We recently connected with Patricia Dunn and have shared our conversation below.

Patricia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

When starting your business it’s so important to wash out all the noise. In any aspect of your life, business or otherwise, there will be someone giving you advice on the best way to do something. Any entrepreneur will tell you that there is no get rich quick solution. It’s all about doing your best and taking calculated risks. Some will work and some will not.

After starting my family, I took the risk to launch my online business KRFTR (“crafter”). I knew many artists who did art commissions but hated dealing with all the risks involved. Customers new to the art commission process needed a lot of education. They may start a project and not pay the final amount or worse not even pay a deposit to get their artwork made. This leaves the artist with a custom art commission they may or may not be able to sell to someone else.

I decided to take a risk and create KRFTR to help protect both customers and artists through the art commission process. I began by creating a business plan, doing the research to see if the company would be viable, and of course, getting funding. There are many hurdles to overcome, but when you take any part of the process and break it down into steps it is absolutely doable. Fear is normal.

Allow yourself to take risks and to learn. There are highs and lows of running your own business. The best advice I ever received was to, “Enjoy the process, not just the end result.” Wins can seem very fleeting if you do not appreciate all your hard work to get to them. If you are only in it for the reward, then you will find yourself feeling very down during the hard times (and we all know there are hard times).

If you have been avoiding something that is out of your comfort zone, I encourage you to take the risk and go for it! Every risk you take teaches you something new and you can take the next step. Next thing you know you’ve grown something you absolutely love.

I am proud to announce that August 2022 is KRFTR’s one-year anniversary. I am so proud of the art community we are continuing to grow. None of it would have been possible without taking risks.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

My name is Patricia Dunn and I’m the founder of KRFTR. I connect customers to creators of all kinds for original artwork. I started KRFTR when I became a stay-at-home mother and saw a need for creative people to earn more money. Other platforms take 25-50% per transaction for every sale. I also knew many people in my life that loved handmade artwork but didn’t have the time or skills to make it themselves. I decided to create KRFTR to make it easy for these two groups of people to work together.

KRFTR is an online platform that walks customers through the art commission process. Customers order what they want (examples include paintings, calligraphy, candles, photography, embroidery, digital artwork, illustration, and more), and creators on the site can bid on the job. The customer will then decide which artist they want to work with. Or, if a customer sees an artist they really admire, they can send jobs to that artist directly.

Customers pay in full when the project is accepted, and the money is sent in three phases – the sketch, sketch approval, and delivery. This protects both the customer and artist. Creators on the site are vetted before joining KRFTR. We are an art community that currently serves the USA. I will be looking to expand as we grow.

I am most proud of all the wonderful pieces of artwork that have been ordered in the past year on KRFTR. Every member on the site has worked so hard to make our customers happy with their purchases. So many stories, gifts, and events. It has really been amazing to see everyone’s creativity. If you support or are a part of the art community I’d love to connect with you!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I first started all my business social media pages I made the mistake of adding EVERYONE. I thought the more people I connected to the better. I quickly learned that even though you are following people, unless you are making an active effort to connect with them then those are just vanity metrics.

I then decided to start focusing on content my audience wanted to see and what may help them. There is a lot of available education online. Always think about the questions your audience asks you and turn that into more content.

My current marketer Alexandria Diamond gave me fantastic advice that I am currently implementing. I had attached Google Analytics to my website but had no clue on how to read it. It can be very overwhelming at first with how much data it pulls. Going through the analytics I can see what time frames my audience is using my website. Taking those times I started to post my social media content at the same time. This has helped tremendously with views and engagement. I was surprised to see what times my audience was active. Hopefully, this helps you if you run your own website!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

It is important to really be in tune with what is in line with your goals for your business. Even when something sounds like an amazing opportunity, if it does not serve your end goals it may really be more distracting than helpful.

For example, I have had people ask if I could turn KRFTR into more of an open marketplace for premade artwork. I currently only provide the service of hiring someone to make something new. While that could be a fantastic idea to expand in the future, it was not a good choice to add that to KRFTR right now.

It is better to focus on projects that help your current goals and then plan for long-term goals. Businesses are fluid, not fixed, so you can change this at any time! That’s the beauty of being a business owner. You run the show, and it is absolutely fine to pivot when needed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://krftr.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krftr_customartconnection/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KRFTRconnectandcreate
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-dunn-5015521bb/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KRFTR2
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAFehnrvbHjx7CM4yW5YU1A
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@krftrcustomartconnection Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/krftr_customartconnection/_created/

Image Credits
Amber Gowan-Ramos: Digital portrait of couple in a garden Brianna Heida: Christmas ornament Diane Wyant: Painting of a tree Tina Stauss: Crochet Dog Jennifer LeRoy: Zombie painting The Spriced Stitch: Embroidery of a couple with their dog