A handmade business lets you explore your hobby. Basically, you get paid to do what you love. And the best part, you can do it at home or even on the go.
Often, people ask what sells more on Etsy or any other art and craft platform when they want to create a business. However, this is not the right way to go about it. Your customers do not need copied products on an excellent looking website. They need unique and high-quality products.
If you were to copy popular products and create a website for them, you would only end up in a sea of crafters – this will significantly reduce your chances of being seen and selling any of your products.
Before you think of whether to create your own business website or sell on Etsy, think of the products you intend to sell. Are your products unique? Will they stand the competition?
Start by researching
If you are an artist crafting wall hangings, there are other artists and shops online selling wall hangings. Focus on shops that have a high number of sales and reviews. This allows you to see what the industry leaders are doing right and what they may be failing at.
Important things to check out include price, photos, and descriptions on listings, reviews, variety of products offered, their target audience, marketing methods, and other services they may offer.
While you are not supposed to copy products, you can emulate their business model as long as they have been successful. Because you might still be green on online businesses, following a business model lets you start on the right track.
While market research can be tedious, it gives you a chance to learn more about your competition; their strengths and weaknesses and how you can make your business stand out. It also makes it easy to set up and run your business.
Naming your business
Your business will be identified with its name. While the name may not mean a thing to some people, it means a whole lot more to the majority. There are no rules cast on stone for naming a business. However, you need to choose a name that is catchy, easy to spell and say. Again, make sure that the name is not taken; a taken name can prove problematic when you are registering your business.
Defining your brand
Your brand is who you are; it is what people think of your business when they first see it. One way of branding your business is to create unique products and using unique business statements to sell them. Another way of looking at branding is to choose colours that create a unique business look.
When you are creating a business website and business brand, one of the things you consider is a logo. While the logo doesn’t have to be professionally made, it needs to look good and be connected to your products. You can have a logo of knitting sticks crisscrossing behind a roll of yarns or anything else that communicates about your business.
You also need to choose brand colours. These may be colours you love or colours that show up frequently on your crafts.
Other things to consider include the language you use when marketing your products, the images you choose, and the fonts on your website. Everything on your business website needs to be artsy and identifiable with your business.
Lastly, you need to label your products. Labels help people identify your products in a sea of other products. Labels tell the contents of your craft, they bear the signature (like a logo) of your business, and they also tell the price. Woven and printed labels will look good on your craft with woven labels looking artsier on crafts. When designing your labels, ensure they look appealing without concealing essential details of your craft.
Choose a platform and launch your business
Can you design a website? If you are not tech savvy, hire a freelancer to design a website for you. The site needs to be responsive and have an appealing layout. Besides, it should sport all the items that speak of your business brand, including logo, business colours, unique fonts, and a listing of your products with tags and labels.
If starting a website is not ideal for your startup budget, try selling on Etsy.
Register your business
Find out the details about small businesses registration on your local or federal government websites. In the UK, check gov.uk. Check Canada.ca for Canada, sba.gov for the US and business.gov.au for Australia.
You might also have to start paying depending on where you are. Start as a sole proprietorship or sole trader, and you can get into partnership after the business has picked up.
