Tell us a little about the person behind the business? Art and Craft Supplies is owned and run by Tracy Rullo and Katie Walters.
Tracy; I am a mother to 3 boys and wife to Peter I have been involved in the paper crafting industry for around 7 years. I love all forms of paper crafting from Scrapbooking to card making and the moment I am really enjoying Off the page projects. I guess as part owner of such a business I am lucky enough to be able to try new products, I enjoy challenging myself to searching for new techniques. Once I have mastered these new techniques I like to pass them on, normally at our monthly craft sessions.
Katie: I am also a married mother of three and I juggle our family with Art and Craft Supplies and teaching visual arts at the local Primary School. While Tracy’s love has been paper crafting I have a background in Art and Design and also picked up beading a couple of years ago. Sourcing new paints, pastels, mediums and beads for customers has been a great way to keep up to date with all the new techniques and materials that come on the market and have a great opportunity to experiment and play!
And now a little about the business itself? Art and Craft Supplies is an online Business which is based in Monash, South Australia. We also attend local markets and run a monthly craft session where we vary the craft each month from scrap booking, card making, beading and this month beyond the page. Each month guests come along and learn a new craft or just bring the project they are currently working on. The feedback we get most often is that our guests love taking home a new idea or technique.
How did you come up with your business name? Our business name really evolved from the products we were selling and being asked to source on behalf of customers, we wanted a name that covered all the products we sold. Not only a name that reflected scrap booking and paper craft but beading and art supplies also. So I guess we have our customers to thank for that.
What made you want to begin a WAH business and how did you get started? Art and Craft Supplies has gradually grown itself into the business it has become today. We started out as two stay at home mums, Tracy was running scrapbooking parties and making and selling cards and craft items while Katie was crafting gifts to sell at markets. We came together to sell our products at the local markets. We added beads to the range after our local craft store closed down, art supplies as our customer demanded and as interest grew and more customers asked for products we didn’t have we would source the products. As we continued to grow locally we then decided to take the plunge to go online, get a website with a shopping cart and start a business that could provide both a service for the local community as well as crafters and artists all over Australia.
What motivates you to keep your business going? Knowing we are building up a business we can be proud of. You need to love what you are doing and believe in the products you are selling. Then even if it does get tough to fit it all in you can still keep going. It also helps to be a bit flexible and understand that everything will get done eventually! Being an online store gives us quite allot of flexibility time wise, one of is always close by to answer customer questions, to add products online and the general day to day running of the business. But the most rewarding and motivating is seeing the finished projects completed by customers at our monthly workshops.
Do you have a current best-selling product or service? No I would have to say the products we sell are constantly changing, on a monthly basis for paper crafting. We are amazed at the array of products released by so many wonderful companies. We just love getting new products and playing with them.
How do you advertise your business and which methods have proven more successful? We use many forms of advertising, our main one would be word of mouth. Followed closely by loads of business cards changing hands whenever we attend the local markets. We meet customers from all around the county who may have just been in town for the weekend and then drop by the local market. The other form of advertising of course is Facebook, we have a group and fan page which we use to promote our craft nights, new products and current sales. We also advertise in local newspapers and notice boards. Each form of advertising is aimed at different groups and events so it is hard to pinpoint which is most effective, so I would say use them all!
How do you juggle your family and your WAH business? Any tips for other WAHP’s? It is always a struggle finding enough time for all the commitments in any persons working life, however when you are working from home the space between the two can get blurred. We find we do a lot more of the day to day running of our store later at night when the kids are in bed, this way our family life is less affected. All our planned events go on the calendar so as not to overlap with meetings and other work commitments, kids sporting events are a big one sometimes extra support is called for from the husbands and or extended family. Support from family is a big thing really, after all that is who we are doing this for …ok no it is for the great goodies, not surely the long late hours, the cold early starts, it helps to work as a team and to see the light at the end of the tunnel. To see your business grow it is worth all the hard work.
And finally, what advice would you give to anyone wanting to start a WAH business? Our advice for anyone wanting to start a WAH business is to find something you love, start small and grow naturally as your profits allow it. We have been fortunate that after a small initial start up cost from us each, as well as our existing stock, Art and Craft Supplies now covers its own costs. Any profit we make is poured back into buying new stock to let our business grow naturally. Make sure you don’t need the profits from the business to cover your everyday living expenses and then your business won’t be a risk. Starting any small business should be a long term goal, it is important that it grow, but only as time and money allows.
Do you offer any discounts to Support a WAHP fans? We would love to offer a discount to any WAHP fans who read this, visit our website and during the checkout process enter the discount code WAHP5 and this will give you a 5% discount on top of any existing specials which change monthly.
Website URL: http://www.artandcraftsupplies.com.au/
Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Art-And-Craft-Supplies/109056449127866?ref=ts
Email Address: sales@artandcraftsupplies.com.au
Location: Monash, SA
If you have had the pleasure of dealing with Art and Craft Supplies, please feel free to leave a review below.
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