Home Based Craft Business.com

Sometimes… you are just surfing the internet… and you come across something so cool… you just want to share it… right now. Well, that's how I felt when I read this article about a crafter that started her business without even knowing that was what she was doing.

Funny huh? She was frustrated by the lack of cute hats for babies that would actually shade their precious little heads.

I bought hats for my kids when they were little… that I am not allowed to share photos of… ever. Just not cute, but they got the job done.

Will fashion conscious mom's forgo their babies safety because baby hats don't make a fashion statement?  

Apperantly their is a need for cute baby hats and The Little Hat Company was born! 

To see the little hat company website 

To read the original article about:  The Little Hat Crafter That Could

How to Use IRS Forms For Small Business to Shelter Thousands of Dollars of Home Business Profits
from Self-Employment and Federal Taxes

Barbara Brabec’s eBook, Secrets to Maximizing Schedule C Deductions: Proven Strategies for Cutting SE Taxes to the Bone, offers a crash course in how to save a bundle on taxes and become a more educated and savvy taxpayer.

"If you operate a business from home and file a Schedule C form, there are many things you can do right now to lower the amount of self-employment, federal and state taxes you will have to pay on this year’s business profits," says Home Business Maven™ Barbara Brabec, author of Homemade Money and seven other books for home-business owners. Her eBook, Secrets to Maximizing Schedule C Deductions, includes the proven strategies she has used for more than thirty-five years to cut her self-employment taxes to the bone.

Brabec, who has been self-employed for most of her adult life, has been helping home-business owners to greater financial success since the early 70s. "It’s not how much you earn in your business, but how much you can keep . . . away from the IRS," she emphasizes. "Your goal should be to get as many deductions as possible listed on your Schedule C form to keep your self-employment taxes as low as possible. This will also lower the amount of federal and state taxes you will have to pay."

The topic of taxes is considered boring to many, but saving money isn’t a boring topic, and this book isn’t boring, either. "It’s humorous, entertaining and chock full of tax tips and information to help you improve your bottom line," says Bill Ronay, Events2000.com.  It’s also a crash course in how to save a bundle on self-employment taxes and become a more educated and savvy taxpayer.

"Accountants rarely (if ever) remind business owners about deductions they might be overlooking, or tax strategies they might implement," says Brabec. They just work with the figures they are given. That’s why it’s so important for business owners to make sure they haven’t overlooked any deductions, and that they understand how different tax strategies can lower their taxes overall."

Included in Secrets to Maximizing Schedule C Deductions is a checklist of 65 Schedule C deductions (with discussions on most of them), plus detailed information on eleven categories of indirect and direct expenses related to the Home Office Deduction (one so many business owners are reluctant to take for fear of an IRS audit). But this is not what's likely to trigger an audit, says Brabec.

Emphasis is also given to the tax benefits of hiring a spouse or child to help with the business, as well as to the tax dangers of hiring independent contractors (especially to craft businesses who may be using homeworkers to produce goods for sale). More tax-safe options for hiring outside help are suggested in the book.

Tucked here and there throughout this helpful eBook are two dozen special tips on such things as why you should think twice before making your spouse a partner in your business instead of an employee; why married women who use a different name for their business may be losing Social Security credits by filing a joint return with their husband; and why selecting the wrong auto expense method in the beginning can be a costly mistake.

Closing the book is a Resource Chapter that includes 75 links to tax-related web sites and articles, each offering additional information on specific tax deductions or strategies discussed in the book.

Secrets to Maximizing Schedule C Deductions is a 62-page PDF eBook ($27) for U.S. taxpayers who file a Schedule C form. Add this information-packed eBook (tax deductible, of course) to your eBook library today to be alerted to tax deductions you haven’t been taking in the past, learn how to avoid costly IRS tax pitfalls, and perhaps save hundreds or thousands of dollars in taxes not only this year, but every year in the future. Click here to order or get additional information. (You can sample the book without charge prior to ordering.) IRS Forms For Small Business

The story of Johnnie Nicholson is filled with curves and twists. A banker with First Interstate Bank… turned his world upside down in 1975 and moved from California to Florida to help his family after his father passed away. 

During this leave of absence from his job… he met Robert Hange… an old violin and hammered dulcimer builder. Bob took Johnie under his wings and taught him everything he knew about building flat top wood instruments. 2 and half years later, Johnnie, or J.R. for short, was trained and moved back to California to start his own company.

Since 1980 J.R. Nicholson has been in the business of creating exquisite works of art from wood…. which just happen to be musical instruments as well. He worked on making and selling his craft part-time for about 22 years. Now, he devotes all his time to this inde-craft venture.

Dance with the Wind

Grammy Award Winner Mary Youngblood has one of J.R.s' dulcimers and she also has one of his brothers Native American Flutes. What a talented family! 

J.R. is versatile with his abilities.  He creates Appalachian style dulcimers, a fretted, plucked instrument which is also referred to as a mountain dulcimer or just a dulcimer, and the hammered dulcimer, which is a hammer-struck, trapezoid-shaped instrument. Also in his bag of tricks are harps and something called a psaltry.

He and his wife are now both retired from their J.O.B.'s and have a little more time for golf. It seems if you are doing over 12 shows a year and making these labor intensive product… well, I don't think he is retired from working. They are just taking their part-time business into a full-time home based business. They get to travel together which is a bonus!

When you spend time talking with Johnnie it is obvious that he loves his work. He has an amazing ability to get this instrument into the hands of anyone who shows an interest.

The musical instrument is so beautifully crafted that it can be intimidating to even touch one… much less hold it in your hands and try to play it.  You also have to take into consideration that you will have an audience while trying to scratch out a few notes.   

Guess who picked up and played the dulcimer last year? Cindy Lauper…and I saw it on the Martha Stewart show! 

Someday he hopes to build a harpsichord. Do you know the difference between a piano and a harpsichord?  Listen to the show…. he explains it all.  I even get a lesson about playing a dulcimer. It seems to be a very easy instrument to learn, much easier than a violin.

Johnnie says even after all these years of making musical instruments… he isn't tired of it yet.  All the work is worth every minute. Lesson learned: Love what you make!

Marketing His Products 

The name of the company is Unicorn Woodworks and yes they do have a website   www.UnicornWoodworks.com but it's prices that are wrong and products they don't sell anymore.  He says it's going to be new and improved soon… but you can call him at 208-585-9659 for information.

Johnnie only markets through craft and music events that he shows at. That's it. He doesn't do one inch of advertising… ever. He has had several articles written by local newspapers after the show, but he doesn't advertise. Amazing. All crafters' should be so lucky. 

Oh…  and he tells us how he learned the lesson - Every thing is for sale and everything has it's price.  Even if it's your sample or your personal musical instrument. His biggest challenge at this point is having enough product for each show he wants to do… again, all crafters should be so lucky.

 

 [PCC] Show #4 - Interview - Johnnie Nicholson - Dulcimer Maker [32:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download