What you need

Look into all of the federal, state, and local permits and licenses that you need to own and operate a business.  You also need to know about the tax laws and obligations that will come with owning a business.

Make the decision about where your business will be located.  For many scrapbooking businesses there is the possibility of running your business from your home.  But you might need to look at another location, in which case you will need to decide how you are going to pay for it and where you are going to find your business profitable.

There are going to be some overhead expenses.  You need to make sure that you have the money for those.  Some of the expenses (considering you do the business from home) will include scrapbook supplies and start up costs.

What you will be doing

There are many options for turning scrapbooking into a business.  These are just a few of your options that should be explored.

 Making page kits is a simple option.  It consists of creating unique pages and then compiling all of the materials necessary for making them.  The kits can be sold to individuals or you can sell them to local businesses to put out on their shelves.
 If you have the creative ability to make page kits you could take it one step further and teach classes.  These classes could be set in your home or at a local store.  They give you a chance to share your talents in person, giving out kits along with advice and information.
 For those that are computer savvy, you could start a scrapbooking website.  This could offer tips, ideas, products, services or digital scrapbooking.  There are many options online for scrapbooking, it is a craze that it taking flight.
 There is always the scrapbook store, opening up shop with all of the supplies necessary for scrapbooking.  This is probably the most involved idea for profiting from scrapbooking.
 You might also consider doing other people’s scrapbooks.  For those that don’t have enough time to do their own, or simply don’t want to go through all of the work to preserve their memories.  You could charge by the page or by the hour, you might find that when you are all caught up in your own books that this is a great way to satisfy your habit.
 There are many different multi-level scrapbooking companies out there that offer great career opportunities.  This is great for those that already have many scrapbook friends and are part of a scrapbook community.

Whichever type of business you choose, you need to know that you have the business knowledge, as well as the heart, to own a business.  It takes time and passion to be a business owner, it is not for those that can’t stick to it.

If you are looking for full time business, the scrapbook store or multi-level would be for you.  For those that are only trying to make a little money doing what they love, the other ideas are far simpler. 

The list of ideas is no where near complete, but some of them should spark many other ideas for you to try. Whatever you decide, good luck on your adventure, because that is what you are in for.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Fri 4 Jan 2008