- Are you looking to start a handmade business,
but you're not so sure what you should actually sell?
Perhaps you have some ideas,
but you're not sure which one would be the best?
And then there's the million dollar question:
will the products you're thinking about making and selling
actually make you money?
So choosing what to sell
is a very important decision, obviously,
and today that's what we're going to talk about,
how to evaluate your options and pick the best one for you.
Ready?
Let's dive in.
(melodic drum music)
Bonjour, my name is Deb, and I am the founder of Tizzit.co,
a membership community for makers and handmade shop owners,
just like your fabulous self.
You can learn more about our community, Tizzit HQ,
via the link below this video
but for now let's jump straight into today's conversation:
how to decide what to make and sell
for your handmade or craft business.
Choosing what you want to sell
comes down to three main things
that can be illustrated with a fancy little Venn diagram:
Your skills, the earning potential
for the particular craft and products
that you are considering, and your love for the craft.
Let's talk about each one
and what it might mean for your handmade business,
and then I'll help you decide what to make of it
so you can decide what to make and sell
based on your specific situation,
starting with the intersection between money and skills.
In this intersection, you know what to do
and there's a good demand for it,
but you're not in love with the craft.
For example, say you're multi-skilled
and you're good at knitting, and crocheting,
and designing stickers with your Cricut.
You love knitting the most,
but you also know that designing stickers with your Cricut
has the most earning potential.
Something you've been doing for maybe quite a while,
you know you're good at it,
and there's also a good demand for it,
but it's maybe not the product
that you love making the most.
In this scenario, what you need to ask yourself
is does it matter to me or not?
Do you enjoy designing stickers enough
to be doing it each day?
Intersection number two
is between money and love of the craft.
In this scenario, there is good potential for money
and you love doing it,
but maybe you're not quite yet at the level
where you can sell professionally.
Maybe you feel like you need to learn a little bit more
about that craft or take an extra course
to increase your confidence and get the skills needed
to make the product professionally.
Here again, this is neither good or bad,
just a situation you might encounter.
Examples of this situation
would be getting good enough, for example, at pottery
to be sure that your glaze doesn't chip or crack,
or learning to consistently sew things with even stitches
that are resistant and will last a long time.
This scenario also includes situations
where you may be good at making the product,
but you need to learn some extra steps
that will make sure you're in compliance
with safety regulations.
So for example, for products such as kids' toys, or soaps,
or skin care.
For intersection number three,
you have the skills and you love the craft,
but the earning potential is not really high or is capped.
So for example, say the products you are considering
making and selling is quite time consuming to make
and you have no desire to ever employ
or outsource to another maker, so your income will be capped
at how many items you can realistically create each week.
Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing,
just something to consider.
Another example would be a very, very, very niche product
with a small demand.
Now, you might love making the product,
and you may be really good at it,
but if it's very, very, very niche,
there's not gonna be a huge demand.
And so it doesn't mean that you can't make money,
it just means that you might not be able to scale past that
or to reach your income goal consistently.
So and then, of course, there is the X,
where all three circles intersect,
the scenario where everything is wonderful
because all of these three things are true.
If you have a product in this area
it can be a great business idea
because there are no issues you need to work around.
But I want you to remember that you should still consider
an idea even if it's not an X, because you might not care
that you're not deeply in love with the craft,
you just want money with this business
and you're okay with doing the work,
or because with a bit more learning
around your craftsmanship, you might get to X,
and because if you investigate you might also find options
for raising the earning potential of your idea.
So now that we've looked at all the different things
that come into the picture,
how do you take that information and choose what to make?
Let's go through four questions to ask yourself
that help you evaluate your options.
First is where do you want to end up?
To answer question one,
you need to think about three specific goals.
What are my money goals?
If you want to make $1,000 a month,
you may make a different decisions
than if your goal is to make $12,000 a month.
What are your lifestyle goals?
Are you doing this
because you want to have four days a week off,
because you want to save money to travel internationally
a few times each year,
or you want to have all of your evenings free
to spend time with your family?
It's important to think about this
before making your choice.
And finally, what are your workstyle goals?
By this I mean,
do you see yourself employing people down the line?
Or would you prefer to work by yourself
and stay purposely small?
Consider what you would be willing to do
versus what would really feel right
and be sustainable for you long term.
So for example, would you be happy making identical
or reproducible items, or would you prefer to do custom work
and only make one-of-a-kind products?
You want to really think through these
so that you can keep them in mind as you make your decision
because if you aren't clear on the goals for your business,
you may choose a product
that's not going to be in line with those goals.
Next is, what skills do you have?
What do you know how to do?
What are you willing to learn and improve?
This question is pretty straightforward,
it's just a matter of thinking it through
so you are aware of where you are
and the work you're willing to put in
to get your products to a professional standard.
And finally, you want to take a look
at what I call the love/money relationship.
This is about deciding what's most important to you.
Do you want to be doing something that you love, love, love,
or does it not really matter
if you're not completely in love with what you make,
you just want to make what will generate the most income?
There's no right or wrong answer,
certainly no judgement here,
you're all gonna have a different answer to this,
but it's important that you think it through.
I actually have a full video that talks about this
called "do what you love and the money will follow"
that I'll link below this one so you can watch it next.
The next big question to answer
is what is the earning potential
of each option you're considering?
And to determine the earning or money potential,
you will need to do actual market research.
Now there are a number of different tools out there
that you can use for market research,
such as Marmalead, eRank, Alura, Everbee, there's a tonne.
And I'm actually going to do some tutorials on those
in the near future so if you're interested
in watching me demo those tools for market research,
make sure to subscribe so that you're notified
when the videos come out.
Once you pick a tool and do your market research,
here are the four steps that you're going to follow.
First, you're going to list product ideas
that you want to research.
Start with five to 10 product ideas and once that's done,
you, for each one, will do product research:
check for demand, look at the competition,
look at stability versus seasonality.
So this means is it a product
that's selling pretty consistently across the year
or is it a product that sells like crazy
for a few months per year,
maybe over winter or over a summer,
or on a certain holiday, and so really looking
at how consistently this product sells over a year.
You'll look at the potential to leverage shorter term trends
within the niche, such as colours and patterns.
So for example, if you make furniture slipcovers,
are you able to incorporate colours and patterns
that are popular in home decor this season
and adjust over the month or over the year to match them?
If you can, this product has a higher earning potential
because you can stay closer to the trends
that you're seeing on the market.
And finally, determine revenue potential or sales potential
so you have an idea of how much you could profit
by making each product you're considering.
Now you're ready for the last step.
Once you've done your market research,
you should have a list of options
that look pretty interesting,
so your top results if you want,
but you might still not be exactly sure which one to pick.
So your next step is to look through these top results
using your goal filter,
which means you will look at them more closely
based on the priorities that you have established
when you worked through the earlier questions I asked you.
If an idea is looking really good and really excites you,
but you need to develop your skills a little,
is it worth it for you to invest in an extra course
to learn those skills
or to spend a bit of time becoming compliant?
Or if your product idea is looking a lot better
in terms or earning potential,
even though it might not be your favourite craft,
do you want to dive in on that opportunity
and keep your favourite craft as a hobby?
Or do you prefer to make a bit less money,
but enjoy what you do a bit more?
So this stage is all about looking at each top idea
through the filter of your vision and your life goals,
and all this reflection that you've done previously
to assess if it's going to be a fit for you
and for your life.
By taking all these factors into account
you are making sure that you end up with a handmade business
that can make money
because that's important, for a business to make money,
but that can also fulfil you and your life goals,
and be a business that's going to work for you,
not the other way around.
If you enjoyed this video
make sure to hit that subscribe button
and to hit that notification bell as well
because it really boosts my ego.
(Deb laughs)
Nah, I'm just kidding.
It's because it really helps grow my channel
and reach more people
and that's a really lovely way for you to support my work.
So thanks for watching, hit the subscribe button,
and until next time, aurevoir!
Hello and welcome to this channel.
(Deb babbling)
The potential for that particular craft and products.