5 Reasons Handmade Businesses Fail

The success rate of small businesses isn’t great and we’d LOVE to see that improve. A successful business doesn’t thrive due to one factor; there are a lot of moving pieces that need to be in place and your business’ needs are constantly going to be changing. Be sure you do your research before you go into business and avoid these 5 common mistakes to stay on the right path.

1) Blending in

In order to succeed in business you need to stand out in one aspect or another. Although many components make up a successful business, you need to build your business around your strengths and get help in the areas you’re weaker. So what are you great at? Do you have amazing people skills? You’ll shine at craft shows and customer service. If you’ve always been an outside the box creative thinker, focus on making your products different from competitors. Love marketing and social media? Spend more time on building your brand awareness.

2) Losing Motivation

When you’re running your own business, you have to be self-motivating. There isn’t a team meeting each morning where your boss pats you on the back and tells you what you should be working on. Everyone is different so it’s important to figure out what it is about your business that really gets you excited and find a purpose that keeps you going. Why did you start your business and what are you working towards? If certain tasks are taking over and you no longer enjoy what you’re doing, it may be time to re-evaluate and re-focus.

3) Ignoring Facts

If you turn a blind eye on and continue running your business the way you see fit without listening to your customers, the market or your numbers, you won’t stand the test of time. The market is constantly changing which alters what customers want. Dig into your business and understand what’s actually producing profits, increasing your traffic/sales and be sure you’re covering your costs. Stay on top of trends when it comes to social media, colors, styles and design. You may hang onto your loyal customers by staying the same but if growth is your goal, don’t get too comfortable.

4) Lacking Vision

You need to know where you’re going to figure out how you’re going to get there. Creating a clear vision for where you want to take your business is step 1. Once you have that ultimate end goal, start working on the smaller steps to get there until you have a focus for each week. This will help you plan your days and make your to-do lists. Without that, you may end up going in circles, wondering why you’re not further along.

5) Boredom

We need to be challenged! Think of the last job you left out of discontentment. The discontent was probably due to the people (generally not a factor here since your cat is your only co-worker;) or to boredom. Walking into the same setting, and doing the same thing day after day is bound to wear on you after a while. Find ways to keep the excitement going whether that’s through designing new pieces, collaborating with other artists, setting new goals or learning new skills.