Makers considering a move from markets and word of mouth into online selling have a free workshop coming up in Carlow. Local Enterprise Office Carlow’s booking notice lists a two-hour session at Enterprise House on O’Brien Road on Thursday, 29 October 2026, from 10am to noon.

The programme covers choosing a sales channel, helping customers find products, turning interest into orders and building repeat business. It is aimed at craft and creative businesses, including early-stage makers in Carlow and the wider south-east, as well as established sellers. Places are described as limited; check the booking page for current availability before travelling.

A useful way to prepare is to bring the details of one product you already make. That gives the discussion a real starting point, whether it is a ceramic cup, a piece of jewellery or a woven accessory.

Follow one order from beginning to end

Write down how someone would find that product, ask a question, pay and receive it. Mark each stage that currently depends on a private message, a manual calculation or information only you know.

For example, a photograph may show a cup’s glaze beautifully without making its dimensions or capacity clear. A buyer may like the object but still be unable to decide whether it suits them. Note those missing details before deciding that the solution is another social account or a new website.

Then pack the item as if it were leaving today. Record its packed size and weight, the protective material needed and the delivery options you can actually offer. Compare the time required with your current production schedule. This exercise helps separate making capacity from the work involved in fulfilling an order.

Make the total offer understandable

The CCPC’s guidance for businesses selling products says customers must receive clear information before buying, including business contact details, product information, the total price and additional charges such as delivery. It also sets out distance-selling requirements and cancellation rules, including exceptions for custom-made or personalised goods.

Use that guidance to identify questions about your own sales process; an attractive photograph is only one part of a buyer’s decision. Do not assume that a marketplace or social platform supplies every detail your business needs to provide.

Choose a question for the workshop

Bring your current product description, packed measurements and a short account of where enquiries stop becoming orders. One specific question—such as whether buyers can find delivery costs before they contact you—will be easier to work on than a general request to improve all your marketing.

The session is facilitated by Noel Davidson of The Entrepreneurs Academy and forms part of Carlow’s craft and creative enterprise support. For booking queries, the organiser lists enterprise@carlowcoco.ie and 059 9129783. This is an upcoming training opportunity; the preparation exercise above is The Press’s suggested way to make the visit useful, rather than a promise of sales or a report of the workshop’s results.