How to start a crochet business

If you ask any entrepreneur, starting a business comes with its fair share of challenges. Starting a crochet business is no exception and it  requires a great deal of effort, dedication and most importantly PASSION. If you’re willing to put in the effort to build your own business, you’re going to want to follow the critical steps to creating a successful brand. To avoid mistakes, you’ll also need a good deal of business knowledge. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place, as I have been in the industry for over 5 years and I know exactly what it takes to be a full-time crocheter.

Hi, my name is Sheila and I am the C.E.O at shylercrochets. I’m a mentor, a tutor to many. I also help makers, artists and designers make a living from selling their handmade products online through providing inspiration as well as lessons of how to make different designs

Why is a crochet business a great idea?

It’s very cheap to start a crochet business. You just need some yarn and a hook to get started! That’s much less expensive than say, for example I started my business with less then $10 with 1 crochet hook that was $0.5 and a few balls of yarn that were about $7 so I roughly started with $8 so if you’re looking for some cheap business ideas, you can definitely add crochet to the list

Crocheted items also have broad appeal. People in cold climates need hats, crocheted items are a very common, traditional gift for babies and there’s the whole avenue of crocheted artwork for example personally, I mainly crochet apparel and i have been successful at making it appealing to my crowd.

However, there are a number of challenges that you need to look out for

• There are a lot of hobbyist crochet artists out there who’re creating items and selling them for little more than the cost of the yarn. Because they aren’t running a business, they’re happy to just have fun and have their materials covered. They’re not making enough profit to make a living off of. But if you’re running a business, not only do you need to be paid for your labor and profit, but you’re competing with all of these hobbyists.

• It is a crowded marketplace and it can be a challenge. Competition is high when it comes to your crochet business, so it’s important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.
• High shipping feesIf you are selling your products in various countries / states, you will have to add shipping fees to the price of the final product which may make your prices shot up and reduce the number of potential clients especially those who want buy cheaply.
•  Time commitmentWith starting a crochet 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.
•  No benefits With a crochet business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming and mind draining as you have to find different ways to earn from the craft apart from selling physical items
• Crocheting is time-consuming, compared to other production methods as there are no crochet machines as there are for knitting. Because you’re creating each item, stitch by stitch, there is going to be a limit on how many items you can make per week/ per month. One thing you have to know is to always give yourself time to work on orders and not to bite more than you can chew because this could be a major challenge for your business
•  Working from homeIt’s not necessary to have a physical address or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from your own home, at least in the beginning and as the business grows, you can think of expanding to a bigger space. This could also depend on the environment at home as sometimes you may not be able to work in a space with so many kids so you have to consider different factors
•  TaxesAs a crochet business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It’s important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you’re taking on is worth it for I pay taxes for my you tube channel monthly as well as paypal charges yearly
• InconsistencyAs a crochet business, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It’s important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have. Orders are not going to be consistent especially at the beginning of your business
• Niche MarketA 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.
• Not everyone will like your work / Easy target for criticismSince your crochet business has the ability to reach a large audience, you’ll need to be able to handle criticism. The internet can be a cruel place, and regardless of your intentions, many people will disagree with you and even take their criticism too far. To survive in this industry, you’ll need to have tough skin (or at least learn this along the way).
•  Low demand With a crochet business, not everything you make will be bought so you’ll end up with a collection of items and these  can be of help in the future when you don’t have ready stock.
• The job can be demandingThis is one of the major disadvantages starting a crochet business. It’s important to understand that you may need to make yourself available on a 24/7 basis as an order can come in at any time, sometimes even on short notice
•  Work is not always glamorousWith starting a crochet business, you may need to get your hands a little dirty. Although it may seem glamorous from the outside to start this business, the work can require a lot of physical activity and repetition and sometimes you have count stitches all day to make a specific design
• Get out of your comfort zone!Although this is exciting for some entrepreneurs, it can be a big challenge for others! You may find yourself in uncomfortable social and business situations, jumping into tasks and responsibilities you aren’t familiar with, and pushing yourself as far as you can go!
• Slow results & revenueResults and revenue do not come overnight with a crochet business. Often times, it takes weeks, months or even years for your work to monetize.
  

  Final words

With the  above challenges, it’s going to be crucial that you to make your business work in order to maximize your earnings.

Only YOU, know how far you want to take your business and i suggest you work around the challenges to in order to have a successful business

Also, some customers perceive crochet as old-fashioned or not very valuable, and this is partially because it’s a very common hobby. That just makes it super-important that your branding is on-point.

Finally, I want to remind you that you can turn your crochet business into a full-time job and it can be successful