Small Business Growth Tools
Let me set the tone………You’ve unboxed your Silhouette or Cricut and have had some wonderful practice making items for family and friends. You have become a mirroring master and the sticky transfer tape is slowly becoming your friend. What’s a girl left to do but show off the goods on FB of course!! (they are just too cute not to!) Well, much to your excitement someone wants you to make them one, and BONUS they want to PAY you for it!!! Visions of running a small business begin to dance around in your mind.
First let me just say, You Go Girl!! It takes a lot to put yourself out there and sell your work. It is exciting and terrifying all at the same time, but is one of the most rewarding experiences ever!
OK back to the details… there is a bunch of legal and tax stuff that you must make sure you research and get in order first. I’m neither a lawyer nor accountant, so I can’t give you advice in that regard but, I AM an avid business crafter and can share with you my expertise on what supplies will help you to be set up for success and efficiency when you begin to start and grow your business.
Website platform / Etsy Shop:
When someone wants to buy your items it is crucial to have a reliable spot where they can purchase AHEAD OF TIME. We don’t go to Target, take the items home and then decide if we want to pay and neither should you. Have a place for people to pay you up front. Taking a lot of custom orders? No problem just set up a listing that says custom order and that way there is no excuse of non-payment. There are tons of other reasons why I think a website AND Etsy shop are great (which I will talk about in a different post) but for the purposes of today, you need a place for them to purchase and ‘shop’. One of the easiest ways to do that is through a website or Etsy shop. Want 40 free listings on Etsy to get you started? Click here.
Commercial use fonts / Cute designs:
The second item that you need when starting and growing your business is commercial use fonts and commercial use designs. While there are tons of images and fonts out there available for personal use, if you are selling items, it becomes an entirely different ballgame. Check out all my favorite commercial use font resources here and my favorite font pairs here. Also I allow ALL of my designs commercial use for up to 200 uses. We do a freebie each Monday and Friday and have new releases regularly. Download 3 freebies instantly here and check out the shop here. Don’t be that girl who traces and steals other people’s stuff. Let your own creativity shine and be honest! That’s part of the fun in crafting and creating!
Heat Press:
Having a heat press is AMAZING and absolutely worth the expense. The heat press below is the one I use and it works wonders. The relief of not having to stand on an iron, knowing your product is commercial grade quality, and the efficiency of your time will be well worth the cost. (Not to mention it will pay for itself many times over). Give yourself, your business, and your customers an upgrade! I promise you won’t regret it, you will only wonder why your didn’t order one earlier!! The Cricut Easy Press is also amazing to take with you if you do vendor shows and need something a little more portable.
Label Printer:
Once you have your shop up and going, with cute clever designs, using professional grade materials, people from all over will want your items! Before you know it you will be besties with the postman and half your time will be writing and taping labels to your packages. You will NEED a label maker. Not only will NEVER run out of ink (it is thermal) but you can also print barcodes for inventory and thank you stickers (black and white) etc. Basically you dream it and this label maker will print it. Not only does it print in lightening speed it also fully integrates with Etsy shipping. BAM!! Talk about making your life easier! Worth every penny!!
These items will set you up for success when building and growing your business. Keep in mind these supplies are not mandatory, and this list is by no means the only supplies out there but they will give you a good start to making your life so much easier and will help you to make sure you are being as efficient as possible to focus on growing your business and your dream.
Sidenote: Haven’t quite made it to the unboxing stage yet?…. Check out my post of supply suggestions for someone just unboxing their machine here.
(This post contains affiliate links to products that I love and strongly recommend. All opinions are 100% my own.)
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