Extending craft business

[Craftycamper]

Hi all, over the last two years I have set up a successful after school sewing club and also run craft camps during the school holidays.
The quality is high and I spend a lot of time planning (I am a experienced Primary School Teacher). Feedback is very positive from both children and parents.
I would really like to extend what I do to other local schools ( I currently offer provision at my children's Primary School).
I am unsure if I could package what I do and offer it to local schools, like a mini franchise, or whether I could offer myself as a consultant to other crafty mums/child care professionals.
Just really look for any ideas as to how to grow what I do as I feel sure that there is a captive market for this provision.
Thanks in advance for any ideas!

It sounds like your business is going really well so good luck!

I don't have a recommendation as to how you do this but think typically there are 3 ways to go ahead:

Franchise: I'd recommend that you steer away from expanding on a franchise basis as they are difficult to control / manage as come with lots of strings attached e.g lots of legal paperwork required / how do you ensure the quality and consistency of your service (and brand) is maintained once you have franchised out your name / how do you ensure you get paid appropriately and so on.

Employ someone to run some classes for you: better from a control pov but you'd have to find the right person that will not damage your brand. You'd also have to register as an employer, run a payroll (accountants can do this for you) and pay employers NI on top of any salary you pay them. Also all the legal stuff like sick pay / mat pay / holiday pay / minimum pay etc.

Take on a self-employed person to run some classes: no payroll issues (if they are considered to be generally self employed by HMRC) or employers NI or sick pay etc requirements but, you may struggle to get the level of commitment that you would from an employee.

Hope this helps!

Hi, thank you so much for such a clear response!
I agree re franchise...I dislike them anyway as they usually require too high a level of investment for the "ordinary" person...I really would love to provide opportunities to those who want to use their child care skills and knowledge to increase their income (teaching assistants and nursery nurses are really paid appalling in my opinion!).

I will look into finding someone who could run a few classes for me as an initial step forward!
Thanks!

You are welcome and good luck!