Don't quit your day job: at least not yet.

Can I have a show of hands from those of you who have faced unemployment at some point? You know the kind I mean--the sudden pink slip, the unexpected horror of finding yourself out of a job, that sinking sensation when all your bills seem to loom up and stare at you: mortgage, electricity, telephone, car payments, credit card payments....

Okay, keep those hands up while I count: one, two, three ... 18 ... 104 ... 2 012 ... 16,010 ... okay, that's enough. I get the idea.

Many or most of us have had this happen to us at some point or another. Unemployment. Scary, isn't it?

We all agree that it is. So now answer me this: why would an otherwise sane person decide to quit his or her day job and go into business for himself, without any idea if the new business will succeed?

I refer, of course, to the home craft business, and it staggers me how many people we've encountered over the years who are floundering and desperate because they up and quit their day jobs in the touching hope that their new craft business will support them.

Been There, Done That

Oh, and you can add us to the ranks of, urn, fools who quit their day job. As you may remember, we up and quit both our day jobs, bought a fixer-upper (shack) on four acres in rural Oregon, and left urban California (kind of the reverse order to do things, right?). That was back in 1992. No jobs, no prospects, no money, we just ... quit.

So I know what I'm talking about. Real smart, huh?

Why did we do this? Well, there were a variety of reasons. The "perfect" house (shack) came on the market, and we felt compelled to snap it up before it was gone. So there we were, suddenly the proud owners of a house (shack) 300 miles away. We couldn't just let it go to waste, could we? Besides, we always wanted to move to the country. We were certain that jobs were available in that area. No problems.

Well, there weren't any jobs in the area, at least none that we wanted. It was at this juncture that we decided to bite the bullet and start our own business. It took Us 10 years--a decade!--to succeed.

Had we eased into our business in a less dramatic fashion, not only would the stress have been less, but our finances would have been much improved.

So take it from me. Don't quit your day job. Yet.

Misplaced optimism

The problem is, it's so darned hard to see into the future. We all go into business with a touching faith that our product will hit the market and become an instant and overnight success. This rarely happens. (See my last article in the January/February 2007 issue--"It Takes Time.")

I once met an artist at a craft show, a nice young man in his 30s. He did beautiful oil paintings: cozy domestic scenes, enchanting landscapes, lovely farmscapes. His work was stylish, classy, and detailed.

The original oils were, of course, out of my price range, but I was so impressed by his work that I purchased one of his prints. He seemed pathetically grateful for the business, and as we chatted it became clear why: he had quit his day job a year before in order to concentrate on his painting. He was in financial hot water.

The trouble is, there are a lot of artists out there, using every possible different medium: oils, watercolors, clay, whatever. This young man was competing with thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of other starving artists all vying for the dollar in the customers' pockets. His trouble was that he needed to succeed now, in order to pay his bills. He had no time to wait to build his reputation and his clientele.

Fast-forward 12 years. I looked at that delightful print on my wall a few days ago and got curious about the artist. I did a search of his name on the Internet and came up with nothing. While I don't know for sure, it's a fairly good bet that he did not as an artist, and went to work instead at something unrelated. What a tragedy--he had such talent.

Crafters who have the desire to go into business do so because they have a talent. Don't let that talent go to waste by hamstringing your own efforts.

Slow growth

So how does it work? How do you start a home craft business without quitting your day job?

There are obviously a number of factors that contribute to what your future schedule will look like. Are you the primary breadwinner for the household? Are you a stay-at-home parent? Are you deep in debt? Do you have young kids, or are they older? Do you homeschool or do the kids go to school? Do you have other obligations on your time, such as caring for elderly parents or farm animals?

There is nothing on your plate-nothing!--that won't be made more complicated if you up and quit your day job to devote your time to your start-up home craft business. A lack of reliable income will jeopardize your ability to pay your bills, care for your children, or maintain your farm.

So find that free time and devote that to your home craft business.

Ha ha. Free time. That's a good one, right?

Yes, right. Because let's be honest here, if you have enough time to hone your craft, then you have enough time to start your home craft business in your spare time. People who commute two hours each way to a 10-hour-a-day schedule, and who work weekends and holidays, and who have four kids to boot ... just don't have the time to do a craft.

See what I'm saying? If you have the time to do a craft, then you have the time to do a craft business. Find all those spare hours you normally use to make your craft, and start devoting them to marketing, setting up a website, putting together brochures, or whatever other techniques will work to sell your craft.

All the things you do to market your craft will cost money, which is another good reason not to quit your day job. If you can't afford to have a website (or whatever) made or you can't buy the raw materials or you can't afford the booth fees for craft shows because you've quit your day job and money is tight, then you've further hamstrung your efforts to get your business off the ground. Believe me, I know.

Serious efforts

If you are serious about wanting to start a home craft business--I'm talking about a business that may ultimately replace your regular income and will support your family--it behooves you to start it in the most serious way.

You need to take a good hard look at your product and determine if it is unique enough to "fly" as a stand-alone business. If you make, for example, country crafts similar to the crafts made by hundreds of thousands of others, then your chances of turning these crafts into a stand-alone business capable of supporting a family are unlikely because the competition is too high. Your products must be unique enough to compete against all the other hopeful crafters out there.

This is an awfully hard thing to do. The craft that we adore, that we spend hours making, that we create with passion and love.... may not appeal to anyone else. Them's the facts, folks, and whatever you do, don't quit your day job in hopes that the rest of the world will beat a path to your door to buy it.

Okay, now let's assume that your craft is unique enough to become a stand-alone business. You have taken a hard look, done your market research, and concluded that you stand a decent chance of turning your craft into a business.

Your day job will provide you with the luxury to support you while you get your craft business off the ground.

No, I'm not saying that you will live in luxury while you get your new business going. I'm saying that you won't be starving while you do so. I'm saying that you won't be getting ulcers from stress of not paying bills when your new business doesn't become an Instant and Overnight Success. I'm saying that your spouse and kids won't become resentful when they require food and clothing.

What you need to do now is to take some of the spare time that you would normally use to watch television, take a vacation, or go shopping ... and apply that time and effort (and money) to the marketing, development, inventory, and other leg-work necessary to start a business. Rather than watching the evening news, you should be in your garage workshop fine-tuning your design. When you put the kids to bed, you should be working on your webpage. When you have your two weeks of vacation per year, you should use that time to run some test-markets for your product.

What's the alternative?

Let's play an imagination game for a moment. Imagine that you did quit your much-hated and stressful day job and now have unlimited free time to devote yourself to running your new home craft business.

Doesn't that sound like a luxury? You can sleep in, you don't have to fight the commute, you don't have to deal with dippy coworkers or a nasty boss.

Your kids (and possibly spouse) go off to school and/or work, and the entire day stretches before you, free to do the things needed to get your craft business off the ground. You linger over a second cup of coffee before finally (guilt pricking you) amble to your workshop.

Now what?

Perhaps you're building inventory to attend your first craft show. You box up a few hundred of your lavender-velvet frammerjammits and hit the road. You make $500 at the craft show and come home in a blaze of triumph ... just in time to open the bill from the (pick one) mortgage company/auto dealership/credit card company/student loan company ... for $500.

Wow, you think. How cool. I just made enough money selling my frammerjammits that I can pay this bill!

... until you open the rest of the bills that arrive throughout the week, and realize that your steady paycheck from your hated job is no longer there to pay them. And you realize that spending that $500 on the mortgage (or whatever) leaves you no money for the paint/glue/fabric/wood/shipping boxes/etc, that you need to build more of your product.

Suddenly you stop lingering over that second cup of coffee. Suddenly you're booking craft shows like crazy in an effort to make another $500.

Suddenly you realize you'd darn well better get your webpage off the ground, and quickly. Suddenly you realize that when little Johnny says that he wants the newest version of a GameBoy, you'll have to say no. Suddenly the ritual Friday-night dinners out with your spouse are no longer possible.

That's what it's like when you quit your day job. Been there, done that. Don't go there.

An example

I am watching with interest the efforts of a friend of mine to turn her product idea into a business. I won't say here what the product idea is, because frankly I don't want anyone to grab the idea and run (it's that great). However, let me just say that her product is unique, it's a product many people need (as opposed to "want"), and her marketing approach so far is sensible and intelligent.

She is currently doing the footwork necessary to turn her product into a full-fledged business. She is acquiring the necessary equipment, finding sources for materials, and fine-tuning her techniques to increase her efficiency.

She has even mentioned the idea that if her business succeeds, it might ultimately replace the income her husband brings in by commuting to his job in the city, over an hour away. Her husband is open to the idea of someday quitting his job to work fulltime on the fledgling business.

But here's the thing: he's not. He's not jeopardizing his family's security by eliminating the steady paycheck he brings in, even if his commute is difficult and his job is not the most rewarding. He recognizes that his wife's product idea is fabulous, and he recognizes the potential income this start-up business may produce ... but he's not quitting his day job to devote his time to getting the new business off the ground.

Rather, he's using portions of his paycheck to purchase the tools and materials necessary to get the business going. He's devoting spare time in the evenings and weekends to helping his wife do the market research and other necessary legwork. And when my friend finally does go into business.... I truly believe that someday he will be able to quit his day job and work at home.

Smart people.

Test market your product

One way to find out if your product is marketable or not is to do some "dry runs."

I will discuss test marketing in a future article, but in brief you might consider doing a few "cheap and local" craft fairs to see what customers think. If people avoid your product in droves, this should tell you something. If they like your product but are turned off by the price, this should tell you something.

Consider attending some high-end craft fairs--not as a vendor, but as a customer--and keep an eye on those booths selling products similar to yours. Check their prices, watch the traffic flow, see how they set their booths up. If they seem successful in their sales, then you might experience the same success when you go into business.

Test markets allow you to see (a) what venues work for selling your product, and (b) whether your product is viable as a "stand-alone" business or not. Learn everything you can ... before you quit your day job.

Do as I say, not as I do

When we quit our day jobs to start our business, it took us a decade to dig ourselves out of the hole we had dug. And while some might argue that this gave us greater motivation to succeed, I would argue back that for many people, the resulting financial uncertainty isn't worth it.

So keep your day job. Work evenings and weekends on your home craft business. Reduce or eliminate your debt and living expenses to prepare yourself to make the transition to working at home.

Meanwhile, because you have the financial cushion of your regular paycheck, you can slowly and sensibly go into business for yourself.

PATRICE LEWIS

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WWW.DONLEWISDESIGNS.COM

Patrice Lewis is co-founder of Don Lewis Designs (www.donlewisdesigns. com). She and her husband have been in business for 14 years. The Lewis's live on forty acres in north Idaho with their two homeschooled children, assorted livestock, and a shop which overflows into the house with depressing regularity.