Knitting For Profit

Posts Tagged ‘home business’

Guilt-Free (Knitting) Business Mothers!

Friday, January 29th, 2010

This might sound a little off-topic, but two amazing Australian women I know are running a free teleseminar series that is starting next week about balancing business and work with mothering, which I thought might be of interest.

As a mother of two small children, I often get pangs of guilt when I get busy and spend more time on my business than with my little ones.

But I do love running my home business too!

If you are already running a business from home, or are planning to start up your knitting business, then I think this series will have some valuable advice for keeping that balance and enjoying both your family and your new business. It also includes some great advice for success in life and business for women – and it costs nothing!

I'm going to be listening in, and you can join in too by clicking the link below to register: http://guiltfreebusinessmothers.com/seminars/tspub9lr.html

I'm looking forward to hearing what all 7 of the speakers have to say and taking away some great ideas and strategies for us work-at-home mums.

I hope you enjoy them too!
 

Tags: home business, home knitting business, knitting business, make money from home, work at home mom, work at home mum, work from home
Posted in Home Business Tips | No Comments »

Top 7 Tips To Beat Procrastination

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

For many people, the biggest challenge of knitting for profit success is not lack of money or experience or ideas – it’s procrastination! So here’s 7 top tips to help you beat procrastination and start living your dream sooner…

Tip #1 – Write a list of what needs to be done each day, then cross things off as you finish them. This will give you a great sense of achievement and help keep you motivated and enthusiastic

Tip #2 – Prioritise your tasks and focus on the ones that are most important for getting your business off the ground and making money. There’s a difference between being busy and being productive – you can fiddle around doing low priority things but it won’t get you any closer to your dreams of a knitting business

Tip #3 – Put the things that need to be done right in front of you. This way you just won’t be able to avoid doing what needs to be done. And do the things you really don’t want to first – then they are out of the way and you can enjoy the rest of the day – yay!

Tip #4 – Focus on doing and finishing, not perfection. You have to get over the idea that things need to be just right, sometimes a slightly less than perfect job is better than none at all (especially in the online world where things don’t have to look perfect to be effective). This tip applies more to "running the business" kind of tasks than your actual knitting – I am certainly not suggesting you try to sell unfinished or bad quality products!

Tip #4 – Write down your goals for the future and a plan of how you’re going to get there. Again this doesn’t have to be perfect and it’s not set in stone, but it will give you a good overall picture of where you are going and what you need to do to get there.

Tip #5 – Get help from mentors and advisors. Don’t be shy about asking for help and advice from people you admire and respect, they can probably give you ideas that will save you time and help you through tough times. And don’t be closed minded about management and personal development books and courses, you could discover an idea or breakthrough that could be worth thousands of dollars to you (not to mention make your life easier and happier!)

Tip #6 – Learn to say no and mean it. It’s easy to get caught doing useless tasks or engaging in idle chat when you can’t say no. When you work for yourself, you are wasting your own time and money when you accept tasks that don’t take you closer to YOUR dreams. Keep socialising and unproductive tasks for your leisure time, not your working time.

Tip #7 – Stay positive and avoid worrying. Psychologists have proven that worrying uses up huge amounts of energy, and worrying never solved any problems. If you find yourself anxious, write down everything that is on your mind and then write out the tasks you need to do to solve the problems – just doing that process will relieve stress enormously. Try changing your state by talking to someone who inspires you, or reading a book that encourages you, or by doing some guided meditation. Working on yourself and your positive attitude is the most valuable thing you can do – not only for your knitting business but for your whole life too!

Tags: business plan, home business, knitting business, procrastination, small business, work from home
Posted in Home Business Tips | 3 Comments »

Knitting Success Story – Ruth From nonstopknits

Friday, March 6th, 2009

This month’s Real Live Knitting Success Story is featuring Ruth Boelkins from nonstopknits, who has taken her knitting hobby and passion, and turned it into a thriving small business.

Here’s how this "beginner knitter" made her home-grown knitting business a success…

How did she start her knitting business?

Ruth is relatively new to knitting. It took years of persuasion, but 5 years ago she finally allowed her mother-in-law to teach her how to knit. She was instantly hooked, and hasn’t stopped since! She now creates a beautiful range of knitting patterns, as well as finished hats and purses for her very appropriately named knitting business, nonstop knits.

Ruth first started selling her creations at local Bazaars where her hand-knitted items sold very well. She had discovered one of the keys to success in selling hand-crafts, which was to make her knitted products unique and different. By using interesting styles and colours, and adding knitted flowers and decorations to her work, she presented knitted pieces that people could fall in love with and desperately want to own.

She then started taking custom orders, and it wasn’t long before her knitting business grew. Most of her sales are still local, driven by art sales and word of mouth. She also sells knitting online through her etsy.com shop at www.nonstopknits.etsy.com

A profitable knitting niche by accident?

Ruth found another knitting niche market by chance one day when she created a knitted hat for her son to wear to Ice Hockey. "My intention was that Adam would have a cool knitted hat," she says. He started wearing it to the rink and a coach commented on it, so she made knitted hats for all the coaches. Then, parents started requesting knitted hats for their kids, and suddenly she had a whole new income stream!

How did her knitting business evolve into knitting pattern design?

Ruth didn’t aspire to become a knitting pattern designer either. She started getting requests for her knitting patterns when visiting yarn stores with her daughter, who often wears her mother’s original knitted designs. After many requests for knitting patterns from other parents, she was lucky enough to get the support and encouragement of a local yarn store owner who said she would sell her knitting pattern for a felted purse if Ruth would write it down.

This apparently gave Ruth the push she needed, and she hasn’t looked back. Ruth had hit on another niche market with her knitting patterns. They are appealing to both new and experienced knitters because the projects are quick to knit, and the directions are very detailed. Her knitted hat and purse patterns are made using circular needles and don’t require expensive yarns. If someone knows they need a couple of gifts, or want to whip something up quickly, many of the projects can be made in an hour or two.

Looking back, Ruth says she is glad she finally picked up the pointy sticks. "I love that it began as something within my family," she says, "I have on my knitting patterns that I’m a home-grown business, and that couldn’t be more true." Ruth says the experience has also made her a more avid supporter of other local businesses and connected her to other creative people. "That’s been a really enriching thing, to bump into other knitters and discuss what we love to make".

Ruth’s advice to up and coming Knitterpreneurs:

‘Many of my knitting patterns are for small fast projects, which is a great way to begin. A hat on circular needles is easy to hold and a fun way to knit, you can make a range of sizes, you only need to purchase limited supplies and you can experiment with color changes as you go. Projects with no seams make for nicer finished products as well.’

‘I am on a steep learning curve as I make my knitting hobby and passion into a business. I constantly try to keep my focus on doing what I love. Designing, creating and fitting art into life is the edge where I like to work. If you want to sell your knitted items, my advice is to listen to the comments people make about your work and watch how they react to your products. This will show you where your marketing opportunities are.’

If you would like to see Ruth’s knitting patterns and products, have a look at her etsy shop at www.nonstopknits.etsy.com If you have a knitting or crochet success story, we would love to feature you here as part of our real live knitting success series! Just drop me a line at liz@knittingforprofit.com

Tags: easy knitting patterns, home business, knitting business, Knitting Patterns, learn to knit, success story
Posted in Success Stories & Interviews | 2 Comments »

What is Knitting For Profit? And What Is A Knitterpreneur?

Friday, March 6th, 2009

“Knitting for Profit” means you are making money from your knitting skills (yay!!). This can be achieved in a variety of ways, but how do you become a true "Knitterpreneur"??

Knitting For Profit could mean you are selling the pieces you knit, or it could mean you are getting paid to teach other people how to knit, or you could be earning money from your knitting designs or knitting patterns. Whichever way you earn, you are being paid for your knitting skills and talents, and you have become a ‘business owner’, no matter how much or little money you are making, or whether you officially call yourself a business or not!

You see, there are many different levels of ‘business’. You may think of a knitting empire. A large fashion-knit design company, or popular knitting or crochet magazine, or perhaps a large established knitting pattern design company or yarn manufacturer. Million dollar turnovers, worldwide distribution and teams of staff. This is a big vision, but entirely possible as shown by the large knitting companies that already exist.

Or you might be thinking of a smaller knitting business. Based at home or in a retail shop, one or two employees and creating enough income for you to live your knitting passion and be surrounded by the things and people you love. Lots of knitters live this vision by owning yarn-stores.

Or what about just a bit of extra income for the family? Not getting rich, but having enough to be able to stay at home and care for your children. Enough to keep your family comfortable, and let you keep on expressing your creative spirit.

Or perhaps you just think of knitting. A micro-business that lets you buy all the yarn you desire, and makes enough so you can knit for free!

No matter what your goal or vision, if you make money from your knitting, you are knitting for profit, and you are what we call a ‘Knitterpreneur’.

We believe anyone who starts a business, no matter how big or small, must have some entrepreneurial spirit in them! So we created the word ‘Knitterpreneur’ to describe all of the amazing people who go on that journey using knitting or crochet.

Get some inspiration and ideas from the real live stories of Knitterpreneurs on this blog – have a look in the ‘Success Stories’ category for them. They are well worth the few minutes it takes to read! There are also more in depth interviews in my book "Knitting For Profit".

I hope you’ll join us in the Knitterpreneur community, by learning all the tips and tricks to Knitting for Profit found here and in my book. My book is designed to be a step by step guide to helping you become a successful knitterpreneur. And if you would like to share your own story with us all, please contact me at liz@knittingforprofit.com, I’d love to hear from you!

Tags: extra income, home business, knitterpreneur, knitting business, knitting for profit, Make Money Knitting
Posted in Make Money Knitting | 1 Comment »