HandMade also monitors how many craft businesses file Schedule C forms with their tax returns
and the nature of those documents to evaluate the level of success of local craftspeople. Less
quantitative outcome measures are also employed. For the Appalachian Women Entrepreneurs
program, HandMade reports that their original goal was for 80 percent of participating
businesses to demonstrate an increase in income of at least 20 percent. While the current
economic situation has made that an impossible goal to attain, they consider the fact that only
five of the participants have gone out of business as indicative of the success of the program.
HandMade does plan to conduct an annual survey of each of the 300 local craftsmen who
participated in their recent Craft and Design Expo to determine the economic impact of that
event to those businesses. These survey results will be used to help determine the course of
future events.