How to Get My Own Online Scrapbooking Business
Scrapbooking isn't just a hobby, it's an industry worth over $2.5 billion annually in the United States alone according to Frugal Mom, a resource for moms who want to make more money. Combine this money-making potential with the low cost of working from home, and you can profit greatly from an online scrapbooking business.
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Instructions
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Choose a name for your business that is original and reflects the type of customer you hope to attract. For example, don't choose Imperial Impressions if you want to convey a casual feel for your business. Check the assumed name records of the county clerk, city hall and secretary of state to make sure no other business --- especially a similar business --- already uses the name. File an assumed name form, also known as a "doing business as" form, with each of these entities to register your business name in the state. It costs as little as $10 to file a DBA form as of 2011, though the cost varies per state.
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Check with the county clerk, city hall and secretary of state to find out what licenses you need to operate an online scrapbooking business in your area. At the very least, you likely need a sales tax license from the state tax agency to charge sales tax to customers within your state. Obtain a resale license from the same agency to avoid paying sales tax when you order supplies from a wholesaler.
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Buy a domain name from a domain name registrar to use as the Web address of your business website. Choose a name that matches your business name, ends with ".com" and doesn't contain any hyphens so customers can easily remember it. These measures ensure that customers find your website easily, since people typically type web address without hyphens and with a ".com" suffix. Domain names cost about $10.
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Get a Web hosting account, which costs as little as $4 per month. Tell the Web hosting provider to make your domain name the primary domain for your account.
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Download free store software from a company such as OpenCart, PrestaShop or Spree. These companies provide free, open-source store interfaces which you simply upload to your website and customize for your business using the store's administrator control panel. Include a contact page to receive customer feedback, which is important to the success of your business.
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Buy wholesale scrapbooking supplies such as colorful paper, adhesives, stamps and decorative scissors. Choose products with a combination of high quality and low price. If possible, make an agreement with a dropshipper, a company that ships customer orders on your behalf so you don't have to store inventory in your home.
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Set a price for each item in your inventory. Make sure your prices cover the costs of your business licenses, website and inventory and allow you to make a profit.
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Take a representative photo of each item in your inventory. Use a bed sheet or wall of a contrasting color as the background for the photo; or use the wholesaler's photo if provided. Access the administrator control panel of your online store and add a listing for each product.
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Advertise your store online in places where scrapbookers gather, such as craft websites, photography websites and family websites. Read each site's terms of use to make sure the moderators won't consider your links as spam.
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Tips & Warnings
Register your business name as a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to prevent other businesses from using it. A DBA only protects the name locally.
Allow customers to pay you to make scrapbooks for them. You might charge as much as $15 per page for this service.
References
Resources
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Trademark Electronic Search System
- Register: Register Domain Names at Register.com
- Holly's Wholesale Scrapbooking Supplies
- OpenCart: Open-Source Shopping Cart Solution
- PrestaShop: Free Open-Source e-Commerce Software for Web 2.0
- Spree: Open-Source e-Commerce for Ruby on Rails
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
