Guide for Artisan and Creative Businesses in Morocco
- holalabrunita
- Aug 30
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 31
Creating with our hands fills us, but making a living from what we are passionate about is not always easy.
Talent or long hours alone are not enough. If you want your business to succeed, you need clarity, focus, and strategic decisions. Many artisans feel like they give it their all, but their project never fully takes off.
This guide is not a magic solution, but it can help you understand the key pieces your business needs to sustain itself and grow. It’s a starting point to build with more confidence and live better from your craft.
From Idea to Reality: 5 Steps to Build a Solid Business in Morocco
Having an idea is only the first step. Turning it into a sustainable and scalable business requires strategy, clarity, and action. In this guide, we take you through five fundamental pillars that will help you turn your vision into a concrete reality.
01. Know Your Ideal Client
Before designing a product or service, you need to clearly know who your ideal client is.
02. Analyze Your Competition
You are not alone in the market, and that’s a good thing. Studying your competition gives you advantages.
03. Define Your Vision and Mission
These concepts are not just nice phrases for your website; they are the strategic core that will guide every decision, action, and evolution of your business.
04. Know Your Cost Prices
Knowing the true cost of offering your product or service is key to setting profitable prices. This step is essential for your business not only to function but also to be sustainable over time.
05. Think About Growth and Scalability
A good start is important, but thinking about the future of your business is equally essential.
01. Ideal Client: Not for Everyone, Just for Those Who Connect
One of the biggest challenges for an artisan business in Morocco is not being clear about who it is for. When you try to appeal to everyone, your products lose identity and fail to connect with anyone in particular.
The result:
Messages that don’t resonate
Social media that doesn’t work
Poorly adjusted prices
Long hours of work with little return
Knowing your ideal client is not about closing doors: it’s about opening the right one. It’s about honing your aim so that every piece, word, and decision connects with the person who truly values what you do.
✅ Practical Guidelines
Think of a real client who has already purchased from you in the souk, at local fairs, or online, and who truly appreciated your craft.
Ask yourself:
How old are they?
Do they live in the city or a rural area?
Do they buy out of tradition, style, or meaning?
Do they value handmade, Moroccan, or unique pieces?
Example: “Fatima, 38 years old. Lives in Casablanca. Likes to support local artisans. Values details, symbolism, and buys handcrafted pieces for weddings or family celebrations.”
Answer these key questions:
What do they look for when buying something handmade in Morocco?
What do they want to avoid (mass-produced products, low quality, lack of story)?
What excites them? What do they need that you can offer?
Finally, define your relationship with them:
Do they buy impulsively or need to understand your process?
Are they interested in sustainability, symbolism, or functionality?
Do they feel more connected to traditional, modern, or a mix of both?
Conclusion: Knowing your ideal client is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. It allows you to build a more authentic, profitable artisan business that connects with people who truly want what you offer.
02. Your Competition: Observe Without Comparing
In Morocco, many artisans fall into one of two extremes:
Completely ignore the competition
Obsess over what others do
Both paths are risky. Ignoring it leaves you without references on what works in the market. Obsessing over it drains you, slows you down, and can lead to unconscious imitation.
Competition is not your enemy. It is a source of learning and clarity. Observing it wisely helps you make better decisions, position yourself authentically, and understand your place in the artisan market.
✅ Practical Guidelines
Choose 3 Moroccan brands or artisans you admire, even if they don’t do exactly what you do (they can be in ceramics, textiles, leather, etc.).
Analyze:
What kind of clients do they attract? Locals? Tourists? Young or traditional audience?
What values do they communicate? Local culture, sustainability, modern design?
What tone do they use on social media or at fairs? Formal, friendly, educational?
Which channels do they prioritize? Instagram, physical stores, markets like Essaouira or Marrakech?
Detect patterns (without judgment):
Do they use higher prices with limited editions?
Do they tell personal stories about the origin of the pieces?
Do they have careful, modern packaging?
Do they take advantage of local festivities to launch products?
All this reflects their positioning.
Now reflect honestly:
What can I do differently without losing my essence?
What strengths do I have that I could show better?
Where can I stand out with what I already know how to do?
03. Vision and Mission: The Compass You’re Missing
Many artisans in Morocco start their activity driven by passion: they make what they know, what they learned at home or in their community, what comes from the heart. This is fine at the beginning, but if you don’t know where you’re going or why you do what you do, the business can become confusing, exhausting, and hard to sustain.
Vision is your horizon, your medium-term goal.
Mission is your purpose, the deep reason that gives meaning to your work.
A business without vision or mission is like a boat without a rudder: it floats but doesn’t know which port to reach.
✅ Practical Guidelines
Define your 3-year vision: How would you like your artisan business to be in the future? How do you want to work, sell, and live?
Example:"Make a living from my workshop in Fez, creating unique ceramic pieces, selling to clients in Morocco and Europe through my online store, with a sustainable work rhythm and collaborating with other local artisans."
Write your mission with an emotional and realistic focus: What do you do? For whom? Why does it matter?
Example:"I weave rugs combining Berber tradition and contemporary style for people who value authenticity, handmade work, and the story behind each piece."
Final Recommendation:You don’t need a perfect mission statement or to display it at your souk stall. It just needs to guide you internally, reminding you why you do this.
When you have a clear vision and mission:
You make decisions more easily
You focus on what really matters
Your business grows with coherence and purpose
04. Pricing and Money: If You Don’t Know the Value, You Won’t Charge It
Talking about money makes many artisans uncomfortable. But if you avoid it, it’s impossible for your project to work as a business. Pricing is not just a number: it’s understanding how much your work costs, how much you need to live from it, and how to convey that value confidently. If you don’t know whether you make or lose money on each product, you’re not managing; you’re improvising. In the artisan world, where time and resources are limited, improvisation is costly.
Final Recommendation: Setting prices is not about guessing what people will pay. It’s about building a system that sustains your business and life. And yes: there are ways to communicate that price without having to justify yourself or lower it. It all starts with believing it yourself.
1. Don’t fear setting a price above your mental barrier
Often, the biggest limitation when setting prices is our own perception of what “people” are willing to pay. However, you are not just selling a product; you are selling an experience, a value, a unique process. Don’t be afraid to try higher prices—you may find that the market is willing to pay more than you initially thought. Sometimes, a higher price also conveys higher quality.
2. Ask your audience directly
Before making a final pricing decision, talk to your audience. Ask them how much they would be willing to pay for your product or service. Sometimes a simple survey or conversation can provide very valuable insights. Ask current clients, friends, or social media followers to gather a variety of responses.
3. Test prices
The best way to know if a price works is to try it. Experiment with different price ranges and observe how the market reacts. If a higher price doesn’t work, adjust it gradually. Over time, you will discover the price that keeps your clients satisfied and your business profitable.
4. Calculate your costs and profit margins
Before setting a price, make sure to calculate all costs involved in production, from materials to your time. This gives you a realistic starting point. Don’t forget to include a profit margin that allows you to sustain your business in the long term.
5. Define value before price
The key is to communicate the value of your product before the price. People don’t buy just because of the price; they buy for the value they perceive. If they understand that what you offer solves a need, they will buy it.
6. Decide on your clients
The spectrum of clients can be visualized as a range: on one end, there are clients who only care about the price; on the other end, there are those who value the service so much that they are willing to pay whatever it costs. This is a fundamental concept in any business, especially in the artisan or personalized services world. Ask yourself: What kind of clients do you want?
05. Growth: Without Losing Yourself
One of the most common fears among artisans is: “If I grow, I’ll stop being myself.”
This fear blocks important decisions: raising prices, delegating tasks, changing sales channels, or launching new collections.
But growth doesn’t have to mean betrayal. Growing well means growing with direction, limits, and loyalty to who you are and what you do. The opposite of chaos is not becoming a “cold company”; it’s creating order to sustain what matters most.
And now… the first step is yours, and we can accompany you.
At LaBrunita.com we help you give free visibility to your workshop and products. We also support you with communication and promotion. We are here to help you grow.