Whether you are keen to turn your hobby into a side hustle or are looking to start a full-time business in crafting, it can be difficult to know where to start. Running a business is not always straightforward and requires a great deal of time, determination, and hard work for your efforts to pay off. It can often be a long road, and you may not reap significant profits overnight, but with the correct strategies and a little bit of patience, the results will certainly be worthwhile.
In this blog, we’re going to provide some top tips on starting a creative business:
- Find your purpose
You may have given up your 9 to 5 job role to follow your passion. However, it’s all about determining what will make you truly happy on a day-to-day basis. Starting any business is not a decision that should be taken on lightly, so it may require some serious thought as to whether you can see yourself running a small company for the long term. Additionally, you may face moments of self-doubt concerning finances or fears about whether your business will be successful, but it may be a case of putting those doubts to the back of your mind and reminding yourself that your work will be valuable to a certain target market.
- Create duplicable products
One of the first stages is establishing the type of products you would like to sell. While you may enjoy creating unique items for every customer, it is not the most sustainable option for making a profit. Remember that to make a good turnover, you need to be selling numerous items every single day, depending on the market value.
Imagine photographing each individual item, writing a description, and uploading your item to your online shop every single time a product is made. Not only would this be highly time-consuming, but it may prevent you from securing a high-profit margin. With this in mind, stick to creating duplicatable designs upon first starting out so that you can constantly market without having to do any further work.
- Pay attention to the packaging
Packaging is a major aspect of any craft business. Believe it or not, your customers will notice how a product is wrapped. Inadequate packaging could impact whether they choose to purchase from you again. While the customer may throw away the packaging as soon as they open the product, the presentation of the product is the very first impression they get of your brand, so make it count. Packaging professionals are the perfect people to help you create a product that is sure to be noticed. For example, with their knowledge and experience, professionals in custom dispensary packaging can strategize creative ways of packaging your product in an eye-catching way. Not only can they suggest materials that make your packaging stand out, but they may also be able to develop unique applications or artwork for the package itself. Remember that your customer is not only making a quick purchase from you, but they have also taken the time to invest in your brand. You could improve the customer experience further by giving consumers the option of having the product gift-wrapped. Don’t settle for basic either; consider the various ways you can make gift wrapping improvements as your brand grows and give your customers a five-star unboxing experience.
- Decide where you wish to sell your crafts
Once you have determined what you would like to sell, the next step is to determine where you are going to sell your goods. Alongside selling them in your own physical store, you could also sell online on your own business website or e-commerce stores such as:
- Amazon
- Etsy
- Facebook business page
- eBay