You decided to do a craft show to sell your crochet, you signed the contract, got your resale license, decided on what you will make, you even took some nice photographs, now it’s time to track your inventory. How exactly do you do this?
In my wise craft show experience {cough and a laugh- remember I’ve only done 2 shows and didn’t show up for the 3rd} I think I actually have this one covered. I love lists. I’m a keeper so even though those craft shows were almost five years ago, I still have the records and inventory sheets.
I made columns for items, assigned them an item code, a price, and had a sold column. When I sold something (1 hat) I marked it on my sheet. One more thing that comes in handy is a pre-figured tax sheet unless you want to bring a calculator. I photocopied the one for my area on the back of the inventory sheet. You might find it easier to figure the tax into the price this way you don’t have to worry about it.
What’s Molly Doing?
Molly is all about inventory tracking today. She’s learning what needs to be tracked and why. She did the smart thing and asked folks before her show how to do this and read many books and researched many websites on the topic. She uses Excel. I learned Excel way back in 1997 so I haven’t a clue how to use it – so I stick to pen and paper.
Why is it important to keep track of your inventory? Because you are not allowed to deduct the expenses of items you have not sold. ~ Molly
Key Things To Track (according to Molly)
- Mileage (business including trips to the craft store)
- What you bought, when, how much, cost etc. KEEP the receipt
- Item name, item description, and item number (looks like I did something right)
- Progress of creating piece (Great Idea Molly, never thought to include this)
- Price of the item
- Quantity (I think I had this but as I only had one of each it was pointless)
- Supply and Cost aka What you used to make your item and how much it cost to make
MATH
This is the good stuff right? Molly goes into a little bit of business accounting in her post that I think is good to know. Start thinking like a business person now. If you keep accurate records tax time should be a breeze.
Join me in the 31 Days of Craft Show Preparation by Blogger Molly of http://mollyeleen.wordpress.com. Molly was inspired to do the 31 days challenge when her friends took on the challenge that The Nester hosts each year. (based on the 31 Days to build a better blog by ProBlogger)
How You Can Participate
- Visit Molly’s Blog post which has all 31 posts in the series
- Blog about it. You can do one post for the entire week or one post per day. I’ll be doing one post a day. (31)
- Chat about it either on the Crochet Business fanpage or in either the CBB Google+ community or CBB Fb group.
About Sara Duggan
Sara here, Don't forget your copy of 
–edited–by crochetbusiness.com—
Hi – as another alternative to using Excel for inventory tracking, I made an app called Craftybase which is designed specifically for professional crafters that you might like to check out:
craftybase.com
Nicole
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Founder
craftybase.com
Thanks for letting me know about your wonderful resource. I took a quick peek and it looks like something etsy shop sellers would find useful. I like the etsy calculator you have for pricing. It will definitely save lots of time.
This is great advice whether you’re prepping for a show or not. It’s always good to know what’s on hand. I need to set up a tracking record as well. Thanks for the tip!!
@Bekkapoo Yes, knowing your inventory is a great practice to start. Finding a system that works for you whether that is electronic like quick books or paper pen is important too.