They say hindsight is 20/20 for a reason. & girl do I feel it. No one told me how to run an Etsy shop. There are so many things I *should* have done differently in my first year as an Etsy shop owner. From running around like a chicken with my head cut off fulfilling orders until 2:00 am to the limiting beliefs that told me I would never grow – there were quite a few things that held me back from my full potential as an Etsy seller.
But would I change it? No, because now I get to deliver this post to you!
& these tips I’m about to share – they have *completely* changed my processes, systems, workflow, and output. I can do so much more now in such a little amount of time compared to before.
Less frantic = more thought behind every move I make online, more goals getting checked off my list, and more time for things that light me up (because sorry to tell ya, but making and processing 30 bags of confetti in one day doesn’t exactly do it for me anymore).
These tips I’m about to share allow me to set my goals higher because now I have more *time* to tackle my goals. I want that for you too. & I have no doubt that after you read this post you will feel motivated to tackle one or all of these things in your business to move the needle forward. So let’s get to it!
I Should Have Been Outsourcing Sooner
I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of embarrassed how long it took me to outsource. Guess who my first employee was? My mom. But hey, she does great work what can I say!
Getting to a point in your Etsy shop when pulling late nights frequently and spending over half of your week making and shipping products can be challenging. This is when I encourage you to open your mind to the possibility of outsourcing. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or special. Just a few hours a week? Maybe one full day a month to get you ahead (hello, hello batching – can’t wait to talk about you in the next point!)? It will make it easier for you to see how to run your etsy shop.
You are the visionary for your Etsy shop. If you want it to grow, you want to make more money and serve more of the clients you care so much about, you have to show up as the visionary in your business. This means creating new products, seeing a future and paving it, & getting shit done – ya know?
^all of that visionary talk doesn’t mean you have to take your hands out of anything you don’t want to. Do more of what you enjoy, less of what you don’t enjoy. Outsource the things you dread doing, create more joy in your business, and create more time for you to crush your goals by paving a way for your future.
I Wasn’t Batching & I Wasn’t Organized
Batching changed my life. No, seriously.
Let me paint a picture for you: creating the same banner 20 times in a week gets monotonous. I started to dread creating and shipping my products. Re: I started to dread doing 80% of the work that encompassed my wonderful, built-from-scratch business that I had worked so hard for.
*Until* a little birdie told me that creating a system for product creation and batching that work was what my business needed.
What’s batching, you ask? Batching is: highly-focused, topic-specific forms of working. This means dividing your workflow into different days/hours of ONE TASK instead of jumping around from task to task.
For example: Product creation of one of your best-selling items could be one day a month. In that day, you could sit down (maybe with some paid help) and create a month’s worth of that best-selling product. This 5-8 hour time investment will save you *hours* throughout the rest of the month. Time that won’t be spent getting out all the supplies time and time again, clearing a workspace, cleaning up after, etc.
This method of work is something I’ve adopted and since, I’ve seen *massive* results in my business. I do batch working for everything now: blog content creation, instagram content creation, pinterest marketing, email marketing, product creation, new product designing, shipping and processing, making supply runs- EV-ER-Y-THING.
If you’d like to hear more about my batch-working processes and systems can you reach out and let me know? I’ve been thinking about drafting something up for you guys but need to know you want it first. Email me here!
My Mindset
Let’s face it: being a kid in school, your teacher would ask you what you wanted to be when you grow up. You probably didn’t say you wanted to run an etsy shop because, well, Etsy didn’t exactly exist yet. (I had to check, Etsy has only been around since 2005). So when you grow up and stumble upon this idea – it can be hard to wrap your mind around it.
I know it took me a while to do so. &, okay, the amount of people I’ve had to explain what Etsy is to is – well – not fun. *But* it *is* a business, not a hobby, you do not need credentials to get started, and anyone can be successful with a little bit of marketing magic and a good mindset. That’s what makes it so special!
Here’s What I Tell Myself When I Get In My Own Head
Your Etsy shop is a business. There are people making a full time income out there from an Etsy shop and if you want to, it’s possible for you, too.
You are a creator and it is okay to get paid for that. It’s not necessarily a “conventional job” but that doesn’t invalidate it at all.
You can grow your Etsy shop into whatever you want it to be – mostly passive income, a full-time passion project that earns you money, a part time hobby… They are all possible.
I told myself for the longest time that no one would buy my products. The sales weren’t going to *continue* coming in. I should have a plan B.
While plan B’s are never bad, it’s important to have some belief in yourself. You can and will do this, okay??
When you feel the negative nancy rear her head in your brain take a break, watch some TV, go on a walk, and come back to your work when you’re in a more positive head space. Don’t let it ruin your day.
So get out there and make it happen, sister!
Man, if I had known all of this ^ when I learning how to run my etsy shop, things would look different for me right now. I hope you can take this information in and even if it doesn’t change you today – maybe it will next week when you hear me say it all again.
Get out there and make your dreams come true, okay? & if you like receiving little tips like this, some encouragement in your day-to-day, maybe? Follow me on Instagram to get all the encouraging advice your could ever want!
