Grant for small businesses?

December 1, 2008 5:56 PM

My dad and mom live in a rural area of Massachusetts. My dad makes wooden bowls and they want to start their own small store in the area selling the bowls. They have no capital, and want to look into a small business grant. They both work extremely hard and make almost minimum wage, and so without the grant could not have the time or money to start the business while also supporting themselves. Do you know of any resources or grants that could help them? Thank you so much for your help.
posted by tessalations999 to work & money (9 comments total)

UMass Amherst has a branch of the MA Small Business Development Center if they're nearby. There's also a list of offices here. It's worth a phone call, and they would know best who would capitalize the business and how to get it done.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 6:12 PM on December 1, 2008

It sounds like they should look into Dom Mullery Gallery in Northampton, MA.
posted by plinth at 6:18 PM on December 1, 2008

Would they consider selling them to galleries, local shops, or especially Etsy? There is some beautiful woodwork on Etsy (here are wood bowls) and if you market it correctly, he might do rather well with it. Check out some of the cutting boards and other wooden objects too.

If he sells them first to other people (either retail or directly) then there wouldn't be any overhead, insurance, etc. If he gains a following, then he could open a shop directly. Sorry this isn't direct advice about starting a small shop, but in terms of businesses, it's definitely something to consider.
posted by barnone at 6:32 PM on December 1, 2008 [2 favorites]

Starting up a store shouldn't be your first thought. A brick and mortar location is a ball and chain. You spend cash getting it fixed up (which stays with the landlord) and you have to devote time to tending it. People browse and browse while you are paying rent, heat, hydro, taxes. You have to sell a lot of product just to cover your expenses

Develop your business as much as possible before spending a dime on a location.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:05 PM on December 1, 2008

Send out contacts to galleries, have photos of the best work on the web to show those vendors, only do to-order work through those vendors, use that income stream to build upon. Turned work can be small boxes and art object sizes allowing a larger inventory to be made up quickly then play to the strongest sellers both in type and style [colors/patterns] while supporting the best performing vendors. Think resorts as well.
posted by Freedomboy at 8:08 PM on December 1, 2008

There are so many galleries and art/craft stores already in rural Mass. It does seem as though going through another retailer would be a far wiser option than opening a new venture, especially in this economy.
posted by Miko at 8:27 PM on December 1, 2008

A brick and mortar location is a ball and chain.

This bears repeating.

Many people have a dream of opening a little store, but there are many expenses involved with keeping a store open, expenses that come every month even if you have had few customers that month, and the time spent running the store is time not spent on making the wooden bowls. It´s easy to make less than minimum wage running a small specialty store in a rural area.

Stick with etsy, ebay, galleries, and wholesale sales for now. Possibly get into traveling to fairs or farmer´s markets if they really want to get into retailing. Think low overhead and low startup costs. They can set up a store on etsy for under $5. Look for scrap wood if money for that is a problem.
posted by yohko at 12:53 AM on December 2, 2008

Thank you everyone for the tips. They are all good and I will keep the advice in mind. The problem is that each bowl take 6+ hours to make, which is why i was thinking of a grant, so that he could have some money to support himself while making a bunch at the beginning. Any ideas?
posted by tessalations999 at 6:57 AM on December 2, 2008

I'll second kuujjuarapik's recommendation to contact the MA Small Business Development Center. I have worked with my state's SBDC. Most of their services are free of charge and they are accustomed to working with startup businesses that have little or no funding. Even if they can't find a grant or funding for your dad, they will likely know of several local resources to help him.
posted by Andy's Gross Wart at 7:15 AM on December 2, 2008 [1 favorite]