Organising and running arts and crafts events
The what where when and how of event organising
Running your own craft fair
Using the craft fairs search section, you can find events taking place around the UK and organisers to contact about booking stalls. However, if you are struggling to find handmade arts and craft fairs in your area, you might like to considered running your own events.
If you are running craft events in the UK, then please list them on the site. One subscription allows you to list all your fairs.
The purpose of this guide
In this guide to organising a craft fair, we will provide you with information which will help you to decide whether running a craft fair is something you or a group of friends or other craft exhibitors would like to do. You will find resources on this site which will help exhibitors and visitors to find craft events by location and date.
Why run a craft fair?
There are many craft exhibitors looking for suitable places at which to show their work and people looking to purchase quality handmade items for their own homes or as gifts, which are not available from high street stores. If you are finding it difficult to locate suitable places at which to sell your work, you could consider organising your own craft fair, providing an opportunity for you to organise shows where arts and craft makers would like to exhibit their own handcrafted work.
Many artists and craft people lament the lack of events local to them, where only handmade work is shown. An option might be for individuals or group of exhibitors to come together and run their own craft fairs, allowing them to have some control over where they exhibit their work. If you establish a good reputation, there is the potential to attract a growing following and promote arts and crafts to a wider audience. Holding a successful craft fair requires a lot of work, but it provides an opportunity to build a network of arts and crafts people across your region, support the craft community and meet new friends.
You could on the day find friends or relatives to help, so that you can also manage your own stall. However, you might decide it is better to focus your energies on being a good host. If you have teamed up with several other exhibitors to run your own events you could take turns.
As an organiser you will have to work hard to establish a good reputation and build a successful regular event, so you should try to ensure you give a good first impression to the local arts and craft community. You want to build your reputation based on the value of what you provide to exhibitors and visitors. You want people to remember you and talk about you for the right reasons. Hopefully you will also enjoy running your own shows and benefit from the opportunity to meet more people appreciative of arts and craft whether as creators or buyers.
A suitable date and time
The first thing you have to do is decide when you want to run your event. Craft fairs are usually held for one or two days and often at weekends, although some larger shows could be run for up to a week. Depending on the venue, typical times to run them would be from 10am to 5pm. During Spring and Summer, you might be able to hold a fair at a music festival or other such cultural and social gatherings. Evenings are often popular during the lead up to Christmas, when people are looking for something special to give as a gift or to use in their festivities. Try to find out if there are other activities taking place locally, which might not be craft related but could still bring more people into the area, attracting more potential visitors. You can use the craft calendar to find events running on particular dates. Holding your craft fairs at regular intervals, such as the first Saturday of each month, could help to raise awareness of your craft fairs and promote them more cost effectively by including this fact in leaflets, posters and adverts.
The chart above right gives you an idea of comparative volume of craft events that run each year in the UK. It shows that there are events all year round but that the season really kicks off in April with peaks in November and December on the run up to Christmas. This trend is partly weather related for outdoor events and coincides with seasonal celebrations like Easter.
Choosing where to run your event
Your choice of a suitable venue and location are essential to holding a successful craft fair and will be influenced by the time of year and whether you live in a village, town or city. Factors to consider include the number of exhibitors you expect to have and the number of visitors you think you will attract. When you hold your first event you might want to start small, perhaps hiring a church hall for example and with a limited budget this might be your only option initially. As you gain experience and become more successful you could begin to hire larger venues.
Venue owners or managers hoping to attract organisers to begin running craft events at their otherwise unused venues, can list their facilities on the site in the craft venue search section.
If you are considering organising craft fairs in your area but are uncertain which locations might be suitable, you could carry out a little research by visiting potential venues and drawing up a short list. Owners or managers of the property might welcome the opportunity to have regular fairs run at otherwise unused facilities, as it would provide them with an additional source of revenue and you could suggest that they also add their venue which could be linked to your craft fairs and the craft exhibitors attending them. Outdoor events could attract more passing trade and be held at locations such as parkland, but weather concerns might require you to also hire marquees. Hosting events indoors could provide a more comfortable setting, particularly during the colder months and make it easier to provide services such as catering and facilities such as toilets. Adequate parking and suitable accessibility both for exhibitors unloading their stock as well as visitors are essential. You should also consider public transport links for visitors as well as the potential for passing trade, which could be limited if you are in an out of the way location.
To build and maintain a good reputation you need to select the right venue in the right location both to attract the exhibitors you need to book your stalls and the customers looking to buy arts and craft work. When you have done your research and found a suitable venue available within your budget, contact the owner and arrange to hire their facilities for the date and times you want them. It is best to book just one event initially, until you have had a chance to run it and determine if the venue and location are right for you. Ensure that you have any commercial bookings agreed and confirmed in writing.
Finding exhibitors for your craft fair
You should carefully consider the type of event you want to run and who you are appealing to. Decide upon the requirements for the exhibitors you want to invite to have a stall. If you are trying to promote handmade UK arts and craft work, then take the time to find the right exhibitors. You could use the craft exhibitors search section of our site to find local exhibitors to invite to have tables. Try to find an interesting range of artists and craft people working in a variety of mediums. Visitors should be able to appreciate the skill that has gone into creating what is on show. You want people to recommend your shows to others and to build the reputation of your craft fairs as a place to be.
When people approach you about hiring a stall to exhibit at one of your shows, ask for a description of what they do and to see several pictures of their work, including if possible a photograph of their table display from a previous. Exhibitors who join UKCraftFairs as standard members can include in their craft listing a photograph of their work and multiple images if they have promoted membership. The quality of the images could help you to decide if they might be suitable. Ideally an exhibitor will also have considered the nature of your event and the suitability of the work that they create and sell. Exhibitors who are friendly, engage effectively with potential customers and have well designed stalls selling handmade arts and crafts at the right price are likely to do well, provided there are sufficient visitors looking to buy on the day.
Marketing and advertising your craft fair
Effective marketing and advertising is essential if you are going to run a successful craft fair and the options available to you are influenced by the available budget. Whilst a good venue and location can help to attract some visitors, if enough people do not know where and when your event is taking place turnout is likely to be disappointing for your exhibitors. Unhappy exhibitors might not book tables again in the future, making it difficult to build the positive reputation which you want and need.
Some types of advertising can be inexpensive or even free, for example use of the internet, social networking and word of mouth. If you are going to hold a small craft show, appearing in local press or on radio stations which cover the area is worthwhile. Include a telephone number, email address or web address for potential exhibitors or visitors to contact you or find more information. A suitable memorable name reflecting the nature of who you are and what you do can help to raise awareness. Remember to find out about the size and type of audience for any media you decide to use, as you want to reach enough of your target market. You could also design your own range of marketing material such as pens branded with the name you are holding your events under.
Organisers who are members of UKCraftFairs can login to the site and list the events they are going to run, including relevant information such as transport links, booking terms and table size. Events can then be found by exhibitors using the site to find craft fairs to show their work at, as well people looking for places to visit and buy arts and craft. Organisers events will also appear in Craft Weekly the week before they are run. Organisers can find exhibitors to engage with and invite to hire stalls and people can see the range of crafts and other activities which could attract people to your shows. You could include QR codes in your marketing material and have promotional videos made for your events, which might also feature exhibitors showing their work.
Relatives and friends could help you to distribute leaflets promoting your craft fair, which you could print yourself. You could ask about putting up posters in local shops, libraries and community centres. You could enquire with the local council, about putting up banners at road junctions leading towards the venue and on the day, provided you abide by regulations, directional arrow signs which can help people to find the venue location. Signs and banners should be weather proof, easy to read and not pose any sort of hazard to passers-by.
Craft Weekly newsletter
When you list on UKCraftFairs the events you are going to run, they will appear in Craft Weekly, on the Thursday before the week they take place. It is free for anyone to subscribe to Craft Weekly and by letting your visitors know about it you are helping to promote what you do. This could help to attract more visitors to your future craft events and potential customers for your exhibitors.
Some legal matters to be aware of
As a craft fair organiser, it is important that you are aware of your legal obligations and that you inform exhibitors of the legal requirements they must meet, if they want to have a table at your craft fair. You must provide exhibitors booking tables with your full contact details, such as name, address and telephone number. You will need to have public liability insurance to cover against damage to property or injury to people visiting your event and venue owners should ask to see proof of your insurance when you hire their venue.
Exhibitors should have liability insurance to cover them for damage or injury caused by their stall or products they are selling and remind exhibitors to bring proof of cover with them on the day, or ensure that on their signed booking form they accept liability for any damage or injury caused by themselves or their products. Inform exhibitors clearly what they are paying for and ensure you get the information you need from them. Appropriate documents will be required if exhibitors are using machinery, for example as part of a craft workshop or craft demonstration and catering services must have the necessary health and safety certificates.
Managing your events finances
It is essential that you properly manage the finances of the craft fairs that you run. Only book one to begin with, until you have proved the fair is a success and you can be confident of continued future success. You need to cover all your costs and make enough profit to pay for future shows. The main costs which you are likely to incur will be hiring the venue and paying for advertising. When deciding upon table rates for exhibitors and whether to charge entry fee to visitors, consider these and any other costs, as well as what is reasonable for the likely footfall. After you receive payment from the exhibitors for their table hire, send them a receipt. Realistically you might be lucky to break even when running your first craft fairs and many organisers have to work very hard to earn a reasonable profit.
Small craft fairs might charge from between £10 and £30 per table, whilst larger and better-established ones might charge more, perhaps £40 to £100 pounds per table per day. There would typically be around about thirty arts and craft exhibitors selling their work at a smaller fair. Organisers running larger more widely advertised events, attracting many visitors might charge several hundred pounds per table per day, run fairs lasting for a few days or a week and have many more craft exhibitors showing their work. Regardless of the size of the event, it is important to have a good variety of exhibitors and enough visitors on the day to ensure that the stall holders have an opportunity to attract customers for their work and or get commissions.
Whilst many craft fairs are free to enter, some charge visitors an entry fee but this means having someone available to manage the cash. You could provide a stamp or wrist band of some kind so that visitors can leave and return later if they want to. When people pay to get into a craft fair they will expect more for their money, so you could for example, include a free raffle entry, as well as additional activities and entertainment. You also can offer free or discounted entry to some people, which could help to boost visitor numbers.
Before your event and on the day
After you have found exhibitors for all your available tables, draw a plan showing where each will be located, ensuring similar crafts are not put next to each other. A few weeks before the fair is run send an email to each exhibitor reminding them about it, along with any important information, such as a map, the time the venue is available for them to set up, the opening and closing time for visitors and any rules around clearing up after the fair has finished.
On the day stick table plans in a prominent position on the doors or walls and put name signs on each table, so that exhibitors can find the table where they will be showing their work. Remember to greet your exhibitors when they arrive, chat to them during the day and ask them how the day went for them before they leave. Also try to get some feedback from visitors.
Entertainment and other supplier services
There are suppliers of services which could help to improve the craft fairs that you run, making them more of a day out experience and attracting more visitors. For example, on site catering or a cafe, entertainment in the form of live music, fairground games, face painting, performance artists or arts and craft workshops. You could perhaps provide suppliers with a free spot at your fair in return for a percentage of their profits. Remember though that your aim is to provide an enjoyable day out for visitors, so that they leave happy and your exhibitors do well. This will encourage them to come again and recommend you to others.
Exhibitor and visitor relations
Exhibitors will expect you to have found a suitable venue at which to run the craft fair and to do what is reasonable to attract enough visitors. Provided you have done these things, you cannot control how many people will decide to come or how many sales exhibitors will have on the day or subsequently because of having a stall. If exhibitors raise such concerns you should be able to demonstrate the efforts you have taken to run a successful event, with the resources available. Of course the more you charge per table per day, the greater exhibitors expectations will naturally be. Some factors such as the weather are beyond your control, but just ensure that you have done everything that could have been expected of you to run a successful event. This also highlights the importance of finding exhibitors who are likely to do well at the events you run and for exhibitors to find the bestplaces for them and their work.
To reduce the risks of misunderstandings, you should communicate clearly to exhibitors in writing, before they book a table, what you will be doing to advertise the event and what they can expect from the venue. For example the reach of media you are advertising in, the variety of other arts and crafts exhibitors showing their work and expected visitor numbers. Also inform them of any responsibilities applying to them, which they need to be aware of. You should communicate with exhibitors politely and respond to their questions promptly and effectively. Ask about any special requirements they might have and do what you can to help them. Greet exhibitors on the day and ensure their table is ready for them to set up when they arrive. Remember that for exhibitors, it is not only about sales on the day, but also raising their profile in the world of arts and crafts which could lead to future sales and commissions.
Follow up work after your event
Getting feedback from exhibitors and visitors can provide a valuable insight into where you are going right and wrong in the running of your craft fairs. Using this information and increasing experience, contacts and resources, you can work to improve what you are able to offer to craft exhibitors and visitors in the future. You could send a brief email about the craft fair to the exhibitors to thank them for their support and telling them that you look forward to seeing them again at future events.
Organising more craft fairs
Based on your experiences you might decide to hold another craft fair at the same location or try organising them elsewhere. If you send out a regular newsletter and you collected names and email addresses on the day, you could also send out reminders of your future craft fairs. By organising successful well attended events, you could find a growing number of artists and crafts people to invite to your future craft shows and attract regular visitors who are looking for places to go, where they can meet exhibitors and buy handmade arts and crafts.
Interactions with other members
Using Interactions, you can keep in contact with other arts and crafts exhibitors, whether you are organising craft fairs together or they are attending fairs you are holding. Rather than searching through your old emails, using Interactions conveniently brings together a list of your contacts and your conversations with them. You can then easily update other members of your group regarding your craft activities within a friendly and supportive environment.
Sign posting an event
Sign Posting
If you are the event manager for a craft fair you will need to promote it. Part of your promotional armoury are banners and posters. You will also need to make sure people can find the fair by erecting temporary directional signs.
We learned very quickly that you need to be clever with your wording, especially if you want to keep your costs down and reuse materials (It makes sense both from a financial, environmental and time point of view). For example, if you are putting a banner up that has a date it will only last for that one event. If you put up an onsite banner saying 'this coming Saturday' you could reuse it.
Staying within the law
Sign posting is not something you should just do. You need to speak your local authority and the police as there are complex legal rules to abide by.
If you put up signs without permission that do not meet the authorities guideline you may find yourself getting a hefty bill for the taking down of the signs and perhaps a court appearance.
Talk to the local authority (probable the planning office asking for the person that deals with temporary signs) that controls the area where the event will take place, on the telephone. Do this early on as it can take a while. Make sure you have your proposal in place, so that the process can go smoothly. You will need to know at a minimum, a brief description of your event, the number of people you hope will be attending, the number of and type of attractions, the exact location of the even and the proposed dates. After the first telephone call, it is best to arrange a face to face meeting. During the meeting you will need to have all the details discussed but in more detail, your event objective, outline and or proof of your public liability insurance and the expected size, type and mode of transport for visitors.
Temporary directional signs
Is your sign a directional sign or is it an advertisement?
Anyone putting up a directional sign hopes that this will encourage some passing trade on the day, but this is not the purpose of the signs. You need to be advertising locally, regionally and or nationally with location details included in your advertising. The directional signs are put up to safely direct people, who are unfamiliar with the area to the local, to the craft fair.
Here is a link to the Temporary signs - Surrey County Council . This gives you an example of the type of rules to abide by and the timing required to apply (at least one month before).
Not all banner, signs and posters will need planning permission but if you do need it, it will cost. For example, advert you may need to complete an "Application for consent to display an advertisement(s)" - covered by the "Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007"
Guide to running a craft course
Although most things in the modern world are mass produced, the aesthetics and philosophy of arts and crafts have survived and there is growing interest from consumers looking to purchase handmade items. There are also many people looking for the opportunity to learn craft skills, enabling them to begin a new hobby, make personalised gifts for family and friends or create work that they can sell.
In this guide we will look at some of the things to consider, if you would like to begin running art or craft courses.
Is teaching arts and crafts for you?
Previous experience
If you are currently or have previously exhibited your own handmade arts and crafts, you might like to hold your own courses, classes or workshops. This could provide you with an additional income stream and by raising your profile, potentially lead to more sales or commissions. Along with having the necessary skills as an artist or artisan, you also need to ask yourself if you have what it takes to teach others effectively and enjoy doing so. Having some previous experience planning and delivering educational or training material should stand you in good stead. If you haven't taught others before, you might prefer to attend a course in tutoring or run a few practice lessons with family and friends to see if teaching is for you.
Competitors
A concern sometimes raised is that by sharing your craft ideas and knowledge, you risk losing future sales to others, who might go on to create craft products like your own. This is something you must decide for yourself when thinking about what you are considering teaching and at what level. However, if the individual style and creativity of your work is what attracts your clients, you could aim to inspire those learning from you to commit the time and energy required for them to develop their own creative talents and produce their own unique handmade work.
What will you teach?
Content
The details of what you choose to teach will depend upon your area of expertise, so we will not be looking at specifics but rather a few general issues you might want to consider. Including suitable craft projects for students to complete, so that they each leave with a finished item, can help to provide workshops with structure and focus, giving those attending a sense of achievement. Reading our arts and crafts guides, you will see the wide range of skills that can be taught and we welcome input from those wanting to share some of their own knowledge and experience.
Difficulty
Running separate classes for beginners, intermediate and experienced students will help to ensure that what you are teaching is suitable. You could encourage people to learn more advanced skills as their experience and confidence level increases. As well as planning and delivering classes to groups of individuals who want to become artists or artisans, you might also like to run workshops suitable for corporate team building days or social occasions such as parties, where those attending already know each other and there might be more of a focus on creating an atmosphere of fun and entertainment. Those attending such events might like to create craft gifts for family or friends for example.
Where will you run your courses?
Home based
Many people choose to run craft courses in their own home. Whilst this should help to reduce costs, it could also place limits on class size and what you are able to teach. For example, each student might require access to expensive machinery. You would also need to consider the privacy and feelings of family members and ensure they were supportive of what you are planning. After selecting a suitable room, you could create an environment which also serves as a studio or workshop in which to do your own work when not teaching others.
Venue hire
You might prefer to look for a space to hire that is within your budget and has the necessary facilities. The benefits of doing so could include availability of car parking and public transport links, equipment such as work benches or sinks and that you would not need to disrupt your home environment. However, this might mean transporting yourself along with tools and materials and having to set up each time you ran a course and then clear up again afterwards. If you are looking for somewhere to hire, use the Craft Venue Search to see if we currently have anything listed in your area. If you or someone you know has a suitable venue which is available to be hired it could be listed on the site.
What resources will you need?
Tools and materials
The specific tools and materials required will depend upon what you are teaching. However, you should ensure you have enough available, rather than students having to wait for a shared tool to become available for them to use. Will you be providing all of the necessary equipment, or if those attending are going to bring their own do you have spares if they are needed. Be clear beforehand what is included in the price people are paying.
Other supplies
You should keep a supply of general goods such as pens, paper, towels or anything else you think might be needed, to ensure the class is not interrupted by someone going to the high street to purchase something. Provide a worksheet for people to take away with them, which could include information such as where they can buy the art and craft supplies used to complete any creative projects.
Planning your course
After you have decided what you are going to teach and where, your next task is to carry out any necessary research and planning. There are practical considerations such as the minimum and maximum number of students. You will need to set a price to charge those booking a place, decide upon the length and structure of each course and what you will be expecting people to learn, depending on their previous relevant experience if any.
Class size
Deciding how many students you can accommodate will depend upon several factors. For example, how many do you think you can teach effectively, how many can fit comfortably into the available space and how much money is needed to ensure that you are able to cover your costs and return a profit. A class size of approximately eight to ten is generally considered reasonable, but you will have to decide what is appropriate. Too few students and you will struggle to be economically viable, but too many and you might not be able to give each of them the time and attention they need and have paid for. If you are hiring a venue rather than using your own home, you might have greater flexibility regarding student numbers, but this could impact on your costs and how much you have to charge.
Pricing
Looking at the rates being paid by people attending similar craft courses to those that you are intending to run could help you to determine the market rate. However, before you set a price for those wishing to book a place, you need to first calculate your costs. Some upfront costs could be returned over a period of time, by including a percentage of the amount in each booking. For example, you might have initial outlay costs to purchase additional tools, equipment and if you are using your own home, possibly costs to adapt a suitable room. You will also have per student costs such as materials and power used, and any food and drink provided on the day. You should consider how much you will be drawing as wages and how much profit you will need to reinvest in your business. Remember to also include costs such as marketing and insurance as well as putting money aside to pay your taxes.
Space
Plan out the area in which you will be holding the course, to ensure there is adequate space in which the students can work and for you to be able to move around monitoring their progress. Provide enough lighting, seating and enough easily accessible power points, if required. Ensure there is sufficient storage space for materials and tools. The environment you create should provide a relaxed and creative working experience. Both to inspire your students and potentially attract some extra sales, you could create an attractive display showcasing some of your work.
Timing
If you are running a one-day craft course make it clear what time it begins and suggest people arrive early so that you can start on time. By communicating with your students try to determine their skill level and if necessary run classes suitable for beginners and intermediate as well as people with more experience. You can then try to ensure that the level of difficulty will be suitable for those attending.
To allow students time to absorb what they are being taught, you could break the day into logical stages by including refreshment breaks. The aim by the end of the day will be to ensure that everyone has completed a piece of work and leaves with the skills and confidence to do so again on their own.
Before and after
A couple of weeks before the course date, send emails to the attendees containing any information they will need about the day and send a reminder a couple of days before. Provide a guide that includes a list of craft supplies and tools needed to complete the project again themselves and allow for time at the end of the day for any questions. Having a trial run for family and friends could provide you with useful experience and feedback, helping to boost your confidence.
On the day
Your home
If you are holding craft courses in your own home, you might have rules that you require people to follow, such as removing their shoes and you could provide suitable inexpensive clean footwear such as socks or slippers. If people will be walking through parts of your house, you might want to clearly sign post which rooms they can enter to avoid any embarrassing situations, as you do not want to upset other members of your family or make your students feel awkward. If you have a second bathroom, you might want to make that available for use by your students and remember to leave enough loo roll. Family pets should perhaps be looked after elsewhere, as animals can become distressed by unfamiliar visitors and some people might have allergies or be wary around animals.
People might want to photograph the class and each other, so you should be clear on where pictures can and cannot be taken. You should also remove any of your own valuable or fragile property, to avoid any loss or damage. Providing a cloakroom facility, perhaps in the entry area will ensure coats are not cluttering the work space. However, you should tell people to keep any valuables on or about their person, as you will not be liable for any loss or theft of their property. You could also suggest that items such as laptop computers are clearly labelled in some way, to ensure they are not accidentally picked up by anyone with equipment belonging to someone else that looks similar to that they brought with them.
Food and drink
If people will be on site for the length of a full working day, you should consider their refreshment requirements. You do not want people interrupting the class to leave and buy food and drink, so you should either request people bring their own or provide something suitable for meal breaks. For reasons of hygiene and to ensure no liquids are spilt onto equipment, materials or items being made, you should set aside a comfortable area for eating and drinking. This could be a kitchen for example, and if the weather is nice a garden could provide a pleasant place for people to take a break, enjoy some fresh air and get to know yourself and each other in a more relaxed setting.
If the day starts early say nine in the morning, you could provide breakfast say between eight and eight forty-five, to encourage people to arrive in good time, rather than being late. As well as lunch, allowing time for morning and afternoon tea breaks can help to split the day into more manageable learning stages for your students. You could also keep a supply of bottled water or juice, with paper cups on a nearby table, but remember to keep liquids away from the work area to avoid accidents.
Teaching process
After you have done your preparation and ensured everything is in place and ready, you should try to relax and enjoy the day. It is important that in spite of any necessary restrictions, your students feel welcome when they arrive and find the learning experience both enjoyable and beneficial. You want them to leave having learned new arts and crafts skills as well as meeting new contacts and possibly finding friends who share their own interests. Rather than spending a lot of time introducing people at the start, try to create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable getting to know each other through their shared learning experience. If you find that some people are dominating the class, so that others feel left out, you should try to get everyone involved and perhaps have additional craft projects on hand for people who finish their work more quickly than others.
Understanding your students requirements can help you to create craft training material that is relevant and engaging. Try not to overwhelm your students with information, but instead observe their progress and move at a speed that they are comfortable with. You can always invite people to attend additional courses if they are struggling and for those who are finding it too easy, you could recommend to them your more advanced workshops. If you recall your own school and college days, the teachers you learned the most from and whose classes you enjoyed were often those who made a subject interesting by communicating effectively. So try to make what you teach not only educational, but also fun and entertaining. Sharing craft ideas and experiences from your creative journey, whether projects turned out well or not, could inspire others with the enthusiasm that helped you to find self-expression through your chosen art or craft.
Legal matters
Regulations
Regardless of where or what you teach, there are some legal issues you will need to consider. You should seek independent expert advice if you want to ensure you are taking all the necessary steps to safeguard yourself and your business. Find out if there are any laws or restrictions regarding the type of business that can be run from your home and if you must notify any local officials. If you are using a room in your own home, will your household insurance cover any loss or damage to equipment, tools and stock or will you have to add these to your policy.
Insurance
Although some forms of insurance are optional, not having them can prove to be a false economy, as you might find yourself liable for considerable costs if you are not adequately covered. If you are exhibiting and selling your work at craft fairs, you should already have public liability insurance, to cover compensation claims due to injury to people or damage to their property resulting from your business, for example, when students attend your courses. You might also have tradesman's insurance, which can cover loss or liability relating to your tools and workshop.
You could take out insurance to cover loss of income resulting from illness, or cancellation and you should ensure that you are adequately insured if you transport equipment and materials to other locations. If you supply products for people to take away with them, product liability insurance will insure you for claims due to injury or damage. Professional indemnity covers you for claims relating to damages caused by services you provide.
Employees
Employing someone other than a family member, would make it compulsory for you to have employers liability insurance, which provides cover for employees who make a claim for illness or injury caused by their working for you. The certificate should be available for you to show to your employees or government officials on request and contain all relevant information. Unless you are running your business as a Limited company, a family business might be exempt, though you may prefer to confirm your position through expert advice.
Finances
Before arranging your insurance cover, look around for the best deal to meet your requirements and make sure you read through the documentation, so that you are aware of any exclusions. A good accountant can help to ensure you follow the law regarding taxation and remember to set aside enough money to cover any taxes that will be due. Booking receipts might be requested and having a suitable template will enable you to provide them quickly and easily.
Sales and marketing
Promoting your courses
Craft course listing pages could include descriptions of projects to be completed on the day, what will be provided in terms of tools and materials, the venue, expected number of attendees, the cost of booking a place and any terms and conditions. Entering the correct full post code for the location will enable a map to be displayed. Your listings could then be searched for by county and date and included in relevant pages on the site such as in the Local Crafts pages and the Craft Guide pages.
Taking bookings
You might prefer to ensure the suitability of attendees, perhaps by talking to them over the phone to discuss the course, as well as communicating via email. You could also require payment via PayPal before places are confirmed, rather than accepting cash payments on the day. A good well organised course can help to sell future places, both to repeat customers and from recommendation by former students to family and friends, who particularly leading up to the festive season might enjoy learning how to create craft gifts to give as presents.