I picked this book up as I’ve never really done much with my Etsy site before and thought that the time had come to focus on creating more sales funnels where I could, especially since summer is often pretty slow for me.
The premise behind Etsypreneurship is a sort of “Etsy 101” for those who are looking to build their business from scratch. At first I was a little disappointed, as I was looking for more tips on strategy and promotion, though to be fair, Etsy constantly changes so trying to keep up with search algorithms and advertising there can be a tough subject, especially for a physical book.
But as I kept reading, I began to appreciate what was in this book more and more. The author, Jason Malinak is an Etsy store owner who has had success since he opened up his shop. But what’s more important (in my opinion), is that he’s also an accountant with a business background. Jason covers what it’s like to run an actual business and how you should not half ass it when it comes to running your Etsy shop, because it is a business.
What I really loved was how he broke down writing a business plan and made it much easier to understand, which might make it more attainable to do. I know that writing a business plan can feel incredibly overwhelming with Executive Summaries and Competitive Analyses, but Jason really gets to the heart of what a business plan should be: A tool to guide you and to use as reference while you’re trying to grow. He also lists his website that features additional supplemental materials and guides, which can help you further strategize your business and goals.
The last few chapters of Etsypreneurship began to touch the 201 level that I was looking for, with more advanced business ideas, like figuring your sales ratios (and I am a NERD for stats like that), but I would have liked to see a little more strategy when it comes to navigating the unique platform features Etsy has (as opposed to running your own game, like on Shopify). But all in all, I think this is a really good book for those who are looking to start a business correctly, whether or not you’re on Etsy.
