You might be making one of these four mistakes in your handmade business, and they could hold you back from having the business of your dreams. 

Don’t worry, I made these mistakes too, so you’re not alone and when mistakes happen, we can actually learn from them and get better, right? 

So stay tuned for the four most common mistakes I see my fellow creatives make in their business, so you can avoid it!

Mistake Number One

Mistake Number one: You probably don’t want to hear this, is spending all your money on supplies, inventory, and equipment and having no budget left for marketing. 

Of course your products are the stars of the show, but without a proper marketing strategy, they’re as good as invisible. 

Nobody will know they even exist. 

It doesn’t matter how many products are on your shelves because that’s where they’ll stay until you invest in marketing and getting the word out there that you have something for sale. 

Even if your products really are the best on the market, if another company with similar products has invested in marketing, all your potential customers go to them instead.

That’s why making sure you’re seen is crucial for the success of your sales, and once you start budgeting for marketing, you’ll start to see the sales rolling in.

There’s a reason why so many successful business owners preach that, “It’s not the best product that wins. It’s the best marketed product that wins.”

And did you know that you could even make sales without having any products made? 

I talk more about how to do this in my A Sale A Day Business System program. 

If you’re interested in learning more about it, click here to go watch a free workshop so go check that out after you read this article. 

Mistake Number Two

Mistake Number Two is thinking of the product first instead of thinking of the audience first. 

It’s tempting to do this—I started out this way too, as most creatives do. 

But putting the product ahead of the audience will always result in a constant struggle between trying to find the right people to fit what you make, rather than tailoring your products to the right people, the target audience that you want to sell to. 

It’s like that cliched saying goes, “you don’t tailor the person to fit the dress; you tailor the dress to fit the person.” 

First identify who your target audience is, what their pain points and needs are, and then create a product for them based on that.

This will make it so much easier to sell your products.

Mistake Number Three

Mistake Number Three is thinking that if you make a wide variety of products so that there’s something for everyone, you’ll make more sales overall. 

I’ve noticed that people pleasers like me tend to fall into that trap. 

We want to help everybody! 

So we have what I call garage sale shops. 

A little bit of somethin’ somethin’ for everybody. 

But that’s actually not helpful at all, and there is research to back this up. 

According to the Harvard Business Review, if you offer too many choices, “consumers are less likely to buy anything at all, and if they do buy, they are less satisfied with their selections.” 

This is why that special little word “niche” has been a game changer for many businesses.

Data is showing that the more narrowed down, niched, and focused you are on a certain demographic and the products you provide for that demographic, the quicker you grow and the more products you sell. 

In case you need a bit more convincing, there was an interesting study done in the year 2000 that demonstrates how an excess of choices leads to “choice paralysis,” resulting in a significant drop in sales. 

Psychologists tested to see how people would react to two different food displays at a market. 

One display presented 24 different gourmet jams, while the other only had 6 jams.

When the time to make a purchase came, they found that the people who were at the display of 24 jams were only one-tenth as likely to buy a jam as the people who were at the smaller display of 6 jams. 

So moral of the story? Less is more!

Mistake Number Four

Mistake Number Four is not having the right expectations. 

This trap is so easy to fall into, especially since social media has conditioned us to believe that success is within our reach in a matter of days or weeks. 

But the truth is, success takes time to achieve. 

We live in a culture where we crave and expect instant gratification and become discouraged when we don’t get it. 

Before even starting to build a business, make sure you understand that building one doesn’t happen in a few days, or weeks, or even months. 

For most people, it takes a long time, over the span of years. 

So please, really try this—try recalibrating your mindset to really understand just how long it can take. 

Once you do that, ask yourself if you’re really up for being in it for the long haul. 

Regardless of the answer, doing this will keep your expectations in check and makes you less likely to give up on your business before you’ve even had a chance to succeed at it. 

Now I know a lot of people get discouraged knowing that it takes so long, but what I’ve found really helps is celebrating all your wins, no matter how small, and not just when you make sales. 

That trains your brain to feel good about the process, which is the key to success. 

Enjoy the journey.

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Let me know in the comments below if you’ve ever made any of these mistakes. 

If you know someone who could benefit from this article, be sure to share it so we can give them a helping hand. 

And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more great handmade business tips and tricks!