This informative guide outlines some of the simplest to start and easiest to run businesses that can be launched from the comfort of your own home.



Sections include:

The Dozen Best Craft Businesses
Doing Market Research
Sourcing Materials
Advertising and Promoting Yourself and Products
Keeping Accounts



This information guide is designed to introduce you to just some of the many simple to start, easy to operate art and craft businesses which can be run from the comfort of your armchair. OK, you will have to leave that chair sometimes, but gathered here are what I believe are the best businesses for the artistically inclined. Hopefully I will motivate you with some of my ideas here, or if not, inspire you to think of some other businesses which may suit you better.



The first part simply lists the businesses I believe are the cheapest to set up, need a minimum of equipment and capital to begin, and are extremely easy to run from home. Although I discuss these ideas in general terms only, I have included enough information to get you started, or have pointed you in the direction of where to go next to get the business up and running. Then comes the nitty gritty of finding materials, promotion, accounts, and finding places to sell your work. At the back of the guide, you will find a comprehensive list of other business ideas which can also be started at home.



I hope you find this guide useful and I wish you GOOD LUCK in your forthcoming business venture(s). I have been working with crafts for many years and have found them very rewarding. When I graduated college, I designed knitting patterns for many national newsstand magazines and yarn companies on a freelance basis. More recently, I have had craft projects featured in various crafts and other leisure titles. So, let's get started!





Portrait Or Pet Portrait Painting
This is one of the easiest ways to make money from home if you are a reasonable artist. You notice I say reasonable here, because you really don't have to be a Leonardo da Vinci to paint animal portraits (or even portraits of people). Many portrait painters use a "scaling up" technique. The customer sends a photograph of the subject to the artist. The artist then constructs a grid over the photo and transfers each square in the grid onto a larger canvas or paper. In this way, the photo is almost traced, so the artist doesn't have to draw the portraits freehand.



This business is very easy to run from home. If you decide that this is what you would like to do, you will have to decide what medium you are going to work in (i.e. what type of paint you will use), and what fee you will charge. There are many different types of portrait  -  from the realistic to the outrageous.  You could paint in a pop art style, folk art, impressionist or even cartoon character style. You could even offer DIGITAL images of people's pets. Take a look at some of the following pet portrait painters for both hand and digital pet portraits;

http://www.funkypetportraits.com

http://www.artpaw.com

http://www.petartpix.com

http://popartpet.com


Many portrait painters advertise in magazines and carry out their businesses by mail order. A good way to work out your pricing is by sending off for details of prices from other artists or looking on other artists' websites. This way, you will get some idea of the "going rate" for these types of pictures. The best way to get word out about your business is to advertise in pet magazines or more general titles.



Of course, you don't have to work purely by mail order. You could open a stand at a craft fair or a festival, or you could place postcards in local shop windows advertising your services. If you paint as a hobby anyway, you will not need to buy in lots of new materials, so this idea is something which can literally be started in a weekend.