Starting a New Business

Does the world need new businesses to market Guatemalan textiles? Yes, particularly if they are high quality products made using the most exciting and colorful textiles available.

What other businesses offer similar products, and what can we learn from them?
http://www.happymangoimports.com/huipiles.html
http://www.stony-hill-madison.com/servlet/the-GUATEMALA-MAYA-TEXTILES-cln-Huipiles/Categories
http://www.oneworldprojects.com/products/huipil-bags.shtml

eBay example 1
eBay example 2
eBay example 3
Know who your customers might be, what they might want, and who is already trying to sell things to them.

Your products should be special, even unique, or you should have ideas for selling them that might be different... more colorful, higher quality, lower cost, different advertising or potential customers, and so on.

Guatemalan textiles are amongst the finest in the world, are affordable, and the cultural stories that we can tell about them are valued by many customers. Not just what pueblos huipiles come from, but the meaning of the designs, stories about the people that make and wear them, and what is happening today in Guatemala.

Using huipiles may be a good place to start, since we already know people love the colors and designs and quality, used ones can be purchased for fair prices, there is a wide variety of types and stories, and many different beautiful products can be made from them. What products can we begin with, for practice, that will allow you to understand how much time it takes and how you can predict how much you should charge?

• pillow covers
• wall hangings
• handbags
• uses for small pieces
• bed spreads

As you work on some of these first products, consider some questions

• How much will your materials cost - cost of goods?
• How much should you charge for your time - labor costs?
• What other costs do you jave just to make the product?

These three are your basic costs of production.

• How much will it cost to market and sell your products?
• What other expenses do you need to consider, such as taxes, rent, repairs, etc.?
• How much profit should you make on a product?

All these together should lead you to a possible selling price - of course different for each product because different ones take different amounts of materials and time.