Grow Your Handmade Business

July 1, 2012

Chapin (The Handmade Marketplace: How To Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line) aims this business-planning-with-a-twist book at the Etsy crowd, including artists, musicians, crafters, and cooks. There are two main sections: "Mapping Your Dream" and "Planning for Success." The first section is shorter and covers identifying the best type of business to create, discovering skills and strengths, setting goals and benchmarks, and getting help from a mentor. The second section focuses more on the nuts and bolts of running a business and covers business models, time and money management, marketing, legal aspects, etc. Chapin writes in an engaging and conversational style, incorporating examples from her own experiences as a marketer who has worked with artisans as well as those from many other entrepreneurs. VERDICT Crafters and artists or those thinking about turning a hobby into a career will find sound, practical advice here. By focusing on artistic and creative enterprises, this book may appeal to readers not normally interested in more general business books. Recommended.--Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. of Ohio Libs., Oxford

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