You probably heard that you need to have a niche to be successful on Etsy, but you might be unsure of what exactly a niche is and how do you find yours. You are in the right place! In today’s blog post, I will simplify what niche is, explain if you really need it, and how to find the best niche for your shop! Are you ready? Let’s dive right in!

What is a niche?

Simply said, a niche is “a specification you choose for your small business & products that you are selling”.  You can think of a niche as a “theme” for your shop. By choosing a niche for your products, you are focusing on a specific segment of the market, which allows you to become the “go-to” person for what you are selling a lot faster than when you don’t have a niche and try to sell random products to “everyone”.

You can difine a niche in 3 different ways:

1. If you use a specific technique to create your products, this can be your niche. For example: hand lettering, laser cutting, embroidery, knitting, etc. – this allows you to create various products, but gives your shop a common theme.
2. If you create products for specific customers, this can be your niche. – For example: products for autism moms, which can include mugs, T-shirts and planners all made for autism moms
3. If you have a specific cause, style or passion behind creating your products, this can also be your niche. For example: minimalist home decor or eco-friendly candles.

The point behind finding your niche is to give your small business focus and the opportunity to become really good at what you are selling. It helps your small business to become known for “your thing” , so your customers will refer your small business & will keep coming back for more of what you do.

Why is it so important to have a niche?

You may feel like you enjoy creating all different kinds of products. Good! That means that you are truly creative. But it doesn’t mean that you should be building a business of everything you can do. Trust me on this one. I was fighting the idea of choosing a niche for over five years, just to realize I was still stuck in the same place, constantly buying and making new fun craft projects, which ended up in my closet, because no one was actually buying them. All my time and energy went into learning new craft techniques, DIY, and watching handmade tutorials, instead of focusing on things that actually lead to sales – such as understanding my customers & learning how to market my products.

Do you really need a niche to be successful on Etsy?

To be completely honest, there is nothing particularly wrong with NOT having a niche. The problem is that we only have 24 hours a day and to get good at something requires focus and practice. Without a niche, we are DISTRACTED, always looking for fun craft projects, unable to focus and get better at THAT thing, so we can finally get consistent orders.

It is so easy to get pulled in different directions and impulsively excited about creating new products when you don’t have a niche! On the other hand, choosing a niche helps to guide you with “what products to make”, it will help you to stay focused, understand your customers and their needs, and position yourself as a professional in your “niche”.

Can you change your niche in the future?

You might be thinking: “Ok, but what if I won’t enjoy making these products a year from now?”. That’s completely ok and part of the journey. Almost every crafter changed their niche over time, including me. As a small business owner, you will learn so much as your small business grows & your business will evolve. You can absolutely change your niche in the future.

Many small business owners struggle with defining their niche, because they feel like they will be limited to only a few products to create and sell. I see niche as an opportunity to learn and become good at something. Without focusing and improving, we can stay stuck on “what products to make” for a long time.

How to find your niche?

1.Reflect on your personal & brand values. Brainstorm what kind of products you could and enjoy making 

Answer the following questions to help you: 

• Who are you? (example: mom, wife, nurse, housekeeper, have ADHD)
• What are your values? (family, love, eco-friendly)
• What are you passionate about? (example: organizing, spending quality time with your kids, soccer)
• What do you like (think of colours and styles – for example: playful, sarcastic or minimalist and black and white)
• What do you enjoy making? (example: enjoy making digital designs, clay earrings)

Example niches from these answers could be: digital downloads for ADHD moms, sarcastic mom apparel & drinkware, minimalist clay earrings

2. Define if your niche idea is profitable & scalable

Answer the following questions to help you: 

• What are your costs to make these products?
• Are the products you want to make profitable & would you be able to do them in larger quantities? 
• How much time can you spend on your business, and how long will it take you to make this product? (If you only have a few hours a week, choosing a product or niche that is very time-consuming may not allow you to make enough products & sales to meet your financial goals.)
• Search this niche on Etsy, including your product ideas and look for Bestseller badges. It is important to verify if your product ideas are in demand on Etsy before you go full steam ahead making them!

3. Don’t get paralyzed

Choosing a niche can be scary, so instead, we often stay paralyzed and don’t make a decision. It will take some time to experiment and find what really works for you and your customers. It is ok to experiment at first, but try to have a goal and deadline in your mind to make a decision. In the end, you can always change it later!

Good luck my friend! Hope you found this blog post helpful. If you’d like more tips on how to be Successful on Etsy, make sure to download my Free Etsy Success Cheatsheet, which includes easy tips you can apply to your Etsy shop today!

Xo,

Michaela