As someone who runs their own small Etsy business, you can take it from me that taking a passion you are interested in, and turning it into a small business is more than worth it.
My story isn’t too crazy. Basically, I love to paint and hand-embroider, and, after my friend and I looked into creating an Etsy account, we decided to go for it. I mainly hand-embroider but I also love to create different crafts for my Etsy as well. As a college student that started with little to no experience in running a small business, I have compiled some important tips to help anyone interested in starting a small business to get started.
Take the Leap of Faith
The most important part of turning your passion into a small business is to take the risk! You have to decide that this is what you want to do, and put yourself up to the challenge of it. To be able to speak your idea into existence is the most important part of getting started. Have faith in yourself; if starting a small business is something you really want to do, you have to just trust yourself and take a leap of faith.
Research, Research, Research!
This is something I wish I would’ve done a little bit more before jumping into my small business. If you are thinking of starting an Etsy business, research all about Etsy! Research. Research. Research. The more you read about what you’re interested in selling, your target audience, the platform you will be selling on and other small businesses/small business stories, the better off you’ll be. Researching and getting excited about starting your small business is a key stepping stone into actually getting started.
Your Passion
Passion, I think, is the most important part of this entire process. You have to truly be invested in whatever you want to turn into a small business. If it’s something you’re not really passionate about, then there will be no motivation, and the whole idea will fizzle away in just a few weeks. If you’re really passionate about this thing, then you will constantly enjoy creating the products you’re planning on selling, and will, honestly, make for a better end product.
Time
Running a small business takes patience and time. When I started off, I did not get much business at all. Even now, I don’t get a ton of business, but it’s at a level that I find perfectly manageable as an involved college student. With time, you can’t give up! Even if you’re not busy, or haven’t had a lot of orders, if you’re doing something that you’re passionate about, and you enjoy the thrill of owning your own small business, you have to stick with it because with time, it will only get better.
Learning Experience
Creating and running your own small business is the definition of what a learning experience is. As much of a cliche as it sounds, it really is true that in order to succeed, you have to try things and fail. You have to learn what works best for you. It’s beyond important to learn and adapt and change throughout your entire small business experience. I have owned my own small business for over a year, and I’m still learning how to improve in certain areas. A few big things that I learned: how to improve my packaging, what types of products customers tend to like better than others and how active I want to be with running my own small business.
Your Attitude Toward Your Passion
This last tip is perhaps the most dangerous about what will happen if you decide to turn your passion into your own small business. Running your own small business is more likely than not going to change the way you feel about your passion. I previously stated that I have a passion for painting and embroidering. Sometimes, when I have to work on a custom order, I dread having to utilize this passion. However, I always reflect and remember how I GET to do this as a small business. Additionally, I remind myself that if I hadn’t turned my passion into a small business, I probably wouldn’t even be utilizing it at all! I think it is important to really dive into yourself and think about how your passion could change if you decide to turn it into your own small business.
As someone who loves running their own small business based on their passions, I would highly encourage everyone interested in doing the same to do so! But, should you be interested, I believe it’s important to keep in mind all the tips I went over, and while a small business is fun and successful for a lot of people, it certainly isn’t for everyone.
If you have felt inspired, or discouraged, based on my article, I would love for you to reach out to me via my information listed below my article.