mamas with cottage industry?

[faithsstuff]

Hey out there! I never thought I would be a business woman, but the times they are a changin. I was hoping to hear from some of you who have a cottage industry.
*when do you go from 'hobby' to paper weilding business?
*what are some things you wish you knew from the beginning?
*does it really make your taxes crazy as all get out?

I have purchased some books along the lines of Craft,Inc. that I'm waiting for, but would really like to hear from other 'been there, done that' mamas.
thanks

[dogmom327]

I suppose officially I made the switch when we launched a website but even then, I wasn't terribly serious about it. I didn't even have a separate bank account for the first four months or so.

Get your ducks in a row before your first sale if possible. Get a business license, a separate bank account, insurance, etc. Don't make any huge investments (we boot-strapped big time) but get the paperwork done so you don't have to worry about it later. If you end up having a very small business, no big deal. But if it grows completely out of control quickly, you'll be glad you had that stuff set up in the beginning.

Yes, our taxes are more complicated than they used to be but that's what Turbo Tax is for right? The first year wasn't bad (we'd only been in business 4 months) although I certainly didn't take all of the deductions I probably could have Last year was much harder and I literally hired a CPA the next week. I swore I'd never ever do them myself again.

[Galatea]

I know this is ancient, but I just saw it.

The biggest problem I see for the crafter is success.  If people like what you make, you have to make a lot of them.  I see businesses fail b/c the crafter is unable to keep up with demand, orders fall behind, customers get angry.  Plus, something that is fun to make quickly becomes a chore when you have to make 20 a day.