Does anyone actually make a living from their own business?

[Moomoola]

I’ve a background in print and design, I’d like to sell my own gifts etc, like everyone else in Britain. Dp is very disparaging, but surely it can be done? I’d ideally like to take home £20 k a year, which seems enormous amounts. It just seems if I’m going to work 37 hrs a week for someone else, for this or less, I could do that for me? Of course I need to perused Dp and myself it’s possible. Obv some people make a mint ( most everyone on you tube it seems ) and some people won’t. So guess I’m asking for reassurance ( or not) and some tips , mainly on mindset as I seem to be too nervous of failing and Dp will be disappointed/ pissed off. Ta!

DelilahBucket not all businesses are suffering.
I have had my current business for five years ( although self employed for the past 20).
Covid saw an upturn to my sales, and has remained buoyant.
I have a range of 80 products. and sell 1000 items a month.

I work with a lot of start ups OP and like you I initially had a background in design. I did work in that field for a while but it was low pay/ high effort.

I re-trained as I was good at strategy and figuring out problems (design thinking) and I did an MBA, now I work with busineses that have growth ambition and need strategy help. I charge £500 a day with clients I work with. I dont work every day so I don't bill that each day but generally its a good business - I pick & choose.

If I was you I would probably not do what you are proposing -its too much focussed on low value/ individual sell and hinges on social media selling which is really difficult to master unless you were an early entrant.

What I would think about:

1. Retraining if you wanted to - focus on Digital Skills if that floated your boat - SEO, PPC etc. Well paid.
2. If you wanted to keep on the design thing I would do wedding design - stationery, invites etc. Its a permanent high spend market with high transaction cost and high margin. Its not a repeat cusomer and the marketing requires some social but less than product. You can easily reach your customer base via wedding fairs etc. Big audience.
3. If you wanted to move out of the design thing I'd also look around the wellness sectors - Massage, counselling, nutritionals, etc. Big growth. Yoga & medidation are still growth sectors esp with reach of zoom etc.

Lots to think about.

@speakout I didn't say all businesses are suffering, but I know the category the OP wants to be involved in and I know that it isn't a great industry for business owners. In case you hadn't noticed there's ordinary people struggling to pay their bills who would normally have plenty of disposable income.

You telling me how many items you sell could literally mean anything without context. For all I know you could be earning the equivalent of £2 an hour. Or you could be selling 1000 50p items a month that people can afford to buy. Or you could be selling essential items. Or you could have had a seriously reduced range pre-covid, your boom period enabled you to invest in x, y, z and now you are able to continue trading at a much higher level than three years ago, when your business was still in its infancy. I am trading at a far higher level than three years ago thanks to expansion, but it doesn't mean business is brilliant. Totally depends on your marker for what is good doesn't it?!

DelilahBucket I only mention volume because another poster did.
Surely we all have the same marker at the end of the day.
For what it is worth my take home income after tax is £20 an hour.
I work full time.

@ThisisMax I've been wondering if a strategist is something I'd benefit from. Currently doing everything myself as a sole trader and using freelancers where it makes sense. Doing well but I feel like I can never take my foot off the gas and I'm going to coast unless I make changes. I believe there is huge growth potential, I just don't know how to get there. Is that something you help other business with? If so, please could you pm your website (if you don't mind!). I've read a few of your replies in the past and you always seem to hit the mark Thanks. And sorry for the slight derailment.

I am wary about business strategists.
I mean if they were that clued up they would running a multi million pound business, not giving business advice to others.

A lot depends on luck & contacts.

Someone mentioned Gymshark but you don't go from sewing a hoody yourself to huge production in China without serious backers.

Or it could depend on enthusiasm and hard work.
I don't consider that lucky, and I needed no contacts to set up my business

Are people talking about those invites etc you see on Etsy? I order things like that.

@speakout sorry are you saying your business is as big as Gymshark?

Etsy is very popular, I buy myself too. Great for buyers, not so good for sellers. Etsy marketplace is crowded, a lot of competition from other sole traders.

I set my my own business (12+ years ago). Between DH and I we took home over £100k last year, and we have a small number of employees. Has been bloody hard work and we have had some financially precarious times.

My brother set up a business (maybe 7 years ago), don't know what he makes but his lifestyle is very comfortable, pretty sure he's doing significantly better than us.

My brother in law has set up 3 businesses and made a few million.

Of course people do it. My three examples above are in IT and financial services. Another brother is a dentist and makes good money from his practise.

I don't think most people on Etsy are making a full time living from it (I may be wrong). Some probably are though.

I run my own business, I'm an artist and sell my paintings and I'm a self employed gardener.

These last two years have been horrendous trying to sell anything. Thank god for the gardening, I work for a lot of millionaires and the work I do hasn't been affected by Covid or the cost of living crisis.

Great to hear of your success- very inspiring.
I do think that some people on Etsy are making a good profit.
I often buy there-some of the sellers have huge shops, and salesfeedback by item of tens of thousands.
I imagine that many on etsy are making a good living wage.
Many will flounder and fall, but others will be runaway sucesses.

Have you traded so far? Submitted a tax return? Do you have written out any figures?

500 a month to get £60k per year sales
60k / 12 mths / 500 = each product £10.

What are your costs and expenses?

What would your Net profit be?

My best friend makes wedding cards, boxes, etc. for years. she hasn't made any real profits so far.

Yes, I make a full time living and have done for around 15 years. It can be done but it takes a lot of work in the beginning.

@speakout I can see that POV, I've thought that myself about those dropshipping and T-shirt printing gurus on YouTube. You make $10,000 a month but write, film, edit, post and promote 3 or 4 videos a week lol? Okaaaaaay 😬.

BUT the worst thing I've found about having a business (especially this last one which went from 0-60 super quickly) is not having a sounding board and someone to talk things through with. Too complicated for my family, too 'boring' for my friends. I can see how spending some money might be worth it if it gives me a clear path forward, and having a clear path forward is massively motivating to me.

OP start as a side hustle. Test out different approaches until you find your streak of customers. My first business was in craft and design - my favourite items never sold! But I made a very good living when I tapped into the right market. I've run several businesses since. The key is to find and understand your niche. Get that right and profits can explode. Test first always. And that's so much easier with online platforms. You don't need to make the product, just put up pictures of prototypes, with a 'sold out' sign if someone tries to buy it. Don't bother asking friends what they think, do 'real' test trading where people can click a buy button.

Why could you not start small and local, perhaps use Facebook/ Instagram to market yourself, if you work, maybe drop a day to focus on it.

If Etsy charge high fees perhaps spend some money on a good website.

This won't have the reach of Etsy and the like of course but you will see if there is any demand and iron out wrinkles.

Kerrangutan

I so relate to the challenges of working alone.
Yes my family don't want to be subjected to my business decisions, and yes too boring for friends.
We carry a lot of responsibilty when we work alone, striding out into the dark, thinking on the hoof, especially if we don't have education or experience.
I often joke to my OH that I am having a business strategy meeting with myself in the bath, and my christmas work party out is me with a pack of pringles and a movie.
As much as I lack support or a team, or have a sounding board, the flip side is at I don't have to compromise, justify my ideas, I can develop in the way I want to that feels right to me.
That freedom far outweighs the constraints I would have working with others or working in an organisation.
Lonely- at times yes- but feedom to run my business as I see fit is a huge advantage.

ControlMeasures do you run a business?
Not all market opportunities are local. I don't sell locally, and I am not on facebook.

Figure out how many of whatever it is you make that you'd need to sell to make your £20k profit then add on more for tax etc.

Do you know how to reach that number of sales? What cut the platforms take? The cost of manufacture, cost of sale & marketing.

Work it backwards and cost out everything- every tiny cost. And your hourly rate for doing it.

Things you love doing can either become a joy or a drain once you realise how much or how little you're being paid for your time.

My business is a service so it's slightly different but I never regret starting it.

I do this and I have actually started 3 Businesses myself and helped others to exit.
I now work for an organisation that does Business mentoring. I could do it on my own, I did for 15 years but now I work PT for a full time salary and my stress levels are zero. It also means I have time to do pro bono work and don’t have to try and get clients so I can focus purely on what I love, which is helping Business people

I couldn’t do what I did if I hadn’t run my own businesses and I certainly wouldn’t presume to tell anyone else how to do it if I hadn’t done it myself. A lot of people who claim to be Business coaches have either never run a Business or weren’t successful at it.

And a lot of my work is actually being a sounding board for Business people, I have no skin in the game as I want them to be successful and that’s it, there is no politics for me unlike their colleagues or partners

I get my buzz from solving other peoples problems. Thats my business. Im not interested in running a business that produces a product or being the next big thing. I help other businesses to be the next big thing or solve difficult problems like improving margin with less staffing, delivering measurable metrics where there were none before. I dont sit at home wishing I was Elon Musk. I think you misunderstand what business strategists do. Theres a whole industry supporting businessss to get better run by people who get turned on by finding a path through problems. I hope that helps you understand better.