We’re in an economic worldwide downturn right now, we’re all feeling the squeeze on our finances and trying to stretch the weekly budget to go further. Because of this an awful lot of people are looking for new ways to make a bit of extra cash on the side to help ease their financial situation. And if you crochet then it makes sense to turn your hobby into your side hustle. 

But how would you go about it? How would you set this up? How would you go from having a hobby and just making what you want, when you want into selling your crochet and making what your customers want to buy?

There are 3 main elements needed to turn your crochet into a side hustle:

• Attracting Customers
• Pricing
• Where To Sell

let’s take a look at each of them.

Attracting Customers

Well, first of all, you need to find some customers and you need to do that by letting them know what you are about what is it that you make. 

Now, when you’re thinking about this, think about what you think when you walk into a shop on the high street. How do you choose which shop you’re going to go into? You choose based on what they sell. What you know that they sell the quality of what they sell, if you know is going to suit your style. You choose the brands that you shop at on the high street based on these questions. Whether you’re selling your crochet online, at craft fairs, or you found a space in a shop to rent, you need to do the same thing. Customers need to know what to expect from you.

So are you selling baby related things? Are you selling winter accessories for men? Do you sell Mommy and Me matching sets of things? If you don’t have a theme, then you’re in danger of becoming a jumble sale. Nobody knows what to expect for a jumble sale. They turn up in the hope that they’ll find something good. But if they want to specifically go out and buy a matching hat and scarf set ready for winter, then they’re going to go to the shop that they know sells hats and scarves. They’re not going to go to the jumble sale and hope that they might come across what they’re looking for.

At this point you might be thinking “but I just want to sell a few things that I’ve crocheted. I don’t want to be a shop.” 

The thing is if you want to make sales and you want to make them regularly in order to bring in that extra cash that you need. You do have to think about this because you are going to have far more success in selling anything if everything you sell fit into a theme. 

A lot of customers who come across you on social media or by word of mouth, they might not be ready to buy what you’re selling there and then. They may love the look and quality and the feel of what you’re making. They’re just not quite ready to buy yet. So they need to keep you in mind. They need to remember you so that you know who to come back to. But if you’re selling all kinds of things and all that pops up on their Facebook page, are baby booties, wall hangings and coasters, they’re not going to remember that they wanted to buy a hat and scarf set from you. Because that’s not what you’re showing them anymore, so they’re going to think oh, maybe you’re somebody else I saw that hadn’t scarf set. 

If you want to start making money from your crochet side hustle on a regular basis, you do have to start thinking a bit more business minded. You can’t just make what you want to make. You need to make what your customers want to buy. So this is really the first thing that you want to think about. 

What To Charge?

The next thing you want to think about is what you’re going to charge for your fabulous crochet creations. 

There are lots of different price points when it comes to crochet. You get the lower price range, usually from those are who sell just because they want to be able to buy the yarn for their next project. 

You get the middle end, which are usually those who want to just make a little bit of cash on the side. So they just want their crochet to be a side hustle, they’re not looking to make a living purely from their crochet. They just want to be able to make back the costs of their yarn and the accessories then make a bit extra on top to either boost your finances or save up for that special something. 

Then you get the high price end, and those that charge on the high end are from people who are making a living out of their crochet and are making a salary to live on. 

There are different price points for different people. And the truth is there’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to setting a price for your crochet. You need to choose the range that’s right for you. 

But that doesn’t mean that you need to let others influence your pricing. Price what you need to and then sell to customers based on that price point. And that might sound a bit easier than it is. But a lot of pricing comes down to mindset. It’s how you view things and fears around pricing are actually your own personal fears. They’re not actually related to your customers at all. It’s all about you. It’s not about who will buy from you. So make sure that you choosing a price point that your customers are happy with and not yourself and that doesn’t mean price low. That usually means that you can price higher than you think.

If you want to learn how to price your crochet so you make the profit you want, sign up to my FREE 5 day email mini course here

Where Can You Sell Your Crochet?

If you’re selling your crochet as a side hustle, then there are two main places that I recommend you sell your crochet. You can choose one option, or use both options at the same time. It depends how determined and how much time you have available.

Social Media

The free option is to sell on social media. Facebook and Instagram are the most successful platforms to sell crochet. Choose 1 platform, as it takes time to build an audience, it takes time to figure out what posting strategy works for you.

No social media platform has a proper search engine. You can’t type in the search bar “yellow clutch bag” and have your products appear in the results.

Instead you have to go and find your customers and persuade them to follow your page.

This takes time and effort, and will not bring you sales overnight.

Etsy

The second option I recommend is Etsy. Etsy is not free, but it is searchable and will allow your products to appear in Google search results too.

You have a much higher chance of making sales more quickly, as long as you put time and effort into learning how to use keywords in your product titles and tags.

On Etsy customers have the chance to find you, unlike social media where you have to go and find all of your customers.

If you’re short on time, Etsy is the option I recommend. There are fees to pay, but apart from a small listing fee, all fees are paid after you make a sale – You can find out more about Etsy and what the costs and benefits are to using it here

Attracting customers, pricing, and where to sell are the 3 main elements to turning your crochet into a side hustle. Focus on these, and anything else can be thought about later.

There are 3 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 Community Group to connect with others on the same journey as you as well as regular checking in and tips from me