Start A Handmade Goods Business
About
Starting a handmade goods business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell handmade goods, or selling handmade goods online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to start a handmade goods business ➜
Key stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Office Space Expenses | $750 | $7,000 |
| Employee & Freelancer Expenses | $151 | $352 |
| Equipment & Supply Expenses | $563 | $5,200 |
| Website Costs | $303 | $7,215 |
| Business Formation Fees | $5,600 | $20,400 |
| Retail Business Expenses | $1,250 | $11,650 |
| Inventory Expenses | $350 | $14,750 |
| Software Expenses | $162 | $3,094 |
| Advertising & Marketing Costs | $0 | $2,750 |
| Other Expenses | $0 | $300 |
| Total Startup Costs | $9,129 | $72,711 |
Case Studies
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$2K/mo
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$27K/mo
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$10K/mo
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$150K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ART FIRE | artfire.com | #24,612 |
|
Nappa Dori | nappadori.com | #154,731 |
|
Ten Thousand Villages | tenthousandvillages.com | #243,974 |
|
Woodland Creek Furniture | logfurnitureplace.com | #348,521 |
|
PortraitFlip | portraitflip.com | #371,776 |
|
Makr | makr.com | #383,437 |
|
Go Forth Goods | goforthgoods.com | #436,084 |
|
TIZZIT | tizzit.co | #484,550 |
|
Kodiak Leather Co. | kodiakleather.com | #565,877 |
|
FOUNT | fountleather.com | #620,384 |
|
Genepea | genepea.com | #738,451 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
| Flexibility | You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
| Ability to start your business from home | It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning! |
| Scalable | With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers. |
| Meaningful business connections | You never know who you will meet as a handmade goods business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
| High customer retention rates | Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
| High margins | The gross margins for your handmade goods business are typically around 50%, which is considerably high and allows you to grow your business and manage costs easily. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
| Motivation of employees | If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
| Stressful work | This line of work can be stressful for both you and your clients. This type of transaction is a significant financial decision for your client, so expectations are very high for you. Although this career path can be very rewarding, it also comes with its challenges and stressful moments. |
| Niche Market | A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience. |
| Churn | In this business, customers can cancel their membership or subscription for your services - which can make revenue forecasting challenging and unpredictable. It's important to focus on your churn rates and trends so that you can prevent this as much as possible. |
| Time commitment | With starting a handmade goods business, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business. |
| Difficult to build trust with your customer | With starting a handmade goods business, there can be minimal face-to-face interaction, which means it can be a lot more difficult to establish trust with your customers. You'll need to go the extra mile with your customer to grab their attention and business. |
Marketing Ideas
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1
Affiliate program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.
Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.
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2
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.
Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.
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3
Social Media Advertising
Social media advertising is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience with the objective to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.
According to Oberlo, approximately 48% of the global population use social media, and the number is ever-growing.
Therefore, social media allows brands access to cost-effective advertising by enabling them to interact with a large audience.
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