How to go about market research for niche craft business idea..?

Yv

I'm planning to start a small handmade craft business - hand-bound books, to be precise - and I'm finding it difficult to put together the relevant market research. There isn't really anyone else in Ireland doing this kind of thing at the moment, though there are a good few similar businesses in the US. (There are a couple of Irish binderies specialising in restoration, and of course plenty of machine-binding shops for theses, etc, but none making notebooks / sketchbooks / guestbooks by hand for sale.)

Where should I be looking for this information?

(What I've found so far: Etsy.com provides an overall sales figure for each of their sellers, but most of these businesses seem to make only a small portion of their sales through Etsy. As far as I can tell, real-live markets and fairs are where the bulk of the sales are made, with additional income coming from giving workshops in the relevant craft skill, making custom wedding guestbooks / albums and selling through specialist design and gift shops. I have a figure for the size of the EU market for notebooks a couple of years back (from cbi.eu), but there's very little detail in that report besides.)

I'm planning to apply for the BTWEA, so this info would be for the business plan I'll be applying with. Just looking for a nudge in the right direction, really.

Thanks for any & all help!

jimmii

Notebooks is a tough sell through my shop I sell a few Irish designers and notebooks are the one thing that moves slowly for all of them in fact one of them has already withdrawn their notebooks. The workshops are definitely where the money is we run painting workshops and they are really popular if you run workshops make sure you have plenty of stock to sell people after so they can go away and make more! The handmade thing is something people like but at the same time it needs to be priced well. I would suggest taking a stall at a few markets and seeing what the reaction is don't plan on making a load of money of them but they are going to be good for getting feedback. There is a market that I think would well for you towards the end of November in Dublin if you're interested PM me and i'll give you more details on it.

Peterdalkey

the first port of call should be the Crafts Council of Ireland as they have information, education and resources etc for the whole craft industry in Ireland. They have a good website and a very active FB page. http://www.ccoi.ie/

Yv

Peterdalkey: Thank you! I didn't even think of that. Have found a couple of very helpful reports on their site already!

jimmii: Thanks for the advice - now I'm definitely thinking workshops are worth focusing on. Are you thinking of the Block T Christmas Market by any chance? I'm not sure whether or not to apply for any markets before Christmas as it's bound to take a while to hear back about my BTWEA application once I submit it, & then I'll need to apply for funding to buy equipment and tools. There's also the question of finding a studio vs. getting planning permission for working from home. It's a bit frustrating, as I'm sure that Christmas is the most profitable time of year for this & it'd be a great place to start. I'm itching to get going but I have to wait for BTWEA approval before I can sell anything.

(The kind of books I'd be making would be along these sort of lines as opposed to an "everyday use" item, so I would be hopeful that they'd prove more successful than the usual A6 softcover journals I've seen in most shops.)

jimmii

No its a different one specifically targeting products like yours. The November one is only going to be the second time they have run it.

Spice Girl

Do you need to apply for planning permission for working from home? Will you have people calling to your home? Not sure on the rules but don't think you have to apply for planning permission in all cases.
If you are doing the BTWEA scheme then you should get €1000 to spend on equipment/marketing materials etc. Ask the social welfare about this when you have your interview