My ULTIMATE Advice for Starting & Running Your Small Business ✿ Tips & Tricks - Crochet Business

Hey friends! Welcome to my channel. If you're new here, hi, I'm Jenna. I love to crochet plushies, and if you're a returning subscriber, welcome back! For today's video, I am going to be sharing my biggest advice for running and starting your own small business. And for anyone new here, I've been running my crochet business on the side for the past three years. I'm technically a corporate girly, I work a nine-to-five job, and then all of my free time is spent running my crochet business. I honestly started my crochet business kind of by mistake. I just fell in love with crochet and decided to start selling products, and it kind of snowballed from there. I get so many questions from you guys asking how you can start your very own small business, so I'm here to finally talk about all of my tips and tricks and everything that I've learned along the way. So with that, let's dive into it! Advice number one, determine what you're good at making and then decide to sell it. So like I kind of alluded to in the intro, I basically started my crochet business by mistake. I honestly was crocheting so much because I fell in love with the craft and I started accumulating all of these plushies in my house and I really didn't have space for them, so I'm like, let me go ahead and list them online. And from there, I slowly started building my business and it eventually took off, but back when I first started making things, my intention was not to sell and like create a crochet business. And I'm no stranger to starting a business. I've actually had a bunch of businesses in the past. I used to sell collared merclet earrings, I did some drop shipping, I even did like my own clothing brand at one point. And the difference between those three failed businesses and my crochet business is that I'm actually really passionate about crochet. I could do it 24-7 and I think that is something that is so important to realize when you want to start your own business. You want to sit down and ask yourself, what am I really passionate about? What is something that I can do 24-7 that I won't necessarily view as work? Because not gonna lie, it is a lot of work getting a small business up and running, but if you truly love what you're doing and you love the products that you're selling and what you're making, that will make all of the difference. Especially if you're going into the crochet space, it's super important to pick products that you actually like making. And I say this because in reality, you will probably make the same product over and over and over. Whether that's for markets or just fulfilling orders, you will be making that product a lot. So hopefully you enjoy making that product and it will make the whole process actually enjoyable. For example, early on, I knew I loved making turtles and turtle plushies. So I think over the course of having my business, I made well over like 300 turtles. And if I didn't like turtles, that would be incredibly painful. So when you're thinking about what products to list, ask yourself if you're okay remaking those products over and over and over. And kind of along the same lines, a lot of people ask me how many products should I offer when first starting out? Is offering a lot of products good or bad? Honestly, in my opinion, variety never hurts. By having a bunch of different products on your store, you're ultimately giving your customers more options and having more options could equate to more sales. Because if you put yourself in your customer's shoes, if I'm going to go shop on a website and they only offer one top, if I don't like that top, I'm probably going to leave that website and not make a purchase. But if I go to that same website and they're offering shirts and shoes and jackets and accessories, I now have so many different options to choose from. And just because I don't like one product, there might be another product that I actually do like, and then I will go ahead and buy from that website. So same kind of logic applies to your small business. If you're able to have multiple different products, I say go for it. And there's one more thing I want to touch on in this section. And I think it's one of the most important things that I have to say. Do not be afraid to put yourself and your work out there. Your art is worthy. You are worthy. You got this. It's so easy to second guess. It's so easy to put yourself down like, oh, my work's not good enough to sell. No one will want this. It's not perfect enough. No, do not listen to those thoughts. You'll never know what could have been if you never put yourself out there. And I personally try to live by this quote from The Office, which I think was also stolen from another person. But it's when Michael Scott says, you miss 100% of the shots that you don't take. And honestly, when starting a small business, it's really important to keep that in mind. Because if you let all of these thoughts hold you back, the self-doubt, the fear of failing, the overall uneasiness of just putting yourself out there, you'll never know what could have come. When I first started my business, were my products perfect? Absolutely not. But everyone has to start somewhere. And over time, you will improve. You'll learn from your mistakes. Your business will grow. And that's the beauty of having your own business. Your products do not need to be perfect for you to start your business. So definitely don't let that hold you back. Advice number two, pick the best platform for you and your business model. So this is another top question that I receive from you guys. And it's, what is the best selling platform to start your business on? There's so many different selling platforms out there. Etsy, Shopify, Squarespace, etc. It's hard to determine like what is best for you. I personally started my business on Etsy just because I thought it was the best place to start for beginners. And honestly, I still stand by that. As a complete beginner who has no sales experience, Etsy is a great place for you to start. While there are fees that people typically don't like, they do provide you such a powerful selling platform, organic traffic, and you really don't have to do much to get up and running. Listing a product is super simple and I believe it only costs 20 cents to list something. So the amount of money that you're investing to start your business is relatively low. And fast forward to present day, I'm still on Etsy, but I also have my own standalone website now. And I feel like everyone eventually gravitates to their own standalone website. This really allows you to build your own brand and it also allows you to customize the website exactly how you want it. And honestly, looking back, I kind of regret not having my own standalone website sooner. And this actually brings us to today's sponsor, .store. When selling online, your domain name is one of the most important tools in your tool belt because this is how your customers will find you. Think of your domain name like your online address. Your customers will literally have to type it in to find your store. So when you're about what your domain name should be, it can be very overwhelming. I know I personally was very intimidated by this process. The best tip that I can give you is to look towards what other successful businesses have done and follow their lead. What does Shakira, Mr. Beast, and Michelle Obama all have in common? They're all using a .store domain. This is a clear sign that .store is the way to go. A .store domain will set you apart from your competitors and really have your stand out amongst all of the .coms. And most importantly, your customers will know immediately that your website is an online store with a .store domain. But here's where it gets really juicy. With a .store domain, you actually sell more. A year-long study shows that websites using a .store domain attracted a whopping 87% more traffic. You also get two times higher ranking on Google with a .store domain. So this ultimately means more eyes on your products and more possibilities for a sale. So aside from all of these amazing facts, let me tell you about all of the potential savings that you can get. In the beginning stages of running a business, money is tight and .store definitely understands that. They actually started a program called Elevate.store to help online sellers with insane deals and discounts. So when you opt for a .store domain, you will unlock access to exclusive discounts of up to $2,500 on essential e-commerce tools such as Wix, Vistaprint, Mailchimp, and so many more. It literally pays to have a .store domain. And here's the best part. For a limited time only, you can have your very own .store domain for only $0.99 for the first year. Yes, you heard me correct. For less than $1, you can have the snazziest domain name. Just use my code JENNA at checkout and you'll be all set to go. With a .store domain, you can really supercharge your success and set your small business on the path to greatness. Advice number three, run sales in the beginning and offer incentives. So once you launch your business, first off, congrats. That is a huge first step that you took. So now the most important next step is for you to get your very first order and your very first review. With thousands of other stores already established, you are fighting against the competition to really establish yourself as a good, reputable business with five-star reviews. Because again, if you think about it like if you were in your customer's shoes, if you come across a new store that didn't have any orders, no reviews, and is brand new, you yourself would probably be a little skeptical. So that's why in the first few weeks, months of running your business, you really want to prioritize getting orders and getting reviews. So how do you go about doing that? So from my experience, running sales is super, super important and attractive in the very beginning. Being a new store, you really need to set yourself apart from the competition by either offering lower prices or some kind of incentive to get people to buy from your shop over your competitors. Whenever people see 25% off, 30% off, or any sale running, it kind of creates a sense of urgency like okay, I'm getting a really good deal, I should go check out right now. I will say in the beginning, profit margins will probably be a bit smaller just because you're first starting out, you're trying to get off your feet, you're running sales, so the profits might be a little lower than expected, but that's totally okay because like I said, the most important thing for you to focus on when you first start out is to really just drive sales and get those five-star reviews. Once your business starts growing, you start getting more orders, you can wean away from the sales, you can start charging more, you can take away all of these incentives because you will be more established and people will want to buy from you in general, but to start out, it's really important to offer incentives. And one last incentive that I want to touch on is free shipping. As a buyer, I always go for the option that has free shipping. If I'm deciding between two products, I probably will go with the one that I don't have to pay shipping. So if you want to try to attract customers, try to offer free shipping if possible. It is important not to totally undercut yourself and you still want to make some profit, so if you absolutely cannot offer free shipping, don't. But if you can, definitely try to because I think that will make all of the difference. And again, this is not forever. I think when I first started my Etsy, I had free shipping on like all of my plushies for maybe the first six months. Then I was like, okay, I'm getting like a good amount of orders, maybe I can take away free shipping. So I took it away and tested the waters and waited to see what happened and people actually still ordered from me, even though they had to pay for shipping. So then from that point on, I did not offer free shipping ever again. So just try to keep that in the back of your head, like all of these incentives are super short term and your profit margins will increase over time. Advice number four, invest in marketing and paid ads. This kind of ties into what we were talking about in the previous section, but a great way to get your first sales is actually through paid ads, especially if you're on Etsy. Etsy ads are such a good tool to use, especially when you're a new seller and your store is not as established. There are thousands of other listings out there. So the way to get your listing to the top of Etsy's search bar is to actually go ahead and pay for some Etsy ads. This ensures that when people search up a product, say a turtle plushie, your listing will be up there right at the top. And that gives you a better chance of having that customer visit your store and making a purchase versus having your product on like the 10th page. And the great thing with Etsy ads is that you can actually set your own budget. So I think you can do as low as a dollar a day. And that is what I personally did in the very beginning. And by running Etsy ads, I did see a huge difference, especially when I first started out. I think my first few sales honestly came from Etsy ads. So if you're able to set aside a budget for marketing and really invest in it, because that could be game changing to you in the beginning. It's super important to get those first orders in, those first reviews in. So definitely prioritize spending your budget in the beginning. And then once your business grows over time, you can ease back on the marketing budget. And on this note, a lot of people think that you need to have like a big social media presence to be successful. You need to have thousands of followers. But I really don't think that is the case. I personally know a lot of small creators, maybe people with under like a thousand followers who are killing it on Etsy, killing it on their own website. It's all about marketing and social media and having a big social media following is not the only way to go. I will say though, social media is a great way to freely market your products and your business. Creating content on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube is a way for you to announce to the world that your shop is open. These are the products that you sell and it doesn't necessarily cost you any money versus like paying for an ad to run on Etsy or on Facebook, et cetera. So definitely try to take advantage of that. If you want to spread the word about your business and get more eyes on your products, it never hurts to create like an Instagram story or an Instagram reel that highlights and shows off your products. And lastly, you can pay for ads on Instagram and Facebook, et cetera. I personally haven't gone this route, but I know people who have and they have had success with it. So I think it's honestly just like a personal preference, what way you want to go with marketing. But overall, the idea of investing in marketing is key, especially if you want to try to grow your business in the very beginning stages. Advice number five, make sure your listing photos are the best that they can be. So once you have your shop up and running, you're running some ads to your store, what is the next thing that you want to keep in mind? Listing photos. I feel like people underestimate how important listing photos are. Listing photos ultimately is what draws your customers in, gets them to click on your product, check it out, and then ultimately make the purchase. I get a lot of people asking me sometimes to like look at their website or look at their shop and tell them some feedback. And nine out of 10 times, my feedback is improve the listing photo. I personally like taking all of my listing photos outside in natural lighting. You can honestly never go wrong with natural lighting. I also like taking my product photos with grass in the background. I feel like grass is a great like neutral background. It's not like adding to the photo, but it's also not taking away like distracting anyone from the actual product at hand. When I'm shopping for products, there's two things that I look at in a listing photo that will ultimately like turn me away. Bad lighting and there's just too much going on in the background. And honestly, changing up the listing photo every now and then can make such a huge difference to your shop. I think I told this story multiple times, but I will tell it again because it is so powerful. When I came out with my first crochet pattern, it was for my mini no-sew octopus and I listed it on my Etsy. The listing photo was not good. Bad lighting. The background was too busy. I had like all this crazy font on it. It was just a lot going on. So naturally, people did not want to click on it and I got like no sales from that pattern. Fast forward almost a year later, I was making a bunch of those octopi for an order and I took a really cute picture. I had them all laid out in the rainbow. The lighting was better. The background was cleaner. Everything about the photo was more aesthetic. So I went on Etsy, changed the listing photo and almost the next day, I started getting orders for that pattern. And that honestly was the moment where I realized how powerful listing photos are and then I went back and changed up a bunch of my other listing photos. So if your products aren't selling, don't get discouraged. Don't blame yourself. Don't think you're not good enough. Try to change up the listing photo and make it better. I 100% think that will make all of the difference. Advice number six, stay patient and give yourself grace. Starting and running a small business is a completely wild ride. It's important to remind yourself that it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's honestly taken me three years to get to this point. A lot of trial and error, a lot of mistakes were made, but that's honestly the beauty and the fun of running your own small business. It's a constant learning experience. You're always changing things up. You're always learning something new and there's always ways to improve. As your business grows, you'll learn more about yourself. You'll learn more about what works and what doesn't. You'll learn who your customers are, what they want from you, and everything will slowly become more and more clear. So on hard days where you're feeling down on yourself and not motivated, just remind yourself that you're doing amazing. Running a small business is no small feat. No matter what stage of the process you're in, the fact that you even had the guts to start a small business says so much about you. And try not to let your definition of success get in the way. Success can truly not be measured by any like monetary statistics or a special number or special milestone. Success honestly varies from person to person. Are you happy with what you're doing? Do you believe in your business? Do you love your products? If so, I'd say that's a success. And at the same time, if you've been running your business for some time now and you're slowly losing motivation because you're not passionate about it anymore, that's equally as important to realize. It's important sometimes to take a step back and say, I kind of don't like this. That's what happened to me in my previous businesses. I was like three months into running my clothing business and I was like, Jenna, like what are you doing? You don't even like fashion like that. And by having this realization that I needed to stop putting energy towards my clothing business helped open another door for me, which was crochet. So don't be scared to pivot if you want to pursue a different business or go a different direction. It's totally fine. Don't view it as a failure because it's not. You are just navigating through this craziness that we call running a small business. It is not a linear path by any means. So just try to give yourself grace and follow your gut. But okay, I think that brings us to the end of today's video. I hope you guys thought these tips were helpful. This is truly my honest advice and everything that I kind of learned myself while running my own crochet business. I'm definitely not a professional though, so take everything I said with a grain of salt, but just know that this is my honest advice and I truly am rooting for all of you guys out there. It honestly warms my heart seeing all the comments saying that you want to start your own small business and I am over here cheering you on. Starting my crochet business was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It truly changed my life and I honestly want everyone else to experience the same amount of magic and fun. So I'm here for you guys if you ever have any questions, feel free to contact me or comment down below. I'm happy to help. But with that, I will catch you guys in my next video. Have a great rest of your day. Bye!