There are so many ways you can use a Cricut machine to create beautiful products to sell with your small business! Personalisation is a huge selling point and a trend that is here to stay. With your Cricut products you can stand out from the crowd.
Our latest post to mark Small Business Saturday, is from Emma of Nurture and Cheer. Here she shares how she uses her Cricut machine to create unique product offerings that go from strength to strength with her Cricut machines and heat tools.
Over to Emma!
Working from home
Running a small business from home has its advantages. I can work in my pyjamas, I’ve got an endless supply of snacks, and I can nip into my home studio whenever I’ve got a spare 15 minutes. On the flip-side, I’ve got one room that I use for everything from designing to making, packing and admin. It’s all done within the same four walls that I share with my husband and his WFH set-up!
One idea I had was to outsource as much as possible when deciding how to overcome my space issue, but that comes with its own challenges. From minimum order quantities, trying to find the right supplier, and of course, taking the plunge to make a large amount of something that you’re not entirely sure will sell. These same worries actually put me off from starting my own business for a few years. I was so scared to invest in making something that people might not actually want to buy!
My lightbulb moment
My first Cricut (an Explore) was initially purchased purely for crafting purposes. A treat to myself after the birth of my daughter. However, the day I realised that I could easily cut my own hand-lettered designs, a huge lightbulb popped on in my head. I could finally make products myself, without a considerable outlay! Even if no one wanted to buy my products, I would still use my machine to make lots of things for my family and friends.
Since that lightbulb moment, I have used my Cricut machines for most areas of my business. My Cricut Maker™ cuts all the different pieces of vinyl for my fabric pouches. I then apply these using my Cricut EasyPress™. I cut my own swing tags to attach to everything I sell. I’ve even used it to create the branding decals for my market stall set-up.
Using the Print and Cut feature, I can also create stationery for my business. During the first lockdown, I started creating stickers which I put on all my parcels, thanking the posties for all their hard work. And last Christmas, I made stickers to go in with every order, producing small batches at a time.
Making at home means that I have the flexibility of creating to order, and as a result, I don’t have to store vast quantities of stock. I order small batches of materials when I need them and in line with busy sales periods. The Cricut machines themselves sit on my small packing table and are lightweight enough to move them around quickly if I need more space for a specific task.
Overcoming challenges
Although I’ve been using Cricut in the majority of my products in some way, until recently, there was one product that I simply couldn’t produce in-house – mugs. Mugs are my best-selling items, but I often get queries from customers asking me to tweak designs. They may want a different colour or ask if it is possible to get ‘Auntie’ instead of ‘Mama’? I previously looked into printing them at home, but along with the outlay for the machinery to do it, the lack of space for those tools has always put me off.
When I first saw the Cricut Mug Press™ , I squealed with delight! It was the machine I so desperately needed! I finally had a way of offering the personalised ceramics that my customers have wanted for so long. I can easily create designs using my Cricut Maker, and the Mug Press itself neatly fits on the bookcase in my office, meaning I can safely stash it out of reach of inquisitive little hands.
I can now offer a range of different, custom colourways and easily tweak designs to accommodate changes to the text or layout. I’ve been able to trial mugs in entirely different colours and work on some designs that can easily be personalised. The demand from friends and family alone has been high, with requests for business logos, specific names, and favourite colours coming in as soon as they saw the first samples.
Cricut and my business
Without my Cricut, I genuinely believe I wouldn’t be able to offer the wide range of products that I currently sell. My machines allow me to respond to my customers wants and experiment with my own ideas.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt running my small business is that, often, the products you love the most are the ones you sell the least. But with making to order, it’s not the end of the world if I don’t sell a considerable quantity. I can just get out my Cricut machine and try something different.
Expanding your business at home with Nurture and Cheer
We want to give a big thank you to Emma for taking the time to give insight into how Cricut has helped her expand her business! Follow more of her experience of being a small business owner on her Instagram profile. And don’t forget to check out her website here.
Want to find our more about starting a small business? Check out our Make To Sell section here.
