As we’re living through a cost of living crisis, many of us are finding that we could do with a little extra income to help ourselves get by. Whether that’s meeting the bills or simply providing ourselves with money to put into savings (to fall back on if times get particularly hard) or to boost our disposable income. Of course, there are countless ways to go about earning a little extra money. Some will take on overtime at work. Some will start selling old or unwanted belongings. These are good options. But if you’re looking to make money in a way you enjoy, and you’re able to craft quality homemade items, selling your handmade products could be a good option for you. Whether that’s knitted hats and scarves coming into the winter, artwork, macrame hanging baskets or anything else, here are a few tips that can help you with this!
Make Sure What You Are Producing is Quality
First and foremost, you need to make sure that the items you’re producing are good quality. People will be disappointed if they buy something only to find that it falls apart a few days or weeks later. This may mean honing your craft. Practice makes perfect and you can launch when you’re feeling confident enough in your products to ask for people’s hard-earned money in exchange for them.
Register as Self-Employed or a Business
If you’re going to sell items for profit, you need to make sure that you are registered as self-employed. If you are starting a business, make sure that you register your business. This will ensure that you can file your tax returns successfully at the end of each fiscal year and will ensure that you don’t get into trouble later down the line. Also, look into hiring an accountant or figuring out how to accurately figure out and put away for your own taxes.
Consider Etsy
Etsy is a good starting block when selling handmade goods. Here, you can advertise your products for sale in your store and customers can make sales easily through the trusted platform. The only issue here is that Etsy and payment options like Paypal will take a cut of your profits.
Set Up a Website
When you’re ready to sell independently, you can create your own platform to sell from. This means creating a website. Starting a website is a much lower commitment and much lower cost than starting a brick-and-mortar store. Here, customers can browse your products to find and buy what they want. Make sure that it is functional and looks good. As time goes on, you can start looking into more specialist areas like White Label SEO to drive more customers to your page, boosting sales and profits.
Use a Product Photographer
It’s all good and well taking photos of your creations on your phone, but you should make sure to use a professional product photographer if you can. This may entail an initial cost, but you will find that they are able to portray your product in its best light. They have the equipment and expertise to really make the most of what you give them to work with.
These are a few starter steps that really should get your journey started out in the right direction!
