Love crafting? How to turn a hobby into a business

Whether you’re into candle-making or woodwork, if you love doing something and are good at it, then there is no reason why you can’t make some money from it too.

Selling your craftwork can be a fun and satisfying way to earn money from home. While you will have to work hard, like any business owner, to build up your business; hopefully, your love of your craft will be the thing that keeps you going and keeps you enjoying the work.

To help you to make the transition from hobbyist to professional craftsperson, we have established this guide for getting your craft business up and running.

When it comes to turning a passion into a business, the thing most likely to get in the way is yourself. While it can be daunting to start a business and to put yourself and your craft out there, if you can find the courage to give it a go, you are sure to experience great benefits.

As talented as you are in your area of craft, you will also have to have an open mind about learning new skills if you are going to create a successful business. For example, learning things like basic finance and accounting will help you stay in control of your finances and ensure you maximise the fruits of your labour. 

A vital aspect to consider before establishing your own business is to know who your target market will be, how you will market your products and where you will sell them.

While sales and marketing may not come naturally to you, the key distinction between a hobbyist and a professional craftsperson is the ability to market their products. Luckily, these skills are not innate, like talent, and can be learned. We’ve got loads of great marketing support which could help you to up-skill in this department.

Social media is a good low-cost way to raise awareness about your products and reach potential new buyers. It can help you make extra money at home in a number of ways:

• Offering you targeted advertising directly to your ideal client pool.
• Providing you a space to engage with your customers and build a brand reputation.
• Network with other craftspeople to promote each other’s work.

If marketing yourself isn’t really for you and you’re looking for a more straight-forward option for getting your products out there, then opening an Etsy shop could be a great option for your small craft business.  

Etsy is an online marketplace uniquely for independent crafters and creators. Since they have successfully marketed themselves as the go-to platform (currently attracting over 60.27 million buyers), using Etsy’s marketplace is sure to get you exposed to the right kind of buyers for you.

Etsy is easy to use too, with a simple Shop Manager tap and  easy to understand fees, making it a great option for those who want to sell their craft hassle-free.

If you really want to make a success of your small business, it is – of course – necessary to ensure that you remain on-top of all the business elements (such as managing your finances, liaising with customers and marketing your products). However, it is also important not to lose sight of why you started the business in the first place: namely, that you love your craft.

The very last thing you want to happen is that you spend too much time on the business side and not enough on keeping your skills up to date or maintaining your passion for your craft.

If you are a hobbyist, then you know what it means to have fun and enjoy yourself. By ensuring that your new business venture is about doing something that you love and find enjoyable, you can feel excited knowing that every day holds the potential to be fun.

Whether your idea of fun is to get lost in a painting or to knit toy animals, we think it’s great that you want to make your favourite way of having fun help you make money from home and pay you with more than just enjoyment.