Sarah's Journey: Creative Home Business Ideas for Women

We are pleased to announce that Craft Ecademy Student, Sarah Hurren of Sticky Prints, has recently been awarded Accredited Membership of The Guild of Keepsake Artisans. 

This prestigious Accreditation means that Sarah has been accessed by the Guild as being professionally trained and competent and working to the quality and standards deemed necessary by the Guild to be worthy of their Accreditation.

Sarah, who was previously a Police Officer for 11 years, launched her Creative Home Business, Sticky Prints, in July 2011 after attending a series of Training Courses with The Craft Ecademy Ltd.

Although Sarah enjoyed her career in the Police Force, she found that, after having her first child, the job was very inflexible and it made it difficult for her to balance the demands of her job with the needs of her young family. 

Whilst on maternity leave, Sarah started to think about home business ideas with low start up costs which would allow her to work from home and allow her to care for her family at the same time. 

Sarah knew that she wanted to do something creative, so she began researching Successful Home Business ideas on the internet.  Eventually Sarah came up with a list of business ideas and discovered a few Franchises, which on the face of it, appeared to offer profitable home business ideas for women, but she was put off by the high start-up costs.  She was also deterred by the idea of not being in control over branding, marketing, territory and sales targets etc.

During Sarah's research she considered some very important points:

• What Business can a stay at home mum start?
• What Business can I do from home?
• How can I start a Creative Business from Home?
• What are the most successful creative home business ideas?
• What are the best business ideas to make money?

After extensive research Sarah was delighted when she found www.thecraftecademy.co.uk who offered a series of Creative Training Courses & Business Start Up Options, which would allow her to offer a far wider range of products and services than the franchises she had previously considered.

Sarah enthuses: “Quite frankly there was no comparison between The Craft Ecademy and the other Franchises I evaluated.  The only start-up costs with The Craft Ecademy were for Training and Equipment, with no hidden costs or ongoing fees, unlike the other companies that I looked at.”  Sarah continues: “The Craft Ecademy allows you to take your dream of running your own Home Based Business and turn it into a reality, no matter how big or small you want to make it.”

Sarah very quickly booked onto all of the Training Courses offered by The Craft Ecademy, including; Clay Baby Prints, 3D Baby Casting, 2D Baby Casting, Silver Fingerprint Jewellery, Artwork Jewellery, Baby Handprint/Footprint Jewellery and Pottery Painting. 

Sarah explains:  “I booked onto virtually all of the Training Courses as I wanted to offer the very best service and range of products that I could to my customers.”

Sarah spent a week at the Craft Ecademy’s Training Studio in Hampshire and was delighted with the Training and Support received: “The Craft Ecademy gave me the knowledge, inspiration and confidence to start my own Home Based Business and to develop it into a successful Business offering a wide range of Keepsakes.”  Sarah adds; “My Tutor, Michelle, was very friendly, clear with her instructions and extremely knowledgeable.  It also helped that she had previous experience running her own Home Keepsake Business as I was able to ask her business related questions which I found invaluable.”

Sarah explains that before she launched her Creative Home Business, Sticky Prints, she wanted to stand out from the crowd by offering more than one product range. She says that the Training provided by The Craft Ecademy helped her to achieve this.

Sarah is equally enthusiastic about The Craft Ecademy’s Post-Training Support: “After I had completed my Studio Training, I was given access to the Online Courses and Helpdesk, so if I ever had any specific inquiries, someone was always there to help me. I never felt alone.”

A little while after starting her Home Business, Sarah applied to join The Guild of Keepsake Artisans.  She explains:  “I wanted to be recognized within the industry as being trained and competent, but also to provide reassurances to Customers that my work was of the appropriate quality to make me worthy of The Guild’s Accreditation.”

Sarah also wanted to create a brand for her Home Business which would be consistent with the quality of products and services that she aspired to offer, so she enlisted the help of The Guild’s Marketing Team to help her with branding, logo, leaflet and website design.  Sarah explains: “The Guild were brilliant to work with and I am so thrilled with the results.  I had a clear vision in my mind about what I wanted and they delivered!”

So, it’s on-wards and upwards for Sarah, who is already seeing great results from her fledgling Home Business.  Despite the fact that Sarah only works 2 day’s per week and occasional weekends/evenings, she is very pleased with the results her Home Based Business has delivered so far.  Sarah explains:  “I recouped the cost of of my initial Training and Equipment very quickly and I have been very pleased at the level of sales I have achieved to date.  I had a particularly successful Baby Show recently where I took close to £1,300 in one day.  I am also finding that Coffee mornings are a very good Sales and Marketing Activity.”

Sarah also describes how Seasons such as Mothers Day, Father’s Day and Christmas deliver good sales: “During the two Christmas periods that I have been trading, I have been really busy. On average I have taken at least £2k during November and December.  Not bad for a part-time Home Business.”

Sarah says that the best form of advertising for her, has been word of mouth and insists that, for this quality products and customer service is key.  She explains:  “Customers who see the quality of my work close up are always impressed. I have a very good return rate for repeat business, which often results in referrals too.”

Sarah say’s that although she has faced some competition in her area, she has not been phased by it: “There are people out there, who have not had the appropriate training and it is reflected in inferior products.”  Sarah is confident that the quality of her products and services speak for themselves and she is delighted that The Guild of Keepsake Artisans has recognized this by awarding her with full Accreditation.

We ask Sarah, what have been the highs and lows of starting her Home Business and what advice she would give to others?  “There really aren’t too many downsides, apart from the fact that it can be fairly labour intensive and sometimes a little lonely working on your own. Also, having your own business means you never really shut off. I’m always thinking about my next step or what orders I need to make next.  My to-do list never ends!”

Sarah say’s that her high points have been launching her ecommerce website and having a professional footballer contact her, who is now one of her customers and gaining international Sales through her website.  The real icing on the Cake though, for Sarah: “Being able to work from home while getting to see my Babies grow.”

We ask Sarah, what she believes are the main characteristics necessary for running this type of Home Business and whether she would recommend it to others? “I think to be successful in this type of Home Based Business you need to be determined, creative, hard-working, brave and confident." Sarah confirms that she would absolutely recommend this Home Business Idea to others, but adds: “It is probably the hardest but most rewarding career path I have ever taken, but I have loved every minute of it.  The best bit for me is seeing the reaction on Parents and Grandparents faces when I present them with their order and meeting all of the lovely little babies!”

Sarah concludes: “Having a Home Based Business like this has enabled me to bring my children up in a way that allows me more time with them and to treat them as the priority.  At the same time, the Business has allowed me to retain my own professional identity, which is very important to me. I couldn’t be happier!”

To find out more about Sarah and Sticky Prints, please visit her Guild Profile Page on the Guild Members Directory: > Sticky Prints Guild Profile

Equally, if you would like to follow in Sarah's footsteps and learn how to start your own Creative Home Business, please download our FREE Guide below.