S
Starter Story
Business Idea
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
market size
$664B
revenue (monthly)
$59.7K
starting costs
$42.5K
gross margin
50%
avg product price
$30
time to build
6 months
growth
Word of mouth
business model
E-Commerce
time investment
Side project
work from home?
Yes
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Office Space Expenses | $35 | $3,250 |
| Employee & Freelancer Expenses | $0 | $5,500 |
| Equipment & Supply Expenses | $525 | $5,500 |
| Website Costs | $232 | $6,500 |
| Business Formation Fees | $5,600 | $20,400 |
| Retail Business Expenses | $0 | $16,150 |
| Inventory Expenses | $350 | $14,750 |
| Software Expenses | $150 | $3,044 |
| Advertising & Marketing Costs | $0 | $2,750 |
| Other Expenses | $0 | $300 |
| Total Startup Costs | $6,892 | $78,144 |
Case Studies
How We Validated And Launched A Subscription Box Company
I’m Sam Davidson, a four-time entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of...
•
$150K/mo
Leaving A Career In Design And Marketing To Start Making Handmade Custom Knives
My name is Chris Sofia and I make handmade custom knives in Austin, Texa...
•
$2K/mo
The $27K/Month Company That Turns Photographs Into Custom Handmade Portraits
I am Sunny Choudhary, a 24-year-old co-founder of PortraitFlip with a B....
•
$27K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Birch Lane | birchlane.com | #15,636 |
|
ART FIRE | artfire.com | #24,612 |
|
Nappadori | nappadori.com | #154,731 |
|
Ten Thousand Villages | tenthousandvillages.com | #243,974 |
|
Woodland Creek's Log Furniture Place | logfurnitureplace.com | #348,521 |
|
PortraitFlip | portraitflip.com | #371,776 |
|
Go Forth Goods | goforthgoods.com | #436,084 |
|
TIZZIT | tizzit.co | #484,550 |
|
Dallas Designer Handbags | dallasdesignerhandbags.com | #534,716 |
|
ICON4x4 • HAND MADE IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA | icon4x4.com | #557,036 |
|
Kodiak Leather Co. | kodiakleather.com | #565,877 |
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
An affiliate program is a way to reward people outside your organization to share your product.
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2
Word of mouth
The most tried and true way to grow a handmade goods business is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.
-
3
Advertising on social media
Social media advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to handmade goods business.
There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.
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