Prices are rising, taxes are rising and you need to bring some extra money into the household to try and balance the budget. Since you crochet, it makes sense to sell what you make to balance the household finances.
So what do you need to know about starting a crochet business in 2024?
Although your first thought is to sell what you make, I would also encourage you to explore other options as well, especially if you have a little time or need to make a large amount of money to plug your finances. I’ll talk more about these options a little later on.
First lets start at the basics, and how to start making money the fastest way
The Basics
You can sell your crochet simply by having a Facebook or Instagram business page and a PayPal business account – all are free to set up. They must be business accounts or you risk them being shut down. None of these platforms like you selling on personal accounts.
Facebook or Instagram give you a way to show customers what you have to offer, and PayPal gives you a secure way to take payment. Of course if you are selling locally you can take cash payments too, but always take payment before you start work. I’ve seen too many people crying about how they’ve been ghosted after making an order because a customer has changed their mind and doesn’t want to pay – I have a podcast episode about that here that you may find useful about this.
You can encourage people to come and follow your account by posting what you are making in other Facebook groups or by using hashtags that apply.
If you are selling local, join local groups and start conversations. The same with hashtags. Follow the ones that apply to what you make and start using them on your posts and commenting on other posts using them.
The more people that see you, the more attention you will get and the more people will start to follow your account.
Be sure to engage with them and reply to comments and start conversations.
This is the bare basics you need to start your crochet business in 2024. But given the economic climate we’re in, its prudent to ask the question…
Will my crochet sell in 2024?
The answer to this depends on who you are trying to sell too.
If you are trying to sell to those with the same financial problems as you, then no, your crochet won’t sell.
You have to go and find those who have the money to buy from you. Crochet is a luxury because you can find the same type of products made in a different way for far less than it costs to crochet. You cannot make and sell a crochet hat for £5, yet you can pick up a kids hat made by machine knitting for less than that price at a bargain store.
Don’t even attempt to compete with that price because it will end up costing you money instead of making any.
It is surprisingly easy for your business to end up costing you more than you make if you don’t keep track of your incoming and outgoing money, so it is essential to track your numbers so this doesn’t start happening to you.
You don’t want your business to turn into an expensive hobby – this podcast episode is about just this pitfall
As long as you can show your customers the benefit of spending that extra cash on your crochet, you can sell it.
Whether that be a beautiful matching hat and scarf set to look wonderfully trendy on Instagram, or that exclusive can’t be found in the shops shawl to match that outfit for the wedding party. If you shout the value, quality and exclusivity of what you make to the people who are looking for what you are making, then your crochet will sell.
How Much Can I Make Selling My Crochet?
This depends on how many orders you can take on and how you price them.
There are 2 ways to price your crochet.
- To make a bit of extra cash
- To get paid an hourly wage
If you just want to make a bit of extra cash then you price each item a bit more over what it costs to make. So if you have a scarf that cost you £8 in yarn to make, you might price it at £15 so you make £7 on that order. If you price this way then you are never going to make close to minimum wage, but it will give you a bit of extra cash so that you can afford a little luxury or two.
However if you want to make a proper salary out of your crochet then you need to add your hourly rate into your pricing. That scarf that cost £8 in yarn also took 2 hours to make. If you want to make £10 per hour (you can set your wage at any rate you want) then you need to sell that scarf for a minimum of £28.
You can learn more about how to price your crochet in this free email mini course Or if you’re ready to dive in and go in depth into the pricing conundrum, I have an instant access masterclass here.
The biggest limit on how much you can make from your crochet is the amount of time you have available to make orders. You can only take on those orders each week that you have time to crochet.
I Don’t Have Much Time To Make Orders Though
Totally get you. If you have a full time job and family commitments, there are not a lot of spare hours in the week.
Selling what you make can take a lot of time. There are 2 ways to tackle this.
- Charge more
- Make money from your crochet a different way
You can charge as much as you want for your crochet. As long as you can get across the value and benefits of what you are selling. Treat your crochet as a fashion brand and the sky’s the limit for what you can charge. You do however need professional levels of photography to pull this off though.
If that seems too daunting and too much for you, then we can look at other options for making your crochet pay.
Check out this article on 9 different ways that you can make money from your crochet
Online recurring revenue is the secret to making a full time income from your crochet with only part time hours put in. Recurring revenue is also known as passive income or online income.
None of these strategies will pay off overnight, they take time to start making money. However they give you long term stability and profits, and the best part is there is nothing to do once you make the sale – no crocheting it up, no packaging, no posting, no hoping your parcel doesn’t go missing. Sell while you sleep, sell when you go on vacation with no massive to do list to catch up on once you’re back to work. How amazing does that sound?
If you are looking for a long term strategy to make money from your crochet, then recurring revenue is the key. Want to know more?
Click to watch this video on why you need recurring income and why selling what you make is not going to work on its own long term
You Can Do Both
It isn’t a case of selling what you make or using recurring income. You can do both.
Selling what you make is great for making some extra cash fast (as long as you get your pricing right) – I have a great list of 50 crochet ideas that are quick to make and will sell here, but recurring income is a great longer term strategy.
Using both can give you the quick cash injection now, while making sure that you have security in the longer term. If you need to make money from your crochet over a longer period of a few months, then I highly recommend looking into creating recurring revenue to give yourself a more predictable income that doesn’t need you to be spending every spare moment chained to your hooks.
Selling what you make is a great way to get started, but how much money you can make is limited by how many orders you can make each week. Recurring income isn’t limited by your time, the sky is the limit for how much you can make (think 4 figure months!)
If you are interested in making money from your crochet with recurring income, then check out my membership, The Hookers Academy where I show you your options and how you came get started
There you have it, my advice on starting a crochet business in 2024 and the things you need to think about.
There are 3 other ways that I can help you make money from your crochet
1. sign up to the Crochet Business School newsletter, for weekly tips on growing your crochet business, straight into your inbox.
2. You can also check out the Podcast for biweekly bite sized episodes on issues you should think about to grow your crochet business
3. Come and join our Facebook Crochet Community Group to connect with others on the same journey as you as well as regular checking in and tips from me
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