Your Legit Biz: How to Manage the Paperwork, Taxes, and All the Other Ridiculous Stuff for your Handmade Business

Your Legit Biz will get your head out of your hands and into your business.

Don't you wish you had it together like that artisan you saw at that one show?

You know the one. Hip, chic display. She’s drinking her morning smoothie out of a Mason jar while looking around the room. The smoothie is green, of course. Her table has random succulents for decor. Her items offered are sparsely arranged with a minimalist vibe. Obviously relieved, she waves to her friend who has just arrived to help her out for the day. She has got her friend and now she has got her shit together.

Want to know a secret?

She does NOT have her shit together.

This is the first show she’s ever done, she copied her display from a blog on Pinterest, and she isn’t sure how to take credit cards, but she heard about Square so she’s pretty sure it will be fine. She doesn’t know how to best track her sales. She doesn’t know if she’s going to even HAVE sales, she just knows that she wants to make this stuff and sell it, and succulents on the table are GOING TO HELP, and this show was fun to shop at last year, so why not? And if she makes a few bucks, then it’s all worth it--success, right?

Listen. I am all for it. She’s obviously ambitious! She made her stuff and she threw that stuff out on a table, made it look pretty, and has a smile on her face. I am here for that! I'm not here for the anxiety attack she's going to have afterward, when she realizes that she can make ACTUAL, REAL MONEY with this handmade business. Having fun by selling your stuff at a local handmade show is one thing; if you want to make your handmade pursuits an actual business, that’s an entirely different thing altogether. And you want to have an actual business.

Succulents are beautiful. What you need is a system. You need licenses. You need insurance. You need a bank account. You need to understand retail taxes. And you may need some help with all of that, because when The Local Tax Lady comes through the show looking for your city license (and she will), you shouldn’t need an extra pair of pants.

Are you hyperventilating yet? Does the thought of all that back-end stuff for a business put you over the edge of reason? Make you want to barf? Send your head straight into your hands?

I understand. I was there.

Once upon a time, I had the idea to have a handmade business making and selling soap. I had been making my own soap for a while, had people who bought it from me to offset the cost of the materials, and knew I could sell it. There was a local farmers market only 2 miles from my house. Why not give it a try?

So I talked to the market manager, she agreed to take me on as a vendor as a trial, and I did my first market. I had a camping table, a cheap tent, a large piece of denim for a tablecloth, and 5 varieties of soap that I literally piled up on the tables with handmade signs, and put the soap in lunch bags as I sold them.

I had no sign. I had no business cards. I had no license. None. I threw my stuff out on a table, talked to people about it, and gave it a shot.

And it worked! I remember the amount: I made $187 entire dollars that day. In four hours! I was thrilled!

But then what?

Where should I put that money? The market manager was emailing me, asking about my retail license, so she could have it on file. She said for the next season, I would need business insurance, too.

Um. What?

Your idea for a handmade business is a good one. You can sell things, I’m sure of it. If I can, you can. However, I had to teach myself really quickly to get my act together otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do any more shows and make any more money. You see, I was a public school teacher and my husband was staying home with our child, so my job was the only one bringing in funds. I needed to make extra money to simply feed the family, otherwise we would be using credit cards each month just to buy food and diapers after all the bills were paid. I walked to work to save on gas money and gym membership.

I am still a public school teacher, but I’m happy to report that my house now has central air conditioning, we have a second car that is paid for each month completely by my business, and my husband is employed. BY MY BUSINESS. Yep. I taught him everything I know and I haven’t had to make soap in years. He does it. I can focus on other aspects of the business.

This business growth could not have happened if I had not created systems for the paperwork --the hidden parts of business. Tax licenses, computing and submitting retail taxes, having a business bank account -- none of this fazes me anymore.

Now, when you go to a handmade artisan show, you might see me. I’m the calm one, working slowly to set up my display according to my booth placement, alternately drinking my coffee and advising my newbie vendor friends about the local tax rate. Yes, I have friends who send the newbies my way, so I can let them know the tax rate, the name of the tax license lady who will inevitably come by, and my tips for tracking sales and remitting sales tax.

When I’m doing a show, I am calm and happy, and unfrazzled. I have systems in place to help me track sales, to keep track of retail taxes, figure them out, submit them, and stay on top of it all.

And I can show you how.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Your Legit Biz will show you how to get your head out of your hands and handling your stuff in no time.