What the Craft Business Clinic covers
The Craft Business Clinic is a working session for makers who want their business side sorted properly. We look at how you price your work, how you quote for custom orders, how to manage small batches, and how to prepare for customers who ask for reliable lead times and neat paperwork. It suits product designers, workshop teams, textile makers, ceramic studios, printmakers and other small production businesses that need practical guidance.
Sessions are useful when you have demand but need better structure, or when you are ready to move from casual sales into repeatable orders. We also help identify gaps in your process, like missing cost items, unclear turnaround times, or stock decisions that tie up too much cash.
- Pricing and margin guidance for handmade and small-batch goods
- Quote structure for custom work, deposits and balance payments
- Customer readiness, from packaging to after-sales communication
- Operations checks for stock, labour, turnaround and simple record keeping
Clinic formats and session sizes
We run the clinic in a few practical formats so it fits your stage of business. A one-on-one session works well if you need focused support on your own products and numbers. Small group clinics suit teams that want to learn together, compare approaches and ask direct questions. We also host online sessions for creators outside Johannesburg or for members joining from Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Nairobi and other places.
Each format is kept tight and useful, with enough time for examples, questions and a clear action list at the end. If you are preparing for a market, showcase or retail pitch, we can tailor the session around that deadline. For teams with limited time, we can keep it to one practical review and a follow-up checklist.
- One-on-one clinic: best for private pricing and quote review
- Small group clinic: best for peer learning and shared problem-solving
- Online clinic: best for remote members and multi-city teams
- Follow-up review: best after you have applied the first changes
Where it suits and who it helps
This service suits businesses working from home studios, shared workshop spaces, maker hubs and community production sites. It is especially useful for people serving local customers, galleries, stockists, event buyers or corporate clients, where expectations are higher and the paperwork matters. If your business runs on handwritten quotes or guesswork, the clinic helps you clean that up without making it complicated.
For Johannesburg businesses, Braamfontein and nearby areas often need quick turnarounds and strong presentation because clients compare many options. For coastal makers in Cape Town or Durban, we also factor in humidity, packaging wear and stock storage. For cross-border creators, we can discuss currency handling, transport and how to keep your offer clear when customers are in different markets.
- Useful for makers selling custom, repeat or made-to-order work
- Useful for teams needing better stock control and production planning
- Useful for creators preparing for fairs, pop-ups and buyer meetings
- Useful for businesses wanting cleaner quotes and better customer follow-through
Installation, setup and power needs
The Craft Business Clinic does not need specialised installation, but it does work best in a space where you can sit with your files, samples, calculator and recent orders. A quiet room, a table for notes, and stable internet for online sessions are usually enough. If you are joining from a workshop, please have product examples ready so the discussion can stay practical.
Power needs are light. For online sessions, a charged laptop or phone and a backup plan during load-shedding helps. If you are using a workshop printer or scanning documents, make sure the battery backup or inverter is in good order. In person sessions do not need gas or heavy equipment, although a good kettle and working plug points are always useful when teams are spending a few hours together.
- Bring product samples, photos or recent order notes
- Have your current costings, supplier prices and quote examples ready
- Keep a calculator, notebook and any stock list close by
- For online sessions, check signal strength before the start time
Care, follow-through and servicing your business systems
The clinic works best when you treat it like part of your business maintenance. After the session, review your pricing, update your quote template and test your lead times with one or two actual orders. If you use a simple spreadsheet or paper ledger, keep it current. The goal is not to overcomplicate things, but to keep your business easy to run and easy to explain to buyers.
We also recommend revisiting your numbers every few months, especially if material prices have changed, transport costs have moved, or you have added new product sizes. Makers who do regular check-ins usually spot problems earlier, which saves time and cash later on. A tidy operation also gives customers more confidence, particularly when they want consistency and clear communication.
- Review pricing after supplier increases or shipping changes
- Check whether deposits, payment terms and lead times still make sense
- Update packaging or care notes if your products need special handling
- Keep a record of orders so you can compare profitable and weak lines
What to check before you book
Before booking, think about what you need fixed most urgently. It may be pricing, it may be quotes, or it may be the way you present your offer to buyers. If possible, bring three examples of real work, one that sells well, one that is hard to price, and one custom order that took too long. That gives us a clear picture of what is happening in the business.
Also check who should attend. Some businesses only need the founder, while others benefit from having the production lead or sales person in the room too. If you work across multiple branches or chapters, decide in advance which products and which locations should be part of the discussion. That keeps the session focused and saves time.
- Confirm which products, services or order types need review
- Bring actual costs, not estimates where possible
- Decide who from your team should join
- Set a clear outcome, such as a new quote format or price list
Key facts
| Service type | Business support clinic for creators and makers |
|---|---|
| Core focus | Pricing, quotes, operations and customer readiness |
| Session formats | One-on-one, small group and online sessions |
| Typical duration | 45 to 90 minutes depending on format |
| Requirements | Recent product examples, cost data and order notes |
| Power and setup | No special installation, stable power and internet recommended for online sessions |
