Selling your crochet has turned into such hard work. It was never supposed to be this way. Everyone told you that it would be easy, that you should sell your crochet because everyone will love it. But now it’s turned into a time sucking monster, but you can’t let go of it either. You’re stuck. So why do you keep saying to yourself “selling my crochet is so hard.”
Prefer to listen? Click here for the podcast episode
The Dream You Were Sold Wasn’t A Lie
The thing is, you were sold a dream but you were never shown the small print. It’s a bit like car finance. Such a good idea on paper and sounds like it’s so affordable with those small monthly payments. But once you get down to the small print, the interest rate is astronomical, you’ll be spending the next 10 years paying it off and when you add it all up together it ends up costing 3 times the amount the car was advertised for.
How were you ever going to make this business idea work when no one told you the real cost of your time and investment?
The Time Vs Profit Battle
The thing about the dream you were sold is that it was not a lie. It was just never going to work for a crochet business because of the amount of time you have to spend crocheting to make something. We can’t use machines to help us, there is no machine in existence that can replicate crochet. Which means it all has to be done by hand, and every minute you’re not crocheting means that you can’t make money.
Has it happened yet? That feeling of resentment when you have to pick up your hook to crochet yet another order that you haven’t chosen to make? You started your crochet business because you love to crochet, but turning it into a business means that you have to crochet the same things over and over and you have lost the choice of when and what you crochet. How do you get the love and the passion back?
Losing the love of your crochet doesn’t have to be permanent, it is the symptom of the practical business problem of not making enough cash for all of that time you’re pouring in.
This is the crochet conundrum, the battle between time and profit. And I’m afraid you were never going to win it. Making a bit of extra cash from the crochet that you sell is easy. Turning it into a full time income that gives you an hourly wage you can make a living from is a whole other story.
You Have More Options Than You Think
I’m not saying that you have to give up on your dream of taking control of your time and your finances with your crochet being the vehicle that gives you control of your life. I’m just saying that the way you’re going about it right now is leaving you trapped and frustrated and I want to lift you out of that and put you on the path that’s right for you.
You see, there are lots of ways that you can make a living from your crochet. Selling what you make is the hardest and least profitable one. It is true that there are ways to make it work such as creating a luxury fashion brand, creating collectors items or becoming a crochet artist.
But these routes require time and money that is just not available to everyone. The far more profitable and easier way to turn your crochet into a full time income is to choose a path that includes recurring revenue, and there are so many ways to do that.
The Signs Are Waiting To Be Noticed
My story meant that I had to change paths quickly and it wasn’t really a decision – I was forced to by personal circumstances (I’ll tell you that story another time). But once I did dramatically change things up, the relief was immediate.
I suddenly had more time, I had control over my crochet back. It felt like I had my life back and although it was hard to fully let go of what had been, I suddenly had a whole new bright path ahead of me that was so exciting and full of new possibilities.
I know this feels like a lot right now. You came searching for a way to make your crochet business easier and it seems like I’m telling you that what you’re doing is just plain wrong. That’s not true. But think about where you really are right now.
You’re exhausted working every minute you can, you’re either not making enough sales or you’re getting too many for the time you have and yet not making enough money. A small tweak simply isn’t going to change the time vs profit problem. Something more fundamental needs to change. You’re probably seeing the evidence of that already without even knowing it.
Your Subconscious Behaviour Is The Key
When I was stuck in the same place back when I still sold the crochet I made, the avoidance happened before reality came calling. I opened up my Facebook app to make a post and instead lost an hour to doom scrolling and the post never happened.
I found other things to do instead of creating new products to show off. I called myself lazy, I called myself unmotivated, but the truth was I knew there was a problem but I didn’t know what to do about it. My avoidance was about not showing off my crochet because if no one saw it, they couldn’t buy it and if they couldn’t buy it I didn’t have to make any orders.
I was deep in the trap. I couldn’t give up and walk away but I didn’t know how to change things either. This isn’t a little tweak problem, it’s something big needs to shift in order to break out and set you free.
There is a way out of this. I’ll be back soon with the next piece of the puzzle. But if you’re still feeling sceptical that a bigger change is needed for your crochet business, I have a task for you.
I’m sure you’ve been trying lots of things to make your crochet business work they way you want it to. Make a list of them, they will show you just how hard you’ve been working. Sit down and write out what tasks you’re avoiding. Are you suddenly not getting through your weekly to do list when it used to feel so easy? Are you spending ages scrolling through social media when you used to be so productive on there?
If you haven’t read it already check out my last blog on why the missing piece of the puzzle for your crochet business isn’t on Google here
If you’re wondering whether this has happened to someone else and how they got out of it, I’ll tell you my own story in the next post – and it involves a husky. Read it here now
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.
