At this point, you probably have a lot of practice making your craft. It’s time to streamline various areas in running your shop.

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The main recommendation is to group and do the same tasks together. Not only will that increase your productivity, it will likely improve the quality of the result. For example, I answer all my customer messages 2 times a day: once when I wake up, and once before the evening.

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Ideas for other tasks to batch perform:

• Make 10 social media posts in one go and schedule them/save the draft
• Create 10 products in one go so you can take photos and edit them in a batch
• Research keywords of 10 underperforming listings and update them using the ‘quick edit’ function

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For digital tasks, most of them you can speed up the process with templates:

• Etsy message templates (saved replies)
• Use Lightroom presets to edit photos quicker
• Create templates in Canva to make listing photos quicker
  

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Also look for ways to save costs in your production process without compromising on quality. Are there materials that you use regularly like product materials, shipping materials, etc? Buying them in bulk can potentially save you some cost. Another thing to consider is to purchase the raw materials from trade shows for cheaper price.

When your Etsy shop is stable and running smoothly. You may have extra time to diversify and grow outside of Etsy.

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Here are some opportunities to consider:

• Open shops on other platforms like Amazon Handmade
• Start your own online shop with Shopify, Squarespace, Webflow, etc. Read the book Guide To Branching Beyond Etsy for more details.
• Open stall in local markets, craft fair and trade shows
• Teaching people how to make your craft. Making online courses with platforms like Teachable and Skillshare

Most handmade shops are a one-person show. As you are getting busier, you may notice that you are spreading yourself too thin with all the different tasks.

Here are some criteria to consider for outsourcing:

• Tasks that take you a long time. It takes away your time in making high level decision to grow your business.
• Tasks that you hate doing. Those are the tasks that drain your energy.
• Tasks that you are honestly not good at. No one is good at everything. Outsourcing those tasks to the right people allows you to have a better results and saves you time.
  

Have a helper in person for physical tasks, or a freelancer online for digital tasks.

There are two main group of tasks:

In-person tasks

• Making the products
• Packaging and shipping
• General maintenance of space

Digital tasks

• Customer service
• Social media management
• Website design and maintenance
• Photo editing

To start with, it’s easier to hire freelancers online at sites like Upwork and Fiverr, to help with digital tasks. There is less commitment up front and more flexible.

Hiring employee to help with in-person tasks are likely to be a longer process. Research your local employment laws, taxes, insurance, etc. before deciding to post job ads.

With the experience of your first shop, you should know more about the process of building an Etsy shop from ground up. 

If you have other product ideas that aren’t suitable for your first shop, it can be a good idea to start a second one.

Make sure the second shop is different enough so that you are not competing with yourself.