Trying to decide what handmade business to start?
Maybe you’re wondering what types of handcrafted products would be most profitable?
If you’re only focusing on WHAT type of handmade crafts to make and sell, you’re already headed in the wrong direction.
But in this video and the blog post below, you'll learn the secret that most successful craft business owners know.
Let’s talk about one of the most important things you need to figure out for your creative business.
By determining this as early as possible when starting your handmade business, you'll find it easier to write product descriptions for your Etsy shop or ecommerce website, it will make branding your handmade business easier, and it will be easier to find customers who want to buy your products.
“What handmade items sell best?” is the wrong question.
If you head to Google and type in the question, "What handmade business to start?" you may have seen lists of different types of handmade products.
You may also see some related questions like, “What handmade items sell best?” or “What is the easiest business to make money?”
If these are the only questions you’re asking while trying to create a successful handmade business, you’re going to get off to a rocky start.
The articles that typically appear as answers to the question, "What handmade business to start?" often include lists of products like jewelry, candles, handbags, greeting cards, and other handmade products that you could potentially sell.
Sure, those are totally valid things that you could start selling.
But if you're only focused on that, what to sell, you're going to run into some problems.
If you're thinking about starting a handmade business, you need to make something, for sure.
But what if you want to have a successful handmade business for the long-term?
What if you want to create a business that won't make you want to quit in just a few months or within the first couple years?
If you're focused on long-term success, I encourage you to think more deeply about who you want to be selling your products to, instead of only focusing on what to sell.
When you start with the question of who instead of the question of what type of products, you're going to give yourself more freedom to add other products later down the line.
You'll be much more focused about who you're marketing your products to. And I promise everything about running your handmade business is going to be easier if you can figure this out as early as possible.
Focus on who you want to sell your handmade products to.
Recently, I was out shopping in this cute little beach town with a few friends.
We were exploring the boutiques, art galleries and shops in the area. We went into this one art gallery which was full of artwork and handmade products featuring coastal images like crabs and seagulls. The type of thing you might normally find in a beach town.
But then I noticed this really nice collection of ceramic pottery, including handmade glassware and these little shot glasses. I noticed a set of shot glasses that stood out among the beach-themed glassware.
One set of glasses featured these dice that I recognized:
These 20-sided dice may not mean much to everyone, but for anyone who's ever played Dungeons & Dragons, these dice are instantly recognizable.
My friend Leo was there with me, and he's a huge gamer. He loves Dungeons & Dragons.
I pointed the 20-sided dice themed shot glasses out to him just because it was such a surprising thing to see in this little coastal beach town. He was so into it, that he ended up buying both shot glasses which were at least $20 apiece. Leo spent more than $40 on two handcrafted ceramic shot glasses, just because they featured something that meant a lot to him.
Who do your handmade products appeal to?
This is why I encourage you to think about who instead of what when you're starting a craft business.
The what is definitely still something to consider, however.
You probably already have some sort of artistic or creative skills or interests, or certain types of crafts that you enjoy making.
Maybe you already know how to knit or crochet. Maybe you're a painter, designer, or illustrator.
Certain types of handmade products might come more naturally if you already have certain skills or interests.
But if you're only focused on the what of what you're making, you're going to be much more likely to burn out at some point.
I've seen this happen to a lot of craft businesses and handmade artists.
If you're only focused on making the thing over and over and over again, it’s going to get old after awhile.
If you only focus on making a trendy or profitable product, but don't have some deeper connection to what you're making or who you're making it for, it's likely that eventually you may start to feel like a one-person factory.
If you want to have a craft business that lasts over the long term, I encourage you to think of something that is personal and more interesting to you. This can also help you connect to your ideal customer.
The other thing about being really specific about who you're selling your handmade products to is it makes it easier to market your products.
Ask “Who do I want to serve?” instead of “What handmade business to start?”
Let's go back to the D&D example. If your target customer is someone like my friend Leo, who loves tabletop role-playing games and will easily recognize D20 dice, whether they're pictured on a t-shirt, tote bag or a ceramic shot glass, that customer will be easier to market to than if you're selling a plain, generic product.
Now, I wouldn't build an entire business around Dungeons and Dragons, because that's a copyrighted game. It's somebody else's intellectual property. Even using that name in your product listings could potentially get you in trouble.
However, most of the people that I know that play Dungeons and Dragons also play other tabletop role-playing games. People who are enthusiasts of tabletop role-playing games could be a potential ideal customer for a handmade business.
I play D&D and other tabletop role-playing games. Most of the people that I play with have little bags that they keep all of their dice in. One of my friends even uses a cute little handmade crocheted bag for her dice.
If you're also a D&D enthusiast or a role-play gamer, you might know of other products that you could make for people like that.
When you get super specific about who you want to serve, suddenly, it makes it easier to to market your products.
You can focus the way you style your product photography and the way that you write your product descriptions, whether for your Etsy shop or your own website, so that they appeal to your ideal customer.
It also makes it easier to find in-person events. If your target audience is geeks and gamers, instead of focusing on craft shows, you might want to focus on comic cons, fan expos and gaming conventions instead.
Having a specific target customer will make it easier to find stores to sell your products. If your ideal customer is gamers, you could partner with local game shops.
Let me give you another example.
Lots of people are big pet enthusiasts. This is my rescue Dachshund, Iggy:
Maybe you're also a pet lover who wants to create products for other dog or cat lovers. You could create handmade products that are specific to people who love their Dachshunds or their Golden Retrievers or their rescue dogs.
In this dog example, this also opens up opportunities for specific types of events that you might want to participate in or partnerships that you might want to create.
You could partner with a local veterinary clinic or dog groomer to sell your products in their shop.
You could also partner with a local pet rescue organization. Maybe you could donate a small percentage of your profits to the pet rescue and in return, they could help send you customers and promote your business.
Now again, when you're thinking about who your ideal customer is, you should make sure you're not infringing on anybody else's copyright. It's never a smart idea to build an entire business around someone else's intellectual property.
Just because there are other people on Etsy selling products featuring Disney or Marvel characters, does NOT mean that you should do the same. You're setting yourself up for trouble if you sell products featuring characters or brands that someone else owns.
But if you're an illustrator who can draw your own original cute cartoon characters, you might want to target people who love kawaii, or the Japanese culture of adorable cuteness.
Your target customers might also share a specific interest with you.
Maybe you're super into yoga or hiking. People with the same passions could potentially be your ideal customer.
As soon as you get specific about who you want to make your handmade products for, your marketing efforts will be much more clear.
It will be easier to figure out where you can find those people, whether online or in person.
You'll be able to create a brand that will speak directly to those people versus trying to make your stuff interesting to as wide of an audience as possible. Trying to sell to a very broad audience will make it really hard to stand out among the competition.
Selling to a broad, non-specific audience will make it really really hard to grow your handmade business.
Targeting a specific group of people or niche will make it easier to create a successful handmade business.
Want more tips for starting a handmade business?
If you're just getting started with your craft business, be sure to subscribe to Badass Creatives on YouTube for more handmade business tips and marketing advice.
