Approaching Christmas.....

While most are only starting to think about Christmas properly around end September as they've got ideas, presents, crafting and more to consider the crafting industry is in overdrive.

We're no exception as our customers are looking to have their works completed and up for sale work around 3 months ahead................this means we are 3 months ahead of THEM !.

Any occasion has the same approach. Design, test, prototype and advertise. This is true for EVERY design, so effectively the 10 to 30 hours of preparation for a product take up a lot of spare time. Which the customer only sees the result of when it hits the sales platform.

Many see the item as a lump of mdf, ply or acrylic that they can customise. Whilst that's true, what MANY don't realise is all that costs time, money and investment in advertising and promotion, materials purchase, tooling and machinery planning and ultimately a sale or three.

This year has been especially hectic on the 6 months approaching the Christmas festivities. 7 day weeks are not uncommon, with late in the evening production still happening even up to the 3rd week of December.

Email tennis with eBay and Etsy customers over trivialities takes up around 20% of time. NONE of this is paid for, and often absorbed into low cost products.

"Ebayitis"............The scourge of any company producing sales items on that platform.
The brainwashed customers wanting everything yesterday, for 50% discount, free postage and then scam with a non delivery request and demands for a refund, while they are sitting looking at the item alongside them. The platform is designed to make eBay money, they don't give a toss about the sellers stresses, the scammers theft nor the continual brainwashing of buyers who are led into a buying frenzy knowing full well they can steal the products by claiming they've not arrived, or damage them to get a refund.

This and other issues cost small businesses tens of milllions a year across the nation. Yet, there is little offered as a viable alternative for selling. Websites account for a small percentage of sales, and compete along with thousands of similar larger manufacturers for first page on Google rankings, with larger companies vying for the same positions with unlimited resources.

So..................next time you see a unique item from a small business think through just how much effort they put in, the hours of dedication for the task, with little or no resources available other than personal input, and skill.

SHOP SMALL with the SMALL BUSINESSES and support them over the multi-nationals buying cheap tat from China and India................

New Machines and new Designs

Been a while since I last blogged..... Beed a very hectic profitable year so far and new machinery is getting things going even faster.
Much of the designing will now be increased as time is now on my side and new items will be listed at the website

Whatever your idea, whatever the dream item, whatever you want we will try our level best to make your project even more desirable by friends and customers if you sell

Contact us throuigh the website

www.cut-n-crafts.co.uk

6 months in and going well

Hard work, determination, creativity and time all play a big part each in making a new small business work.

Sit back on your laurels for 30 seconds and you lose the edge.

Every evening I design, redesign and produce various ideas and requests form customers for their craft needs. Mush of this time is unpaid and unseen by the people that think the stuff we make is just conjoured up and posted..

The mysteries of manufacturing the designs lost in their eagerness waiting for their future creation and the excitement of them to be making something truly unique.

All the above goes on to build a small business when curve balls are thrown into the mix. Machine breakdowns, power cuts, life and family commitments and other demands needing attention have to be juggled into the mix to keep it all moving along

New designs and more ideas along the way have me at the PC making orders "On the fly" as they arrive by email from eBay and our website. Taking copies of existing designs, swapping program windows to fit them into a new panel to cut, making them work and gently nudging little lines and dots of the vectors to ensure what's on the screen comes out of the machine properly cut.

Choosing cutters, speeds, feeds and other necessary technical stuff to make it all come together and look what the customer orders..

Yup....There are cock-ups, time consuming bits, errors even after quadruple checks and then there's the finishing and packing. All takes time.

Postal service problems, couriers, paperwork and all the back-room stuff taken care of by Kay the day after the cutting, more time needed.....never enough though.

We're nothing grand.....but we try that bit harder and simple but expensive machinery keeps up producing the things people want



and all that above.......after the day job  ;-)


Sometimes I wonder why................. But it's our future income when properly retired and will sustain us hopefully until they nail the lid on .....

Rob