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GOOD WITH YOUR HANDS? WHY NOT OPEN A CRAFT BUSINESS?
A crafts business is one of the noblest pursuits in the current business world. Choosing to spend time and effort making something with your own hands, taking hours upon hours to outfit a store of handmade items, requires a lot of care and dedication. But if you’re good with your hands, it’s the most natural way to reap the rewards of any particular hobby!
Opening up your own crafts business can mean many things. Maybe you make personalized crockery? Maybe you love needle felting and make little animals or fairy tales? Or maybe you take art commissions and send out canvases covered in beautiful art? All in all, there’s a lot of freedom here! And because of that, you may be worried that setting up a business will get a little too complicated.
However, it’s a simple process you just need to get your head around. And that’s what we’re going to go into detail over below. A good crafts business can be set up in an afternoon, and all you need is an internet connection, an understanding of your products, and a name to go by. So with all that in mind, here’s how to get a successful crafts business up and running.
Define Your Specific USP
Every crafts business out there needs to have a viable USP to find success on an online platform. After all, there are thousands upon thousands of similar small businesses, and you need to fit yourself into the niche without much trouble. So define this part of your business well ahead of time.
Go through the steps. You’re already handmade, which is a big tick, but what materials do you use, how long do you take, etc. Are you natural, sustainable, and cutesy? Are you colorful and passionate? What is it that makes your goods worth buying? Get this down in big letters and then go from there.
Look into What People are Buying
Now you’ve got your USP, it’s time to scope out the competition! You need to know what products you could make that will be a success, and that means taking a look at what’s already selling. You want to have a few ‘big hitters’ straight out the gate, and you can’t do that by just posting anything you make.
Go onto sites such as Ebay and Etsy, filter the tags until you come across sellers that are similar to what you want to do, and see which of their items have been bought and/or reviewed the most. Take a good few hours doing this, to really understand just how wide the variety is, and then apply this knowledge to your own product planning.
Decide on Your Flagship Items
With the above research in hand, it’s time to decide on your flagship items. What do you want to make? And what do you think your customer base will want to see? The two need to go hand in hand! You need to enjoy the creation process, and the people you’re selling to need to enjoy the fruits of your labors.
A flagship product is that ‘big hitter’ we mentioned earlier. It’s something you’ll come to be known for, and customers will talk about and buy more than anything else. If you’ve already had some success offline with selling and/or gifting to friends and family, you can use this knowledge to help you decide.
Take Time Creating Your Profiles
With all of that out of the way, you’ll need to actually get online. But you don’t want to just have one profile – you’ll need to make many across the different selling platforms currently active and popular. Ebay and Etsy are two, but there are many more out there that could help you bring your handmade items to as many people as possible.
You’ll also want to set up social media profiles to go with this. Professional profiles you can run small scale advertising campaigns through from time to time. Set them up with your logo and business name, and be sure to post on them regularly. Run giveaways and discounts during peak times of the year (like holiday season), and consistently update your followers on the items you’re making.
Set Up Your Photography Lighting Properly
Now you need to take perfect pictures to draw people in! Pictures say so much more than words can, and when something is properly lit, the high quality craftsmanship on offer will be clear as day.
That’s hard to put into words, but the visual proof is literally sitting next to your written copy. You can find plenty of advice on lighting your products just right here; it may take some practice, but you’ll soon be taking photos that look just as stunning as the real life object!
Always Have Your Own Website
Aside from the third party profiles you create, it’s also a good idea to set up your own website. When you do, you’ll be able to sell directly to your fans and followers, and keep 100% of the profits without having to split any fees.
You can use your various other profiles to drive traffic towards your personal website, but in the end this is the number one thing you want to be using to sell. It’ll take a lot of time to reach that point, but setting your own website up now will cut the journey short and give you something to link to from the beginning.
Fineline Your Buying and Shipping Pipeline
Even as a small business that’s dedicated to painstakingly created handmade crafts, the customer service element is still important! In other words, you want your customers to have a good time when shopping with you. Focus on how you can make this happen.
Start by being clear with your buying and shipping policy, use trusted couriers, and keep customers routinely updated on how their item is coming along/when it’s shipped or set to be delivered. Being transparent increases customer loyalty, and that’s relatively cheap to do in comparison to any other method on the market!
Use Promotional Products to Say Thanks
If a customer orders something from you, it’s a good idea to say thanks with a free sample of something else. Not only does this use up offcut and leftover materials, but it also helps you to increase the word of mouth surrounding your company. After all, if a customer gets a surprise with their package, they’re much more likely to post about it on social media.
Promotional products don’t have to be big. They just have to be something that makes sense for the handmade crafts company you run. Like the example above, if you make small clay caricatures of people’s pets, you can use a company like Dynamic Gift to send various pet related items out with your product. You already know this person is a pet owner, so the promotional item packed in makes sense and will be useful to the recipient.
Add Products in a Regular Cycle
Once you’re up and running, you’ll want to start thinking about new products you can add to your shop in the future. You can’t just sell the same things over and over again, especially in the handmade community. This is a good way to capitalize on the customer base you’ve already secured. People are unlikely to need the same item (like mugs or scarves) more than once, but variety will keep them coming back for more. Think about ways to increase the value of your product line, rather than focus all your efforts on just one or two things.
Make Friends in Your Community
It’s always a good idea to get to know your fellow craftsman. If you can make friends from day one, you’ll feel less lonely in your efforts, and build a support circle that truly understands you and your business.
To do this, follow your fellow creators. Like and comment on their posts, buy from them, and drop them a personal line to celebrate what they do and ask how they’re doing. When you interact in your community, you’ll soon become a recognized name amongst them, and you may even be able to collaborate on some exciting things!
Could a Crafts Business Be the Way to Go?
If you’re already spending a lot of time making things, yes! You just need to put a little extra effort in to find that sweet spot where you can make money out of it too. And as someone who’s spent a long time perfecting their craft, you’ll have valuable handmade items all ready to go.
So why not consider setting up a storefront and a social media presence? This could be a worthy side hustle to your current job, and if things go well, soon be something you do full-time. There’s nothing like a passion and a profitable niche coming together! And if that’s something that interests you, use the tips above to help you get set up.
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