Today, handmade products are positioned on the market as a unique and high-quality product, which attracts buyers. In 2017, an increase in demand for handmade goods was recorded. According to experts, among the best-selling handmade products, knitted items occupy second place. Every year, the fashion for knitwear is strengthened on all fronts: in clothes, accessories and even home decor. Therefore, the question arises - is it possible to earn on knitting and how profitable can such a business be?
As in any type of business, the success of this area depends on the correct assessment of market demand, quality of work and competent promotion. Another important component of the knitting business is the uniqueness of the offer. Knitted handmade has been popular for more than a year, during which time the niche managed to fill with a variety of products. The leaders among knitwear are: sweaters, hats, scarves and snoods, socks and mittens, bags, rugs and bedspreads. Knitting provides an unlimited number of options for creativity. You can knit crochet, knitting and just hands; You can use different materials, and, of course, specialize in knitting various products. Before you plan a business, it’s better to narrow your niche and try not to knit “everything”. For example, concentrate on products for decor, or children's things, or fashion accessories, or women's clothing. It is from this choice that your positioning and the formation of the target audience depend.
Question No. 1. How to choose a niche in the knitting business?
What to knit? How to assess the level of demand for a particular product? Choosing your knitting niche, you can go one of the ways: knit products that are in demand in the market; or enter the market with a unique offer. The first option seems more reliable because it takes into account consumer demand. But in this case, you will face fierce competition and the threat to go unnoticed among an abundance of offers. A unique offer, on the contrary, will allow you to stand out and occupy a free niche. But the difficulty lies in the fact that it is not always possible to accurately assess the demand for such products.We offer you 50 ideas for knitting business. All types of products are sold on the Etsy international trading platform and find their buyer. The list consists of both classic products (clothes, rugs), and creative things that are not yet in abundance on the market. For convenience, all ideas are grouped into 6 categories.
1. Clothing: sweaters, dresses, swimwear, vests, cardigans, pancho, cropped tops.
2. Accessories: hats, headbands, mittens, scarves and snoods, shawls, socks, slippers, bags and backpacks, wallets, bow ties.
3. Household items : blankets and rugs, carpets, “clothes” for mugs and teapots, chair covers (on a seat or legs), potholders, table napkins, pouffes, pillowcases, curly pillows, curtains, “mermaid tail” plaid, storage baskets, organizers, covers for doorknobs, flowerpots, hammocks.
4. Decor: paintings, panels, garlands, lamps, dream catchers, mandalas, "stuffed" animals, knitted figures.
5. Baby products: booties, panties for diapers, doll toys, rattles, mobiles for cots, toys, fingertips.
6. Miscellaneous: clothing for dogs and cats, pet beds, sleepbands, eyewear covers.
This selection clearly demonstrates how diverse a knitting business can be.
When choosing a niche should assess the demand for products. If you decide to focus on the production of only covers for teapots or bookmarks, it is likely to run into difficulties in implementation. You must admit that these products are specific enough to expect high sales. The most rational way is to expand the niche where high-demand products and some unique offer will be presented that can set you apart in the market and attract an audience. For example, if you designate a niche as “knitted home decor”, you can sell storage baskets, flowerpots, and chair covers. Or you can narrow the niche to "knitted textiles" - and sell blankets, pillowcases and curly pillows. The category “knitted accessories” can combine cases for glasses, bookmarks, wallets, etc.
To determine a niche, you can study the offers on the market. Browse the online stores of needlewomen selling knitwear. There are some of the most popular sites where handmade products are sold. This is Etsy, “Fair Masters” and Instagram. Look at successful profiles, analyze their work (assortment, offer, marketing, pricing, etc.). There you can draw inspiration and ideas on how to keep your account in the social. networks.
Question number 2. How much can you earn on knitting?
One of the main issues in the knitting business - is it possible to make money on it? It is difficult to name a specific amount, since it is formed under the influence of many factors: occupied niche, pricing policy, advertising efficiency, production volume, etc.
Let's look at some inspiring examples.
US craftswoman Heidi May of Thevelvetacorn sells mostly knitted hats. Her store gained popularity thanks to children's snoops with ears of different animals. For the first 4 years of operation, the store’s earnings amounted to more than 300 thousand dollars.
But the needlewoman from Turkey, known by the nickname dudush, sells comfortable knitted bags and laptop cases. The number of sales per year is about 160 orders, which provides an annual revenue of about $ 5, 000.
The Atlanta needlewoman Yoko Gibran sold over 3, 000 hand-knitted scarves in a few years. Now she earns about 140 thousand dollars a year.
Among successful examples of knitting business there are Russian names. Daria Nikulina came up with knitted developmental toys. The source of her profit - the sale of workshops on knitting such toys. According to the founder of the knitting "information business", this business brings a stable income, which is enough to provide for the family.
Another Russian needlewoman is Svetlana Turova. All over Russia, her work was glorified by rainbow-colored knitted cats. In the first year, net profit amounted to only 50 thousand rubles. But over the period of its existence, the project managed to grow significantly. Today, the needlewoman is engaged in the construction of a workshop, expanding the business and assortment. In the project’s online store you can buy a variety of knitted products: interior pillows, toys, socks, sweaters, hats and snacks, amulets, etc.
In general, most knitters agree that the average monthly income from knitting is 30-40 thousand rubles.
All successful masters say that in order to earn your hobby, you need to treat it like a business. You need to create a brand that should be promoted through social networks. It is necessary to establish the process of delivery of goods. You need to come up with your own style, a unique offer in order to stand out in the market. And, like in any startup, you need to be prepared to work a lot and have inspiration.
Question number 3. Where can I learn knitting or improve skills?
When planning a knitting business, you already need to have at least basic knitting skills. However, even an experienced needlewoman may be faced with the need for training. For example, if you want to learn how to work on knitting machines or a specific knitting technique. Today, you can easily find training courses for knitters, including online courses. The cost depends on the program, the number of academic hours and the form of classes (group / individual). On average, the cost of a basic knitting course will cost 6 thousand rubles, and an individual machine knitting training (30 ac.h.) will cost about 15-20 thousand rubles. You can also take training using video courses - the approximate cost of a full set of video lectures is 3 thousand rubles.
Question No. 4. How to open a knitting business?
To open a knitting business from scratch, you must go through the following steps:
To study market supply and demand, analyze competitors
Identify the niche in which you will work
Purchase the necessary equipment and materials
Take training if required
To procure several products - initial assortment
Register IP
Create online accounts of your workshop: Etsy, “Fair of Masters”, Instagram, VKontakte - you can use several platforms at once to promote your products
Develop a marketing strategy and launch active account promotion.
This is a quick guide to starting a knitting business. Each of the items will be discussed in detail below.
Question number 5. How much money do you need to open a knitting business?
This is one of the most popular questions. And the answer to it may be different - someone plans to engage in knitting at home, and someone wants to open a full-fledged business with the employment of several knitters. In this example, a home business with minimal investment will be considered.
The main expense item is the purchase of equipment and supplies. The list of equipment depends on the technique of knitting. You can do with sets of knitting needles, hooks, etc. But if you are planning large volumes of production, you need to purchase a knitting machine. The average cost of a knitting machine varies between 20-40 thousand rubles (there are models more expensive than 100 thousand rubles that are used in production). Professional sets of knitting needles will cost 6-8 thousand rubles. Yarn and accessories for the first products will cost about 4 thousand rubles. The state duty for registration of individual entrepreneurs is 800 rubles. Developing your own logo and creating branded tags for products will cost, on average, 6 thousand rubles. The cost of advertising in the social. networks will be about 7 thousand rubles (do not save on advertising, the success of your business depends on its effectiveness).
Thus, the total cost of opening a knitting business will be from 26 thousand rubles to 70 thousand rubles.
Question No. 6. Where to buy materials?
Yarn for knitting can be purchased at needlework stores or in the online store, which will save money. In online stores, product prices are usually 10-15% lower. To save extra, you can buy yarn during discounts. Usually the demand for yarn is reduced in the summer.
The lowest prices for yarn from the manufacturer. Factories sell their products with a minimal margin. But at the same time, you can only buy a large batch, and for the purchase, you may need organization documents to complete the contract. It is also worth considering transportation costs - when delivering large quantities of goods, the cost of transportation can be significant.
Another option to save on materials is a joint purchase of yarn. In this case, several people gather, one order is issued at the minimum cost, and transportation costs are divided into all. At the same time, it is more profitable to purchase yarn in packages.
But do not rush to save on yarn due to its quality. For example, on Chinese sites you can buy budget options for yarn, but the quality itself suffers from this. To buy yarn for knitting is only from trusted suppliers. To decide on suppliers, read reviews, ask a question on a forum of knitters, what yarn they will advise. Get a skein of yarn from different manufacturers. For testing yarn, impose samples of 10 * 10 cm from different varieties. Choose the most suitable.
Question No. 7. How to calculate the cost and set the price of knitwear?
To calculate the cost of a knitted product and set an objective price for it, you can use several methods that simplify the calculations. The average cost of a knitted product is 400-500 rubles, and its selling price is 2000-2500 rubles.
When calculating the cost, firstly, a table with knitting “complication” coefficients will come in handy. Secondly, you can use a knitwear cost calculator that many specialized resources offer. Thirdly, the cost of a knitted product can be set based on the following parameters:
- the cost of yarn;
- the average market price of identical products;
- aggregate costs: (yarn + delivery) * coefficient. difficulties;
- time spent on work.
When determining the cost, the color of the yarn is also taken into account - it is more difficult to work with dark yarn, because your eyes get tired faster.
Another option proposed by needlewomen is expressed in the formula:
(Price of 1 skein of yarn) * (Consumption of yarn per size in skeins) + (Yard per 100gr) * (Consumption of yarn per size in skeins) * (price of knitting 1 meter of yarn) + (Cost of accessories) * 2 + (Directions + other expenses) = (Cost of a knitted product) + Delivery / shipping
But there is no single, generally accepted formula for calculating the cost of a knitted product. Each master has the right to independently determine how to calculate and how much to install on his products. The main thing is to correlate the established prices with the average market value and purchasing power of consumers (average salary in the region).
Question number 8. How to look for buyers of knitted products? How to conduct online sales?
These two issues are combined, because in the modern world the most effective platform for trading handmade products is the Internet. Therefore, buyers should be sought there. For this, it is necessary to create an account for your handmade store in various social networks.
Before looking for buyers, you need to decide on your target audience. For example, if you knit fashionable cardigans and sweaters, the target audience will be young girls. If you knit children's things - then you should focus on young mothers.
To find your buyer, you should be active in social networks, conduct sweepstakes, run ads to promote your account. According to statistics, on Instagram products from the handmade category are among the top three best-selling products. Therefore, the promotion of a knitwear store will be considered on the example of this site.
To promote your account on Instagram you need:
Prepare a profile for advertising. To do this, your account must have at least 9 high-quality photos showing your work.
Combine different promotion methods: mosfollowing, advertising with bloggers, targeted advertising, using thematic hashtags and keywords in the profile description. You can familiarize yourself with the recommendations for promoting your account in more detail at various online sources. Today there are many articles on this topic. Also important tip: write down the value of your products!
Take care not only of the visual, but also of the informative filling of your profile. Beautiful photos of knitwear is good, and if they are accompanied by interesting texts - it is doubly good! You can post reviews about your work, show the workflow, talk about interesting cases related to your work. For inspiration, look at Instagram of the user with the nickname @the_equisetum - they sell unusual soft toys, where each post is accompanied by bright, catchy text.
Provide feedback to your subscribers: answer questions, conduct polls in your account. The art of selling is, first of all, the ability to communicate with potential customers.
Use different platforms for promotion. This will increase your audience reach: someone will find you on Instagram, and someone will accidentally find your store at the Masters Fair through a search engine.
When following the key promotion tips, you can quickly gain a certain audience and find the first customers. Remember that one of the most powerful means of advertising is word of mouth, so quality work is the best advertisement for your business.
Question No. 9. What difficulties can arise when working in the knitting business?
Opening a knitting business is not difficult. It is much more difficult to make it profitable. In achieving this goal can put the following difficulties:
- lack of orders. It is possible to reduce this risk with the help of effective advertising and competent pricing policy;
- customer refusal to pay for work. To reduce this risk, when working on order, you must always take an advance payment, at least in the amount of the cost of materials. When sending the finished product to another city, make out the parcel by cash on delivery or full prepayment.
- high competition in the field. To compete with many masters, you need to enter the market with a unique offer, set more affordable prices or run a powerful advertising campaign. And, of course, produce quality products.
Summarizing all of the above, the following advantages and disadvantages of the knitting business can be identified.
Advantages and disadvantages of knitting business
Benefits | disadvantages |
- business with minimal investment; - home business; - can serve as an additional source of income; - fashionable direction handmade; - The prospect of high profits with proper business organization; - a simple process for organizing production | - low profitability; - low productivity of manual knitting, which limits the number of sales per month; - high competition in the industry; - risk of refusal to pay for an individual order; - work requires certain knowledge, a desire to learn and achieve certain skills |
You can turn your hobby into a profitable business. This will become possible with the right approach to organizing your business. The popularity of knitwear increases the likelihood of your success. Abroad, this segment is very developed, which indicates the prospects of business in Russia. The main desire, patience, hard work and honesty towards their customers.
Evgenia Yurkina(c) www.clogicsecure.com - a portal to small business business plans and guides
08/18/2019