Directly from an Etsy Influencer: Tips for Starting a Successful Etsy Business [+ Free Checklist]

Selling on Etsy can be a profitable business . Etsy provides all the means necessary to set up your storefront quickly and easily. For that reason, so many have gone the route of implementing the Etsy platform to start their own business.

Statista.com took a deep dive into Etsy — check out some of the statistics they found from 2019:

• There are 2.5 million active Etsy sellers.
• Etsy has 45.7 million buyers.
• 40 percent of customers are repeat buyers.
• 83 percent of Etsy sellers are women.

In light of these strong statistics, are you ready to start a successful Etsy business ? We reached out to a few top Etsy influencers to get some insight into how to start an Etsy business. Below are some of their tips for selling on Etsy and a helpful free Etsy business checklist at the end that you can utilize to ensure you check all of the boxes when creating your online business and LLC .

Let’s meet our Etsy influencers and see what they had to say!

Alicia Goodwin of Lingua Nigra

Alicia Goodwin of Lingua Nigra came from a background in jewelry, and once she started creating her own, the interest of those who saw her work grew quickly.

In 2007, Goodwin decided to get active on Etsy and sell her jewelry on their platform. One thing she did that helped her business grow was join an Etsy Team . This team helped her take her small shop and turn it into a brand. The team also allowed her to talk with other like-minded creatives to get help and advice.

Alicia’s Top Etsy Tips and Strategies

• The process of how to start an Etsy business is relatively easy, and you can quickly set up your shop in no time and start selling.
• While the fees can be high, remember that Etsy is more about building the community around your business and making people feel great about the buying experience and supporting small businesses.
• Make sure you use high-quality images on your Etsy store.
• Work on improving your product descriptions, so they aren’t vague.
• Join an Etsy Team as they can help you navigate how to grow into a successful Etsy business.
• Promote your Etsy store anywhere and everywhere — via a website and social media (like Instagram).
• Make sure your work and product are of better quality than your competitors.
• To make your life easier, hire an accountant if you can or, at a minimum, a professional tax preparer.

Lauren White of White Loft

Sometimes, starting an Etsy business is born out of people needing a break. As funny as that may sound, it’s precisely what happened with Lauren White , the owner of White Loft . As a new mom, Lauren needed a break from her demanding job and decided to use her creativity to build a successful Etsy business.

In 2013, White opened an Etsy store where she handcrafted growth charts to measure children’s height, an item that can grow (and move) with your family. The idea came after she created her very own growth chart for her then 18-month-old son. One of Lauren’s friends saw the growth chart and loved it, and asked if she could buy one. From there, the idea of opening an Etsy store blossomed.

White’s business grew, and she decided that to keep up with customer wants and needs, she needed to start offering more products and options to accommodate what people requested.

Lauren’s Top Etsy Tips and Strategies

• Utilize some advertising dollars to attract niche customers .
• On Etsy, you can create your own terms and policies, something she recommends to suit your individual business.
• Leverage the platform for your small business as Etsy is built around customers who are looking for and value handmade products and want to support small businesses.
• Regardless of how fast or slow your business grows, never give up as you could be one day away from everything exploding and taking off.
• Sponsored listings can take a while to figure out, but they can be a game-changer when building a successful Etsy business.
• Make sure you set up your business as an LLC to ensure you have a level of protection and separation between your business assets and personal assets.
• Hire a CPA who specializes in helping small businesses and filing taxes.

If you aren’t sure who to contact for your accounting and tax needs, check out the business accounting service provided by Bizee. Let a team of professionals handle all of your bookkeeping and tax filing needs.

Kayla Amma Rose Warner of Amma Rose Designs

Back in 2018, Kayla Amma Rose Warner  decided to create her first Etsy store to focus on selling business solutions for business owners, such as business planners, social media templates, logo templates, client-based templates, commercial use planners and more. She named her business Amma Rose Designs .

Many businesses have a story behind them, and Kayla's story of how to start an Etsy business is a good one. In the summer of 2018, Kayla decided to quit her job in the pursuit of finding happiness and passion. She had just graduated from college and didn’t feel like her life was going in the right direction. After consulting with her husband, they agreed that it was time for Kayla to start a new journey. Unsure what direction that may be, she knew for sure that her path needed to lead her towards owning her own business.

During her journey to finding her passion, she fell in love with designing. Her first design was a planner, and she quickly jumped on Etsy to see if she could sell it. After her first month of designing and selling planners, she was hooked.

Kayla’s Top Etsy Tips and Strategies

• Etsy is an incredibly simple platform to get up and running.
• Sit down and put aside one weekend to get your store set up — you can always make minor tweaks here and there once everything is in place on your storefront.
• Be sure to place specific keywords in your title and tags.
• Rearrange your homepage so that your most popular listings are at the top.
• Take high-quality photos of your products.
• Don’t forget to do some market research and find out who your customers are and what your audience is looking for.
• Listen to your customers and their feedback so you can continually improve your products or create line extensions.
• Don’t be afraid to invest in your business.
• Do not copy others, especially if the work is not yours and someone else has a copyright on it.
• Set up an LLC and open a dedicated bank account for your Etsy business.
• If you don’t have an accountant, invest in software — something like QuickBooks.

Free Etsy Business Checklist

Now that you’ve read some helpful tips on how to start an Etsy business, it’s time to put things in motion. Below you will find a checklist that will help you navigate your way to set up your very first Etsy storefront and begin selling.

1. Come up with something you want to create and sell on Etsy.
2. Do some market research to see if your idea is in demand.
3. Produce your chosen product.
4. Take some high-quality photos of your products and write product descriptions.
5. Do keyword research to find keywords to use in your title and descriptions.
6. Decide on a name for your business and consider creating a logo .
7. Set up an LLC for your Etsy business .
8. Get an EIN for your business .
9. Open a dedicated bank account (such as a checking account) for your business.
10. Find and hire an accountant/tax preparer or purchase accounting software.
11. Sign up for an Etsy account and start building your storefront.
12. Spend some money on marketing and advertising your Etsy store and products.
13. Leverage social media by creating an Instagram page to promote your products.
14. Join an Etsy Team.
15. Utilize Promoted Listings .
16. Gain feedback and implement those comments into your Etsy business.

There's no better time than right now to start an Etsy business. Through Bizee, you can start an LLC for your Etsy business for $0 + state fee . If you are creating (or want to create) unique products to share with the world, an Etsy business is a fantastic idea that you can run directly from your home. With an extremely minimal investment, you can have your Etsy store up and running in as little as a weekend. Utilize these Etsy tips and the Etsy business checklist mentioned above and you'll be on your way to a profitable Etsy business doing what you love.