The Business of DIY: 10 Things to Make and Sell Online

Over the years, businesses have shown significant changes. Now you don't need any physical presence or heavy investments, and easily start a business to earn extra bucks. All this has happened majorly due to the introduction of the internet to commerce and business activities. So now you can easily start a Do It Yourself (DIY) business using online selling platforms to make items and sell online. There are many benefits of starting a DIY business to sell online, and this list includes a few:

• The demand for handcrafted products has increased over the years, and nowadays people prefer handmade products over factory products.
• You can easily set up your online DIY store without affecting your full-time job.
• It is an excellent method of extra income.
• The cost of setting up a DIY business includes raw materials, internet connection and shipping costs.

This article will provide you with 10 things you can easily make and sell online on different online selling platforms. It will also help you with tips to manage your business efficiently.

10 Things to Make and Sell Online

1. T-shirts and other merchandise customised printing

This is a kind of business where your work is really less as you have to design new ideas that can be printed on t-shirts, caps, and other merchandise. These designs can even be customised according to the demands of the customers and new ideas. This DIY business is easy to handle, and you can easily sell online on different online selling platforms.

Tips:

• Finalise a merchant who can provide you with plain t-shirts, cups, calendars and other merchandise at discounted rates.
• Try connecting with any other businesses like gyms or local gift shops to print customised merchandise for them.
• Don't keep your prices too high as there is a lot of competition in this business.
• Keep yourself updated with new fashion trends as this business is completely dependent on new designs and trends.

2. Beads jewellery

This is another DIY business where you have to keep yourself updated with fashion trends in the market. You can make jewellery pieces like bracelets, earrings, and necklaces using beads and other stones and sell online on various online selling platforms. The investment required is not at all high unless you are using precious metals to make jewellery. There is a lot of demand for artificial jewellery online, so this is a good DIY business.

Tips:

• You can easily keep yourself updated with new trends using applications like google trends or by filling different fashion influencers.
• This is a show business where good photos make good sales so it is imperative to hire a person who can click good photographs and even edit them.
• Size is the biggest barrier in this business, so it is preferred to make jewellery out of elastic strings or provide different sizes of the same jewellery pieces.

3. Customised gift boxes

This is a really high demand business because people request gift boxes for all occasions like weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. You can add a feature to let your customers choose the boxes and add customised wishes for the receivers. This is a high-profit DIY business to start selling online on different online selling platforms.

Tips:

• Find a dealer who provides you with all necessary products, including gift boxes at discounted rates.
• Make sure you have a storage space to keep all the basket products and gift boxes.
• There is a highly competitive business so make sure you have a unique selling proposition and try offering discounts on the first purchases.

4. Candles

Candles business is a DIY business with very high demand while setting up this business requires meagre investments. Candles are required for many reasons like religious, birthdays, spa, etc. There are many niches under this business so you can easily select your target niche and make candles accordingly. This business involves keeping different varieties of candles with distinct scents, colours and sizes to sell online.

Tips:

• It is essential to meet safety standards set by the government or other organisations to protect yourself from suits that might arise because of safety issues.
• This is show business, so make sure you have attractive packaging to attract customers.

5. Sweet dishes

If you are a good cook or chef, then this DIY business is perfect for you. People like ordering sweets like cookies, chocolates and doughnuts online, so this is high return business. You can easily register yourself with online selling platforms to sell sweets online. Though the competition in this business is high, still you can make high profits if your products taste good.

Tips:

• Look into the legal aspect of this business and complete all necessary documentation.
• Register with any food inspection agency to check the safety of your products.
• Do mention necessary details like allergy warnings, ingredients, date of expiry, etc. along with the products.
• Use attractive packaging to attract customers to buy your products.

6. Paintings and Arts

If you are an artist or painter, then this is a perfect business for you. There is a high demand for paintings and other art pieces online to easily sell your art online on various online selling platforms. The amount of profits is dependent upon the quality of work. This will help you become famous and sell online worldwide.

Tips:

• You can register with any reputed art gallery as that can help you in selling your paintings online.
• It is important to click good photographs of the paintings from the right angle to attract customers.
• You can even work with any merchandise printing store to put your paintings on t-shirts and mugs. This will help you earn more.

7. Lapel pins

People still like wearing lapel pins on their clothes. There is a huge demand for lapel pins online, and you can even add a customisable option to allow customers to customise their lapel pins according to their needs. It is essential to keep a stock of designs for customers to choose from.

Tips:

• You can use different online design applications to customise your lapel pins.
• Use different colours and designs for customers to choose from.
• Make sure you have a proper packaging system to protect lapel pins from damages.

8. Traditional handicrafts

A lot of people like collecting traditional handicrafts like clothes, footwear and traditional goods. If you are good with craftsmanship, selling these items on different online selling platforms will help you earn a lot of money. It is imperative to keep different varieties of traditional handicrafts in this business.

Tips:

• Add a local traditional touch to every product as a lot of people demand such traditional products.
• Use good quality raw materials as this will help you earn referrals from users and allow your business to grow efficiently.

9. Bath soaps

You can easily learn to make bath soaps and sell them on different online platforms. It is very simple to make soap at home, and the cost of making soaps is also very affordable, but you have to spend on packaging and labelling as it is an essential part of this business.

Tips:

• Get approvals from all required organisations before selling soaps online.
• Use only high-grade raw materials to produce high-quality soaps.

10. Pet food

Many customers like pampering their pets, so they order good quality pet food for their pets. You can easily learn to make good quality pet food at home by adding important nutrients to it. There are a lot of online selling platforms to sell pet food online.

Tips:

• You can add various pet food for various pets, keeping in mind the specific nutrients required.
• Take the necessary precautions and approvals from organisations to check the safety of your products.
• Brand your product well as branding helps a lot in such businesses.

Conclusion

These are only a few of the DIY businesses that you can start selling on various online selling platforms. It would help if you chose a business that matches your skills to provide your customers with the best quality products. This is a way of putting your passion and your skills to the best use and make your own little business out of it.

Also read:

1) 10 Best Ways to Promote Your Small Business
2) How Many Social Media Sites Can I Promote My Online Business On?
3) Online Business Ideas You Can Start Quickly
4) 8 Online Business Ideas That Could Make You Hit Gold in 2020