Book Review: Craft Inc. By Meg Mateo Ilasco

Welcome to my first book review related to running a handmade business. I'm a bit of a book addict so this is fun. I know I said there would be a guest post this week but it's not ready so it may run instead of the usual Friday or Monday post instead.

I recently bought a copy of Craft Inc. Turn Your Creative Hobby Into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco. This is a very well written book, the author has an approachable conversational style of writing which I enjoy.

This book has a breakdown of various issues a person starting up a handmade business needs to consider. I think the strongest chapter is called "Your Business Mind" which covers things like registering your business, accounting, writing a business plan, etc. These are topics that no one really enjoys and so there's a tendency to want to ignore this area.

Pros:
1. Good interviews with entrepreneurs
2. Covers a variety of important topics like pricing, marketing, craft shows, selling online, etc.
3. Emphasizes the nuts and bolts of running a business without being boring.
4. Discusses how to stay moptivated and having realistic expectations.
5. Delves into how to handle growth and when you should consider delegating some of the work.

Cons:
1. Not as in depth in some areas as I would like, such as the press kit section.
2. Doesn't give references to check out for further information. For example: when talkign about trademarking a link to the US Patent and Trademark Office would have been useful.
3. I think some visual examples would have illustrated some of her points better than just describing them.

Overall I think the book is worth buying as a primer for getting your business started. Now you can find a lot of the information elsewhere but having all the information gathered together is worth the $12 just for time saved.