Hey friends!
If you’ve been improving your crafting skills for a while now, you may be thinking it’s time to start making some money out of your passion. Starting any kind of business has its challenges, including everything from shipping and logistics, to successfully filing self-employed taxes. Here is a quick guide to starting a crafting business to help you forge a path to success.
Write a Business Plan
For any business, however big or small, it’s a good idea to start by writing a thorough and detailed business plan. This should include the particulars of what your business will do, how much money you will be investing, how much money you predict you will make and by when, your sales and marketing strategy, and a comprehensive analysis of your market competitors.
It may sound daunting, but even if you don’t intend to show it to anybody, it’s essential to think about how you will manage your day-to-day business activities.
Master Your Craft
It might seem obvious, but you won’t have much success selling crafted products if you’re a little rusty at making them. Practice, practice, and practice some more to make sure you are an expert—the best in the business—at creating your products. If any don’t come out well, you could sell them at a reduced price to avoid wasted materials.
Take Good Photos
The key to selling your hand-crafted items is to take beautiful photographs of them. Nobody will buy your products if they look terrible! An easy way to improve your photography skills is to take an online course, or you could simply follow an online photography guide.
You probably won’t need an expensive camera when you’re starting out, as the camera on your phone will be good enough, so avoid a large expense early on by using what you already have. Take your time and experiment with different lighting and different angles to see what makes your products pop!
Sell Yourself
For many people, the challenge of starting a small business comes from learning to market their goods and their business. It’s not enough to have an Etsy store. If people don’t know about your products, they won’t buy them.
Start by creating a social media presence—it’s free, after all. Once you have a small base of followers, encourage them to buy from you by posting photos and links to your newest products.
Whenever people do buy from you, consider including a thank-you note or some corporate chocolate. You can have your logo printed on the packaging for an impressive thank-you gift that will encourage repeat customers.
Start Your Own Website
Online platforms like Etsy and eBay are very useful when you’re just getting started: They’re easy to use and don’t take much effort to set up. However, third-party platforms like these take a cut of your sales, so it’s a good idea to start your own webshop. I use IONOS since I started blogging and I am so happy with the service they provide; also not having any idea about codes or programming they have helped with the issues I had.
You can link to this from your social media profiles and include the site on any logos or promotional materials you produce. It’s a little more work, but you’ll receive a much larger cut of the money you earn.
Whatever your craft, setting up a business is hard work but very exciting. Putting time and energy into selling your products is a great way to get more out of your passion project and earn extra money.