Reading Up

I spent this week researching rabbits, rabbit farming, and crafting for a profit, as well as trying to make some professional connections.

I've stumbled across many websites this week by Googling "Angora Rabbits" that have a lot of helpful information about raising the rabbits and how to market their fleece. One website was particularly interesting because it talked about the "dark side" of rabbit breeding. They shared some tragic stories of finding that their bunnies had been attacked by predators in the night. This particular breeder had actually gotten out of angora farming because of the hardships they had endured. It's good (or at least wise) to hear the bad side, even though it's a little scary.

I've also been reading the book "Crafty Superstar" by Grace Dobush that has TONS of valuable information about starting a small, craft-based business. I'm really enjoying it! The section on starting up a business was particularly helpful so far. It includes a questionnaire to help the budding businessperson think critically about what they are trying to do and how they need to go about getting it accomplished. I've also read information about how to make your business "legit" and how to go about hiring a lawyer if you need legal guidance. The section on pricing made me think the most. More on that later in the tip of the week!

As for professional connections, I've been coming across some roadblocks. I've e-mailed two different breeders that are within a "reasonable" driving distance (less than three hours) of where I live, and I've come away empty-handed so far. One breeder, who is particularly close to where I live, has a great website with lots of information, but when I tried to contact them via e-mail, the message was bounced back to me. I've tried again, but I still haven't heard anything. I checked tonight to see if they had a phone number listed, but they only had their e-mail address. The other breeder I contacted hasn't gotten back to me yet, despite the fact that I e-mailed them much earlier this week. Lesson learned: if you want to sell something, be sure people can contact you!!

On a happier note, I contacted a friend that I've been hoping would get involved in the business with me, at least marginally, and she seemed to be interested. I'm hoping that having her involved in this endeavor will make it a little less labor-intensive and a little less scary. I'm planning on talking to her again this week, so I will hopefully have more information about that in next week's installment of information.

Tip of the Week: (Idea taken from "Crafty Superstar") Be sure you consider your own hourly wage when setting prices. Besides considering materials for your project, think about how many hours you spent crafting it, or in my case, how many hours were spent working with the rabbits. Do you really deserve to be paid $1 an hour for that beautiful shawl you knitted? Do you want to be paid less than minimum wage for the beautiful 4-ply yarn you spun? If you spent 18 hours crocheting an afghan and your labor is worth $10 an hour, than your afghan needs to cost at least $180 plus the cost of materials. If your work is quality, people will be willing to pay for it.