So you’d call yourself a creative -- or crafty -- or an
expert in something. You knit things,
paint things, advise others, blog for fun, take pictures, own way too much
scrapbook paper (oh wait that’s not possible.)
Maybe more than a few people have told you that your craft
or skill could be turned into a little side business. Maybe you’ve thought that
yourself. Well you know what? You’re right. With so many e-commerce sites out
there, the necessity of opening a brick and mortar shop no longer exists. For
little to no upfront investment, you can sell what you make or offer your
services to anyone who’s interested enough to click on your link.
The question is…how do you start? What’s the very first
thing you do to turn your hobby into a business? Much of the advice we see
online comes from individuals who own medium or large businesses – they have
successfully replaced their traditional income and seem to have it all figured
out. We are so fortunate to be able to read advice from so many people we
admire in business. However, it’s more difficult to get advice from someone who
has recently started -- someone who is still figuring things out. Someone who
you’d want to sit down to a cup of coffee with and chat about what it really
looks like – the good, bad, and the ugly – of starting a small business.
Starting a graphic design business last year has taught me
so many lessons about what it looks like legally, practically, and virtually to
start a small business. A lot of it has been trial and error, googling the
answers, and making lots of “I’ll never do that again” decisions. I am in no
way an expert, but I thought it would be helpful to offer some advice from a
beginner’s perspective. If this peaks your interest,
grab your cup of coffee and let’s chat – I’m linking up with The Nester and
blogging 31 days in October. I'll talk finances, marketing, social media,
staying legal, client relations, branding, part time jobs, and anything else
you’re curious about. Please comment below if you’ve got a specific topic in
mind!
With that said, I sure hope you join in the fun this month,
either reading or writing your own series – or both! Cheers to October, friends!
My main goal for participating in the blogging challenge this October is to keep myself moving, in terms of setting up a small business. I look forward to following your series!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! Hopefully this series covers most of the basics, but I'd love to hear more about what you're starting up! Keep me posted!
DeleteI'm crazy interested in this topic! Planning on following your 31 days, I can't wait to see whats ahead! I've started a shop at storenvy, but its feeling a little... slow, right now. Perhaps I'll learn a few things to ramp it up! (greatmanythings.storenvy.com)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Would love to hear more about what you're doing. If there's any specific topics I'm not covering that you really wish were on here, I'm all ears! Thinking about leaving some days at the end of the month for Q&A.
DeleteGreat topic for the 31 days of blogging! I wish that I had stumbled across posts like this about 5 years ago when I was starting my business. I did a lot of research, read books, asked advice from other designers, and learned TONS through trial & error.
ReplyDelete