4 Things you can do right now before starting your own Sewn Product Business
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Intro:
Hi welcome to the Cut, Sew, Grow Podcast!
A place to get all the best tips and advice for sewing your own products and selling them online.
Whether you're just getting started or want to boost the productivity and growth of your current sewn product business, you're in the right place!
I'm Shannon Sorensen, Founder of Fairface Washcloths, my own successful cut and sewn product,
and I'm also the creator of our new Course Series Cut, Sew, Grow, where I share everything I've learned over the last 12-1/2 years to help you sew and sell your own products successfully too.
Be sure to follow us on IG @cutsewgrow and Spotify so you never miss an episode! Thanks for listening!
Show Notes:
Hello and welcome to the very first episode of the Cut, Sew, Grow Podcast!
We're going to cover a lot of topics in this series all around creating your own sewn products and selling them online.
Remember,
Our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses will be covering the topics we talk about here in much more detail, so
AND
2. Follow our new @cutsewgrow Instagram account for FREE tips and advice on sewing and selling your own products online (& to get updates about our courses will launch!)
Our Cut, Sew, Courses
Are full of incredible information. I basically share everything I've learned and mastered over the last 12-1/2 years, making and selling my own specialty washcloth line, Fairface Washcloths.
I'm sharing pretty much everything I wish I had known when I was starting my own sewn product business and I'm really excited to be able to share all of this with you.
The Overwhelm of Starting a New Sewn Product Business
Since you're here, I'm guessing you're either currently selling your own sewn products or you would like to.
I remember what it was like trying to figure everything out when I was first getting started with my Etsy shop and products. It felt more than a little overwhelming.
I remember always feeling a sense of dread, am I doing this right? Over and over and over with just about everything. It was a sharp learning curve with so many things.
- Am I choosing the right business name?
- The right product name?
- Am I getting the right business licenses?
- Am I doing my accounting right? What if I get audited?
- How does this website work?
- What's the right URL for my website?
- Am I choosing the right keywords?
- How do I find fabric and materials for my products?
- How do I get wholesale pricing?
- What about product labels? Will I get fined for putting the wrong information on them?
- How should I ship? Envelopes? Boxes? How do I get them at the best prices?
- How do I price my products?
- How do I package my products?
- How do I market my products so people even know I exist?
The funny thing about all of those fears, is they were all really unfounded. My husband had to talk me down plenty of times.
So let me be, possibly the first person to tell you, even if you make a mistake or two, you're doing great. There's just a big learning curve so take a breath and just keep doing your best to figure it all out.
And that's where our courses can be incredibly helpful, to let you know that your fears are normal, and help guide you in the right direction, so you can let go of some of that dread.
In today's episode I'm going to share:
4 Things to do Now before you Start your Sewn Product Business
and whether you're just getting started or you're already selling, these 4 things can help you too, just like they helped me.
1. Keep records like you're already a big successful company
This great advice actually came many years ago, from a friend who was starting her own business and she had heard it from her friend who was running her own successful business.
She said, "Set up your business right from the beginning like you are much bigger and more successful than you are right now."
Basically, write down everything you do, like you would be training a new employee. Keeping records from the very beginning will help you down the line. It will be much more time consuming to re-create later, than to just do it now, as you go.
For example, you may not even imagine hiring an extra seamstress to help you with sewing, or hiring a part-time person to help with shipping, but if you increase production and scale your business like I know you can, you may need those extra people even if you can't see it now. And you'll be glad you recorded everything you did, in detail.
2. Start building your audience early (thru blogging, social media, podcasting, etc.)
I actually started a blog and had readers before I ever started selling my sewn products. I started it initially just a creative outlet, and I didn't know it would turn out to be a valuable tool. It connected me with a community of people and gave me a good foundation to launch products.
3. Set up all your Admin (things like opening a business bank account, getting the right business licensing, setting up your accounting, and file storage, etc.)
You can modify some of these things as you go, which will probably be the case as you find what works for you as you start to run your business, but getting all of this set up before you start is the best way to start.
4. Test some of your products to see what sells
I didn't start by selling washcloths, though that did come soon enough. I started sewing and selling decorative pillow covers and baby blankets and accessories on Etsy.
By starting with a few different types of sewn products, I could see what I enjoyed making and what other people were interested in. Doing this may help you find the right fit a little easier.
Soon enough, my washcloths were my main seller in my Etsy shop and those pillow covers with the zippers that took too much time? Not so much. In the end, that wasn't something I really enjoyed making, so once I sold off my inventory I just focused on the washcloths...and the rest is history.
I hope these tips help you as you're starting out and remember we will deep dive into all sorts of useful topics in our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses, so be sure to gett on our Cut Sew Grow Course no obligation waiting list so you don't miss our launch!
+ follow us on our new Instagram account @CutSewGrow for FREE sewing, sewing, scaling and small business advice!
Our Cut, Sew, Grow! Courses will deep dive on topics like
- Choosing which sewn products to bring to market
- How to source materials
- Different methods and ways to cut and sew and scale your sewn products
- Hiring and managing contract help and materials
- Managing inventory
- Testing your products in the market
- Launching new products
- Pricing your products
- Labeling your products
- Product packaging
- Product photography
- Different ways to market your products
- How to ship your products
- The ins and outs of selling on different online platforms
- Selling your products at local in-person venues
- Wholesaling your products
- What to do as you grow
As you can see, there are tons of different topics that are really valuable for you as a business owner and as someone who is interested in sewing and selling your products online.
All of these topics and more are covered in our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses, so stay tuned and follow us for more information!
Thanks so much for listening! I'll see you again soon!
Thanks so much for listening! I hope the tips I've shared will help you as you move forward sewing and selling your own products.
Be sure to:
1. Get on our no obligation waiting list for our new Cut, Sew, Grow course launch, on FairfaceWashcloths.com/courses
2. Follow us on Instagram @CutSewGrow
I'd love to hear from you and find out who you are, and more about what products you make and how I can help! DM me on Instagram or you can email me through our website, FairfaceWashcloths.com/contact-us
I look forward to hearing from you and I'll see you at our next episode!
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