Turning a craft into a business: a guide for traditional and folk makers

Step 1: Is it a business, or selling your own work?

Section 3(1)(b) of the Trade Licensing Act (živnostenský zákon) says that the exploitation by authors of the results of creative intellectual activity protected by special laws is not a trade. In other words: an author who sells their own original works does not need a trade licence (živnosť) to do so.

The catch is in the word work. The Copyright Act protects a creation that is the unique result of the author’s creative intellectual activity. An original sculpture, an egg painted to the author’s own design or a uniquely decorated jug may qualify. Mass-producing identical items from one pattern, making things to someone else’s pattern or reselling other people’s products generally does not.

Situation	Typical legal basis
You occasionally sell unique originals of your own creation	Selling your own original works; no trade licence required (Section 3(1)(b) of the Trade Licensing Act)
You repeatedly make the same product (e.g. 50 identical spoons, straw figures from one pattern)	Business → trade licence
You also sell other craftspeople’s products	Business → trade licence (e.g. retail)
You take made-to-order commissions for companies and municipalities	Business → trade licence

If you are not sure, go for a trade licence. Registering an unregulated trade online is free and gives you certainty during inspections at a fair and with the Financial Administration (finančná správa).

Step 2: Which trade

For most traditional crafts there are unregulated trades (voľné živnosti) — with no apprenticeship requirement. The Ministry of the Interior publishes a list of recommended names; it is for guidance only and you may describe the activity in your own words, as long as it is sufficiently specific. Examples from the list:

Craft	Example unregulated trade from the list of recommended names
Woodcarving, wooden products, shingles, wooden toys	Processing of wood, manufacture of wooden components and manufacture of simple products from wood, cork and straw
Embroidery, folk costume parts, weaving	Manufacture of textiles, textile products, clothing and clothing accessories
Painted eggs, souvenirs, costume jewellery, musical instruments (e.g. lutes, fujara shepherd’s flutes)	Manufacture of toys, games, costume jewellery, souvenirs … (the item also covers musical instruments)
Small metal products	Manufacture and metallurgical processing of metals, manufacture and working of simple metal products

Some activities are craft trades (remeselné živnosti) under Annex 1 to the Act and require an apprenticeship certificate (výučný list) or another document (Sections 21 and 22) — for example joinery, locksmithing, metalworking, stonemasonry, goldsmithing and jewellery, or making bakery and confectionery products. If your work grows into making furniture or jewellery from precious metals, check whether it is a craft trade.

Ceramics and faience have no separate item in the list of recommended unregulated trades. Describe the activity specifically (e.g. “manufacture of ceramic utility and decorative items”) and have it confirmed at the district office (okresný úrad) when you register.

Step 3: Where and how you sell

Fairs, markets, craft days. Selling at a market place requires a permit from the municipality (obec) (Section 3 of Act No. 178/1998 Coll.). The Act expressly allows as sellers, alongside businesses, individuals who are the authors of the original or copy of the work being sold (Section 10(d)). Details in the separate guide Selling at fairs and markets.

Online — your own website, online shop, social media. If you sell to consumers at a distance:

• your website must show your identification details: name and surname or business name, place of business, e-mail and telephone, the register and registration number, the supervisory authority and, where relevant, your VAT ID (IČ DPH) (Section 4 of Act No. 22/2004 Coll. on electronic commerce),
• before ordering, the consumer must be told the price including delivery and about the right of withdrawal, with a form (Act No. 108/2024 Coll.),
• the consumer can withdraw within 14 days of receipt; the exception is goods made to their specification or made to measure (Section 19(1)(c)) — for example a painted egg with a name or an engraved product,
• money must be refunded within 14 days of receiving the withdrawal (Section 22).

You are liable to the consumer for defects in a handmade product for two years. It makes sense to describe the natural characteristics of handwork (small variations in shape, colour, wood grain) clearly in advance — it avoids disputes over whether something is a defect.

Step 4: Cash register and payments

Since 1 January 2026, Act No. 384/2025 Coll. on recording sales (zákon o evidencii tržieb) has applied. A seller who is authorised to do business must record payments received at the point of sale (cash, card, QR) in eKasa and, from 1 May 2026, allow cashless payment above €1. A stall at a fair is also a point of sale. Payments received through an online shop into a bank account are generally treated differently from payments on the spot — check your specific case. Details in the guide eKasa for craftspeople.

Step 5: Protecting your work

• Design — the appearance of a product that is new and has individual character can be registered with the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic (Úrad priemyselného vlastníctva SR, ÚPV SR). Registration lasts 5 years and can be renewed four times, up to a maximum of 25 years (Act No. 444/2002 Coll.).
• Name and brand — the name of a workshop or a product brand can be protected as a trade mark with the ÚPV SR.
• Geographical indication — since 1 December 2025, Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 has made it possible to protect across the EU the names of craft and industrial products linked to their place of origin (e.g. wooden products, textiles, lace, glass, porcelain). Applications are filed by producers through the national authority or directly through EUIPO. It is a route more for a group of producers from a region than for an individual.
• Copyright — unique original works are protected automatically, without registration.

The crafts that used to be here

The address remesla.lawit.sk once hosted a catalogue of folk craftspeople — profiles of lute makers, woodcarvers, egg painters, Holíč faience, gingerbread makers and straw figures. That catalogue no longer exists and LAWIT is not restoring it: we have no verified or current information about specific people. Instead you will find here what a craftsperson today needs to sell their work legally and without unnecessary risk.

If you are looking for a current overview of traditional crafts and craftspeople in Slovakia, the specialist body is the Centre for Folk Art Production (Ústredie ľudovej umeleckej výroby, ÚĽUV), an organisation funded by the Slovak Ministry of Culture.