Why My Small Business FAILED

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I have an Etsy shop that honestly... hasn't been doing well these days. But I also have to keep it real to myself and remember that YOU CAN'T DO EVERYTHING as an artist. There's a lot of successful small businesses here on YouTube, and while I may be considered a "small business" in some ways, I definitely did not succeed that much in the online shop world hahaha.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - Why Did I Start Etsy Shop?
02:06 - What I Used to Create My Etsy Shop
02:44 - Bookbolt Mention
04:18 - When My Shop Started Declining
05:31 - When My Shop Failed
10:22 - How You Can Help Me :)

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[DiamondFlame]

That’s why people are transitioning more to digital on demand products! They are more scalable and you don’t have to worry about physical inventory lol

[momojackandluke]

The artist struggle of wanting to do your own thing creatively but also having to make a consumable product and surviving in this economy

[artanj]

What I’ve learned so far being a fulltime artist for 2.5yrs is that THERE’S multiple ways to earn BUT not all will work the same for everyone. Some do great with physical work/artfluencer/digital products/license, etc.

It’s a different recipe/combination for each artist which is also understandable because it can be TOO MUCH when you try to manage different things at the same time by yourself! Gotta be honest with yourself and go for your STRENGTHS! 💪

[modoodles]

I make 3-5k a month selling sticker sheets alone. I'm going to start including note pads and washi tape. Baby steps

[kiwifruitkl]

Most businesses fail within 5 years. Of the businesses that succeed, they are the success stories. Only a handful of them become large-scale highly profitable companies. And most people have to work for the companies or the State.

[June_drawssss]

it just kinda feels like you’d hope people would keep buying your product at the same rate they were at the beginning and didn’t really plan on keeping your own business alive with creative innovation. comes off as a side hustle versus being a ‘small business’

[abul]

I wouldn't call that failing. You just lost interest in it and focused on other things

[dezkarcy]

"you cant do everything" is so important. Learning that truth myself.

[aliciarose_art]

This came at a scarily accurate time haha. I recently started up an Etsy shop and while I have had a few sales here and there, I really struggle to stay on top of the marketing & shop updates, and I feel I'm kinda deluding myself into thinking things will pay off in the long run. I don't want to give up yet as it hasn't even been open for a year, and I do have a lot of new product ideas that I'm really excited about so I'll keep on trying to give it a solid go. At least for a little while longer!
I know there's so much more I could do to get my name out there (stay on top of reel/tiktok trends, start a YT channel, etc) but the thought of managing everything on top of the shop, artist alleys, social media and looking for illustration work really stresses me out :( We'll see how things go!

[cozyharts]

My small business has only had one sale and isn’t getting any more…it’s discouraging but I want to keep trying :)

[two-moonz]

Walt Disney’s first animation business failed in Kansas. In fact Disney would not hire any CEOs unless they had previously known personal failure. Use this experience. Keep going.

[artbyinky]

This makes me feel validated about having diverse intentory tbh. I think you had success, but relied on this one thing to keep your business afloat, which isn’t a bad thing, but it doesn’t seem to be a long term solution.

I’m also glad I never put the complete effort into IG like others did. I wasn’t going to spend hours researching tags when I’d rather make art. I used to love IG but I rarely use it anymore!

Another topic I’d like to mention about merch, if you’re going to do it, do it at home and start small first or get with other artists online and do group orders! I recently learned about this and am in two discord groups where artists run orders we can buy things from manufacturers, but as one massive order to save on shipping and MOQ. This way you can do smaller amounts and still get pins, washi, etc. I also use POD for my journals and that’s another great way to test what designs will sell too. POD eats a lot of profit, but I’m planning to get the designs that sell the best as physical items soon.

Something else I want to do is to get into cons and markets, but that’s tough right now as everyone’s also trying too!

[chickpea]

A lot of people are boycotting Etsy.. that also might not be helping at all! Etsy got really difficult for me to support afte the wave of Ai artists and also how expensive it is to buy something as an international fan... it overall sucks

[sunii.studio]

I love MewTripled because of how transparent she is. You always seem to be answering the questions I have in the back of my mind!

[maiamystia]

Long ago I realized that it's easier to go from rag to riches, than from riches to rags. You got so used to having bigger sales that now when you're getting a lot less, yet more than most of us are getting, it's troubling for you.. but you should still count your blessings. People claim my art is beautiful yet I haven't sold a single item in an entire year.. I wish I can have 5 sales a week, that would be amazing.

[MaryJenkinsallamericanmary]

You clearly gained a lot of knowledge about that side of the art biz, and knowledge is priceless. Everything has a shelf life, but I’m so glad you grabbed the opportunity while it was there!

[yukii]

You’re real for this. Too many people making videos trying to make a course on their Etsy selling 😅

[dreamlikediana]

I started my Etsy with just digital products and I didn't make it big with that at all like some people say they do or you will. I made sales, but nothing crazy no matter how much marketing I did. Digital products are also very niched, esp the ones I make/offer. I'm switching gears to physical products and print on demand, while moving all my digital products to my personal website. My personal website already brings in money & brand deals, and I have similar freebies to what I sold on Etsy that get hits all the time & grew my email newsletter with. I also work with websites for a living, so I can create and list website templates & themes to sell on it, as well as any other services. For a long time, I would just list my services on external sites, but I got burnt out from constantly creating websites for people that were websites I didn't want to make or feel inspired to. Idk how the whole template/theme sale will go at all, but I don't have to deal with fees at least and I am actually pretty inspired with some ideas I came up with. I know themes do sell on Etsy, but like I said I was getting sale here and there with digital products already and the fees on Etsy are insane. But I definitely want to take a stab at revamping my Etsy with only physical products, it's under a different name than my username, and a different style of art than what I currently share online which also excites me because I had imposter syndrome for the longest. Thankfully, I have 2 different IG accounts for each, so I can market both at the same time without the confusion, but but I'll list both websites on each place and name them appropriately. Ones digital goodies only the other, well you get my long ended message lol. A lot of people don't realize not everything is going to workout for everyone with a cut and paste plan. It's not cookie cutting out here. It's always going to be different.

[SakuraOpalArt]

Thanks Michelle for the video! Felt a lot of the things you said, , , !!!! Being an artist + having to do all the promo + shipping / stocking and just doing everything is.... tough

[jisselamurillo]

Thank you for being transparent & sharing book bolt!