As you grow your handmade business, there can be a lot of pressure to make money straight away and bring in enough income to pay your bills and fund your craft business.
But if your business is new, it takes a bit of time to build an audience and get sales.
So it might be a good idea to bring in some income from somewhere else so that you have some breathing room . . . so you don’t put so much pressure on your business straight away, because you need to give it a little bit of time to actually grow into something sustainable.
And often the businesses that start with the “I need to make money from day one” pressure are NOT the ones that I’m seeing succeed . . .
. . . instead, the ones that succeed are the ones that have a little bit of a financial buffer. The buffer might be because you still have your full time job, or a part time job, or because you bring in money from different revenue streams—but regardless of where it comes from, it gives your craft business time to grow and gives you time to experiment with different things to see what works and doesn’t work for your handmade business.
So in this video I’m going to give you 2 things to consider and 4 types of jobs (each containing many specific job ideas!) that you can do to create a secondary revenue stream, and share a little bit of what I’ve done as well in the past.
And I’m also going to give you a very important piece of advice—and show you one mistake that I see a lot of people make that I don’t want you to make—I’ll tell you what it is at the end of this video!
So, ready? Let’s dive in.
Believe me, I understand that building a new business can be stressful, I have been there myself!
When I first moved to Australia it was difficult (for visa reasons) to get a job in the industry that I had worked in back in France – business and marketing in the corporate world.
So with very limited employment options, I started doing some freelancing work in my areas of expertise: marketing, business, SEO, graphic design, web design, that kind of thing.
And, while I was doing that, I was also juggling small jobs like waitressing and retail jobs.
And I continued those jobs, the freelancing and consulting jobs for quite a while actually, once I started to create my own business, to keep income coming in until my business got off the ground.
So I want you to know that I truly do understand the pressure of having to make money from somewhere else while you try and grow your own business.
Because that is exactly what I did when I started Tizzit.co!
Now some of you might be thinking of starting a handmade business, and have a full-time job that you’re thinking of leaving or can not waiiiit to quit.
And I want to tell you: don’t rush! I am much more in favour of not leaving that job until your craft business has gained some traction and is bringing in a reliable income.
Or perhaps you have a full-time job that you can drop to part-time—as in drop a day or two and only work three or four days a week instead—this is a great option!
Now I know that not everyone has the option of keeping their full-time job or turning it into a part-time job, so today we’re going to look at options which create other revenue streams, outside of let’s day “regular employment”.
The first step you need to take—before looking for job opportunities—is to be super clear on what the money plan is for your business.
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When I say “money plan,” what I’m meaning is to think through the following questions about your business in order to create a clear picture of what kind of money you need to bring in while your business is in the startup phase.
The first question to consider is
So for this question you are figuring out how much money you need to make from this other job. You have to list what bills you need to pay each month, what business expenses you expect, basically all the financial obligations you need this other job to pay for.
This question is going to help you know how long you want to keep this side job, and when you are ready to swap over to relying 100% on your new business for your income.
Think about when you will feel ready to give up the income that your “extra” job is bringing in.
You will want to consider if this other job is bringing in money to live on, or if it’s creating a savings buffer.
You may have a goal of saving six months worth of expenses before you take that leap to only working on your new business. So when you reach that goal, you will know you’re ready to transition out of this job and work full time on your new shop.
Or, you may need the money from this job to live on right now, like it is actually being spent every month to pay your bills. That is a whole different ball game from the person that is building up a safety net.
So you just need to be clear on what you’re doing it for, so you can make a smart decision about when you are ready to rely 100% on your shop to provide the income you need.
Beware of the Double-Up Effect:
Now when you are setting a goal for what income you need your business to generate in order to rely on it to pay your expenses, you need to beware of what I like to call the double-up effect.
The double-up effect is a mistake I see a lot of people make. I know how easily it happens, because I did it myself!
Let me explain. Let’s say you decide you need to make $2,000 a month minimum to be able to rely on your business. So until your business is bringing in at least $2000/month, you need to make that $2,000 somewhere else because you still have those bills to pay.
So what you do is you go and find a job. You freelance, you waitress, whatever you decide, and you make 2000 bucks a month from other revenue sources.
At the same time you’re working on your business. . . and it starts to grow. And let’s say your business is making $1,000 a month.
So now in total you’re making $3,000 a month, $2000 from your side job and $1000 from your new business.
Here’s where the sneaky little trap comes in. With an extra $1000 coming in each month from your new business, you start spending a bit more because you’re making a little bit more. Perhaps you move to a new apartment—that’s what I did 😅—that’s got a bit more rent. And so suddenly, you’re using all this $3,000 as your living expense.
And now the goal for quitting your side job to focus full-time on your shop is when your shop generates $3000 a month instead of $2000.
Do you see how easily that happens? Which is why it’s so very important to keep clear in your head what your financial goal is, and that you put aside any money you make that is over that goal instead of spending it—which also helps you build a safety buffer in your shop for when you take the leap to go full time with it.
Now let’s talk about actual job ideas that you could consider for a secondary source of income while you are building your handmade business.
Craft markets are a great option! They’re local, and if you have products ready to sell, you’re essentially making money and doing a bit of free market research. You might learn what products sell the best, what people are attracted to which products, what product features people are drawn to (and what features clinch the sale).
There is very little setup involved in this option, you just show up with your table and you try to sell your product. OK well you’ll want your “table” to look nice 😂 but you get my point—it’s a great option.
Another great option is to teach your craft, either in workshops or by teaching lessons.
Locally, many arts and craft stores offer classes, and there are also specialty craft businesses that do birthday parties, work events, and other similar workshops.
This would be a great part-time job that allows you to practice your craft while bringing in a nice side income.
Online is another option, but you want to make sure you look for established online workshop websites like Skillshare or Craftsy vs. trying to set up your own website or craft teaching business. This is very important and is part of the common mistake I talked about at the beginning of the video—I will explain it in more detail in just a minute!
Freelancing is all about sharing the skills that you have with someone who needs them.
And it might be a skill that you’re not even thinking of because you don’t think that it’s something really of value, but it is to someone else. And so it’s about asking yourself what it is that you can do.
Maybe you are good at proofreading or graphic design, or you are an MS Word expert from a previous job. Or maybe you are a social media whiz that could schedule social media posts.
I recommend going to websites like Freelancer or Upwork for ideas. On each site you can find jobs by skill area—click on the jobs menu to see what job types there are and look through any area you like for ideas.
Here are some examples of categories of freelance work that are in demand.
Administrative
There are all sorts of administrative jobs that can be done virtually or in person. Virtual assistants are growing in popularity, helping businesses with everything from emails and scheduling to social media. Data entry and transcription are in constant demand as well, and if you are an expert in one program or another—such as Excel or Microsoft Word—you can hire out your skills.
Customer Support
Customer support is another area that you could look into, either on the customer service end where you are fielding calls, or on the technical support end where you are helping customers with the technical side of a product.
Design & Creative Work
If you have a skill or skills in design or creative work, there are endless possibilities for freelance work. If you are a graphic whiz you can find jobs in graphic or brand design. If photography or videos are your thing, you could do video or image editing or take photos for a business.
Writing
And if writing is your thing, the internet has created many many jobs for freelancers!
Copy and content writing, editing, and tutoring are examples of great ways to earn a secondary income while you are building your handmade business. If you know a second language, you could hire out your skills to translate documents.
Platforms like Upwork and Freelancer are a great place to put yourself out there and find jobs that are right up your alley, for as many or as few hours as you are looking for.
I want to briefly talk about the huge category of general jobs.
There are of course too many to mention, but I want to talk about them because these jobs can also be a great solution to bringing in a side income while you get your business growing.
In your neighborhood, jobs like babysitting, pet sitting, gardening, and dog walking are great ways to earn extra income.
The hospitality and retail industries also offer great opportunities in places like hotels, cafes, bars & restaurants, and retail stores.
So don’t forget these options, as they also provide a reliable way to earn an income while you are growing your craft business.
Now I want to give you a word of warning.
When you are evaluating different jobs, remember: it’s got to be easy and not require marketing, or you’re setting yourself up to have a second business to market. Let me explain.
When you are starting a new business you will be thinking “Okay, I need to make some money somewhere else for right now, because I’m not making money selling my products just yet since I’m just getting started.”
Let’s say you are an artist. And you come up with the clever idea that you’re going to start teaching art lessons online.
It seems like a great idea. Maybe you’re not selling your paintings yet in your new online shop, but if you teach lessons you’re still getting to use your artist skills.
And you think, “Well I’ll just set up a website and offer art lessons, or I will just advertise my art lessons locally and start teaching!”
And that is where the trap happens, because now you have to go and design a website for your art lessons, and then market your art lessons on social media—so now you have created a whole new thing that you have to do on top of your current handmade business that you’re trying to grow!
The thing to remember here is that you want this job to be quick and easy—not a second business to build.
So in our artist example, you could look online on platforms like Upwork and Freelancer and put yourself out there where customers are already asking for this type of work—you can get started over a weekend essentially by just filling out a profile and replying to job offers.
You could also look for local businesses that offer craft workshops. For example, there is a lovely little cafe where I live that offers craft workshops: every weekend they close on Sunday afternoon and have a maker come and do a workshop: painting, candle making, macrame, etc. This kind of opportunity is wonderful because as the maker you just show up, it’s organized and marketed by the cafe so you don’t have to do all that work, and you can spend your “free time” on growing your handmade shop instead.
Many arts and craft stores offer similar classes and events and need teachers to run them.
So as you evaluate your options and think about what job you want to be doing while you are building your handmade business, make sure you don’t unintentionally choose a job which ends up turning into a “ second business”.
Make it easy so you can focus your free time on your new handmade shop!
I’m sure I haven’t covered each and every way to make money while you build your handmade business, and I would love to hear what you did or are doing if it’s not in the jobs we discussed today.
Tell us in the comments below what job worked (or works) well for you, I would love to hear your experience and ideas!
Now if you’re wondering how long you might need to bring in a second job while you get your handmade shop up and running, you will want to read this article:
How Long Will It Take To Get Sales From Your Handmade Or Etsy Shop.
Thanks for watching, make sure to check the links below, and until next time, au revoir!
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Great insights! This post provides valuable information and is very well-explained. Keep up the great work.
Thank you!