Ready to start a business in 2021 and take your future into your own hands?
Whether you were part of the massive layoffs during the Covid pandemic or you have just held a long-time entrepreneurial spirit, it is always the right time to start a business.
It's not easy to build a business from scratch.
So many mental blocks can pop up along the way.
How do I start a business?
What business should I even create?
What if I fail?
Do any of those sound familiar?
Worry about not knowing what to do, how to do it, and whether you’ll fail … these stop so many people from starting.
Don't let that be you.
Are you ready to start your own business in 2021? Here are 17 quick tips to help you find the right small business idea and open shop immediately!
1. Seek out opportunities.
Start each day with an open mind, and your eyes peeled for opportunities around every corner. If you know you want to start a business, but really have no idea just what to start, look for inspiration in your normal day. What questions keep popping up in your circle of friends? Is there a repeat request for help within your Facebook communities? Do people constantly go to you for certain pieces of advice or perhaps for a favorite recipe of yours? What pain points do you have during your daily routine (chores, work, family life)? Ultimately, what problem can you help solve, and how can you make people’s lives better?
2. If you can’t wait to get started, you’re on to something.
I know I have found something exciting when I sit down and buy a new domain name within hours of inspiration striking. [Now, it's also led me to start too many different ventures without focusing or finishing a single one (shiny object syndrome) so I don't necessarily recommend binge-purchasing web domains. But if you do, NameCheap is easy and as cheap as they say!]
3. Start small.
The excitement around starting a business often charges new entrepreneurs with energy to launch and scale quickly. It can be tempting to think you have to generate a massive launch. People try to build their new business into a massive launch, but this is a mistake.
Start as small as possible, giving a minimum viable product to a few friends, and let them test it out. Then share your product or course with a few more people.
When you try to do something massive at launch, you make it less likely that you’ll actually start. You will likely take forever to launch, and you could be building yourself up for failure.
Don't spend so much time trying to have a huge launch before even testing your target audience for feedback!
Launch is just one moment in the lifespan of a business, and it’s not even one of the most important moments. So let yourself start small with your new business idea.
4. Not starting is the biggest mistake.
What is the worst case scenario if your business venture fails? If you're starting small and following your passion, even a “failure” won't be that bad. Worst case scenario, you have some inventory and tools around for a hobby you are passionate about anyway.
If you start a home-based small bakery business and it does not go well, at least you got to bake, eat and share some sweet treats with friends and loved ones.
Meanwhile, you are learning about what does and does not work for you and your business. You can always start something new after that.
In fact, this scenario of learning something and having fun along the way, even “failure”, is demonstrably better than if you do not start at all.
5. Start a blog.
The best way to market a business is by giving away free information. Show that you’re valuable, help people for free, and they’ll want more from you.
You don't have to be the best writer in the world. You don't need to get fancy or hire a web designer. Just simply write about what you know and how you, your company, product or service helps people.
Share advice, ideas, tips and tricks relevant to your small business niche and you will be building credibility as an expert in your field, which will reflect back on your product or service.
6. Don’t get overwhelmed with social media marketing or paid advertisements.
Pick just one platform that your ideal customer uses and that you are comfortable learning, and focus on organic growth. At the earliest states, you can even skip social media altogether so you can focus your time and energy on delivering quality content for your new blog.
Many businesses are perfectly successful without being on Facebook and Instagram – and some never even build websites. Don't add more on your plate before you are ready to handle it.
7. Be incredibly valuable.
Build something great, and word of mouth will be all the marketing you need. Many of the viral blogs that get shared are entirely based on readers loving the content and passing along to their friends who also need the information. Overdeliver. By giving value first without any ask or sales pitch, your audience will love you and start ASKING how they can pay you for the next steps.
8. Start lean.
Start a small business with zero money by finding free or cheap services to start with.
Only after you start making some revenue should you pay for upgrades and extra tools.
Focus on monetization and making money as soon as possible by selling something valuable.
9. Avoid spammy advertising models.
If you are starting a new blog and covering it with advertisements it can make your website look cheap and spammy before your readers get a chance to know you.
There are tasteful and tactful ways to add affiliate links to software and services you truly recommend as helpful, valuable additions to your customers.
An obscene amount of random AdSense adds will scare off traffic before you even have much of it.
10. Forget about numbers.
More specifically, forget about hitting certain targets. A million page views, ten thousand subscribers, half a million in revenues. Those are meaningless and arbitrary.
Instead, worry about how much you’re helping your customers. How much value are you giving them? How can you solve their problems?
By focusing on the why, the milestone metrics will follow suit naturally.
11. Appreciate every small win.
Often, entrepreneurs hold ourselves to extremely high standards. We set goals to achieve, and visualize the day that our life will be a daydream because of all the hard work we are putting in now.
Then, you reach the goal and realize things may not be all that different around you, and there's a new goal in store. It becomes a situation like running a marathon and having the finish line backed further away each time you have it in sight.
The joy doesn’t come when you hit the goal, or have an amazing launch. The joy comes right now. This is the moment of greatness, of satisfaction with yourself and what you’re doing. Not later.
12. Done is better than perfect.
Let yourself “launch” before your business feels “ready”.
Too many new entrepreneurs take so much pride in our projects that we take forever to even share with the world.
If your service can help someone today – before graphics are perfect – then launch now, beautify later.
13. Don't get hung up on your original business plan.
Planning, like perfection, can stand in our way.
As a business strategy coach, I am a big advocate of business planning, but I always remind female entrepreneurs that adaptability and flexibility are key when it comes to starting a new business.
Instead, experiment. Get started. Do. Then see what happens, and adjust.
The best decisions are made when there is data to analyze, but for a new start-up business we don't have data, so we just have to jump into the deep end.
14. Start a small business at home.
You don’t need an office for most businesses. Even a bakery doesn’t need a retail front at first.
Start a free side-hustle or freelancing gig in your spare time. Let your first customers be your friends, and find ones you trust for honest feedback and constructive criticism.
Then let them spread the word to their friends. That’s a Zero-Spend Launch.
15. Focus on important things.
Don't drown in a daily “to-do” list. When you start a small business as a solopreneur, time is your most valuable resource.
Instead of handling dozens of little tasks that don't move the needle, create a focused list of three Most Important Tasks “MITs” that must get done that day. If you could only get three things done in the entire day that actually felt like business progress, which would they be?
16. Find entrepreneur communities.
Entrepreneurship is hard, and can be lonely when friends and family don't understand.
Find communities of like-minded, creative and energetic female entrepreneurs like yourself to network with and stay inspired by.
Look for networking events in your city, and also check out some quickly growing Facebook and Clubhouse groups. Thanks to technology, we have so many options to connect globally now!
17. Learn to be OK with not knowing.
You won’t know what will happen with your business. None of us can tell the future – and if you can, you probably have no need for this article.
Have a plan, have a roadmap, but remain open-minded to change and allow yourself to expect the unexpected daily. Never put all your eggs in one basket so that whatever life throws you next, you are ready and able to pivot and diversify your offerings.
Feeling inspired? Ready to start your small business now? What niche are you considering entering into? Pin the image then tell me below so I can cheer you along!
A beginners guide answering all your questions about how to sell on Etsy in 2021. Even as a brand new Etsy shop owner, you can build a successful online business through the Etsy marketplace.
What is Etsy?
Etsy is a global online marketplace where sellers can sell handmade goods, vintage items, and craft supplies. If you are looking for an unusual handmade gift, or love everything vintage, Etsy is the place you’ll find it. If you are an artist or an avid collector of unusual items, you can list your treasures for sale on Etsy and run your own business.
Etsy is not the only e-commerce site that you can use to sell your goods, though it has quickly become one of the most globally well-known.
In fact, there are currently more than 100 online marketplaces people use to entice consumers to buy from them. Each platform has its own benefits and drawbacks.
Other e-commerce sites include Facebook Marketplace, Shopify, EBay, Walmart, Target and behemoths like Amazon and Alibaba. Of course, you could also build your own website for e-commerce purposes. That is a great option for long-term success, but takes more time, money and strategy to launch.
Why would you sell on Etsy? Well, the size of this marketplace is nothing to scoff at. According to Statista, there were more than 2.5 million sellers on Etsy on the last count. Additionally, the platform had a whopping 39.4 million buyers worldwide.
A truly global marketplace, Etsy has sellers from 234 countries. Most of them are from the United States (62%) as of June 2019 and 13% are from the UK.
The company is growing
Etsy has seen phenomenal growth since its founding in June 2005 by founders Rob Kalin, Chris Maguire, Jared Tarbell, and Haim Schoppik. Ten years after the company’s founding, in April 2015, Etsy became a publicly traded company. They traded on the NYSE at a valuation in excess of $3.5 billion while raising more than $287 million. At the time of this article, Etsy is valued at $2 billion.
Etsy supports sellers with TV ads
Etsy recently launched the ‘’Stand with Small campaign’’, which reminds buyers that by shopping on Etsy they are supporting someone’s small business. Shopping small supports creative entrepreneurs at a time when they could be struggling to make ends meet.
Etsy’s latest campaign ‘’Always Open’’, features actual Etsy sellers from around the world and the unusual items they create.
Etsy sellers can be very successful
It’s possible to run a very successful business on the Etsy platform. Some sellers have managed to make serious money with their shops. Others have been able to grow their Etsy shops into profitable full-time businesses. Two outstanding success stories are Three Bird Nest and Bohemian Findings.
Alicia Shaffer, famously referred to as Etsy’s richest seller, attributes her success to how she presented her products photographically. She styles every product with accessories to make sure it is presented to its best potential. Her shop, Three Bird Nest, raked in almost $1 million on Etsy in 2015. She has since opened her own website where she hosts her shop.
Bohemian Findings sells charms and beads on Etsy and is one of the site’s most successful stores. Bohemian Findings sells everything you need to make jewelry. Many of their customers happen to be other Etsy sellers who make and sell jewelry. What a clever business providing what other Etsy shop owners need!
Bohemian Findings has also since launched its own ecommerce site. At one point they were receiving an unbelievable 500 orders a day on Etsy!
It’s easy to start a shop on Etsy
Opening a shop on Etsy is simple and affordable. It’s an ideal e-commerce platform for small-scale businesses that focus on a niche market.
To start your own store, simply create an Etsy account, set your shop location and currency (based on where you are in the world).
Then you name your shop and create your first listing.
You will also have to set up a preferred payment method for how you will accept payments and a billing method to pay listing fees.
From there, starting an Etsy store is as simple as uploading your first listing. You can have your own shop within an hour of reading this post!
Benefits of selling on Etsy
The upfront cost to start up is low. Opening an account is free. To start listing items, you will be charged a listing fee of $0.20 for each item posted for sale. [Pro Tip: Use a referral link like mine to open your shop to get 40 free listings!]
Technically, this makes it 100% free to open a shop and list your first 40 items. By using Etsy as your launch platform, you can start building your brand and your customer base with no expense. Yes, there are other Etsy fees (discussed below,) but those are paid after a sale is made. This means they can be paid out of your sales revenue.
Another benefit about starting an Etsy shop is the speed and ease to launch a new store. You can go from concept to Etsy seller overnight. All you need is your branding and a few photos to make your first product listings.
Additionally, the Etsy marketplace provides immediate traffic and a large consumer base ready to buy. Because consumers already know about these websites, you can make sales without spending a penny on your own marketing.
Etsy is filled with customers actively looking for shops to spend money on handmade goods. New sellers benefit and do not have to spend money on advertising and building awareness. If you try to sell on your own independent website, you'd have higher additional marketing costs to find and drive traffic to your business.
Start a Business From Home
Of course, my favorite benefit? Running a business on Etsy also allows you to work from the comfort of your home. In these challenging times, that is the best possible situation to be in. It allows flexibility of schedule regardless of whether it's a side hustle or your own means of income.
Even better? You can make Etsy a family affair and teach your kids about money and business savvy in a fun way!
How Etsy has Changed Over Time
Etsy started out as a platform in 2005 where people who love making handcrafted goods could sell their products to people who were looking for and love to buy exclusively handmade goods. A lot has changed since those early days.
Exclusively Handmade to Manufactured Products
In 2013, Etsy changed its Terms of Service. Now, sellers can offer manufactured goods as well, not only handcrafted goods. While this expanded selling opportunities, it also commercialized a platform that had been dedicated solely to creative entrepreneurs.
At the time, many original handcraft sellers threatened to leave the platform. However, membership numbers didn’t drop significantly because Etsy was still a valuable platform for sellers to make money online.
According to Statista, Etsy had over 2.5 million sellers at the end of 2019. That number has continued to grow annually.
Increased Etsy Seller Fees
In 2018, Etsy increased its transaction fee for sellers from 3.5% to 5.0%. Once a product is sold, Etsy now takes a 5.0% cut of the revenue paid. This includes 5% of any shipping cost paid by the customer.
Additionally, the company announced in February 2020 that it would advertise seller’s goods on the internet for free. Though it sounds great, there’s a catch.
Etsy collects a fee of 12% – 15% from each sale that results because of their advertisements. For instance, if Etsy's advertising lands your product on Google search and a consumer buys through that channel, Etsy collects the additional fees.
Small sellers pay the higher fee of 15%, but they are also able to choose to opt-out of the advertisements. It results in less traffic, but also reduces the fees paid for the sales you do make. It is a business decision to weigh as you start your Etsy shop.
However, Etsy’s top sellers – those making $10,000 per year or more – do not have the option. They will be automatically enrolled in the program, and will be charged 12% on sales that result from an Etsy ad.
Sellers are highly encouraged to offer free shipping in their shops. Shipping prices can be set per product or for the shop as a whole.
Etsy has made it clear that they want sellers to offer free shipping for orders over $35. Shops that comply get priority in searches and advertisements. Shops that do not are pushed further down the search which makes it harder to gain traffic and customers.
For many sellers this means raising prices and running the risk of losing sales and customers. Otherwise, sellers absorb the extra cost themselves. Ultimately, if you are not carefully pricing products for profitability, this could cause losses in your Etsy shop.
As a global marketplace, this policy makes it more difficult for sellers to profit from sales to overseas buyers. Unfortunately, for a seller from a place like South Africa, shipping costs overseas can be exorbitant. With many buyers ordering a single item, it’s just not viable for global traders far from the large markets to ship one item and still make money.
Who Can Sell on Etsy?
Etsy is a global online marketplace open to sellers of all types. Anyone can sell their handmade products, vintage goods (at least 20 years old) and crafting supplies. You can be a small business or operating as an individual.
The Seller's Handbook focuses more on describing eligible products than detailing any restrictions on age, country, etc. Note that Etsy may change their policies at any time. They may also hold different policies depending on your country of operation. Make sure to check the guide yourself to confirm you are eligible to open a shop.
What to Sell on Etsy
Handmade/sewn clothes
Customized goods (Grab yourself a Cricut cutting machine and open shop!)
Toiletries and Self Care: Soaps, Oils
Gifts: Christmas ornaments, bridesmaid gifts
Jewelry, Wigs, Accessories
Digital Downloads: SVG files, printables, ebooks, etc.
Stationery, Stickers, Planners, etc.
Home Décor: Wall Signs, Doormats
Houseplants, succulents (Yes, live ones!)
Custom-made cakes, food hampers, vegan chocolate
Phone cases
What You Cannot Sell on Etsy
The following types of items are prohibited or restricted on Etsy:
Alcohol
Tobacco
Drugs
Drug Paraphernalia and Medical Drugs
Animal Products and Human Remains
Dangerous Items: Hazardous Materials, Recalled Items, and Weapons
Hate Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Hatred
Illegal Items
Pornography and Mature Content
Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Violence
Additionally, sellers may not resell handmade items. This means a seller may not list a handmade item that they didn’t design or make themselves.
How to Start an Etsy Shop
It's easy to set up a shop on Etsy. First, you follow the steps to create an Etsy account. If you already have an account as a buyer, you can use the same to open your shop. Then, you will set up your shop preferences. That includes language, country, and currency. Also note whether you will be selling part-time or full-time. Not too much else needs to be done before you are ready to launch.
What you need to start a shop
Starting a shop on Etsy is free. If you are interested in opening a shop to see the backend and learn how it works, you can get started without a credit card. The first fee you pay is when you publish a listing ($0.20 each.)
Next you choose your shop name. This can be tricky, so find some tips here.
After that, you’re ready to stock you shop by adding product listings to your shop. Make sure to take quality photographs (at least 1,000 pixels wide) of your products that show them off at their best. Remember, on Etsy this is the only way to distinguish yourself from the other shop owners on the same page.
Now you that you have set up your shop, you must choose payment and billing methods.
Financial Info Needed for Etsy
To choose how you’ll get paid, you must know if your country is eligible to use Etsy Payments. Etsy Payments gives your buyers different options to pay for their order. Then, they consolidate all the payments for you in your Etsy Payment account.
If you’re in a country is not eligible for Etsy Payments, you can use your PayPal account.
Setting up your billing will depend on the country you’re in. You may need to enter a credit or debit card to open your shop. This could be any of the following cards:
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Discover
Carte Bleue (France)
Once you’ve entered your card details, you are ready to open your shop. Just click ‘’open’’.
The web address to get to your shop will be: https://yourshopname.etsy.com or https://www.etsy.com/shop/yourshopname.
https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook
Comparing Etsy to Other Online Marketplaces
Shopify, Etsy and Facebook Marketplace are all popular choices when you want to start your own online business. They all have their own benefits and drawbacks. Here's a quick comparison.
Etsy vs. Facebook Marketplace
More than 85% of Facebook users reside outside the U.S. and Canada, so it’s a huge global marketplace that reaches many more users than Etsy. That means more buyers than on Etsy.
Most sellers on Etsy source hand-crafted, vintage, collector's items, and craft supplies. Meanwhile, Facebook Marketplace does not restrict what can be bought and sold – even job offers are allowed. However, these days there are a lot of products for sale on Etsy that scarcely warrant the description ‘’hand-crafted’’.
Facebook Marketplace only provides a place for users to buy and sell and doesn’t handle any payments or shipping. This means there is no guarantee of product quality or non-damage or timely delivery, etc.
Facebook Marketplace concentrates on buyers and sellers in you immediate vicinity – within 40 miles usually, but you can choose up to 100 miles. Their platform warns users not to accept seller offers from a greater distance than 100 miles. Because of the physical closeness, there is no shipping involved. Buyers and sellers usually meet in person. That has to happen in a public space or one should take a friend with.
Another drawback of Facebook Marketplace is unlike Etsy, it doesn’t have a review system so buyers can see who the trustworthy sellers are. At the time of this article, this platform also does not allow the sale of digital products, while Etsy does.
Etsy vs. Shopify
Shopify is an ecommerce platform that allows users to create their own online stores. With Shopify you simply build your very own ecommerce website and upload products. These can be your own products, same as you would sell on Etsy, but also would allow you to sell affiliate products or dropshipping items.
With Etsy, you don’t have your own website. Your products are listed alongside those of other sellers on the platform. Originally Etsy distinguished itself as a marketplace for handmade, vintage and craft items, but that has now changed. After 2013, sellers became allowed to sell manufactured goods as well as handmade items.
One of the drawbacks of Etsy is that it is more difficult to create a strong brand image. Your products are listed among other products and can get lost in the crowd unless customers understand that they must enter very specific search terms to find your products. You can’t create a shop with your own branding, but you can have your own logo with your products.
Conversely, on the Shopify platform, you own the website and can customize every aspect. Unlike Etsy, Shopify does have a monthly fee in addition to paid upgrades for many customization options. Therefore, it is not free to get started or as low cost in the long run, unless you grow a large business.
All of these online marketplaces are simple to join and it’s easy to start a business on them.
Etsy vs your own website
How does Etsy compare with starting your own website? Wouldn't it be better to own an independent online store and sell your goods in your own personal space?
Yes, there are definite pros to owning your own ecommerce website. In fact, I always recommend it to business owners. The primary fact to first consider, though, is what stage of business you are in.
When you are just starting out, using a marketplace platform is a valuable way to find your target audience. You can learn what customers are looking for without running up your expenses.
When you build a website, you either need computer skills or the funds to pay someone to design and build it for you. There will also be domain and hosting fees.
[Pro Tip: Grab a free website with Groove while they are still offering them. No monthly fees to have my own shop is exactly how I started building my own website while building my brand on Etsy.]
Even more so, you will need a lot time and skill to spend on SEO to get traction on Google. It can take years for a website to appear on the first page of Google.
Getting a good ranking on Google so people can find you is a tricky business and very time-consuming.
Selling on Multiple Platforms
There is no rule that says you have to stay on just one platform forever. You can even be on multiple platforms at the same time. One trick I use and often recommend to other entrepreneurs is to get started on Etsy immediately, while slowly building your own website on the side.
That way, as you get repeat customers you can start referring them to your own site. This builds your presence and eventually cuts Etsy fees out of the picture.
Etsy Customer Service
Return Policy
Every shop owner on Etsy has a personal policy about refunds, exchanges, and returns. Policies vary from shop to shop.
Buyers are reminded to check a shop’s policies prior to making a purchase. If anything is unclear, customers should contact the seller. Etsy does its best to protect both buyers and sellers, but will lean more towards protecting the buyer if necessary. For that reason, sellers must list their policies as clearly as possible to protect themselves in refund disputes.
Seller Protections
Etsy Seller Protection offers assistance to sellers when there is a dispute between the seller and the buyer.
Good standing means that the shop owner sells qualifying items, ship orders on time, and promptly responds to messages on Etsy
Cancelling a sale
A shop owner can cancel a sale. When that happens, the buyer receives a full refund. There are steps to follow in order to cancel an order. If the buyer paid through Etsy Payments, the platform takes care of the refund. However, if the buyer paid through another method, like PayPal, the seller must refund them through that same channel.
Lost shipping
Etsy doesn't hold sellers responsible for shipping delays or errors, provided the seller can prove that they shipped the item on time to the address on the Etsy receipt.
If the item has a tracking number, the buyer can contact the shipping carrier and open a claim. However, Etsy encourages sellers to consider sending a replacement item or a refund for the order as this can build good customer relationships.
A buyer can open a case with Etsy if they have not received their item. If the seller provides proof that the item was shipped, Etsy will close out the case and the seller will be off the hook.
There are always options to insure packages of value. If you are shipping an expensive item, it may be worthwhile to insure the package at shipping. At that point, if it gets lost for longer than 30 days or more, the seller can refund the customer and afterward file as claim.
Etsy makes a lot of money from fees. The platform generates more than $330 million in revenue from marketplace fees, including listing and transaction fees.
Listing Fee
Etsy charges sellers a listing fee of $0.20 for every product they list for sale in their shop.
If you haven't opened an Etsy shop yet, make sure to ask a friend for their shared link. By using a referral link, you get 40 free listings and the person who referred you also gets 40 free listings!
Here's my Etsy referral link if I've been a good friend or resource as you start your Etsy seller journey! 🙂
Transaction Fee
When you sell an item through your shop on Etsy, Etsy will charge you a transaction fee of 5% of the price of the item.
Shipping transaction fee
The company introduced a shipping transaction fee of 5% on the cost of shipping on July 1, 2018. So, if you sell a product on Etsy, you will pay 5% of the transaction cost plus 5% of the shipping transaction cost. This is also another way Etsy uses to encourage sellers to offer free shipping.
Etsy Ads
You can pay to advertise your shop(s) and products on Etsy. You can access this option through the Advertising Dashboard in Shop Manager. There you can set up a limit for the amount you will pay for advertising your business on Etsy.
Off-site Etsy ad fees
Etsy advertises on behalf of sellers on platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and Google. Sellers who make $10,000 or more per year are automatically included and have to pay 12 % fee on every sale that results because of the advertising undertaken by Etsy.
Shop owners who make less than that, only have to pay 15% fee and they are not obliged to participate, they can opt out.
Etsy Seller FAQ
Is Etsy safe/reliable?
Etsy is a publicly traded company that has been in business for 15 years. Millions of sellers have made a living from their shops on Etsy and they were able to do that because consumers keep on buying from them.
Personally, I shop on Etsy and also own two Etsy shops so I am happy to vouch for its reliability as a great method to start an online business.
Just like in any business, fraud can happen and customer relationships are important. As a seller, ensure you deliver on time and work for five-star ratings so buyers continue to trust and shop with you.
What if I need to leave my shop for a few weeks?
There are many reasons why you may need to close your shop for some time. You might be ill, have a family emergency, or as often happens, you need time to catch up with some orders.
When this happens, you can use Vacation Mode to put your shop on hold for a period of time.
While the shop is closed, you’ll have access to your orders, cases, and Messages. You can do refunds, cancel orders, and print Etsy shipping labels, but buyers won’t be able to view any products or make any purchases.
Is it still worth it to sell on Etsy?
When one reads the online forums you quickly come under the impression that Etsy’s days are over. Countless sellers are totally disenchanted with what the platform has become commenting that is has lost its soul – which it appears to have done, judging by the mass-produced stuff it now lists.
But if you go by the figures, then obviously the platform is still worth if for sellers and buyers. In 2019, Etsy’s annual merchandise sales volume totaled $4.97 billion US dollars. Those are not sales figures of a failing company.
Etsy may not be the right or most profitable platform for every shop owner, but it’s obviously still serving a purpose for many.
Ready to Sell on Etsy? Grab my gift – 40 free listings! Click below.
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Following your passion can be a tough thing. But figuring out what that passion is can be even more elusive.
I’m lucky — I’ve found my passion, and I’m living it. I can testify that it’s the most wonderful thing, to be able to make a living doing what you love.
And so, in this little guide, I’d like to help you get started figuring out what you’d love doing. This turns out to be one of the most common problems of many Zen Habits readers — including many who recently responded to me on Twitter.
This will be the thing that will get you motivated to get out of bed in the morning, to cry out, “I’m alive! I’m feeling this, baby!”. And to scare your family members or anyone who happens to be in yelling distance as you do this.
This guide won’t be comprehensive, and it won’t find your passion for you. But it will help you in your journey to find it.
Here’s how.
1. What are you good at?
Unless you’re just starting out in life, you have some skills or talent, shown some kind of aptitude. Even if you are just starting out, you might have shown some talent when you were young, even as young as elementary school. Have you always been a good writer, speaker, drawer, organizer, builder, teacher, friend? Have you been good at ideas, connecting people, gardening, selling? Give this some thought. Take at least 30 minutes, going over this question — often we forget about things we’ve done well. Think back, as far as you can, to jobs, projects, hobbies. This could be your passion. Or you may have several things. Start a list of potential candidates.
2. What excites you?
It may be something at work — a little part of your job that gets you excited. It could be something you do outside of work — a hobby, a side job, something you do as a volunteer or a parent or a spouse or a friend. It could be something you haven’t done in awhile. Again, think about this for 30 minutes, or 15 at the least. If you don’t, you’re probably shortchanging yourself. Add any answers to your list.
3. What do you read about?
What have you spent hours reading about online? What magazines do you look forward to reading? What blogs do you follow? What section of the bookstore do you usually peruse? There may be many topics here — add them to the list.
4. What have you secretly dreamed of?
You might have some ridiculous dream job you’ve always wanted to do — to be a novelist, an artist, a designer, an architect, a doctor, an entrepreneur, a programmer. But some fear, some self-doubt, has held you back, has led you to dismiss this idea. Maybe there are several. Add them to the list — no matter how unrealistic.
5. Learn, ask, take notes.
OK, you have a list. Pick one thing from the list that excites you most. This is your first candidate. Now read up on it, talk to people who’ve been successful in the field (through their blogs, if they have them, or email). Make a list of notes of things you need to learn, need to improve on, skills you want to master, people to talk to. Study up on it, but don’t make yourself wait too long before diving into the next step.
6. Experiment, try.
Here’s where the learning really takes place. If you haven’t been already, start to do the thing you’ve chosen. Maybe you already are, in which case you might be able to skip to the next step or choose a second candidate to try out. But if you haven’t been, start now — just do it. It can be in the privacy of your own home, but as quickly as possible, make it public however you can. This motivates you to improve, it gets you feedback, and your reputation will improve as you do. Pay attention to how you feel doing it — is it something you look forward to, that gets you excited, that you love to share?
7. Narrow things down.
I recommend that you pick 3-5 things from your list, if it’s longer than that, and do steps 5 & 6 with them. This could take month, or perhaps you’ve already learned about and tried them all out. So now here’s what you need to ask yourself: which gets you the most excited? Which of these can produce something that people will pay for or get excited about? Which can you see yourself doing for years (even if it’s not a traditional career path)? Pick one, or two at the most, and focus on that. You’re going to do the next three steps with it: banish your fears, find the time, and make it into a career if possible. If it doesn’t work out, you can try the next thing on your list — there’s no shame in giving something a shot and failing, because it’ll teach you valuable lessons that will help you to be successful in the next attempt.
8. Banish your fears.
This is the biggest obstacle for most people – self-doubt and fear of failure. You’re going to face it and banish it. First, acknowledge it rather than ignoring or denying it. Second, write it down, to externalize it. Third, feel it, and be OK with having it. Fourth, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” Usually it’s not catastrophic. Fifth, prepare yourself for doing it anyway, and then do it. Take small steps, as tiny as possible, and forget about what might happen — focus on what actually is happening, right now. And then celebrate your success, no matter how small.
9. Find the time.
Don’t have the time to pursue this passion? Make the time, dammit! If this is a priority, you’ll make the time — rearrange your life until you have the time. This might mean waking earlier, or doing it after work or during lunch, or on weekends. It will probably mean canceling some commitments, simplifying your work routing or doing a lot of work in advance (like you’re going on a vacation). Do what it takes.
10. How to make a living doing it.
This doesn’t happen overnight. You need to do something, get good at it, be passionate about it. This could take months or years, but if you’re having fun, that’s what’s most important. When you get to the point where someone would pay you for it, then you’re golden — there are many ways to make a living at that point, including doing freelance or consulting work, making information products such as ebooks, writing a blog and selling advertising. In fact, I recommend you do a blog if you’re not already — it’ll help solidify your thinking, build a reputation, find people who are interested in what you do, demonstrate your knowledge and passion.
I told you this wouldn’t be easy. It’ll require a lot of reflection and soul-searching, at first, then a lot of courage and learning and experimentation, and finally a lot of commitment.
But it’s all worth it — every second, every ounce of courage and effort. Because in the end, you’ll have something that will transform your life in so many ways, will give you that reason to jump out of bed, will make you happy no matter how much you make.
I hope you follow this guide and find success, because I wish on you nothing less than finding your true passion.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius
Rebecca Helene
Entrepreneur
In 2014, I obtained my MBA with dual concentrations in Finance & Competitive Strategy and stepped straight into the corporate world of merger and acquistion finance, where I build relationships with C-Suite Executives on a daily basis. Now, as a newlywed with a side-hustle, (paid off!) student loans and a passion for personal development, I am compiling and sharing all of the resources that have helped me succeed (and stay sane along the way!)
This post was authored by and originally posted on the website of Safal Niveshak and has been reposted here as material generously contributed to the Uncopyrighted initiative.
If you don’t know who Charlie Munger is, then here’s a quick introduction. He’s a billionaire and he’s 93 years old. He’s not the oldest and he is not the wealthiest but when it comes to being the “oldest billionaire”, he doesn’t have any competition.
In other words, he has the two most coveted things in this world – wealth and a long life.
His advice to us – minimize stupidity. Remarkably simple, isn’t it?
The most effective way to follow Charlie’s advice is to learn from others’ mistakes. That’s where books come into the picture. They’re the best source of vicarious knowledge.
When humans first discovered that they could persist their words and other information in physical form, it was revolutionary. According to some historians, between the years 3500 BC and 3000 BC, ancient Sumerians from Mesopotamia civilization invented the first system for storing and processing information outside their brains.
In the timescale of millions of years of human evolution, this invention is pretty recent one. Irrespective of how trivial the ability to read/write sounds, it was nothing less than a disrupting technology when it came out. Probably thousands of talented Sumerians, who were employed for memorizing information, lost their jobs.
You don’t have to teach an infant how to swallow liquid or give walking lessons to a toddler. These skills are built into the human genome. But reading isn’t part of our DNA.
The point I am coming to is this: the human brain isn’t naturally built to read. It’s an acquired skill like driving or playing Tennis. Reading involves vision which engages a certain part of the brain which in turn exercises a specific section of our neural machinery.
Although our brain processes signal received from all senses, each of the five senses is wired to different sections of the brain. Which means, reading lights up only the visual component of our brain’s circuitry.
When the brain receives the same information from different senses, it processes them slightly differently. And the interpretation changes based on which instrument (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin) was used to record the information.
Eyes usually get preference over others. McGurk Effect is the proof that our brain gives different weightage to each sense organ.
What would happen if you could involve multiple senses to absorb knowledge?
For one, our brain would frequently run into conflicts. Eyes would tell one story and the ears will say something else. But that’s not a bad news. Fortunately, unusual insights are almost always preceded by conflicts.
So I would like to argue that to learn better, one should be open to the idea of absorbing knowledge through multiple senses.
Making use of multiple senses fires up neurons in different locations inside our brain. This creates the possibility of fresh connections between previously unrelated brain cells. These unprecedented linkages enhance our brain’s ability to perceive the world and generate brand new insights.
Guy Spier, in his book The Education of Value Investor, mentions that someone gifted him an audio CD of Charlie Munger’s talk at Harvard on the 24 standard causes of human misjudgment. And there was an 18-month period, writes Guy, “during which this was the only CD in my car’s entertainment system.”
Guy probably listened to Charlie’s talk hundreds of times.
So to experiment with this idea, I have been trying to learn through my ears. One way to do that is to listen to the audiobooks. For that, I subscribed to Audible and listened to quite a few audiobooks.
My experience with audiobooks led me to the conclusion that listening to biographies and fiction is quite enjoyable. And there are again evolutionary reasons behind it.
If you recall our earlier discussion in this post, the technology of writing and reading came into existence quite late in the history of human evolution. The human brain hasn’t yet adapted naturally to the idea of learning things by reading. However, for millions of years, the knowledge was transferred from one person to another by narrating stories. So sound was the primary mode of sharing and propagating information for the majority of human history.
Which confirms my personal observation about my inability to absorb any information in audio form if the content is not in a story format.
The human brain started comprehending complex matters precisely because of the invention of the written word. We learn to do complex algebra and calculus in school because the process involves delegating all the steps to paper. If you had to do it all in your head, it would be impossible. Our brains aren’t wired to do that.
But the idea of podcasts has kind of broken this barrier. For some strange reason, our mind would find it extremely entertaining and engrossing when it’s privy to a conversation between two fellow humans.
A monologue, when it’s not a story, is boring. On the other hand, listening to a dialogue, even if the topic is fairly complex, isn’t that taxing to the mind. Maybe that’s the reason podcasts are rapidly gaining acceptance and popularity as a very effective medium to share knowledge.
For past one year, I have been listening to podcasts. I have learned a lot. It feels as if two wise people are sitting behind you and informally discussing their experiences. I find it fascinating.
So I thought of sharing the podcasts that I regularly listen to. I am also including some of my favourite episodes of each to get you started.
1. How I Built This
It’s a show hosted by Guy Raz. In his words, “How I Built This is a podcast about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.” Unlike many other podcasts, the length of each episode is relatively short i.e. 30-40 minutes. My favorite stories in this podcasts are –
Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airline. Airlines is an industry marred by abysmally poor economics. In its entire history, on the whole, the airline industry has destroyed shareholder wealth. Southwest is the only airline in the world which has remained profitable for an almost entire period of its 40+ years of operation.
Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos, which was bought for a billion dollar by Amazon. After listening to this conversation, I picked up Tony’s book Delivering Happiness and enjoyed reading it.
Manoj Bhargava, founder of 5-hour energy. This guy lived as a monk for 13 years and then went on to create a billion-dollar business in less than a decade. He’s now devoting a majority of his time for tackling the hardest problems our world is facing like bringing electricity to those who don’t have it yet, converting seawater to freshwater and a few more.
John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods Market grocery chain, which was recently acquired by Amazon. Amazon acquires a company only when Jeff Bezos realizes that he can’t replicate what the acquiree is doing which speaks a ton about what John Mackey has accomplished.
Joe Gebbia is the co-founder of Airbnb. Today Airbnb is disrupting the hotel industry. Airbnb has now has more rooms than the biggest hotel chain in the world.
2. The Knowledge Project
Shane Parrish has been relentlessly sharing multidisciplinary ideas on his blog for almost a decade. The knowledge project podcast is another feather in his cap. The publishing schedule is quite infrequent and irregular, nevertheless, there’s enough wisdom here to keep you busy for weeks. My favourite episodes are –
Interview with Sanjay Bakshi. Being a Safal Niveshak tribesman, it’s almost impossible that you haven’t heard of Prof. Bakshi. He teaches a course on behavioural finance and business valuation in MDI Gurgaon, a prestigious MBA college. There’s chock full of investing wisdom in this interview. I recommend that you listen to it multiple times.
Interview with Naval Ravikant. Naval is the co-founder of AngelList. He’s been an investor in many unicorn startups including Uber, Twitter, Yammer, and many others. This 2+ hours of conversation between Shane and Naval was simply out of the world. I have already listened to this one twice and want to listen to it again few more times. Naval has been interviewed in Tim Ferriss show also and that conversation was equally amazing.
Interview with Morgan Housel. I became a fan of Morgan Housel when I first read his incisive posts at Collaborative Fund’s blog. I have read, at least twice, every single article that he’s written in last one year. He’s perhaps one of the best investment journalists out there. His insights on investing and business are truly jaw-dropping. When I start reading his posts, I always sit tight in my chair lest the Eureka moment throws me off on the ground.
3. The Tim Ferriss Show
Before I tell you what I like about this podcast, let me be honest about two things that I don’t like in this one. First is the excessive promotional content in each episode (from financial products to undergarments) which isn’t really wrong or unethical but a big put off for a new listener. Second, a lot of episodes aren’t interviews but random ranting from Tim which kind of dilutes my original purpose of listening to a podcast i.e. being privy to a dialogue, not a monologue. So if you can get past these two small irritants then there’s quite a bit of wisdom to be gained from Tim’s show. Here are few of the episodes which I liked –
Interview with Derek Sivers. Sivers is a fascinating personality. He was a musician who accidentally created a multi-million dollar company called CDBaby. He later sold the company for USD 22 million and gave away the money to a trust dedicated to musicians. I loved Sivers’ book Anything You Want and go back to all his TED talks again and again. There are actually two episodes with Derek Sivers. Like Scott Adams, Sivers has spoken to James Altucher also.
Interview with Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal and the first investor in Facebook. Thiel has written a book called Zero to One which mind stretching insights about future. He’s a true contrarian and he starts every decision by asking, “What important truth that I know which most people disagree with me on this one.” A fascinating conversation. Thiel interviewed with James Altucher also, so do check out that episode also.
4. The James Altucher Show
James Altucher is a prolific blogger and podcaster. His podcast has already crossed 250 episodes and his guest list is pretty awesome. James’ book Choose Yourself had a profound impact on how I think and it’s a book that I recommend very frequently. Here are my picks from Altucher’s show –
Interview with Yuval Noah Harari who shot into limelight with his book Sapiens when it was recommended by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama, and Bill Gates. I have read Sapiens twice already and, ignoring my bias about non-narrative audiobooks, have listened to the audio version also, more than once. Harari is an outstanding thinker and a gifted writer. I challenge you that once you read Sapiens, two things will happen to you. One, you will immediately want to read it again and you won’t be able to see the world with the same eyes as you do now. His second book Homo Deus is equally fascinating.
Scott Adams is the creator of famous cartoon strip Dilbert. Adams’ story is a remarkable tale of series of lifelong experiments that he undertook to tilt the odds of success in his favour. He consciously pursued a strategy which eventually catapulted him to wealth and world fame. His insights on the science of persuasion are just out of this world. Scott Adams has appeared in Tim Ferriss show also. I loved Scott’s two books – How To Fail… and Win Bigly.
5. Masters In Business
Barry Ritholtz hosts this show. The archive contains more than 100 episodes but I have just started listening to this podcast.
The first one which I listened was a conversation with Marc Andreessen, creator of first internet browser Mosaic and founder of Netscape. Marc is also the co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. It’s was a fascinating dialogue. The breadth and depth of Marc’s knowledge about how the world works are truly remarkable.
Vishal shares that a few other wonderful podcasts from this series includes the ones with Ed Thorp, Howard Marks, and Michael Lewis.
I use a podcast aggregation app (Podcast Addict, on Android) to subscribe to these podcasts. There are many other similar apps which you can use. I find Podcast Addict quite good because it has useful features like playback speeds (slowing down or speeding up), bookmarking, adding notes, skipping, downloading for offline consumption, creating playlists etc.
Listening to podcasts is a great way to make use of your commute/travel time especially if you use public transport or taxi. I call this mode of learning – university on wheels.
I hope you’ll try out this mode of learning and if you’ve already been doing it, I would love to know about your podcasts list.
With a quickly changing macroenvironment, most people are finding themselves with a very sudden amount of home-time, whether from voluntary social distancing or mandatory government quarantine.
Corporations will be testing out their business continuity plans on a large-scale and business will slow as people gage what the next two to four weeks looks like from both a personal and professional scale.
While this is intimidating or stress-inducing for some, it can actually be seen as an opportunity for those open to it.
Think about all of the time you are getting back into your day.
Until you do a time inventory of your day, you may have no idea just how much time you are waiting on tedious or low-value tasks on a regular basis. During the work week, even an eventful and exhausting one, it's possible that there are a few minutes at a time that you could easily get back. Individually, that's not much, but collectively, could add up to be a generous chunk of time to add back to your day.
Commute Time
Work Breaks
Team Meetings
Lunch Hour
Vanity Time
Commute Time
How long is your daily commute – round trip?
Living in Atlanta, for me that can be upwards of one-hour, each way. Yours might not be nearly as drastic (for your sake, I hope not!) but even finding a parking spot or waiting in line to leave the parking garage can be soul-crushing.
What about the extra time you have to allow yourself to stop and fill the gas tank because you drove it home on “E” last night… again… and now you finally can't stall any longer?
What if you are a creature of habit who can't get the morning started without swinging by the Starbucks drive through for your caffeine-kick, because the free stuff at the office just won't do the trick? That could be an easy 20 minutes back in your morning — and $5.00 back in your wallet.
What would you do with one or two extra hours at home or with your family every single day?
Work Breaks
Whether you get formal breaks or not, let’s admit there are a few minutes of every day we are able to break for a breather.
In the restaurant industry, you may get a smoke break or scheduled 15-minute intervals to get off your feet, check your phone, and have some down time.
At an office, even if it's not scheduled in, you may decide to do a couple laps of the building just to get your blood flowing and your afternoon energy up, or you may end up chatting at the coffee pot for five to ten minutes at a time with other colleagues you haven't spoken to much lately.
All of this time adds up and becomes invaluable when you realize you can get back 30+ minutes a day without those distractions. Working from home, while often lonelier and quieter for the same reasons, can at least bring about the advantage of time if you choose to see it that way.
Team Meetings
Yes, team meetings are important to streamline communication, and they can become even more valuable when distanced from your normal working environment. Communication becomes the utmost importance for business continuity and to make sure nothing vital falls through the cracks.
That said, does your office have several team meetings that often result in, “That’s a good point, let’s regroup next week?”
Now that our standard operational processes have to change, I expect meetings to be streamlined to only those vital to decisioning the item on the table, or imperative to the next actionable item or deliverable in the process being discussed.
Lunch Hour
While working from home, and assuming you are on lockdown with minimal other options to turn to, I can't help but think you might sneak 20 minutes – minimum- back into your day by being able to reach into your fridge and sit back down, with no lines, cooks, or cashiers to wait in line for.
Though some of us may not always have a true “hour” for lunch, even the short time it takes to head downstairs to the cafeteria or across the street for fast food can truly add up if you aren’t diligent about packing your lunch for work each day.
Vanity Time
Likely, we all have our standard morning routine down to a science. Regardless of your position – executive, creative or otherwise – there is some standard of care that goes into every morning.
Even if your uniform is non-negotiable, you may put a few extra minutes into your hair or makeup. If you have a client meeting, you may realize it’s vital to iron the outfit you laid out the night before. As trivial or vane as it is, there is a standard us women often put in prior to leaving for the office.
If we stopped at brushing our teeth and throwing our hair up into a messy bun post-shower, how much time would we let back into our day?
I have a feeling that working from home in pajamas, makeup free, accessory free and hair tossed up a la Rosie the Riveter, 30 minutes back in to my morning is a conservative assumption.
With all of that time back, what new can you add into your daily routine?
If you haven’t been diligent about working out because of lack of time, maybe this is a chance to add it back in, even for just a few minutes a day. You still don't need to add an hour to get to a gym or register for a personal training class, you can walk your dog instead of just letting him run around in the yard, or you could treat yourself to a nice home gym setup if you want to get serious about it.
Me? Personally, I am utilizing it to (finally!) update this site, and to help other women in business in the same boat, working to side-hustle (or grow their primary hustle.)
It’s an opportunity to practice new skills on my Cricut Maker and slowly build up to my Etsy Shop for fun and unique celebratory gifts for home and garden.
The time to do that, on top of the time to make dinner with my husband, instead of one of us prepping for the other, has the potential to be an incredible upside opportunity to the social distancing process right now.
If you used even half of the options listed above, what could you bring back to your friends, family, or even your own personal peace of mind?
I am all about admitting my faults and the excuses I have made along the way that has caused my blogging journey to start far later than I have been dreaming about it. One of the biggest excuses was not being decisive in the very important and very entry stage – the decision about my domain name.
Choosing a domain name is a valuable step, and yes, it deserves time and thoughtfulness.
My personal struggle was a constant back and forth in trying to decide, “Should I use my own name as my full domain name?”
Not a picture of me… but clearly she shares the dilemma.
At first, I’d like the idea of anonymity. After all, it’s taken me this long to put my writing out into the world already – having my name in bright lights just felt odd and uncomfortable. There was no hiding from failure, and no undoing whatever text was put out there.
Below, I have put together 5 things to consider when deciding whether to use your own name as your domain name.
Should I use my Own Name as a Domain Name?
There are all types of opinions and advice on the topic, from professional marketing articles to expert podcasts to personal bloggers.
I was hyper-aware of all of the points and the pro/con list, but after remaining on the fence for far too long, I finally took the plunge and am sharing my step-by-step thought process because that's all I was hoping for from others in my same boat!
After you've taken the plunge, share your story and decision with me in the comments below!
1. What are you writing about, and will it pass the time-test?
Straight off the bat – here's an easy one. What are you writing about? Give it a quick time-test. Is it a topic you will want to be affiliated with for the long haul?
Maybe you are writing about dating in your teens, or creating blogs about meeting somebody online and all of your dating fails. For some people, using your own name as a domain name is great, because it’s authentic. For others, you may want your stories told, but not broadcast with your name highlighted at every corner.
2. Why are you writing? What is your end-goal?
Are you writing as a creative outlet, or is it to report on progress for a personal hobby?
If your plan is to build a website up and later sell it to a larger company in the space, creating a brand for your niche-focus makes much more sense than creating a brand around your name.
3. Is there a chance you may want to change categories in the future?
Who knows where any of us will be in 5, 10 or 20 years? It’s fair to consider who knows what you’ll want to be writing about and if you’ll change topics. What you should consider is whether you are the kind of person who would prefer building up one strong foundation now and completely revamping it if and when the time comes.
4. Do you have any professional conflicts?
Is there a reason to tread lightly about announcing your expertise or broadcasting your personal opinion on a website? For instance, if you are a CPA at a big-four firm, there might be limitations on how you position yourself or conflicts of interest if you make money through an external method that’s related to your day-job.
You may also be in a niche where you share personal stories about problems in a workplace. In that case, will you be more comfortable writing on WorkplaceProblems.com or YourFullName.com?
5. Will your name change?
Life is funny and unpredictable, and there are several stages of life that can offer name changes for one reason or another. If you build a brand under your name, but then your name changes, will you be able to pivot?
Many people have personal and professional names that differ, so it might not phase you either way.
There are always options to transfer a domain name later down the line, so you’re not stuck in a permanent commitment, but with how popular the internet has become, every passing year eliminates more domain options, and your personal domain name may not be available the longer you wait!
I create resources for female entrepreneurs and career-driven women striving to break out of their comfort zones and through the glass ceiling.
