A craft business involves creating and selling handmade items or products and they’re good business ideas to start for several reasons. Foremost amongst these is the opportunity to turn your hobbies and artistic skills into a profitable venture. But before you go about starting a business, you’ll need to consider which crafts to make and sell. That’s why we’ve put together this list of craft business ideas to help you get started with making money as a crafter.
11 craft business ideas to start today
Unleash your creative spirit and explore the world of crafting with these 11 business ideas. From the art of candle making to crafting exquisite jewelry and offering craft classes, these DIY business ideas offer endless opportunities for artistic expression and entrepreneurial success.
01. Candle making
A candle business is a type of business that involves the making and selling of candles. Candles are typically made from wax and come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. Candle businesses can range from small, home-based operations to larger-scale enterprises. Here's why starting a candle business can be a good craft business idea for small business owners or artists.
Candle-making is an affordable business to start on a small scale, requiring minimal upfront investment in wax, wicks, fragrances, and basic equipment. Candles enjoy stable year-round demand with seasonal peaks during holidays and events, making them suitable for a broad target market, including home decor, wedding favors, and gifts. It also means candle making can be a lucrative way to make money as an artist. Embracing natural and eco-friendly materials can provide a unique selling point in response to consumer demands. The ability to operate from home reduces overhead costs and online sales platforms expand your reach.
Learn more: How to make a website
When it comes to promoting this type of craft business idea, participating in local craft fairs, farmers' markets, or artisan events can help you connect with your community and build a customer base. It's also an excellent way to test your products and gather feedback.
While starting a candle business has its advantages, it's important to conduct market research, understand the competition, and develop a solid business plan. Building a strong brand, marketing your candles effectively, and maintaining quality are key to success in this industry.
Be inspired: Candle business name ideas
02. Jewelry business
A jewelry business is a business that involves the designing, creation and selling of jewelry. This can include a wide range of items such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, brooches, and more. Starting a jewelry business can be a good craft business idea for several reasons.
Jewelry making allows for a high level of creativity and artistry. You can design and craft unique and personalized pieces that reflect your style and vision and then work to turn them into a profitable venture.
Darby Pritchards is a jewelry company based in Oldbury, England. Founders Andrew Darby, Faye Darby, Craig Pritchard, and Terri Pritchard sold their first piece of jewelry in January 2019. Their business began with the Wix eCommerce platform and a little inspiration from their loved ones, “Our wives love jewelry, so we thought, ‘Let's do something mid-range and affordable. Nice pieces that last well.’”
Many jewelry businesses can be started with a relatively low initial investment, especially if you're making the jewelry yourself from home. You can begin on a small scale and expand as your business grows. Jewelry can be sold online, through your own website, allowing you to reach a global audience from your own home or studio.
Be inspired: Jewelry business name ideas
It's important to note that while starting a jewelry business has many advantages, it also comes with challenges. Pivoting from a purely artistic undertaking to a business one is not always seamless. Researching your target market and ensuring the quality of your products are essential for success in the jewelry business.
03. T-shirt design
A t-shirt design business is a business that involves creating, designing and selling custom or creatively designed t-shirts. As part of this craft business idea, t-shirts can feature various graphics, illustrations, slogans or artwork. T-shirt design businesses can focus on various clothing business niches, such as sports, music, fashion, humor, activism or local culture.
Looking for an example? Worst Year Ever is a quirky and fun t-shirt design company that specializes in humorous and topical t-shirt designs.
Starting a t-shirt design business allows you to express your creativity and artistic talents, and gives you the freedom to create unique and visually appealing designs while building a profitable venture at the same time.
You can start this craft business idea with low startup costs, especially if you choose to start a print-on-demand business. Print on demand allows you to create custom-designed t-shirts and other apparel without the need for large upfront investments in printing equipment, inventory, or fulfillment services. You can use a print-on-demand provider, like Printify to do that while you focus on the designs.
T-shirt design is a craft business idea that can be started from home, you just need to create an eCommerce website or online store in order to launch and run it.
Then once you’ve established your brand and customer base, you can expand your product line to include other clothing items, accessories or merchandise related to your designs.
Be inspired: Clothing brand names, Clothing business ideas, Kidswear business ideas
It's important to consider trends, competition and customer preferences when starting this craft business idea. Additionally, understanding the legal aspects of design, such as copyright and trademark laws, is crucial to protect your intellectual property and avoid potential legal issues.
04. Soap making
A soap-making business is a business that involves creating, crafting and selling handmade soaps. This can include various types of soap, including bar soaps, liquid soaps and specialty soaps, often incorporating different scents, colors, textures and ingredients.
Soap making is a creative and artisanal craft business idea that allows you to express your creativity and artistry through the design and creation of unique soap products. You can experiment with various shapes, colors, fragrances and ingredients to create one-of-a-kind soap. Handmade soaps are popular as gifts for various occasions - holidays, birthdays, weddings and baby showers which can mean consistent demand for them.
Soap craft business examples for inspiration:
Ben’s Basics: real natural soap
The Soap BeeZZ: rich and indulgent all-natural soaps
404 Lather Soap Co: damn good handmade soap with essential oils
Soaps of Babylon: vegan handcrafted, organic soaps
Starting a soap-making business typically requires a relatively low initial investment compared to many other business ideas. You can begin on a small scale and gradually expand as your business grows. This can also make it a good potential business idea for kids.
Soaps can be sold online by starting an eCommerce business, meaning you won’t need to rent a physical store to sell them. Selling online via ecommerce also allows you to tap into a much wider potential market and customer base. Handmade soap can cater to a diverse market, from individual consumers to businesses such as boutique hotels, spas or gift shops.
It's important to conduct market research, understand customer preferences and invest in high-quality ingredients to produce soap that meets safety and quality standards. Additionally, marketing your products effectively, developing a strong online presence and complying with any legal regulations related to soap production are essential for success with this craft business idea.
05. Greeting cards
A greeting card business is a business that involves creating, designing, and selling greeting cards for various occasions and events. Greeting cards are typically made from paper or cardstock and feature messages and designs suitable for birthdays, weddings, holidays, anniversaries and graduations.
As a craft business idea, this type of business allows artists to make a business from their creativity and talents. There’s also lots of room to experiment with different styles, colors and techniques.
Check out this greeting card business Pat-orama for further inspiration.
Starting a greeting card business usually requires a relatively low initial investment. You can begin on a small scale, and as your business grows, you can invest in better equipment and materials. It’s also a business that can be started from home and promoted online this helps to minimize initial investment costs and the financial risk in starting this type of craft business idea.
Learn more: Online business ideas
With the right combination of creativity, business skills, and marketing, a greeting cards business can be a fulfilling and profitable craft business venture.
06. Flower business
A flower business generally involves the arrangement and sale of flowers and floral products. It can encompass various floral business niches, including floristry, flower farming or even flower-related crafts and products.
Depending on the specific niche within the flower industry that you choose to start, startup costs can be relatively low. For example, starting with a home-based flower arranging business, or pressing flowers to make greeting cards, can be a cost-effective way to start a craft business idea using flowers.
Flower business examples to inspire:
Sherwood Roots: local flower farm offering bouquets and arrangements
The Putnam Market: customized flower arrangements for events.
To make a flower business successful, it's essential to have a strong understanding of flowers, their care and various floral design techniques.
07. Quilting, crochet and knitting
Quilting, crochet, and knitting businesses are versatile craft ideas centered on creating handmade textile items through various fabric or yarn-based techniques. Quilting, a beloved tradition, involves skillfully sewing together layers of fabric to create a warm and decorative quilt or blanket. These quilts can be tailored to the customer's preferences, making them a cherished personal item or a thoughtful gift. On the other hand, crochet entails creating fabric by interlocking loops of yarn using a hooked needle. This technique can be used to produce a wide array of items, from cozy clothing and baby blankets to scarves, hats, soft toys, and home decorations like tablecloths and sofa covers.
Knitting, the art of working with interlocking loops of yarn using needles, offers endless creative possibilities. Knitters can fashion unique clothing, stylish accessories, and beautiful blankets. One of the appealing aspects of knitting is the high degree of customer personalization it allows, as you can craft items tailored to specific preferences.
The beauty of these craft business ideas lies in their simplicity and flexibility. You can easily start them from the comfort of your own home, keeping initial overhead costs to a minimum. It can be started as a part-time business idea, depending on your other commitments. Depending on your marketing efforts, they can be scaled up to meet the demands of a growing customer base, making them accessible and accommodating even for those seeking a part-time or side hustle business.
08. Selling craft supplies
Selling craft supplies as a business idea involves sourcing, stocking and selling various crafting materials, tools and supplies to individuals and businesses engaged in crafting. These supplies can encompass a wide range of items, including fabrics, yarn, beads, paper, paints, brushes, sewing notions, needles, patterns and much more. This craft business idea allows you to help artists turn their ideas into creations even if you don’t have the same crafting talent or ability.
Crafting is a popular and growing hobby. People of all ages and backgrounds engage in various forms of crafting, from sewing and knitting to scrapbooking and woodworking. This growing market presents a steady demand for craft supplies that you can then meet. It also appeals to a broad customer base, including DIY enthusiasts, hobbyists, artists, schools and craft business owners. This diversity allows you to target a broad customer base.
You can also consider scaling your business by offering educational content, tutorials or workshops to help customers learn how to use the supplies you sell more effectively. It's also important to stock a wide variety of quality supplies and provide excellent customer service to sell crafts online.
09. Calligraphy
A calligraphy business offers calligraphy services, selling calligraphy artwork and potentially also teaching calligraphy. Calligraphy is the art of writing, often used for special events, personalized gifts, home decor and commercial purposes.
If you’re looking for a craft business idea that’s highly artistic and creative and allows you to express your unique style and talent, calligraphy may be the right venture for you. Calligraphy services can be highly personalized and interesting to create. You can create custom calligraphy for various occasions, including weddings, special events, awards, certificates and gifts. Calligraphy can also be used to make greeting cards or sold online through your website.
Looking to scale a calligraphy business? You can also consider offering calligraphy workshops, and classes as an additional revenue stream while helping others learn the art.
To succeed with this craft business idea, it's essential to market your services and products effectively, maintain a strong online presence with a business website and provide excellent customer service.
10. Ceramics and pottery
A ceramics and pottery business involves creating, designing and selling handcrafted ceramic and pottery items. This can include a wide range of products, such as pottery for everyday use, decorative ceramic pieces, dinnerware, mugs, vases and sculptures.
Handmade ceramics and pottery items have a personal touch and uniqueness that mass-produced items often lack. This can be a strong selling point for your business and make it easier to promote and market. It’s also a way to stand out in a competitive craft market. Another way to stand out is to create custom ceramics for specific customer needs and by offering personalized, bespoke pieces to set your skills and business apart.
Be inspired by these ceramics and pottery business examples:
Bliss with Clay Pottery by Judy Filler: handcrafted pottery artworks
Gigi Pottery: handmade ceramics and studio
Kloe k Pottery: handmade and poured pottery including mugs, bowls and earrings
11. Craft classes and courses
Craft classes and courses are versatile educational programs designed to teach a wide range of crafting skills and techniques. These classes cover an array of crafts, including painting, knitting, sewing, woodworking, pottery and calligraphy, and can be tailored to suit various skill levels, interests, and ages. You can offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes, as well as specialized courses for specific crafts or techniques.
One of the key benefits of offering craft classes and courses is the revenue they can generate. You can charge fees for participating in classes, workshops, and materials, making it a viable business opportunity. This business has very low startup costs and lower financial risk, making it accessible for those looking for a low-cost venture.
To diversify your course offerings, consider teaching various crafts to reach different target markets and appeal to a wide range of students with varied interests. Craft classes can be conducted in physical locations, such as studios, community centers, and schools, or offered online through virtual classrooms, making it a flexible business model.
To launch a successful craft class and course business, it's essential to have expertise in the crafts you teach and develop a curriculum that is both engaging and effective. Effective marketing through various channels, offering a range of course options, and providing excellent teaching materials and resources are key to attracting students.
How to turn a craft business idea into a successful business
Turning a craft business idea into a successful venture requires careful planning and focus. Here are some of the ways to do just that:
Master your chosen craft first and foremost. Invest time in developing your skills and ensuring your craft creations are of the highest quality.
Research the market to identify demand for your craft. Consider creating a portfolio of your products to test their appeal and gather feedback.
Create a detailed business plan that includes your mission, vision, goals, target market, competition analysis, pricing strategy, financial projections and marketing plan.
Register your business, obtain any necessary permits or licenses and set up your financial structure. Consult with an accountant to manage your potential business taxes, business banking and financial records.
Develop a strong brand identity that sets you apart. This includes deciding how to name your business, creating a logo and coming up with a unique selling proposition (USP).
Build an online presence through a website, social media profiles and online marketplaces like Etsy (How to sell on Etsy). Showcase your craft products or services with high-quality photos and clear product descriptions.
Something that I always heard growing up was that you could be the smallest fish in the sea, but if you have a professional website and branding, people will take you seriously.
When I sent my website to potential retailers early on, we were making seven candles at a time out of my small kitchen. I think it goes to show that when you have a professional brand, the goals and dreams that you have are limitless. (Coal and Canary now) produce more than 1000+ a day from their 10,000 sq foot warehouse.)
Amanda Buhse, Owner + Chief Creative Officer of Coal and Canary
Source materials and supplies efficiently, considering quality and cost. Keep track of your inventory and restock as needed.
Organize a dedicated workspace that's comfortable and well-equipped for your craft. Ensure safety measures are in place if necessary.
Calculate your costs (materials, labor, overhead) and set competitive yet profitable prices. Be prepared to adjust pricing as you gain more experience and market insights.
Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy that includes online and offline tactics. Utilize social media, email marketing, content marketing and participation in craft shows or local markets.
Connect with other artists and crafters. Collaborations and partnerships can help grow your business.
Stay updated on industry trends, continually improve your craft and be open to innovation. Listen to customer needs and adjust your offerings accordingly.
Don't hesitate to seek advice and support from mentors, business advisors and craft business communities. Learning from others can be invaluable.
Other business ideas to consider
Craft business ideas FAQ
What are some popular craft business ideas?
Creating custom jewelry pieces, such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings, using various materials like beads, gemstones, metals, and wire. Crafting handmade candles in a variety of scents, shapes, and sizes for decorative and aromatic purposes. Producing artisanal soaps with natural ingredients and essential oils, catering to customers seeking high-quality, skin-friendly products. Designing and sewing handcrafted quilts, often created for warmth and decorative purposes. Crafting knitted and crocheted items, including scarves, blankets, clothing and accessories, are known for their warmth and style.