The school summer break can be a chaotic and trying time even for families who aren’t running their own business. But when you are responsible for bringing in your own income and you need to do that at home, it becomes an extra challenge. So how do you go about surviving the summer holidays in your crochet business?
It’s A Double Wammy
The good news is that your not alone in trying to navigate the school summer vacation. Every family in the country is having the same issues. But that also means your crochet business gets hit by a double wammy of problems.
You’re trying to keep things on an even keel and keep business running as usual, but because all your potential customers are also dealing with the summer chaos, that means your sales drop off as well.
People stop buying. For some that’s because they’re too busy entertaining the kids to do much extra shopping, but also because keeping the kids entertained is expensive so they’re cutting back on non essential purchases. Unfortunately, crochet is a non essential. Most crochet products are expensive and classed as luxury items. Even things like dishcloths can be bought more cheaply from a supermarket for families looking to economise.
Even Pattern Designers Suffer
Even crochet pattern sellers are not spared. With so many members of the family involved in caring for the kids, there’s less time for crocheting even for retired grandparents who can be the biggest buyers of patterns. So fewer crochet patterns are selling during the summer. Add to that the summer heat which can lead to people not wanting to be covered by yarn as they crochet, it also changes what kind of patterns people actually buy.
No matter what kind of crochet product you sell, you’re going to see a downturn of sales and productivity in your crochet business during the school summer holidays.
How To Keep Sales Coming In
With all of this going on, what can you actually do to keep sales coming in and make that income you need in order to keep your own kids entertained and the bills paid?
The first thing you do is get more visible. Post more on social media and send out more newsletters. You can schedule all these in advance so that you can create this content when you get the chance. Don’t try to create anything new to sell, concentrate on promoting what you have available right now. If you’re selling what you make, promote what you already have in stock and ready to post. This will take off the pressure of having to find time to crochet orders up.
You want to market the crochet that is easiest for you to sell and make, what takes up the least amount of time. The upside to this is that this usually means lower cost items, which will appeal more right now as families are watching their budgets.
For crochet pattern designers, you want to focus on smaller patterns and those that use thinner yarns. These are either quicker to make for those with more limited time and patterns that use thinner yarn won’t have your customers covered in bulky, heavy yarn in the height of summer.
You can even spell out these benefits of your patterns on your social media and in your newsletters as selling points for your patterns.
Should You Hold A Summer Sale?
Sales should be held sparingly during the year as if you hold them too often, you can train your customers to wait for the sale and never buy at full price.
However, the summer is a great time to hold a sale as it means that you can bring in some income at a time of year when your sales can drop dramatically. You just need to think carefully and be strategic about what you’re going to be offering at a cut price.
If you’re selling the crochet that you make, you need to either make sure that nothing gets sold at a loss and that you make some profit from it, or it’s old stock that you just want rid of and to recoup some of your costs. How much of a price drop you offer is up to you, but even a 10% off sale can attract people to buy when they perhaps wouldn’t have bought before.
A strategy that can work well for both products and patterns is to offer a bundle deal. Offer 2 or more things together at a lower price than you would sell them for separately. You make multiple sales and the customer feels like they got an incredible bargain and a whole lot for their money.
The big thing to remember when running a sale is to get visible and market it like crazy to your audience. Your audience is likely going to have less time to check their social media and their email, so you need to make sure that when they do check their phones, that your posts are right there waiting for them at the top of their feed. So post away multiple times a day in order to be more likely to catch their attention.
Summer Holidays In Your Crochet Business Plan Of Action
So to in short. To survive the school summer holidays in your crochet business you should:
- Get more visible to your audience
- Promote easy to make items
- Market summer appropriate products
- Consider holding a sale
My last piece of advice is to accept the chaos and go with it. You are not alone in struggling to get through this crazy time of year. Know that this will happen every year, so you can plan ahead and make a plan for next summer.
Some small businesses completely shut down for the holidays, they plan their budget to cope with the loss of income and just avoid having to cope with the change in the business landscape. This is of course not an option for everyone, but shutting up shop for maybe a week can give you room to breath and give you valuable time with your family too.
However you choose to cope with the summer slump in business, you need to do the right thing for you. Everyone will have different strategies and there is no right or wrong answer – just the answer that suits you and your crochet business best.
For more tips on how to start and grow your crochet business, check out my Free Resources here. Grab whatever takes your interest to create your ideal crochet business. You can also follow my free Substack here for more crochet building tips.
