You dream of turning your weaving or handmade craft into a business—but something keeps holding you back. I have noticed over time that there tends to be 3 fears stopping you from starting your creative business.
When I asked my YouTube audience if they wanted to start their own business, over half said yes. So why don’t more people get started? Why are they stuck and can’t get their business idea from their head into reality?
I have been running my own six figure weaving business for 10 years now and you could say that I’ve learned a thing or two about how to start and run a successful business.
The 3 Biggest Fears
Today, I want to walk you through what I perceive to be the 3 biggest fears that stop most creative people from starting. I want to also give you some simple baby steps you can take to begin— no need to quit your job, spend a fortune, or announce anything big to the world.
Fear 1: Fear of What You Don’t Know
“I don’t know how to start a business.”
“I don’t understand websites, email, marketing…”
This fear is totally normal. You’ve never done this before—and guess what? Neither had I when I started. Have you ever started a new job and known exactly what to do, right away? Starting a business is no different – of course you don’t know what you don’t know!
My business started as a micro movement. Just me, myself and I, one step at a time. No money, literally none. I worked around my young family, investing time in the business around existing commitments and utilising free and very low cost online tools.
When I think back, I knew nothing about starting and running a business. The benefit of starting super small is that you can baby step your way in, learning what you need to know, when you need to know it.
Baby Step 1 : Start a blog.
Setting up a blog is one of the easiest, safest ways to build an online presence without needing social media or pressure to sell anything yet. I have been blogging since 2008 (yes, really!!) and it started as a free and satisfying hobby. It gave me a way to share my creative life with an online audience.
✅ WordPress is a free way to get started quickly. You do need some sort of blog hosting though, I have used Bluehost for many years and am happy with their service. They are very low cost to get started with.
✅ You can begin by just writing about your craft, what you’re working on, or what you’re learning. No pressure to “sell” anything. This helps you to gather an interested audience. You can even begin selling directly from your blog if you want to.
Why it works:
Blogging helps you build confidence, get comfortable sharing online (including familiarity with writing good copy, taking clear and quality photos and fielding queries), and slowly grow an audience that trusts you.
A blog can be monetised in a variety of ways, but the most simple beginner way is to sign up with a media company. They will place ads on your blog and pay for the privilege. I started out using Google Adsense and now I use Journey by Mediavine.
Fear 2: Fear of Failure
“What if I try and nobody buys?”
“What if I waste time or money?”
“What if I fail in public?”
Starting small is your antidote. You don’t need to launch a full business. You just need to test the waters. When my business was starting to grow bigger and at times I felt overwhelmed with the work, someone recommended Company of One by Paul Jarvis. This book resonated so much with me that I spent some time re-evaluating the kind of business I wanted to have. Paul encourages you to stay small as a business rather than growing to the point of needing a team, if that speaks to your heart. It surely does to mine!
Baby Step 2 : Start collecting emails.
Your email list is the single most important tool you’ll ever use to grow your business. I can not overstate this enough!
Once you have built a mailing list, it belongs to you. That means you will always have a way to contact your audience directly.
And it makes sense, right? You want to be in contact with the people who are genuinely interested in what you do.
✅ I use Kit (formerly known as Convertkit) — it’s free for your first 10,000 subscribers (that’s an amazing deal!) and built for creators.
✅ You can put a simple opt-in form on your blog: “Want to see behind the scenes of my weaving life?” Or use your blog to mention your newsletter/mailing list and get sign ups that way.
Why it works:
You’re not “selling” yet. You’re just building a list of people who are interested in what you do. No pressure. You can figure out what to offer later.
Fear 3: Fear of the Work
“This sounds like a lot. I don’t have time.”
“I already have a job/kids/health issues…”
Totally fair. That was me when I started, a busy Mum, homeschooling her kids and running a household. You don’t need to do it all. The beauty of being your own boss is that you decide how much or how little you put in to the business.
Admittedly, the work will increase as the business grows, this is inevitable and is actually a good thing because it means you’re succeeding. Again, keeping the business small initially and taking baby steps is the way to go to prevent work overwhelm.
Baby Step 3: Start sharing casually.
If you’re already on Instagram, YouTube (this topic needs it’s own post, it has been so instrumental in building my business!), or Pinterest, just start saying things like:
- “I’ve been thinking about turning my weaving into a business…”
- “Testing out email marketing to share more of my weaving journey…”
- “Just started a blog to document my process—excited and nervous!”
✅ This arouses curiosity. People will start following along naturally.
✅ You’re not launching anything—you’re just documenting and sharing.
*This post contains affiliate links. For further information please see my disclosure policy.
Wrap-Up: You Don’t Need to Jump—Just Take the Next Step
You don’t need a “launch plan”, business plan, products, or a perfect website. You just need to start showing up in a consistent, gentle way that feels right to you.
Here’s your 3-step starter kit:
- Start a blog with Bluehost
- Collect emails with ConvertKit
- Talk about your journey naturally on social media
More Resources
3 Ways to Start Selling Online For Free
Do You Want To Start Selling Your Weaving?
Selling For Weavers (online class)
And if you want to see what tools I use to run my own creative business, grab my free PDF (scroll to the download button underneath 😉):
Would you like to continue the discussion? Check out my Youtube video and leave a comment to share your thoughts 👇
Have questions you need answered? I can help with that. Make your booking here to work with me in a one on one email consultation:
Until next time…
Happy Weaving!
Thank you for this. I am so shy about posting my work with non weavers. Weavers all understand what I’m doing so it’s so much easier to post on your FB page because you guys get it. But I need to not sell myself short there because I always get such positive feedback from non weavers when I let them see it. I’m not used to sharing much on social media so this is super new but I’m learning to warm up to it. I have also hired a life coach because life is short, so who knows where this will go? Starting a blog would be a first step so thank you! I may ask you for a personal consultation at some point.
That’s great that you’re gaining confidence!
I do offer personalised email consultations here – https://kelly-casanova-weaving-lessons.kit.com/products/weaving-consultation-with?_gl=1*uvy5xu*_gcl_au*MTcxNDY3ODY4LjE3NjI5OTU1ODIuMTk3MzYzNzYyMC4xNzY0MTEzNDUwLjE3NjQxMTM0NjE.