​​There is much for you to take into consideration when starting a scrapbooking business. More specifically, you will need to determine if these are things you can handle, afford and give your best to, so that your business will be a success.
THE TYPE OF WORK
In the scrapbooking business, you will have several types of work to do. The first step in the client aspect of the job is to determine what to create. To do this, you will need to work closely with your clients. While you can work with people over the web or over the phone, it is still important to get that intimate conversation going. For example, you may need to rely a few messages to them and get them to answer your questions so that you can create the most complete and authentic scrapbook.
During this first step in the process, you will spend time doing the following:
- Talking with the client about what they want their scrapbook to provide to them
- Asking questions about the scrapbooks design and budget
- Looking through photos, noting names, discussing special occasions that are memorable, perhaps gathering personal items that the group would like to include in the scrapbook
- Working out a timeline with the client for the scrapbook’s completion
This first step is only the beginning. After it is complete, the work starts on creating the scrapbook itself. You can expect this work to include a good amount of planning and creative design. You will need to have hands on creative skills to do well in this particular process. This process includes:
- Putting a plan in place for each page of the scrapbook
- Use tools to help create each page, making it unique, interesting and to have the right theme
- Keep all supplies and time investment in line with the customer’s goals
- You will develop each page according to the goals you have selected, using your artistic talents to succeed at it.
This entire process may take any place from days to weeks, depending on the amount of time you put into the project and the extent of it. This too plays a role in how effective your business will be.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU MAKE?
This brings up the question of money. How much can a scrapbooking business make? Unfortunately, the amount of money you make is based on numerous factors and there is not an industry standard.
Specifically, the number of clients you have will determine how much you can make on a yearly basis. The more clients you have, the more work and time investment you will need to make, however. That is the second part of the factor in how much you can make. If you have more time to dedicate to the process, then you will have more ability to make a larger sum.
Your hourly rate is dependent on several factors too:
- How much do other professionals in your local area charge (you may even want to get a quote from them for a project of your own to see what your competition is like)
- How much experience you have, the more experience you have, the more advanced and professional your skills are. This increases the amount you can charge.
- You also need to determine what clients are willing to pay even if there is no other service locally to provide you with a reference. This factors into who your customer is. If you are working with upper middle class people, then you will likely be able to charge more than, if you are working with others.
Although you will likely start out making less, you can work up to $75 an hour or more, depending on your skills and how much of a name you can develop for yourself. Often times, you can earn more than that.
TIME
Time is one of the biggest factors working against many individuals who work in the scrapbooking industry. The biggest problem here is that there are going to be more than one project for you to do and you will likely want to put a great deal of time into each project so that it turns out the way that you would like it to.
It is easy to get tied up in the process, finding yourself struggling to get projects done along the time line that was created. You may want more time to perfect the project. You may want more time to redo work that you are not happy with. The problem is that this cuts into the hourly wage that you are charging. In other words, if you charge $75 per hour and you plan to get two pages done within that hour, a project of 20 pages could net, $750 and would likely take 10 hours to complete. However, if you stretch things out, it may take you 20 hours to complete, decreasing your hourly rate by half.
Further, the job is also demanding. You will need to meet deadlines both to keep your customer happy and to keep your business on track. For some people, this may make the job a bit more challenging. The key here is to focus on planning and scheduling tasks to complete. Then, of course, you need to stick with those plans. If you can manage time wisely, not overbook yourself and work to your goals, you can find true success!
GETTING STARTED: FOCUS SMALL FIRST
Sometimes the best way to get started in this type of business is to start small. Specifically, start out by working your business with those who are close to you, such as friends and family, as this makes the job easier (you may even be in some of those photos they want you to include!) Try to start out with only taking on one project at a time. When it is complete, you should move on to the next. That way, you have the ability to learn to gauge your time wisely. This ends up helping you to achieve more since you are able to learn and earn as you go.
Most people who start a scrapbooking business will start small and will work up from there. For example, you may only work on weekends when you have time initially. Later, as you work through this eBooks’ resources, you will be able to learn to market yourself and skills better so that you can attract more clients, increasing the profit that you can make.
In order to be a full time business owner in the scrapbooking field, you will need to dedicated enough time to the process to make it successful. You will also need to have a demand of customers to work with, which can take some time to build.
Now that you have a good idea if you think this business will fit your goals, you can move on to developing those all-important skills you need to be successful at it.
