Stop! Look! Listen! Find out what regulations are involved if  you decide to start selling some of the quilted and fabric art items you make, teach workshops, hold shows, open a fabric shop, etc.  
Will there be regulations that restrict you from doing this from your home?  Or in another location? Will you need a business license? 
When I operated a dressmaking business with gift shop and later my quiltmaking business from our home, a number of years ago, there were no regulations that prevented this.  However, would there be regulations now that directed the size and type of sign I placed …read more

  Learning techniques from other businesses may act as a springboard for your quilting business, even if the others  don’t involve quilting, patchwork or fabric art.  I read about a fun home business recently and think you might learn from this family…at least how to “find a need and fill it.”
This is the Christiansen family in Utah, who developed an online business based on the sons’ need to learn how to tie their ties.  They decided to create a web site to disperse this information…and then sell ties and related items.
I’ve mentioned them at my Home Biz Notes blog, in the …read more

 Quilters and fabric artists have been asking me questions about developing their home business, keeping it going, challenges they may encounter and other related topics.  At another b5media blog, Home Biz Notes, where I co-blog with Yvonne Russell, you’ll find a great deal of business information.
Yvonne has just posted a list of Popular November Home Biz Notes Posts You May Have Missed.  To make it easier to locate those you’ll find helpful, Yvonne has categorized them.  (I’m so fortunate to have such an organized co-blogger!)
If you can’t find the information you seek there, check out other blogs on the Business Channel.  …read more

The end of 2007 is approaching faster than most of us would like to think about.  Some of us don’t have any quilting/fabric art related items to declare on our taxes.  Others operate  quilting ventures as a business.  Either way… that means we must consider wrapping things up taxwise.
Kelly, at b5media’s Taxgirl, will be answering year end tax questions about charitable donations, individual tax planning or reporting.  For submitting your question, Ask the Taxgirl.
You also may want to visit Kelly’s Taxgirl blog at the b5media Business Channel for tax questions in general.

               Do you find family and friends wonder why you do all that quilting?  Also, if you do this as an at-home business, do they think you don’t really work?  They consider you available for errands, volunteering, taking care of other family members and pets so think you have all this free time that’s at their disposal.
Quilting moms (and grandmoms) do work.  Bridget Wright, at the new b5media blog, Biz Chicks Rule, addresses this topic, Really, Really, I DO Really Work!  I’ve also discussed, at Home Biz Notes, how work at home moms can feel and look professional.
Since more and more women (and …read more

Myths – ideas not founded on fact
                          Those of you with friends and family who consider your quilting and fabric arts “just” a little hobby, may be interested in checking out the periodic myth destroying taking place at Home Biz Notes.  Co-blogger Yvonne Russell came up with the idea and readers are sharing the myths about home businesses that are untrue.
Many quilters are involved in this art for the pure enjoyment it adds to their lives. However, for others, this interest evolves into a small (and perhaps eventually a large) business whether it’s making products, teaching classes, giving talks, writing …read more

Quilters and fabric artists, who are earning their living from their art, may desire to look into retirement plans for the self-employed.  Perhaps they’re doing this parttime and have a retirement plan where they work or a spouse has one.  Yet they might never know when they could be depending on their parttime work for full time income.
At Home Biz Notes, I’ve written a post on this topic, Home Business Owners Should Consider Retirement Plans,  I also refer to Miranda’s information at Yielding Wealth which will provide you with data and details.  It’s often puzzling to know what you should do …read more

Writing careless, unprofessional e-mails may turn off customers.  Or they may give customers, editors, and others the idea that you’re as sloppy with your quilt art as you are with your online writing.
Celine at Pimp Your Work has some good tips about writing e-mails in her post, 7 Ways to Make Your E-mails Unprofessional.  She writes sort of “tongue in cheek,” but has some very valid points to make.  I hope you aren’t practicing any of these!
Take time to use the proper English (or other language) you’ve hopefully learned in school and let readers know you care about accuracy, professionalism, …read more

Businesses often wonder what they can legally deduct as an expense on their taxes.  Some small business owners are completely unaware of many of the deductions. 
“What can businesses deduct?” Kelly Phillips Erb, from Taxgirl, says is one of the most frequent inquiries she receives.
Kelly has answered this in a guest post at Problogger, 46 Tax Deductions that Bloggers Often Overlook.  Even though this post is directed at bloggers (one type of home business), most of the deductions are applicable for any small business…whether you’re operating solely on the Internet, utilizing a walk-in shop, or combining the two.
Your business may have added deductions…or may …read more

When we’re operating a business, we hear so much about what we can to make it successful.  Sometimes we aren’t told what to avoid. 
On the b5media Business Channel, we wrote posts about mistakes to avoid in your business and business related endeavors. 
You might want to check out, at Home Biz Notes,  my list of 9 Mistakes a Home Business Owner Shouldn’t Make and see if any of these apply to you.  Or perhaps you can use them to make your business more successful. 
These tips can apply to many ventures, whether  it’s making quilts and fabric art for sale, operating an …read more