Entrepreneurship, Costing and Occupational Safety
Entrepreneurship, Costing and Occupational Safety tests pricing arithmetic, record keeping and safe workshop practice.
Costing a piece
- Material cost: fabric actually used plus wastage (usually 10%), floss, zari, beads and backing.
- Labour cost: hours × hourly rate; count design, tracing, stitching and finishing hours.
- Overheads: rent, electricity, depreciation, packaging and transport, divided per article.
- Total cost = material + labour + overheads. Selling price = total cost + profit. Margin is calculated on selling price, markup on cost - state which you used.
- Keep a cost sheet, sample record and bill for every order; quote per motif only after timing a sample.
Safety
- Needle pricks: wear a thimble, never hold needles in the mouth, store them in a pin cushion.
- Posture and eyes: table at elbow height, feet flat, light over the shoulder, 20-20-20 breaks.
- Ventilate when using adhesives, dyes and solvents; keep sharp tools sheathed and away from children; know first aid for cuts and burns.
Worked example
Cushion cover 40 × 40 cm: fabric 0.5 m at ₹200/m = ₹100; 5 skeins at ₹30 = ₹150; zari ₹50; backing ₹30; material ₹330; wastage 10% = ₹33, so ₹363. Labour 8 hours at ₹50 = ₹400. Subtotal ₹763. Overhead 15% of ₹763 = ₹114. Total cost ₹877. Profit 20% on cost = ₹175. Selling price ≈ ₹1,052, rounded to ₹1,050. Omitting labour would price it at ₹450 - below cost.
Traps
Forgetting labour and overheads, charging the full skein price when only part is used, pricing below cost to win an order, and unsafe storage of needles and adhesives.