Cottage Industry
- Thread starter Ah_Tibor
- Start date
Leaf Lard / 1 or 2 Pounds | Etsy
Easy to use in 1# vacuum packed pouches (theres 2 cups per one pound package). Look at our other listings for larger quantities.
No experience, but you can sell literally anything on Etsy, as linked above. It might be a good place to start. (Of course I'm bracing myself for someone to tell me that it's just as politically troublesome as Amazon or eBay has been lately - I hope not.)
Oh, I see. Something with low overhead like a food truck is always good (or maybe just rent a small area of a building so it's a stand - although both have drawbacks). I don't know how your state is, but in my last one (Wisconsin) food trucks got a bad rap because they were never given food sanitation inspections like the nailed-down places were.
I know someone who opened up a pretty successful taco stand next to a hair salon. From-scratch ingredients, and he liked that he was able to maximize efficiency with a skeleton crew of about four people and a small kitchen.
I've always liked the idea of having a side Etsy store for a second stream of income, although it would probably have to be something that didn't urgently need to be sold as you're beginning, so the place can get off the ground (probably home canned stuff like preserves or citrus curd).
I know someone who opened up a pretty successful taco stand next to a hair salon. From-scratch ingredients, and he liked that he was able to maximize efficiency with a skeleton crew of about four people and a small kitchen.
I've always liked the idea of having a side Etsy store for a second stream of income, although it would probably have to be something that didn't urgently need to be sold as you're beginning, so the place can get off the ground (probably home canned stuff like preserves or citrus curd).
I made and sold cloth diapers from my home for several years.
I have also solo-operated a small bakery for a few years, though not from my house.
But I think baking would be one of the better home-based options for food-production, as far as how complicated/expensive it is to obtain the appropriate licenses, permits, etc. Baking uses a much smaller array of equipment than a full kitchen and requires a lot less refrigeration.
I recall seeing something about new provisions being floated since "the pandemic" to make it easier for people to operate small home-based commercial kitchens, but have not followed up on that.
The biggest issue is the requirement for separate space and equipment for personal vs. business use. As things stand, at least where I am, if you do not have two separate kitchens, the health department will shut you down for anything more than bake-sale/word-of-mouth selling to friends and family, etc.
I have also solo-operated a small bakery for a few years, though not from my house.
But I think baking would be one of the better home-based options for food-production, as far as how complicated/expensive it is to obtain the appropriate licenses, permits, etc. Baking uses a much smaller array of equipment than a full kitchen and requires a lot less refrigeration.
I recall seeing something about new provisions being floated since "the pandemic" to make it easier for people to operate small home-based commercial kitchens, but have not followed up on that.
The biggest issue is the requirement for separate space and equipment for personal vs. business use. As things stand, at least where I am, if you do not have two separate kitchens, the health department will shut you down for anything more than bake-sale/word-of-mouth selling to friends and family, etc.
This is the same where I am in Canada though my neighbour runs one remarkably boldly out of his basement apartment for the past year - I think the COVID police are slower getting around to shut things down. He advertises on the neighbourhood Facebook page all the time. Makes decent sales - slow days there are 4-5 cars picking things up... he does delivery too. That said, the man is remarkably focused ONLY on his bakery, no kids, and works with his "lady-friend". I'm also pretty confident his start up has been funded by pandemic-pay from the government. I'm not sure how manageable it would be to do out of your house and turn a big profit if you've got kiddos running underfoot either but piece a few things together and it might be viable!
His bakery is certainly not inspected and I've heard of others getting shut down so tread carefully. If your state/province is less heavy-handed, you might fare ok!
That's so awesome! Lol. I'm a big fan of cloth. Not sure where the hatred comes in, but some people act like you're doing something wrong.
Good ones last pretty much forever, too. My sister-in-law's sister gave me some that lasted through two kids and are only now starting to show wear.
Some people do unofficial word-of-mouth businesses, which seems to be more common in places like NYC (hey this lady makes empanadas, go to her apartment between 6-8 on a Tuesday). I did some of this as a teen but it was pretty specialized.
The seamstress we used for our wedding did alterations from her house like that. She was so good! She collected notions and literally the first lace applique she tried for my dress worked perfectly, too.
I dunno. I know things are possible, just looking for stories lol
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I run a small Etsy shop and also do sewing alterations on the side of my regular job. Neither are serious income streams, and my shop isn’t big enough to get taxed, but a little extra money under the table always helps. I like that I can also do them pretty much anywhere. The Etsy shop could be a bigger money maker if I put in more time.
My dad runs a very successful antiques and memorabilia resale business. He scouts estate sales and auctions to find cool stuff and then rents space in antique co-ops to resell to the target market. He does well on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist as well.
My husband as well runs a motorcycle repair business out of our home part-time. I’m a big fan of monetizing any marketable skill you have.
I like the homemade baked goods idea, but I feel it could get tricky with the appropriate permits and ingredient transparency that food production requires. Depends where you live, etc.
I would recommend whatever route you take, when you’re just getting started, be sure to have friends try your services/products and leave public reviews or positive word of mouth referrals. And get business cards and a cheap web page. Once the general public sees some positive feedback, things will begin to take off.
My dad runs a very successful antiques and memorabilia resale business. He scouts estate sales and auctions to find cool stuff and then rents space in antique co-ops to resell to the target market. He does well on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist as well.
My husband as well runs a motorcycle repair business out of our home part-time. I’m a big fan of monetizing any marketable skill you have.
I like the homemade baked goods idea, but I feel it could get tricky with the appropriate permits and ingredient transparency that food production requires. Depends where you live, etc.
I would recommend whatever route you take, when you’re just getting started, be sure to have friends try your services/products and leave public reviews or positive word of mouth referrals. And get business cards and a cheap web page. Once the general public sees some positive feedback, things will begin to take off.
I thought about making a small business out of my love for knitting and crocheting. My main problem is that I don't think people will be willing to pay $$$ if I price based on an hourly wage. For example, a beautiful, hand-made baby blanket takes me ~30 hours to crochet using a specific pattern. But how much are people willing to pay for that when a) it's only useful for a year and b) they can buy one at the store for wayyy less. I guess the profit would be in smaller items, such as hats or seasonal decor, which take less time and can be sold for a good profit. For example, i have a favorite hat pattern that only takes me an hour to make and uses one skein of yarn.
I made a skufia type hat for my brother's friend and he was all like "you should sell these!" and still wears it 10+ years later (he also never paid me and I just let it go)
I sewed a bit as a teenager and made things like shorts and skirts, but the time sink (also I didn't have anywhere to leave things out, my cats would destroy it) often didn't make it worth it to me at the time.
I've been wanting to make a t-shirt quilt with my old camp shirts for awhile. Easy project. Haven't done it. People do stuff like "send me your shirts and I'll make it" though
People are so used to fast mass-produced fashion, they have no idea what goes into a lovingly hand made item with top quality material.
I tell people up front, if you’re looking to get some kind of deal or save money by commissioning a custom made wedding dress, curtains, etc go elsewhere because you are paying for my time and skill and there is no cutting corners in real handcrafted items.
The T-shirt quilts are “easy” because they are straight right angle stitches, but it is more time consuming than you could imagine. Especially if you put a true backing on it and use some type of interfacing or batting inside for shape.
I’ve done a couple of tshirt quilts and now I pretty much refuse to have people just send me a bag of shirts anymore. They can spend their time cutting the 12” x 12” squares and deciding what goes where because that part takes hours. If my customers paid me full price for that, they are looking at a $200+ “easy” quilt.
I was thinking of putting a fleece backing on it. Somebody told me that using a rotary cutter makes it easier.
I have time when my son naps in the afternoon so I'm looking for some projects to do
After I bought a sturdy rotary cutter, cutting mat, and a big pack of generic blades, I basically never cared about losing my scissors again. I don't understand why they are not more commonly used/recommended.I was thinking of putting a fleece backing on it. Somebody told me that using a rotary cutter makes it easier.
I have time when my son naps in the afternoon so I'm looking for some projects to do
For assembly-line-style production you can cut pattern piece templates from stiff plastic, press down over several layers of fabric, and zip around to cut out multiple pieces at the same time.
They don’t. Back when I was a member of Ravelry there was an amusing thread on what constituted a “knit worthy” recipient. One person got wrangled into knitting a throw for a co-worker. They told the co-worker to buy the yarn she wanted. Co-worker bought one skein assuming it’d make the whole blanket. I still laugh about it. After learning just how much yarn it would take the co-worker decided she didn’t need that blanket after all.
We have ladies at church who are known for their delicious baked goods such as lumpia, baklava, and koliva, etc. They "sell" them to raise money for our church at our special events. I'm sure with that kind of exposure they would do well on the "outside" if they wanted. Getting known that way is a good start.
It seems I may be your target market.
I don't see any point in buying mass-produced items, as
- they support large corporations who are against us
- they create an atomised employee economy who don't care for their work
- such goods often loose most/all of their value as soon as they leave the shop
I'd ideally like to buy things that are made by women at home as hobbies, while they raise their children, and the husband is away. I'd also like these thinks to retain both money and sentimental value. A lot of this stuff will end up in the attic and one day bring a lot of memories. Back. Such handmade items are more valuable in this regard.
I've bought goods on Etsy a few times. On two occasions they were listed as handmade. On both occasions I later found the items were,
- a cheap item mass-produced in China
- an item that was sold by numerous other outlets, for as little as 50% of the price
In these two cases, these women were just buying items, and attaching some personalised message to the item. In the latter case they had about 17,000 reviews; all for grossly marked up items they put a personalised message on.
There is a market for people who want high-quality, hand-made goods and will pay for them. I can't say specifically for a blanket, but 30 * $15 = $450 does not sound outrageous. This is the sort of money I would expect to pay for something made by hand.
Somethine that has more use than a year would probably be better.
As an example, these baubles made by a woman for Kazakhstan
Christmas ornaments Xmas balls handmade in gift box by DOMHOME
You searched for: DOMHOME! Discover the unique items that DOMHOME creates. At Etsy, we pride ourselves on our global community of sellers. Each Etsy seller helps contribute to a global marketplace of creative goods. By supporting DOMHOME, you’re supporting a small business, and, in turn, Etsy!
And there are people selling babels for quite a lot more. I consider those to be cheap, especially for the quality.
And if you do buy anything from there - do you research.