So You Want To Open an Etsy Shop…Part 4
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| ohmigosh you DONT have one of these?!!! |
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| Yes, you too can finally join the club of the tens who own Arnold Schwarzenegger vases! |
Evaluate Your Prospective Product
Before you decide to sell something, take a look at what you’re selling at ask yourself these questions:
- Does my product provide a service or fill a need?
- Is this something that other people would buy?
- Is there a market for my product?
If the answer to any of those questions is NO, then maybe you should consider selling something else. To be brutally honest, just because you have made something at one point in your life, it doesn’t mean you should sell it. If all the answers are YES, then you are ready to move on to the next step.
Perfecting Your Product
After you set up shop, list items, and then make a few sales, you need to start evaluating your shop. More questions to ask yourself:
- Which items are the most popular?
- Which items do people view and ‘heart’ the most?
- Which items do I personally enjoy making the most?
Now think about those items, and ask yourself this:
Streamline Your Process
The best way to improve the quality of your items is by making them over and over again. You will learn how to correct past mistakes and find little tricks to make things go faster. Most importantly, you will learn how to streamline your process. As you make more orders and get busier, it is very important to figure out how to move quickly. However, if you find yourself getting too stressed out, don’t be afraid to take a step back, close your shop for a few days or weeks, and re-open again when you feel ready.
Give Yourself a Break
Remember, you are handmade. You are an Etsy seller. You can do what you want with your business. The majority of us have families to take care of and sometimes full-time jobs too. While it would be awesome for your business to go from nothing to a full-time thriving business with multiple employees and maybe even a storefront, it takes a lot of work and sacrifice to get to that point. And no one says that’s what a successful business has to be. I feel like my business has been successful, because it has done what I intended it to do so far.
As long as you always love it, you are successful!!
I'm really enjoying your "So You Want To Open an Etsy Shop…" series! I'm in the process of opening an Artfire studio, and while the two are different, lots of your suggestions and tips are coming in handy. I look forward to the next installment!