← The Product Boss with Jacqueline Snyder
The Product Boss with Jacqueline Snyder
678. Can You REALLY Have a Million-Dollar Handmade Business?
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Hi, I'm Jacqueline Snyder and this is the Product Boss podcast. I've helped launch and grow thousands of product based businesses, even one of my own. And over the last 20 years, I've seen behind the scenes of businesses just like yours. Whether they are makers, manufacturers, artists, or food and beverage businesses. I have spent so many hours studying it all. I've discovered what makes them successful, what mistakes they could have avoided, how did they turn their ideas into a successful business, and what are the strategies that they have used to make more sales and be discovered by more customers. And this is what this show is all about. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to become a million dollar product boss, I'm here to give you the permission to chase your dreams, no matter how big or small. All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss. Let's do this. Oh my goodness. Friends, if you are anything like me, you probably spend more time running errands than running your business. Am I right? Like, everything needs something, we got to run around. And I knew that this was like a major issue for me back in the day, which is why I decided to get help where I could. And I decided to let Instacart handle all of my grocery shopping. So I no longer had to worry about running all the errands and having to run out and get more almond milk for my lattes. Rather, I was like, you know what, we're just going to let Instacart handle that. So I want you to imagine skipping the store and getting back to designing packaging, orders, making, or maybe actually taking a break, even a nap. Remember those? Okay, so with Instacart, you can get groceries and essentials delivered in as fast as an hour so you can focus on growing your business without sacrificing a meal. Plus, less stress and more focus. And here's a tip. I've actually used Instacart before to order gifts from my daughter's friend's birthday parties because I haven't had time to run out and get presents. And I've been able to get the packaging like the gift bag and the gift like hello, Sephora. Delivered to my house while I was in the middle of coaching sessions so that I could have the present right. It's like having a personal assistant without having a personal assistant. So if you want to do what I do and get the help where you can, you can try it. Now, if you head to the productboss, dot com instacart. Hey friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Product Boss podcast. I am so glad you're here. I'm your host, Jaclyn Siner and we're going to dig into it today. I think there's so much mindset stuff out there that is really getting in the way of people growing magnificent, amazing businesses to beyond their wildest dreams. And I know that sounds like a whole bunch of cliches all wrapped into one, but I got to tell you, it's something that I've seen. I work with a lot of students, I work with a lot of people all over the world and I cannot even tell you how many times we, we kind of have to tell people that, yes, yes you can. You can really have a million dollar handmade business and you can do this without feeling like you're going to burn out, drown under all the work that you're currently doing. The thing is, is that probably most likely you just don't know how to get there yet. Okay, so I'll bet you've asked yourself, right? Can you actually have a million dollar business? Is that too audacious, too big to dream, to think million dollars? Right. And I think that a lot of business owners, not only handmade, just business owners in general, will hit a ceiling. Call it your glass ceiling, right? But we have our own really super low glass ceilings, way lower than the ones that are created for us in the corporate world. And we do that because we kind of can't see our businesses as being scalable. We can't see past what we doing. But I got to tell you, it is. So let's break down the truth about turning your handmade business into a million dollar brand. And if you're not handmade, stick around too. Because I think that no matter what, the takeaways here are going to be about staying small and playing small versus seeing what's actually possible. So I'm going to kick this off with this episode's inspired by one of my students and I recently got a message from her and I'm so incredibly proud of her. So when she first started or when I first started working with her, because she'd been working for years before she had a handmade jewelry company and she was being sold on Etsy. That was her main thing was Etsy. So when she first started she was doing porch pickup. Even so people would text her on her phone, she would get the jewelry made, she'd put em in like a paper bag and leave it on her porch and somebody from her town would come and pick up that bracelet or necklace or whatever amazingness it was that she was selling. And I remember thinking like, oh, my goodness, this is, this is not scalable. Right? The current way that you're doing things doesn't really work. But this is a message I just got from her, and I wanted to. To read it to you here on the show. She said, hey, Jacqueline, you planted a seed about five years ago, and that seed, bloo. You challenged me and encouraged me to have a goal of $250,000 for the year, and then you pushed me to 500,000. I was blown away and acknowledged the goal, but could never imagine it becoming a reality. Right? If I, and I've said this to some of you out there, if you've ever been in my challenges or my workshops or in my programs where I've been like, well, why don't we push this? Like, let's. Let's think bigger. Let's dream a little bit bigger. And with her company, she was only ever under a hundred thousand dollars. She couldn't even imagine at that point getting to a quarter of a million, let alone half a million. But we worked together for a few years, and so I was able to kind of nudge her in that. So this is, this is where the message gets real good. Okay? She said, I was blown away and acknowledged that goal, but could never imagine it becoming a reality. We hit the 1 million mark in revenue in 2024, and I have to thank you for believing in me. Right. She says, I just wanted to say thank you and keep up the great work. So let me tell you that if five years ago, when I told her, hey, you could be a million dollar business, her brain would have, like, you know when you pour water, like, if you think of a cartoon of pouring water on a robot's brain and it goes and then like, explodes, that's what would have probably happened. And it's hard. Like I. And, and you may be listening to me now and thinking like, million bucks. Like, what are you outta your mind? There's no way. Well, what if you could just get curious and say, what if? What if? I don't know how yet, but what if? Because I think the thing that typically keeps businesses staying small and playing small is one. They think that they have to do everything themselves, right? They try to do everything themselves. They believe that they're the only one who could create the thing, paint the thing, make the thing, whatever it is, instead of building scalable systems, instead of figuring out what parts can be taken off their plate and what parts they can do in the meantime. I think another thing that they do is they tend to stick to one sales channel. They keep playing small. They, they don't build a scalable sales engine. One that works for them while they sleep, that they wake up to sales, is that they, they just kind of stay in place small by being like, I'm just gonna stay here and do my craft market. I'm just gonna stay here and, and do Etsy and hope it works one day or word of mouth versus what would it take to start to see the results I'm looking to make, Right? Where do I need to be? What do I need to learn? What do I have to do? I also think that playing small and why it's really hard to get to that million dollar mark or quarter of a million, wherever you want to get, is that they don't charge enough. Students don't tend to value themselves or like, well, but I just made this thing and I made it at my house or I poured this thing or people are never going to want what I have and they're not charging enough. And you're not realizing that by not charging enough, you're actually not attracting the right customers. And I think the last part is a lot of times you're gonna see handmade as a hobby and not a real business because it kind of is. We enjoy making and enjoy selling way less. But the thing is, is that you don't have to do this all overnight. This doesn't all have to be something that comes out. You know, that you wake up tomorrow and you're like, this is it. I mean, if I can inspire some of you out there, amazing. But the truth is, is that as a handmade business, you can hit seven figures. Okay, but only if you start to run what you're doing like a real business and not a side hustle. And so the side hustle is going to keep you playing small. It's just the fact of the matter. And yeah, you can make some good money as a side hustle, sure. But it's not going to feel like it gets off of your plate. Like, if it's a side hustle slash side hobby and you're like, I'm just going to make things at night. If I get an order in and I'm just going to do that thing, then fine, if that's what you want to do. But I know a lot of you out there are thinking, actually it's not all I want to do. Actually, I might have started this as a side hustle or a handmade hobby that people were like, oh, I'll pay you for that thing. But actually you're kind of done playing small and staying small. You actually do want to run a real business. Cause I got to tell you, 2025, there's a shout out for entrepreneurs. That's what this year I think is going to teach us. Like we cannot be reliant on other people for our family's wellbeing when it comes to making sure that our jobs are secure or that things work out right. Like I, I'm like, let's do this. Like let's be entrepreneurs and pivot and make the changes and do the things that we need to do. So what is going to actually help you become or be on your way to a million dollar handmade business or any type of business that you want to have, but let's say million bucks. Okay, what is it going to take? Well, it's going to be selling, having more than one sales engine working for you. We want those multiple streams of revenue coming in. It's beyond just Etsy or beyond just in person markets. I have worked with some of the top 1% of sellers, Etsy, and they have come and worked with me because they're like, we cannot have our millions of eggs in the Etsy basket. They know how it's not unstable, but they know how fleeting it could actually be. And then markets, there's no way they want to keep up with all those markets all the time. There's not even a way to really like from all those markets to drive that kind of revenue unless you have a team, manpower, people who are going to those markets. So they know that they actually need to have a scalable way of sales engines, ones that work for them while they're sleeping, sales engines that don't rely on them and that would be selling on sales channels beyond just Etsy or in person markets. Hey friends. Okay, so I don't know if you're anything like me, but sometimes it feels like my self care routine is slipping through the cracks. Because when I'm juggling and wearing all the hats in my business and doing all the things, I mean the last thing I have to do is like really fulfill that self care routine that my daughter's talking about. She's like, mom, so listen, so when it comes to running a successful business, you can't really pour from an empty cup. And a lot of times that self care is like one of the first things to get yourself recalibrated so that's why I want you to meet Glossy. Now Glossy is my favorite daily beauty supplement designed to transform your skin and gut health from the inside out. And I'm actually an investor in this business because I so believe in this idea of science backed ingredients for digestion and skin hydration. And Glossy makes it really easy to look and feel your best without that whole 10 step routine in the mirror. The thing I don't actually have time for, all I have to do is simply mix a stick into my water and I'm good to go. So if you want to try this because I so believe in this business, I think it's amazing. It's done so many wonders for my skin and my gut, which are two things that I need help with. And you want to simplify your wellness and your beauty. All you have to do is click in the show notes and you can use the code Jaclyn Snyder. So it's my full name. Use the code Jacqueline Snyder and I'm hooking you up with 15% off your order. So cheers to glowing skin and a thriving business. Hey friends, are you unsure of what to say on social media or what to even send in your weekly emails? Well, what if creating content could be easy? Would you be looking for a shortcut to creating consistent content? Yes, consistent content. Cuz you know, consistency is key. Well, let me tell you, you are not alone when you feel like you're struggling on what to post or what to write in emails. And we know that you have that product part of your business down. But as you're listening to this podcast, you probably already know that to get more people to your products, to buy your products, you need to create great content. Oh, I know, I see. I keep saying content and that's the dreaded C word. And we can't tell you how many product bosses tell us that they want to create great content for their audience and their customers, but they don't know what to say. Or they are so busy they can't find the time, or they really, really, really don't want to be the face of their brand. Well, no worries, because that's exactly why we created a year. Your shortcut to creating consistent content that resonates with your audience and brings more loyal customers who can't wait to buy your products. If you want to see how easy this is and how easy it is to create content for your audience and your customers, head to www.A Year of Content.com. they also know that they need to be known for a hero Product or a strategy, right? Or hero product strategies. So knowing what sells best and not making everything. So I asked my student that gave me the million dollar update. I said, what? What did you do? Like, what did you do to get to 1 million? Did you just do E commerce and Etsy or did you expand? And she said, we've done a lot. She actually said, we stopped Etsy three years ago and switched to Shopify. We opened a brick and mortar about 15 months ago, built a team that's probably a little too large at 22 people. She said, lots of mindset work, worked with a couple different partners and learned a little from each partner. And they actually are really working on their numbers. So they like a finance team. And she said, I've learned a lot about product development and streamlining systems and keeping them accountable. So she's like, it's been a few years of a lot of work and I still do a lot. But you were the first people who told me that I could do it, which means the world to me. So it's not about just hoping and praying, strategy. It's about strategy and doing stuff right, Stopping to do certain things the way you used to do them, doing new things in new ways, getting the help and support where you need it. So remember we talked about multiple sales engines, having a hero product strategy. So whether it's what sells best, what you want to be known for, not making everything. She did the same thing. She focused in even though she's jewelry and a collection of jewelry, she knew what her bestsellers were and that's really what drove a lot of her business. The other thing that she did that you will want to do to get to this model is that you want to have your stuff priced for profit. We need to price your products. That includes labor and cost of goods and all the things. And we're pricing for profit because otherwise if you're not charging enough, you're not going to be able to support the growth you want to take. Another section of this is visibility. How are you going to get in front of more customers without relying on ads? Because you don't have a ton of cash for ads. So how are we going to get more partnerships and more organic visibility? That is the top of the system of getting people into knowing about your business. And then I think it doesn't have to be now, but you just, I'm planting this seed. You have to know that you just can't do it all yourself. You don't need to do it all yourself and you can keep the parts that you love about your business. If you love the ideation and the creation, you can keep doing that. But do you have to manufacture every single thing in your business? You have to make every single thing with your own two hands? No. You can hire other hands to do it. You can automate some of it. You can have machines do some of it. People always say like, oh, I'm a handmade clothing company. Hand clothing is handmade. Just depends on whose hands, right? Hands are sewing them, hands are cutting them, hands are laying out fabric, hands are attaching buttons. There it is still handmade. It just depends on whose hands are talking about. So if you're stuck in this kind of messy middle of what you maybe want it to be, you do want a real business, but you haven't been able to fully get your head wrapped around what it will take. I wanted to share that with you because the thing here is that it's going to be really hard for you to hit your first six figures, multi six figures, your first million. And beyond that, if you're stuck making every single product and doing every single thing and shipping every single thing in your business, they're really hard. And there's a smarter way to do it. So I just want you to start thinking about these three shifts, okay? These are three shifts that I think you can take to scale from the maker mindset to realizing you can be a million dollar brand and still be a handmade company. One kind of wants you to stop thinking like a maker and start thinking like a CEO. Your business is going to grow when you start treating it like a business and not like a hobby. Okay? So if you're serious about this, I want you to start to treat your business like a CEO or like a CEO and start thinking like a CEO or like the boss of your business, as we say, and treat it like a business and not a hobby. The second thing is that I want you to think what kind of sales engine you can build to run without you. Because if you stopped working for a week, would your sales disappear? Because if you don't have a business, right, if your business can't work without you, then you actually have a job and we're kind of the worst bosses ever to ourselves, am I right? So I want you to figure out how can you build a sales engine that runs without you. You can still do Etsy, you can still sell it in person markets, you can still do things the way that you're doing them. But do you have a system to run without you? Is there Something that makes sales while you sleep. That's what my students learn, right? Whether they're learning E Com and they have their own website and it's selling in the middle of the night, other people can buy from them, whether they're selling on Amazon, whether they're selling wholesale and people are in stores. You could be on vacation with your family while someone walks into a store and buys product from a retailer. So you gotta think, do you have that sales engine? And the third part is your visibility is more important than you making in your production. So this is a hard one. And I know that you all, a lot of you, not you all, but a lot of you prefer to make than to market. And you can't spell market without make. It's a marketer without make. But you gotta, you gotta market. I don't know, none of it makes sense. But listen, you don't need more products right now. You need to get the products you have in front of more people. That is what you have to do. You do not need more products. You need to get your products in front of more people. So if you're listening to this and you're like, okay, this sounds great, but how do I do that? Right? Then the step here is you gotta take the first next step. You're listening to this podcast, perhaps you're hearing this. And there's a program that you want to work in with me, right? One of my programs or my courses. You get a coach, you figure out how to do this, you coach with me, whatever it is. But you got to think about what your path is. And I think the first part is the mindset part of it. I think that first part is you saying, I can have a million dollar business. It is possible. I might not know how to do it yet, but. But I will figure it out. Just one step in front of the other and you will be blown away. And if you don't want the million dollar business for whatever fear be like, I can have a business beyond my wildest dreams. Whatever that number is for you, a hundred thousand dollar business, half million dollar business, ten million, a hundred million, whatever that number is, that's your special. That's your number. And when you listen to the show, I'm going to play with stretching the number for you or stretching the possibility and the endless possibilities for you so that you know that anything is possible. Anything is possible. And you just have to take your steps towards it. Okay, I hope this episode was inspiring. And share it with someone. If you know someone that has a really great idea and you're like, I just really want them to feel inspired to that this is possible for them too. Go ahead and share the episode. Make sure you're following the show. Do you get a chance? Please leave a review. That would be so awesome of you. I would be so grateful and I will talk to you on the next one.