About this idea
The Market Made is dedicated to making your home and workspace a reflection of yourself and your style through custom handmade decor, unique home goods, and experiences you can accessorize with build your own terrariums, paint your own concrete decor kits, and interactive booth displays that allow our customers to build their own terrariums and planters on the spot. | Currently, I sell my handmade concrete decor and air plant terrariums at art and craft shows across Michigan and online. Although I love making products, I did not want The Market Made to sell only retail. I personally dislike knick knacks and wanted to ensure that my designs are either functional or fulfilling. | The Market Made’s operation is entirely in-home and majority is produced by me, but I also outsource to my mom for her hand-painted Christmas ornaments and a handful of other vendors. If I am able to hire I could offload some of my workload, it could significantly facilitate more growth specifically for online sales, adding more shows to the event calendar, and establishing other potential income streams such as wholesaling and content creation. | For future operations, the goal is to own a mixed-use commercial property. Ideally, it would be a small brick-and-mortar with some land that will include a commercial workshop for operations, a small storefront, and an indoor/outdoor venue space to rent to customers and for events. Additionally, I would like a little more land to be able to develop a mini open air market with tiny rental spaces for local startups, artisans, and satellite locations for small businesses.
Today, the Market Made impacts in a few key areas: 1. Customers: We bridge the gap between two industries, retail and experiences, to provide more value to our customers. Our customers choose items they love and have the ability to personalize it for themselves or as a gift for a loved one! 2. Community: One of our core values is community service, which we do through donating 10% of our profits to local non-profit organizations such as AYA Youth Collective and Growing Roots. As the owner, I also make sure to support, work with, and collaborate with other local businesses, non-profits, entrepreneurs, and artisans as much as I can. 3. Sustainability: Instead of emphasizing quantity and commercialization like fast fashion, The Market Made focuses on quality and value proposition. We are intentional with our designs, how much waste we produce, upcycling products, market testing, and listening to our customers and trends, which allows us to not overproduce and create more waste. | In the future as well, The Market Made will not be like another for-profit retail company. We will be a positive force in our community built on an ethical foundation surrounding employee satisfaction and advancement through ownership opportunities.
After the new year, I sat down and outlined my immediate needs and future needs to create a role to offload a lot of the work that takes time away from what I enjoy. Most of my immediate needs involve looking for new opportunities such as wholesaling in a store and needing support at larger events and expos. If awarded the $5,000 grant, I would be able to hire a part-time employee and/or independent contractor to fill that role to assist me in procuring new relationships with storefronts, boutiques, wholesaling, and supporting me at shows.
