What fears are stopping you from taking that leap and setting up selling your handmade crafts?

When you are thinking of starting up a craft business often the biggest obstacle to actually getting started is you and your fears.  As many of you know I own and run a handmade gift shop in Lincolnshire.  I rent out shelf space to local crafters and artisans for them to display their wares inside a retail outlet.  Stocked in the shop I have a huge range of crafters from brand new crafters up to full time crafters who get their sole income from sales. 

Over the years I have come in to contact with some many people that are desperate to try and sell their items however they are too frightened to start.  Below are some of the common fears that I have come across and how to overcome them.

Confidence in ability

One of the biggest fears I would say that most crafters is their confidence in their own ability and products.  As crafters we are hyper critical of our own items, we will regularly zero in on a slight mistake or blip that to us is glaringly obvious.  However to customers they may not see the item in the same way.  Unless you are the person that created the item you will more than likely not see any of the imperfections.

Comparing your items to others is not beneficial either.  Let me use an example I see all the time in the shop.  A crafter comes in who knits items, they look around and say their items aren’t as good as other products.  What you need to remember is that not everyone can do every craft.  So if you are comparing your sewn items to glass art or needle felting this is not a true comparison.  A wood worker may be able to make stunning pieces from wood but can’t sew.  Therefore they appreciate sewn items more as it is a skill that they don’t have.  Everyone has different talents and these can’t be compared.

You are not necessarily forcing your items on to people.  By advertising your items for sale or by attending an event you are merely offering the opportunity for customers to browse.  If they then go on to purchase then bonus.  Otherwise you are not being pushy, customers will only purchase if they like an item.  You won’t know how your products will be received if you don’t ever display them.

Pricing

Another stumbling block that many new crafters come up against is pricing.  They have sat at home for many hours working away, often just playing at creating.  When they then look to sell these items they have no idea what to charge.

When you are looking for advice on pricing I usually tell people to do a bit of research online to get an idea of what other crafters are selling similar items for.  Have a look on selling sites on Facebook, online shops like ebay or Etsy and attend events and fairs to get an idea of pricing.  Collecting prices from all of these sources will hopefully provide you with a price range some places will be ridiculously cheap and the other expensive.  Decide somewhere within this bracket that would be price you would be happy to receive for your items.

Remember to bare in mind the base cost of the item that you have created as well.  Just because you had some of that ribbon in the cupboard, you still need to consider the cost of it.  You need to imagine you are asked to make several more of the same item.  Therefore you will need to look to see how much it would cost for you to get hold of more of that material.  If you are selling your items you need to make sure that you are actually covering the cost of the materials as well as earning a profit on top.  You don’t want to be running at a loss!

In addition you need to stop thinking like a crafter when you come to pricing your items.  Just because you look at an item and think I am not paying that I could make it.  There are several people out there who wouldn’t.  If someone can’t paint then they are going to be willing to pay for an item made by someone who can.  You need to price bearing in mind that you have talent that deserves remittance for.

Tax reporting

When it comes to tax reporting first things first, I need to tell you.  You are not going to become insanely rich overnight selling your crafts.  It is a labour of love that very often you do not receive sufficient payment for the number of hours that you have poured into making an item.  So one of your biggest fears is not really an obstacle until you have been trading for a little while.  So registering with the tax man does not need to be done the second that you start selling.  I would suggest have a bit of a test period where you see how well your items are received.

There are minimum earnings of £1,000 required before you need to register with HRMC.  Have a look at https://www.gov.uk/income-tax for more information about what you are required to do.  But basically I would say that when you are very first starting out you do not need to register before you actually start selling your items.

Saturated market

Crafters are probably more aware of others that make similar items to themselves.  Just with their day to day interactions they are bound to be aware of other card makers for example.  However as a customer you may not be aware of the availability of these products.  In the same way customers have different tastes and requirements.  Therefore just because there are 2 card makers in your area doesn’t mean that you should not sell your items.  A customer will choose the product they like the best, if your items are not available to browse they are never going to pick your item.  Your style, techniques and prices may be more attractive to customer than another card maker in the area.

If one of your fears is upsetting another crafter in the area this is not something that you should even consider.  There are several supermarkets for example and there are enough customers to go around for them all to make sales.  It is the same with crafts, but also as I have already said there are different customers with different tastes so you may appeal to different people.

Product presentation

We can spend hours making something and have absolutely no idea how to present an item for sale.  This is not just limited to new crafters, as seasoned crafters we can often struggle to think of how to display items.  In the same way as searching for pricing brackets do a similar search to see how other people are displaying their items for sale.  Often having packaging that fully displays what the item is and how it can be used do the best. 

For example imagine you have knitted a cup cosy to go around a mug.  If you make that item and just throw it on a table to sell it, 9 out of 10 customers would have no idea what it is or why they might like one.  A simple piece of card shaped like a mug for the cosy to go onto can really help demonstrate purpose to the customer. 

In addition packaging can often show a level of professionalism so the item looks more like a buyable product.  Packaging offers the perfect platform for branding.  You could add care instructions or social media tags for customers to find you in the future.

Let me know any other fears that are preventing your from taking that leap.  Basically you just need to have a bit of self confidence and just jump in.  You won’t know if it will work if you don’t try.  If you would like to see how I grew my own craft business over the years have a look at https://www.claireyatfairycrafters.com/growing-my-craft-business-how-i-did-it/