Changing your crochet business and creating passive income from your crochet as a new income stream isn’t easy, but one of the biggest practical problems is how you find the time to build the new business while still making sales from the old business to keep you financially propped up.
If you prefer to listen, you can find the podcast here
The Money Problem Is Real
It’s a very real concern. You know that selling what you make will never make you the money you need or give you the flexible working situation that you’re aiming for. But at the same time, the money that it is making right now is very much needed to balance your financial situation. You need that money to continue coming in while you create the recurring income stream that will turn your crochet into a business that you can make a living from.
This feeling is very valid, don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t. This isn’t a mindset problem to overcome — just get on with it and suck it up isn’t a solution here. You need a practical solution to stop your family finances tumbling into the red.
The Slow Transition
The solution is a slow transition. You gradually spend less time on your old business by just taking one less order a week, and then spending the time that saves you on your new business. By taking it as slow as you need, you can get the new income stream set up and start earning money before you stop taking orders. As the new income builds, you take fewer orders from the old business. This preserves your finances and builds your new business at the same time.
But first you need a goal. How much money does your new business need to make before you shut down the old one? This is important because selling what you make is comfortable and familiar even though it’s not financially viable.
You are very emotionally attached to it because of how much time and effort you’ve invested in it. It’s part of you and no matter how profitable that new income stream is, you’re going to find it hard to let go of the old one. Having a financial target to hit is going to help get rid of the excuses that will inevitably arise to keep it going.
So let’s look at how much money your crochet business is making right now. How much profit are you really making from selling what you make? Not how much you make in sales, but how much you are making once you take away the cost of your yarn, sales fees, postage and packaging costs and any other costs you have to make that item. How much is left each week after all those costs are taken away?
The answer is your target. If you can make more than that each week from your new business, then it’s time to shut the old one down.
The Comfort Zone Trap
When making a slow transition, you need to be wary of falling into the comfort zone trap. The business you created from selling the crochet you made is comfortable and familiar. Even though you know it’s not going to provide the money and the lifestyle you want, it’s hard to let it go.
This means that you can end up prioritising that business instead of the new one by giving yourself the excuse that it’s because you need the money right now. You will always need the money right now.
But you can’t get out of that trap unless you spend meaningful time on the new business to set up that recurring income you need. The trap gets sprung because you are spending just enough time on the new business to make it feel that you are doing something, but it’s not enough time to get anything meaningful done that will start creating the income you need.
You have to make sure that you really do create enough time for your new business to give it the chance of taking off.
The Dreaded Middle Ground
The next issue to be aware of is the dreaded middle ground. You’ve cut back the orders you are taking in the old business, the new business is making enough money to afford losing those orders, but it still doesn’t feel like the new business is bringing in that money any easier than by selling what you make. You’re in 2 places at once and neither feels like they’re working for you.
This middle ground is frustrating, it’s time consuming, it’s exhausting. But it’s also only temporary. If your new crochet business is making money then it’s proving it works. It needs time to gain traction, to have new people find it and turn a new customer into a returning customer. You need time to build your reputation, to get reviews, to build trust. And in the meantime you’re stuck in this middle space of money starting to trickle in, but not enough to make it feel easier than if you’d just carried on selling what you make.
The temptation is to abandon the new business and write it off as something you’re just not capable of doing and going back to the comfortable place you know of carrying on selling what you make and convincing yourself that there really is a way of making it work. Don’t fall into that trap, just give it more time and you will start to see the results.
The Moment It All Makes Sense
Taking the chance and jumping into creating something new is no easy feat, but once you do it and start seeing that money coming in you’ll start to wonder why you didn’t make this decision sooner. I had that moment, and I had it so much sooner than I ever thought possible. When I stopped selling the crochet that I made and started writing crochet patterns, I tripled my income within 6 months. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t tried to do this sooner. That feeling is waiting for you.
It may take you longer than 6 months depending on how quickly you’re able to make the transition. I had to stop selling what I made completely, straight away due to my circumstances (you can read about my husky glitter issue here) which meant that I had much more time to spend building my new business — but it shows you what is possible.
Your Task This Week
There is no way to build a new business without the old one earning you slightly less cash, not when you’re already working as many hours as you can each week. But you can make it hurt less.
Being prepared for how much that cut is going to cost you is the best way to tackle this. So have a look at how much money you will lose each week from cutting out just one order. Not the sale price, but the profit amount. That is the number that really affects your bank account.
Once you have that number you can make a plan to work around that loss of income so that you can gain the time to work on your future.
I’m Kelly Thomas, crochet business owner, pattern writer, blogger and coach. I started my crochet business selling what I make and made all the mistakes along the way. Let me show you what I learned so you don’t make the same errors.
You can listen to the podcast episode that goes with this article here. It is a bit different to what you’ve just read, but the message is the same.
You can check out the rest of my podcast here to discover more about how to turn your crochet into a successful business.
I also have this free guide that you can download which walks you through 12 ways that you can make money from your crochet.
