Starting up your own business, regardless of what you are choosing to do, can be very difficult and challenging. There are certain time-consuming elements, and a slight loss of funds may result. My simple word of advice is to just keep swimming.
- Go slowly. This one can be really hard. You just decided to start selling your crafts and you are doing the research and getting TONS of ideas. The excitement and adrenalin is running high. I urge you, do try to practice self control. It is so easy to get going too fast and end up with more work than you can handle.
- Discover your niche. Again, the excitement and ideas are pumping through your veins! Pinterest is absolutely terrible about giving you too many ideas. Narrow it down and pick one craft. It is great to be able to paint, and glue, and crochet, and sew, and jewelry make, but throwing all of those onto your shop aren’t going to help. Go even further and narrow it down to one product. Especially when you are just starting off, choose one and run with it in as many directions as you can. If you sew, maybe make little girls dresses. It will profit you little to have a little knowledge about a lot. Instead, opt for a lot of knowledge about a few products.
- What can you sell? Just because
your friend has been uber successful selling hair bows doesn’t mean that you
will too. Even if you are in the same marketplace, selling the exact same
wares, using the exact same strategy, you probably won’t be able to sell the
exact same amount. For starters, your friend probably already has a following
with faithful and return customers. They don’t want to leave her even if you
are her friend. Decide what you are going to be able to make and sell.
- Have a plan. I got really lucky
in that I was successful without having a long term plan. To ensure your
success, create short term and long term goals and deadlines for yourself.
Write them down and tell someone else about it to keep you accountable. Some
people might aim for a specific monthly income, or a certain number of finished
products. I like to be able to release a new product every month.
- DO NOT research. Alright, doing a little bit of research is ok and most beneficial. Doing too much research will leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused about where to start.
- Don’t get discouraged. There are people who wont support you, and wont really care about what you are doing. It is going to take *time*. Keep in mind that you don’t have a following, there is no one who can say “oh yeah, I got something from her, she does amazing work!” I say give it 6 months before making a final decision, some people might say longer. If you do discover that selling crafts just isn’t for you, there isn’t no shame in that either. Some people are super crafty, and out of that some just a few are super business-y (yeah, I made that word up). Selling crafts isn’t for everyone.
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