I sold my first crochet stuffed animal approximately one year ago, and since then so much has happened for my little side hustle: I’ve created a business Instagram page, participated in multiple craft shows, set up an Etsy shop, started a blog, crocheted many more custom orders, and even started publishing my own patterns! Mostly, it’s because I love to crochet and I also love being able to make something that people want or need. Although I have a long way to go to becoming an expert at crochet entrepreneurship, I have realized quite a few things during this past year that can help anyone who is looking to start their own creative business.
Figure Out Your “Why”
No matter what you want to do for your creative business, you need to understand your own motivation for creating. This helps you know what you are passionate about and want to spend your time doing. If your “why” is to inspire women to feel beautiful in whatever size of handmade garment, you will create different products than if your “why” is to introduce chic handmade home decor into millennial homes. No matter how much you love being creative, you will not get anywhere if you try to please everyone. Figure out how to please yourself and fulfill your passion, and your other goals will happen.
With your “why” in mind, you can set more effective goals for your creative business. This way, you won’t be spinning your wheels and investing your time in things that aren’t working towards your greater purpose. Goals channel your energy. Like I have said in previous blog posts, make sure to set short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. You can read more about planning out your “why” and setting goals at my blog post, 11+ Bullet Journal Ideas for Your Creative Business.
Set Goals and Deadlines, But Know that It’s Okay to Not Honor Them
Goals are important so that you can work towards something meaningful. They serve as benchmarks to see your growth and improvement. Through goals, you can better envision the future and seek purpose in your creative business. However, it is totally okay if you don’t fulfill everything you set out to do or follow your timeline exactly as planned. In the first year of your creative business, you are still figuring things out, and that is alright. A lot of things take experience to figure out, and when you don’t reach your goals or meet your deadlines, you learn about yourself and your business. Maybe you need to change your goals to be more attainable, or you realize that the goals you set are not the best fit for your vision. You might need to be more forgiving of yourself in terms in deadlines, too. It is really important that you still set goals and deadlines for your creative business, but in the first year expect to fall short and regroup. This will help you revise your plans and work towards greater success.
Get Really Good at One Thing at a Time
For my first year with a creative business, I was so overwhelmed. I am still overwhelmed! There is so much that you can do for your little business, so it is hard to figure out what you need to do with your time. Everyone has a different perspective on what is important, and certain things are more important for a crochet business than for a YouTube channel, and vice versa. In all honesty, if you look at any successful creative businesses, the vast majority of them have been around for years. It takes time to build success. For your first year with a creative business, don’t try to do everything at once. Try to focus your time and effort on one or two things and learn to do those things really well. Once you learn all you can about that aspect of your business, get into a groove, and feel comfortable and confident, you can more effectively take the next step. For me, it was easy to feel like I needed to open an Etsy shop, buy a website, start a blog, engage with consumers on Pinterest, post on Instagram daily, participate in craft fairs, take business courses, and design patterns all at once- because the successful crochet business owners do that. But each of those things have a learning curve. Trust me- avoid being overwhelmed and only kind of involved with everything and just pick one thing to work on that you feel like would really help your creative business. Get really good at that one thing, and then move on. You will understand the rows of that action in your business better and will be able to utilize it more effectively.
Be Willing to Try New Things
You may already have an idea of what you want to work on for your creative business. Don’t limit yourself to just what you already know you should do (like set up an Etsy because that’s what creative people do). There are a ton of opportunities out there, and the only way you’ll know if it’s a good fit is if you try it. I had no idea I could sell my crochet in an artistic co-op store, but I stumbled on the opportunity and I’m giving it my best effort. Be willing to try something new, even if you aren’t sure about it. Do your research and work hard to see if you can make the opportunity work for you. It may take a few months of effort to really reap the benefits, or conversely to see that the opportunity is not the best fit for your creative business. Either way, don’t just say a certain business venture is too hard or not what you expected. It always will be with something new. But by branching out you may find your niche and market, or at the very least have a lot of fun growing your business and trying new things.
Do What Makes You Happy
No matter what, make sure that what you do for your creative business makes you happy. Most creative business won’t make you tens of thousands of dollars in the first year, but your business can be successful as you invest your time into something that matters to you. It can be frustrating and exhausting to put a lot of time, money, and energy into a small business that seems to not be going anywhere. Remind yourself of your “why;” you wouldn’t be doing any of this if it didn’t make you happy! Through it all, put yourself first. Don’t do anything that you don’t want to do for your creative business. As other people see how passionate and happy you are about what you create, they will feel that passion too. If you need to take a break, refocus your energy, or try a new project to be happier in your creative business, just do it! If you aren’t happy with what you are doing, reevaluate so that you can do what you love.
I have learned a lot through my experience with a small business in the past year. I hope these tips can help you as you move forward with your creative passion. Tell me in the comments what things you have learned as you have started the process of growing a creative business, or share with me on my Instagram @crowchetcreations using the hashtag #crowchetcreations.
XO, Emily
