Starting up your Craft business - Feel the Fear (and do it Anyway)
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We all have a fear of the unknown and we have all heard someone say “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. This is all well and good (and it’s a maxim that I try to guide myself by - even though I would rather stick rusty forks in my eyes than do some public speaking), but what I fear most is not fear in the general sense, but specifically the fear of wondering what could have been. Let me explain…
Just before I started up U-Handbag 2 years ago I was in a bad place financially and mentally. I wasn’t able to contribute fairly to our pot, I felt over-educated (I’ve taken all sorts of cool courses, but none of them particularly relate to each other) and I was under stimulated. I was entering my 30’s having not gotten a foothold in a career I could grow with, but I just didn’t know what to do with myself! You could say that I was having a 30’s life crisis. I was pretty down on myself to say the least. As you may already know I started selling handmade items in a craft market to supplement my income because craft was the only thing that took my mind off my worries. As soon as I switched on the light in my messy work room I felt happy and excited. The buzz I got from selling an item I had made was (and still is) incredible to me. I had never experienced joy to this intensity in any other work I had ever done and these feelings came to be instrumental in leading me to where I am now.
The mini success I experienced in the craft market led to the birth of U-Handbag. On paper it looks like that was a decision based on business opportunity (of course that had a big part to play), BUT it wasn’t as simple as that. At the time is was a huge decision to make, because I had lost a lot of confidence in myself - it felt like universe was a stake! What if I mess up, what if I get bored, what if people don’t like my products, what if people get bored of making bags, is bag making bits too specialist, how will I advertise, what about competition, how long will it take to break even…ahhhhhh!!! In the end though, the one question that freaked me out the most was ‘what if you don’t try it and see how far you can take it?’ I’ll spend my later years wondering why the hell had I turned my back on work that actually made me feel joyful! I’m so glad that I followed my heart because now I am a far more confident person and the passion I had for craft and what I do has not subsided one bit in the last 2 years, if anything it’s grown.
So the point of this preamble is: I really understand how fearful you may be of taking the plunge in starting your craft business or taking your business to the next stage. Do your research, ask for help, start small, test the waters, carry on with the day job for the time being, do this as a hobby, or whatever, BUT if you love it do it without apology and do it with passion. Listen to your heart as well as your head, that’s what it’s there for. You’ll thank yourself so much in time to come.
Fight (or work with) the fears which hold you back and give yourself a chance to fly… 
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Lisa is a generally content (who said generally - don't get her started!) 30 something living in London, who amongst other things sells everything you might need to make unique and lovely handmade handbags at home from her online store 
Lisa, I do love your Craft Boom posts - they are so very encouraging, inspiring and generous of spirit.
I had no idea that you’ve only been running U-handbag for two years - it is amazing that in such a short time you have created something that, in the crafting world, seems to have become something of an institution.
I love the picture that goes with this post. x
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I second Florence’s amazement. Two years? Wow. That is incredible. Even without all of the great articles, you are an inspiration in and of yourself.
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Thank you. I just found this blog yesterday and added it to my blog role - so glad I did. Your message today really hit home on a number of levels. Time to work on my confidence and devise a plan.
Colleen’s last blog post..a milestone of sorts
I understand that you have to dive in to what makes you feel good. But how much planning really goes into making you successful? How much should you concentrate on devising plans vs…making things?
I just found your blog and I am in love with it! Thanks for your great posts!
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Thank you so much for this post. I have started a mini crochet business (mostly friends and family/word of mouth so far) but I have a passion for what I do. I have been offered incredible opportunities to sell my creations and I have not jumped on them yet. It is my fear holding me back. But as you said, my greatest fear is that I won’t push forward and see what I can do.
I am going to start today thanks to your inspiration. It is so neat to find a community of people who feel exactly how I do! Thanks again!
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Great blog! You came highly recommended and I’m glad I listened. I just started my own craft business this year and this will be a great resource. Thank you!
This post must have been inspired! I’ve been asking myself those same questions very recently. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. Thanks so much for your blog!
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Lisa,
THank you for this thoughtful post. I have been contemplating starting a craft business and I have been saying the same thing to myself. What if I don’t try can I really live with that decision. THanks for the inspiration. I am so glad to have found you web site. THanks
You must be mad! I’d take public speaking over rusty fork in the eye any day!
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Thank you for the work you put into these posts, Lisa.
Like you I feel over-educated with nothing that sensibly fits together. Every possibility you consider - someone suggests that perhaps you should study something else! Self-confidence spirals lower. My refuge is my sewing machine. I want to sell what I make and I want to make a living from it. That is a challenge and the ‘fear’ is huge at the moment even though I recognise it’s getting in the way. Your posts give me the energy to keep trying a little longer and give myself a bit more of a chance.
Have you been reading my mind? I swear you wrote that post just for me. Thank you SO much. I’ve been working on ideas for crafts to produce for sale and have asked those same questions. I just need to *start* - thank you for that!
Thank you for sharing your own experience, really ! It’s nice sometimes to get to see what’s actually happening backstage !
I always find your CraftBoom posts not only useful, but encouraging and inspirational.
I’ve been planning a virtual craft business (though “business” seems such a big word) in my head for months (ok, years) now, but still find myself in the “too overwhelmed to start” phase.
For what it’s worth, you definitely contribute to putting me on the path to making it real !
Hugs !
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Lisa,
Thanks for this post, it is inspiring to see a success story.
I’d say that what’s holding me back is that I am not mobile and I can’t make myself visible without spending lots ( galleries, fairs, travel etc…). I can’t travel far on public transport, and be back when school finishes at 3:15 and I have to be home then. I also do not have a room dedicated to “making things”, People may love what I make, but they don’t want to pay for it, or only if the price comes to £2 for an hour’s work! These are the things that hold me back, it is not fear. How did you get over those?
It is all the way…you are a craft hero.
Thank you Lisa for this encouragement. I am in a similar position as you were, only
I’m 48. I’ve spent the last 24 years raising our family. Now I’m ready to take myself out around the block to see what I can do.
I love your work; it’s inspirational.
Lisa, thanks for articulating so clearly the reasons why I do what I do.
Its something, I think, that you cannot explain to others who don’t (as my hubby would say) ‘make stuff’.
The joy I feel getting up in the mornings when I know I don’t have to go to work, but can have the day sorting orders, creating artwork, sewing or just moving the mess around in the work room; knowing I don’t HAVE to get up, but WANT to!
You’re a star!
Hi Lisa, thank you so much for your kind advice. i’m a 29 years old argentinian living in New Zealand, i start making handbags no even knowing how to sew (back then…) because i was sick of my dayjob (by sick, i meant Sick i was o stress leaves every 3 o 4 month) at that point i had a lot o different courses done but nothing that could be MY CAREER… so kinda a 27’s crisis. I’m 29 now living in a beautiful country and I decide that i want to go for it… this particular post GIVE ME THE LAST PUSH…
tHAKS SO MUCH
pd: none of does courses that i took seems now so unrelated is almost like they are exactly the variety of information that i need to put my project together, and off course people like you sharing they knowledge and kindness.
Thank you for a very personal insight. It’s funny, when people such as yourself are successful, you don’t think that they went through the fear stage like we do. It’s lovely to know that you overcame that and are doing well. You’re a hero to us all I think.
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Your blog is great, thanks for all your tips and advices.
I feel the same when I get in my also messy (just a bit) work room:)!!!