By Marie Pugh
In the last article, we went over some of the more tedious tasks of setting up your craft business, so with this one, we will start getting you excited again!
While you are researching the regulations and necessary steps to getting your business registered, you can start planning how you will sell your craft. While most people decide to start a craft business based on a hobby they enjoy, others may know that there are many things they would like to try, but maybe haven’t found their “niche” yet.
There are tons of ideas out there for selling a craft! A great place to go and do your research is at a site called Etsy. (This is a site we will be talking about a little later on when we are searching for places to sell our craft).
Go to Etsy.com, and just start browsing around at the many different crafts that are being sold. You will get an idea of what is in demand, and what you might enjoy trying.
Some ideas that others have found success with include:
- Sewing – If you can sew, you can make bags, home decor products, children’s clothes, quilts…the list is endless. But, remember that you need to be able to make a profit, so if it takes you a long time to sew a product, you would need to charge enough to make it worth your time. If you have a product that you are going to have to charge a high price for in order to see a profit, you need to make sure the market will pay that price.
- Jewelry Making – There are a lot of people who make jewelry, and this can be a profitable niche. But it is a more competitive market, just because of the amount of people who are doing it. Don’t let that stop you though if it is something you enjoy or are good at – find your own spin on products, and learn how to market your business better than anyone else, and you will have no problem.
- Painting/Unique Artwork – If you are one of the fortunate people who are talented with a paintbrush or sketching pencil, then you should have no trouble finding a market for your work. As with anything though, it does require proper marketing.
- Knitting/Crochet – There are still people who are searching for hand knitted items, although this can be another competitive niche.
- Woodworking – Being able to create beautiful items out of wood – which can be anything from shelves and toys to dollhouses and furniture – allows you to have a very good niche to market to.
There are so many more, including scrapbooking, (offer to make custom layouts for people and sell them), making cards, (create packages of greeting cards and sell them), ceramics, and photography – we could go on all day about the many different hobbies that people have which they could turn into a business.
Or you can, as many people do – combine a few different crafts together. Make your business one which has different offerings, which will keep people coming back. If you are good at scrapbooking, you could also make greeting cards and canvas pictures using embellishments from your supplies.
The opportunities are really only limited by your imagination, and how much you are willing to try. Find a niche that you truly enjoy, and get to work! Don’t be afraid to try something new – if it looks like something you could enjoy, and provided it fits with your business, then go ahead and try it.
Keep learning about your craft, stay on top of new techniques and trends, and you will see your business begin to grow.
Next time, we will go over some places to start marketing your products.
About Marie Pugh
Marie is a work at home mom, www.MomsDotComDream.com , who has successfully started her own craft business. She has been fortunate to have been able to work from home while here children are still young, and been able to enjoy the freedom of being her own boss. Her daughters are now 6 and 4, and they are both very excited to be involved in mommy’s business. You can see her website that she has set up for her craft business at www.InspiredByYouTreasures.com
