I’ve been painting for the last few months, having not really picked up a paint brush for decades prior to this. It’s been enormous fun, listening to an audio book whilst playing around with colour in my sketch pad. In fact, it has given me a tentative small business idea going forward.
I know… you are on the edge of your chair, desperate to find out what it is…well, I shall tell you!
Drum roll, please!
I am thinking about selling my art in the form of greeting cards, stickers, postcards and art prints. It is something I can do from home, it may (or may not) bring in a little income for our family. And I have already been asked about whether I have ever thought about turning my art into greeting cards. So, maybe, perhaps there is a market for them…?
Greeting Card Making Business
To this end, I have been looking into the possibility of getting a government-backed small business loan. I keep oscillating between getting one and therefore having enough start up money to buy all the things I need to make the goods and send them off, and not getting one and outsourcing the printing to a print on demand shop.
I am no business woman, so the idea of borrowing money scares me. However, I also have alternating, contrasting thoughts regarding only living once, and if I don’t try I might regret it.
As you can see, this really is a very tentative small business idea!
Market Research for my Small Business Idea
I have been doing a bit of market research and I asked the advice of a business friend of mine. She owns her own (very successful) company. Her graphic designer wrote me out lots of hints and tips for starting my own Etsy shop and selling from my own website. Her consistent piece of advice was to use social media, particularly Instagram and YouTube.
I have also been watching lots of YouTube videos about people who have had similar small business ideas. There are many people who have made some money on Etsy selling cards and stickers. But for every one person who has, there are many people who haven’t.
Digital products seem to be popular but I don’t think I have the skill for those…although I have six weeks holiday coming up. I guess I could teach myself.
Could You Help Me?
I wonder if you, my readers here on angelicscalliwags, could help me? Although I’m not sure whether I will go down the small business loan route, if I do I have to show that I have done market research. I’d be really grateful if you would answer some or all of the questions below. This will give me an idea of whether there is a market for what I want to sell. Please know, I’m not asking for assurance you will actually buy. I won’t hold you to your answers!! I’d just like to know your preliminary thoughts.
Thank you in advance! ❤️. You’re all amazing!
As a reminder, here are the designs I have painted already:
I am able to digitally separate out elements and create stickers or sticker sheets. For example, I can separate the bird, the whale, the starfish and the seahorse and create stickers of each individually. I have added a simple sticker sheet I made up just now on Canva just using the birds from the giraffe picture to give you an idea:
Questions
- Do you think designs such as mine would sell? (Be honest, I’m fairly broad shouldered!)
- Do you think there is a market for these types of products (cards, stickers etc)?
- Do you ever use Etsy to buy greeting cards or stickers? Or sell? If you have experience, I’d love to pick your brains!
- Would you ever use personalised stickers and cards (ie with a child’s name)?
- How much would you be willing to pay for an A6 card, an A5 card and an A6 sticker sheet and an A5 sticker sheet?
- Would you be interested in reading about or watching/following the process of starting up a small business from home on YouTube or my website? A sort of all access pass into the design process, the making, the finances etc?
Completely Out of my Comfort Zone
On Tuesday, I visited a local craft shop in our village which sells all sorts of cards, prints, ornaments etc. My friend (the successful business woman) had been in and inquired on my behalf whether they were looking for suppliers. They said they were and for me to come in with my designs, which I did on Tuesday.
The lady I saw was very positive and asked me to come back today (Thursday) to discuss possibilities. I was a little flabbergasted actually! I am not getting too excited because it may still fall through, but just going was huge for me! And the fact they liked my designs suggests I might not be barking up the wrong tree, so to speak.
I’m going back up this afternoon. I’m not sure if I’m more scared they’ll say they want to work with me or that they’ll turn me down! It’s all very outside my comfort zone – as in waaaaay waaaay outside.
Anyway, I look forward to your answers 😊
Do you think designs such as mine would sell? (Be honest, I’m fairly broad shouldered!)
Yes, I do, especially if they were aimed at a kids’ market
Do you think there is a market for these types of products (cards, stickers etc)?
Yes because everyone sends cards – stickers I don’t know as I wouldn’t really buy those but perhaps other readers would?
Do you ever use Etsy to buy greeting cards or stickers? Or sell? If you have experience, I’d love to pick your brains!
I buy locally handmade cards in our small town but if I didn’t have that option I would look online. I prefer handmade unusual cards
Would you ever use personalised stickers and cards (ie with a child’s name)?
Again, yes definitely for cards but probably not for stickers but that is mainly because I wouldn’t think to buy stickers – your bird ones are cute though!
How much would you be willing to pay for an A6 card, an A5 card and an A6 sticker sheet and an A5 sticker sheet?
The cards I buy are about $4 although I’m not sure what size they are. I think maybe they are between A5 and A6!
Would you be interested in reading about or watching/following the process of starting up a small business from home on YouTube or my website? A sort of all access pass into the design process, the making, the finances etc?
I’d love to see how it goes and follow along on your journey! I’m not artistic at all but would like to one day start a business from home selling my crochet animals.
Good luck with the village shop!
Thank you SO much for your considered response, Katie, I appreciate it so very much ❤️
I think your designs are super cute and original and would sell well– if I had to guess. I know my sister has done something similar with her artwork but she did farm it out to another company rather than printing/ making her own. I can’t remember what company she used but I do remember my mom buying a phone case with my sister’s artwork on it. Since I tend to be creative myself I rarely buy anything off Etsy (in fact I think I have only ever bought a set of rings that Alec asked for one year for Christmas and that’s it), but I do think there is a pretty good market for cards/ stickers/ and stationary things. I know from trying to sell my own handmade cards that some people have wildly low expectations for handmade cards but typically I find handmade cards are usually priced between $5-10 per card depending on how much work goes into creating them.
Thank you Joanne, that is super helpful ❤️
That’s very exciting, Claire!!! Let us know how the meeting goes!
I think your designs are lovely and would sell! I’d buy them! The one thing I would say is that we are in an economically rubbish time at the moment and you need to take that into account 😊
Thank you, Sheryl! I’ve just written a post re how the meeting went. And yes, I completely agree, the market is not what it was and I will definitely be taking that into account. ❤️
Hi, I have bought cards and stickers on Etsy. I usually use Carrot Top Paper Shop. I think there is a good market for original work these days. They make unique gifts. People seem to be willing to pay for something a little more personal, and also to support small businesses.
Thank you so much for responding Carissa ❤️
This looks like a fun project!
If you get the printing figured out, you might consider also putting the designs on Kickstarter. It’s a great way for a small business to spread the news and read customers with a launch that can pay for many of your production costs — and then each sale on Etsy is like a extra bonus.
Examples: https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/advanced?term=greeting+cards
The best place I know to learn about Kickstarter is a free workshop targeted at fiction authors. The principles are the same for other products, you just enter a different category.
https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/p/kickstarter
And for shipping the orders, I really like PirateShip’s discount rates: https://www.pirateship.com
I look forward to following your progress!
Thank you Denise, that’s really helpful! I shall check out all the links you share – thank you for going to so much trouble! ❤️