owners, a frequent problem
is the fact that they are operating their business out of their home and they having a zoning issue
or a privacy issue with that fact. I understand completely. I wouldn't want my clients or users of
my business plan to know I operate out of my home nor would I want them to know my home
address.

People, especially customers or investors, are weird. Too nice a residence, they think they are
paying you too much. Live modestly your customers or investors will doubt your success and be
hesitant to do business with you. Additionally, some customers may feel that since you don't
have to pay studio rent, you should charge less for your products.

I recommend using an alternate business address for your business plan, letterhead and business
cards. And, I suggest a real street address, not a P.O. Box. An actual street address provides a
more professional image for your business. Keep in mind this is just for your business plan,
customers and other non-vendor business contacts. It's totally unwieldy to not have your raw
materials and supplies shipped to your home if that's where you work.
Finding Alternative Business Addresses for your Arts and Crafts Business Plan

Now, how to find that alternative address? Many office buildings rent mini-suites for a nominal
charge. To cut costs, approach other artists and crafters in your area to rent one mini-suite to
share. Keep in mind, the more people you have sharing an address, the more people you'll have
to trust each month to pony up the cash for the rent.

Consider renting a street address from another business. An arts and crafts business owner friend
of mine has this arrangement with her real estate agent. For a very nominal fee, the real estate
agent collects any mail that comes to the address and takes messages from the infrequent walk-in
traffic. I don't know about you, but I receive little paper mail from customers. Just about all my
customers either call me or email me.

In addition, there are plenty of mail processing storefronts renting office street addresses. I've
used a Mail Boxes Etc. address on and off throughout my business career. They provide a bunch
of different business related services and are relatively inexpensive.

If you are interested in having a chichi secondary address, there are online businesses that rent
street addresses in New York, Los Angeles and points between. It doesn't matter what part of the
U.S. or even the world you live in, when the mail drop business receives your mail, they scan it,
shred it and email it to you via an adobe file. Doing a search using the key phrase 'mail
forwarding' will give you plenty of alternatives from which to choose. Some will offer virtual
offices as well.

Leasing Space From an Artist or Crafts Co-op

I understand that many new businesses need to keep costs as low as possible, which is the whole
reason why they operate out of the artist or crafter's residence. But another alternative is to lease
space in an artist co-op. In an artist's co-op, many of the financial hurdles facing individual artists
can be overcome as a group. Sharing a studio or gallery space, for example, means that you may
have the ability to rent a space in a high-traffic area. This is a plus when you start writing the
marketing section of your business plan.

3. Products or Services Offered

For example, let’s say you do leatherwork and create purses using authentic antique techniques
such as Venetian lacquer. This section should contain a detailed description of the historical
origins of your designs and the types of leather, components, and techniques you use. The Plan
of Operations section will further elaborate whether you cut, dye and stitch the leather yourself,
outsource the procedure, or hire employees to do it in-house.

This section of your business plan is your reader's first introduction to your product line. Here's
your chance to show your enthusiasm about your crafts. If you're not excited about what you
want to market how can you expect anyone else to be?
Even if you're not preparing your business plan to secure financing, it's important to prepare the
plan as if you are. You never know - in the future you may be looking to expand and need
financing. Rather than have to rework the basics, write all parts of your business plan as if you
are selling your arts and crafts to a potential investor.

Describing Your Arts and Crafts Products

First, describe your products as if you are explaining them to someone who knows nothing about
your business. Your first step is to give a brief introduction of your business' type of arts and
crafts industry. For example, if you're handcrafting woman's clothing, sold directly to the
consumer, your industry is retail-clothing design.

Organize your products in a logical way. When considering how to do this, don't just think about
how you like to have things arranged, think about your user of the business plan. It's all about
making the plan easy for your readers to go through.

For example, If you handcraft women's dresses, organize your product line by day, work or
evening apparel. If you're only handcrafting day dresses, organize them by long-sleeve, short-
sleeve or halter, etc.

Ok, let's say you don't anticipate having any users for your business plan now - you're merely
writing it to organize yourself. Still, it's a very smart idea to take the time now to thoroughly
organize your product line while writing your business plan. Then you'll have a starting point for
your promotional copy for your web site, brochures and other promotional material.

Filling Arts and Crafts Customer Needs

While describing your product, briefly tie in an explanation as to how your arts and crafts
products satisfies your target market buying habits. While this is a topic you'll develop in your
marketing plan and the section about your competition, introducing it here links parts of your
business plan together. It also helps move your reader forward.

For example, let's say my new arts and crafts business is handcrafting decorative pillows. I'll be
using organic fabric and hand-dyeing the material in a eco-friendly fashion so that each pillow is
slightly different. It sounds like a pretty expensive proposition. However, I know from
experience that if I order fabric in quantity and set the hand-dyeing up in production line style, I
can cut costs to bring the pillows in for a more moderate price.

Taking these actions I'm moving an expensive home décor product to the mid-level customer
budget. Push the fact that your customer will get a bit of luxury for less. I'll expand on this more
in the marketing section of the business plan.

Describing any Special or Unique Facts About Your Arts and Crafts

Explain what features about your arts and crafts products make them exceptional. After all, that's
the whole point of our business. We are taking our experience and passion to handcraft an
uncommon article for which our consumer will be delighted to pony up the surcharge between
our product and something they can get at Target or Macy's.

Once again, in this section, use with broad strokes. Get your reader interested and completely
flesh out the concept in the marketing section of your business plan.

4. Facts About Your Industry, Competition and Market

Using the prior example, discuss the leatherwork industry, particularly the historical replication
niche in which you plan to place yourself. Address your competition and your customers,
especially how you plan to beat the competition.

5. Management, Organization and Ownership

If this business is your baby and you’re handling all management aspects yourself, this section is
brief. If you have a more elaborate setup, prepare a flowchart showing managers, the employees
reporting to each manager and their job description. Ownership refers to choice of business
entity and is one of the first decisions you need to make when starting a new business.

6. Marketing Plan
This is very important – how are you going to get your name out to your potential customers? If
you’ve done your research, you should already have some basic ideas. Jot down bullet points and
flesh out exactly how you plan to market your business.

7. Plan of Operations
This is your A to Z on how you plan to run your business. I find that it’s helpful to think about
what you feel makes up a typical day in the life of an arts and crafts business owner. This section
covers everything from researching and maintaining a potential customer contact list to deciding
how you will manage your inventory.

8. Financial Projections
Until you have some sort of sales track record or signed contracts from customers, projecting
gross receipts is guesswork at best. That’s why it’s crucial to take the prior sections of the
business plan seriously. You use all the research and knowledge you gain by working through
the business plan and calculate the unknowns in your financial statements with an educated
guess.

9. Optional - The Appendix

My business plan also includes an appendix. This section contains all the legal and operational
facts about my business such as my federal identification number, my bank account and credit
card information, business license and sales tax certificate. It seems like I have to reference that
type of information frequently so it’s handy to have it all in one place.