Guides, calculators and templates for the business side of making, from a maker who started at the kitchen table and ended up with six lasers, fifteen staff and 35,000 customers.
The calculator is free and takes a minute. The guide is $69 at launch, usually $99.
Most businesses don't start with a plan. They start at a kitchen table, with someone making something they love, and a friend picking it up, turning it over in their hands and asking, “Can I buy one?” That question changes things. Suddenly there's pricing, a name, a website, insurance and the money to sort out, and no one to ask. I know that feeling well, because that's exactly how mine started.
Being good at making something and being good at the business around it are two different skills, and every single one of them can be learnt. You don't need to be good at business to begin learning how to be good at business.
That's what Business of Making is for. Think of me as the friend who's been there, and who'll tell you when it's time to talk to a professional.
You're allowed to be a beginner. Everyone who's good at this started as one.
Across my maker businesses
I was a graphic designer with a creative itch my day job wasn't scratching, so I bought a Silhouette Cameo and started cutting vinyl at the kitchen table. Before long I wanted to make more than stickers, but I couldn't find the blanks I needed. Acrylic came in squares and circles, and that was about it. I could see a hole in the market, and I knew I had the skills to fill it. So I begged my husband for $10,000 for a laser. Just one.
That one laser became Laser Blanks, and Laser Blanks grew into Australia's largest craft blanks supplier. Six industrial lasers, fifteen staff, two warehouse moves and over 35,000 customers. I built a strong brand from day one and never once had to rebrand. I backed myself when it would have been easier not to. Yes, I made a few mistakes too, the kind you only learn from by living through them, and I'll tell you about those.
None of it was an accident. I wanted a business that let me quit my 9 to 5, stay home with our children, pick my own hours and feel the fulfilment of making a difference in people's lives. Across our businesses we've hired around 25 people, and the point from day one was to add value to the lives of our customers and our staff. It paid many people's mortgages, rent, groceries and kids' sports, and it gave back to the people around us.
Eventually I sold Laser Blanks so I could slow down and be home with our smallest. I still run Happy Print Hub, a custom printing business, and Happy Social, my graphic design and digital agency, and I've been a Shopify Partner for nearly a decade. I'm a wife and a mum of three in the Macedon Ranges, Australia, and I'm still doing the work I teach.
That beginning was small, and I've learnt never to look down on small. Nearly everything worth having starts that way.
If you'd like to keep going, I've made a few things to help. Everything here is something I wished someone had handed me at the kitchen table. Buy it once and it's yours to keep. If you only ever buy one, make it From Hobby to Business.
$69Launch price · RRP $99
The flagship, and where to start if you're still at the kitchen table wondering. Across 164 pages you'll walk alongside two makers: Sarah, who wants to keep her crochet a hobby, and Emma, a mum who wants out of her 9 to 5 and builds a real business from her sewing machine. They're made up, but I bet you know them. You might even be one of them. Real stories, practical how-tos, have-a-think prompts along the way, and the full checklist at the end to work through in order.
See From Hobby to Business
$29RRP $39
A brand that looks and sounds like you from day one: your story, your ideal customer, what makes you different, your voice and your visual identity, with think points along the way so the answers are yours, not mine. I built a strong brand from day one and never once had to rebrand. This is how.
See Branding Foundations
$12
Turns everything you decided in Branding Foundations into a polished guide you can hand to a printer, a designer or anyone who helps in your business. Editable in Canva. One helps you decide, the other keeps the decisions.
See the template
$39RRP $49
Prices your time, not just your materials, and works out what it actually costs per hour to run your business. Add it all up, and the price almost sets itself. If you've ever finished an order and wondered whether you made anything on it, start here.
See the calculatorhave a think
Six numbers and you're done: your materials, packaging, the time it takes, your hourly rate, any other costs and the margin you want. A great starting point, not the whole picture, and it's free because pricing is where most makers get stuck first.
Check your inbox for the calculator. If it isn't there in a few minutes, look in the promotions or junk folder.
Success looks different for every maker. For some, it's an extra $500 a month that takes the pressure off the family budget. For others, it's being able to collect the kids from school, replacing a full-time wage, or one day employing people of their own. Some just want their hobby to pay for itself.
Every one of those is a good reason to build something. What matters is that it's yours.
It doesn't matter what you make it with. Laser cutters, 3D printers, sewing machines, CNC machines, sublimation, vinyl cutters and plenty I haven't listed. The business side is the same, and so are the questions.
Not everyone wants a big business, and I'd never push you towards one. Your business can make a difference too. Not because it's big, but because of why you build it, and because what you build gives something back to the people around you, not just to you.
I'm in Australia, so wherever there are rules, registrations or paperwork, you'll see what we do here. If you're somewhere else in the world, the principle will be the same. If you recognised yourself somewhere above, this was written with you in mind.
I want to leave you with the thing I believe more than anything else.
You don't have to build something enormous to build something extraordinary.
You don't need a warehouse, fifteen staff or a launch that sells out in minutes. Extraordinary is a business that lets you be there for the people you love, pays you fairly for the gift in your hands, and makes a difference, even if it's only ever you, at the kitchen table, after bedtime.
My business gave me so much, and it also asked more of me than I ever expected. I wouldn't trade what I learnt. I just want you to learn it sooner, and more gently, than I did.
If you're not sure what to charge, start with the free calculator. If you're ready to take this seriously, start with From Hobby to Business. There's no deadline on any of this. I'd genuinely love to see what you build, so tag me and I'll cheer you on.
Until next time,
Bec x
Macedon Ranges, Australia
