Marzipan Inc.

What do you create?
I create hand-embellished greeting cards, announcements, imprintables, enclosure cards, and other unique paper related products.

How did you come up with your company name?
The name of my company came from a nickname my husband had for me. The nickname has since shortened to Marzi, but the business name stuck.

Where do you get inspiration for your projects?
Inspiration comes from all around me. I love going to bookstores and getting ideas from different creative sources. Many times seeing something will trigger another idea totally unrelated. The internet is also another great source of inspiration.

What is your main goal for this year?
This one is easy! At the beginning of the year, I wrote up a set of goals for myself and my business. I don't have one main goal, but many equal goals. They include:

1. Increase annual sales by 40%.
2. Increase sales at the national stationery show by 50%.
3. Design on a more regular basis so that my scheduled releases are not last minute.
4. Do a better job of updating my website with current news and new releases.
5. Get a separate retail site up and running by march 2006. www.shadesofviolet.com
6. Send out press releases and new samples to media on a more regular basis.
7. Get published in a “real” magazine. (We were published in about 5 separate issues of trade magazines in 2005.) Being published in actual newsstand magazines would add much more name recognition to my company.

I also believe in setting goals that are a little bit more of a challenge than the key goals I have set above. My stretch goals for the year are:

1. Increase annual sales by 60%
2. Increase sales at the national stationery show by 65%
3. Increase number of new product releases from 5 to 6 per year

What advice would you give to someone starting a creative business?
Go for it! Don't let anyone hold you back. Believe in yourself and your products and you can achieve anything.

And just out of curiosity, what's your favorite tool of your trade?
100%, without a doubt, my Mac. As all of my cards are illustrated on my computer, I couldn't live without it. I love, love, love it! It's my best friend.

Sites:
Marzipan Inc. (wholesale)
Shades of Violet (retail)

Sharma Designs

What do you create?
I create one of a kind handmade jewelry.

When and why did you decide to start your business?
I started my business about three and a half years ago. I had been making jewelry for a long time and had been giving it as gifts or wearing it myself. Whenever I wore one of my necklaces out people would stop me and ask where I got it. When I told them I made it they always said, "You should sell your jewelry". I was a starving college student with a serious bead addiction so I decided to give it a go. My first sale was right off of my neck to a lady in a salon!

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?
I am inspired by nature and also by my love of originality. I try to create pieces that are unique and haven't been seen in every other store. I search high and low for unusual beads and focal pieces.

What is your main goal for this year?
My main goal is to further my jewelry making education. I feel the only way to truly be unique is to continue to learn new techniques. I have started to learn metalsmithing and would like to incorporate what I have learned into my designs.

What advice would you give to someone starting a creative business?
Make sure that you enjoy making whatever product you are making. I still get all giddy when I sit down to my design table and I have made many many necklaces over the years! If I didn't really enjoy making jewelry I would be in trouble.

And just out of curiosity, what’s your favorite tool of your trade?
my crème brule torch

Site:
Sharma Designs

Sprout Studio

What do you create?
Unofficially, a little bit of this and a little bit of that...officially, handmade lovelies and art goods, consisting of: glass piece jewelry using refound/claimed imagery (necklaces, bracelets, rings, pins), vintage bead earrings, paper goods, artworks, felt pouches, vintage hairpins, screen printed wearables, ceramics, magnets, knitted goods... I like to dabble *a lot*!!

When and why did you decide to start your business?
I started sprout studio in march of 2005 on-line; soft launch to the friends and sorta public 5 months prior to that...I started because i've always made things for friends and as gifts, and i'm an artist. So now i combine the two and make my friends pay for their goodies!

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?
Wow...all over the place; anything visually stimulating, walking around my neighborhood in san francisco, looking at art, listening to music, thumbing through old books and mags, browsing in thrift stores, looking at blogs and other artist and indie business sites...basically just being around and being aware.

What is your main goal for this year?
To work out the kinks in my site (upgrade my shopping cart!), and go on a media/marketing/pr blitz campaign, and celebrate my one year anniversary/birthday in style for sprout studio this coming march!

What advice would you give to someone starting a creative business?
Ask lots of questions, be bold, seek out your answers, & just jump in!

And just out of curiosity, what’s your favorite tool of your trade?
It's a tie between my fiskars just-right for me scissors and my crystal clear scotch tape (i use it in my collage pieces!).

Site:
Sprout Studio