Many successful shops on Etsy have changed significantly since they opened, as sellers have added new product lines, updated their branding and incorporated customer feedback, as well as new trends and ideas. Taking advantage of the flexibility that comes with running their own businesses, many creative entrepreneurs have experimented and evolved their shops over time.
One such seller is Amie Cunningham. She runs two successful Etsy shops — Thief&Bandit, and Thief&Bandit KIDS — from a studio in her garage. Back in 2009, when a friend suggested Amie open an Etsy shop to sell her screenprinted T-shirts, she had no business plan. She hoped to sell some shirts, but had no idea where this venture — or life, for that matter — would take her. She couldn’t predict all that would happen in the next several years, such as moving back home from West Virginia to Halifax, Canada, and having three children. While expecting her first child, Amie got the idea to make baby leggings out of fabric printed with her designs. One product inspired the next as Amie continued to adjust her business to changes in the market and in her own life. By embracing flexibility, Amie has grown her shop from a small T-shirt business into a full line of women’s and children’s clothing.
Each Etsy shop’s journey is unique. Here, some successful Etsy sellers share how they have evolved their businesses over time.
Allow Your Business to Change Direction
Sometimes it takes more than one try to find your niche. Morgan Prather also started her Etsy shop at the suggestion of a friend. She enjoyed making greeting cards and wanted a way to sell them. But soon after opening her Portland, Oregon-based Etsy shop in 2009, Morgan realised her workflow wasn’t working for her. Each order was so time consuming that it was hard to make a profit. Morgan started looking for another medium and settled on a long-time interest: jewellery. Starting with simple pieces she assembled with charms, she started creating the kind of dainty everyday jewellery pieces she likes to wear. Investing about $1,000 in supplies from Etsy, Morgan listed and sold her first necklace. 'I’ll never forget. It was a little dove necklace', she says. 'It meant so much because with the first customer you feel like "I can do this."' After switching her focus fully to jewellery, Morgan changed her shop name from Morgan Prather to the lovely raindrop. Six years after she started selling jewellery, her shop has more than 30,000 sales.
If you don’t enjoy making your products, or find the process of fulfilling orders unsustainable, it might be time to reconsider your focus. For more tips on making a shift in your shop, read How to Change Course Gracefully.
Keep Learning
Continually striving to learn new skills can keep your business feeling fresh. After finding success with her simple assembled necklaces, Morgan wanted to challenge herself. Without a formal education in jewellery making, she schooled herself with YouTube videos, learning how to solder in the garage of the home she shares with her husband and children. 'I would have never guessed this is what I would be doing', says Morgan. 'Everything I sell is a learning experience.' Mastering new techniques has kept Morgan passionate about her business and given her tools she needed to broaden her existing product line and appeal to a wider range of shoppers seeking different types of jewellery beyond her popular hand-stamped initial necklaces and pendants.
Work With What You’ve Got
Being resourceful when facing constraints like space or budget limitations can help sustain the momentum your shop needs to grow. When Amie and her expanding family moved from the United States to Canada, she knew she wanted to build a table for screenprinting fabric yardage. But the new house they purchased didn’t have the room. So when Amie’s dad said she could set up the table in the hardware store where he worked, she took him up on the offer. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked temporarily, and it gave Amie and her husband the push they needed to build a garage to house her studio, which is where she works today.
Listen to Your Customers
In the early years of Amie’s business, her colourful screenprinted children’s leggings were a clear bestseller. With their unique playful patterns, there were few other products like them on the market. But in the years since, as the availability of similar items has increased, she’s seen her women’s items become more popular. While she still produces kids’ clothing, she’s prioritising her efforts to focus on what’s selling best, designing textile patterns with women in mind first, and children second. Using the same prints for both collections has made her workflow more efficient and helped define her brand aesthetic. 'I think it’s interesting for kids to wear the same prints as the grown-up stuff', she says. 'It’s a little more mature, and then some of the prints are more playful for the adults.'
Approach Your Shop as a Work in Progress
Looking at your shop as a work in progress can help reduce the pressure to strive for perfection and give you room to experiment. Looking back at her earliest product photographs, Morgan recognises how much she has improved as a photographer. Still, the temptation to compare her photos to other sellers’ photos is always there. 'I feel like my photos have progressed a lot, but I do see room for improvement', she says. Over the years Morgan has focused on improving her lighting and has used feedback and questions from customers to refine her photographs. She has replaced the mannequin in her photos with her own neck, because so many customers wanted to see her pieces against real skin. By providing her own measurements with the measurements of her jewellery, she’s able to give shoppers the info they need to make an educated purchase. 'Now I have a lot happier customers, and it cuts down on questions a lot', says Morgan.
Let Your Values Guide You
Keeping sight of your brand ethics can help you stay on track, even when you take your business in a new direction. It can also lead to new opportunities. For Amie, it’s always been important to consider the environment when it comes to her production methods. 'One of the things with Thief&Bandit is that we produce quite a lot of scrap fabric', Amie explains. 'From the beginning, I could never bear to throw away these scraps.' Eager to put the strips of scrap fabric to work, Amie tried weaving a rug with them. The rug came out so neat, Amie decided to try weaving garments, weaving scrap fabric strips with strips of printed fabric for an original effect. 'The result is really unique looking', says Amie. She plans to use the material to weave skirts, vests and jackets next.
Being open-minded and adjusting her business plan has worked in Amie’s case, giving her the flexibility to change course as needed. 'When [your plan] is open', she says, 'you’re able to figure things out in a serendipitous kind of way.
How have you evolved your business over time? Share in the comments below.
Words by Audrey Manning
Audrey Manning grew up in Brooklyn, just blocks from Etsy HQ. These days she's working from PA and busy trying to keep up with her toddler.
