Growing a Handmade Business: Why Bigger Isn't Always Better
Why I Never Wanted to Build a Big Business
Before launching MONOLISA, I spent more than 30 years working in sales, operations, program management, inventory control, customer service, and business development. I worked for organizations ranging from a major sports network and nonprofit organizations to website development firms and apparel companies. Long before I became an artist, those experiences taught me something that has stayed with me ever since: every business decision comes with trade-offs.
Because of that background, I never viewed my handmade business through the lens of overnight success or becoming a large brand. I understood that sustainable businesses are built through consistent effort, strong customer relationships, and years of refining products and processes. While many entrepreneurs hope something will go viral, I have always believed long-term success comes from serving customers well, learning from mistakes, and continually improving your work.
One entrepreneur whose story has always stayed with me is Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. What impressed me most was not her eventual success, but her relentless persistence in the early years. With no background in fashion, manufacturing, or patents, she taught herself how to navigate each obstacle, wrote much of her own patent application, cold-called manufacturers who repeatedly rejected her, and kept moving forward when most people would have given up. Her journey is a reminder that building a business is often less about having all the answers and more about being willing to learn, adapt, and keep going despite the setbacks.
The Reality Behind Every Handmade Business
Many people admire the finished product but never see the years of work behind it. Building a handmade business involves far more than creating beautiful products. There is product development, photography, pricing, inventory management, marketing, customer service, bookkeeping, website maintenance, and countless hours spent solving problems.
In most handmade businesses, you're also making every product yourself. That means you're balancing both production and the day-to-day responsibilities of running a company. You're not simply an artist—you become the designer, manufacturer, marketer, accountant, customer service representative, photographer, and shipping department.
Building a handmade business reminds me of training for the Olympics. Athletes don't wake up one morning and win a gold medal. They spend years practicing, refining their skills, making mistakes, and improving little by little. Running a handmade business is no different. Success is built one lesson, one customer, and one improvement at a time.
One mistake I wanted to avoid was believing I could simply make great products and hope someone else would figure out the sales. While that may eventually happen for some businesses, most successful handmade businesses require owners to understand every part of the operation, including sales and marketing.
Selling can be uncomfortable. It involves rejection, persistence, and putting yourself out there. Many creatives naturally avoid it because they'd rather spend time making than selling. From the beginning, I knew I needed to learn both. Creating beautiful work was only half of the business. Learning how to attract customers, build relationships, and create a sustainable business was equally important.
Key Lesson: Creating great products is only part of building a successful handmade business. Learning sales, marketing, and customer relationships is just as important.
Know Yourself Before You Grow
One lesson I have learned over the years is that business advice often overlooks personality. We hear a lot about scaling, hiring employees, opening larger studios, and expanding operations. What we hear less about is whether those things actually fit who you are, your lifestyle, or the type of business you truly want to build.
I am extremely detail-oriented and have high standards for my work. I enjoy structure, prefer working independently, and genuinely value quiet time. As a neurodivergent person, I also do my best work when I have routines and predictable systems in place. Because of that, building a large company with multiple employees was never something that appealed to me. I understood the reality behind that type of growth: managing people, solving daily problems, taking on additional financial risk, and spending less time doing the creative work I enjoy most.
That doesn't mean growth is wrong. It simply means growth looks different for everyone. Some business owners thrive on leading teams, training employees, and managing larger operations. Others are happiest remaining small, independent, and closely connected to every part of their business. Neither path is better—they're simply different.
Early on, I decided I wanted to build a business that I could grow steadily, manage myself, and still have time for my personal life. Success, for me, wasn't about creating the biggest company possible. It was about creating a sustainable business that supported my goals, allowed me to remain creative, and fit the way I naturally work.
Key Lesson: Before deciding how much to grow your business, make sure you're building one that fits your personality, values, strengths, and the life you want to live.
Doing Everything Yourself Taught Me Everything
When I first started doing art shows, I expected to do most of the work myself. In the early years, my husband would help me set up my booth in the morning before heading home. At the end of a long day, I would break everything down myself, load the vehicle, and drive home exhausted after spending 12 to 14 hours at an event.
I also made a conscious decision to accelerate the growth of my business. I knew building a customer base one show at a time would take years, so I committed to doing as many quality events as possible. At one point, I completed 46 art shows in a single year, many of them two-day events. Looking back, it was an intense pace, but it allowed me to gain experience quickly, meet customers face-to-face, and build a strong foundation for my business.
Those years taught me that running a handmade business involves far more than creating products. Loading vehicles, unloading inventory, setting up displays, processing payments, managing inventory, updating my website, traveling to events, and serving customers all became part of the job. The creative work was only one piece of the puzzle.
Just as important, I learned the financial side of my business. I tracked expenses, monitored inventory, calculated taxes, evaluated show profitability, and analyzed profit margins. I wanted to understand exactly what it cost to operate my business and what I needed to sell in order to reach my goals.
Looking back, doing everything myself wasn't easy. There were plenty of long days, early mornings, and moments when I questioned whether I could keep up the pace. But those experiences gave me a deep understanding of how every part of my business operates, and that knowledge continues to help me make better decisions today.
Ironically, the reason I can slow down now is because I pushed so hard in the beginning. The customer base, experience, and systems I built during those early years allow me to be more selective about the shows I attend and how I spend my time. I also learned that doing everything yourself comes with physical consequences. Years of lifting heavy bins, standing on concrete, traveling, sleeping away from home, and working long hours eventually take a toll on your body. Those are realities many artists don't openly discuss, but they're very much a part of running a handmade business.
Key Lesson: Doing everything yourself can be exhausting, but it teaches you how every part of your business works—and that knowledge becomes one of your greatest business assets.
Why Hiring Help Wasn't the Solution I Expected
Many business owners view hiring employees as a milestone that signals growth. I viewed it differently. For the first six years of my business, I intentionally worked alone because I wanted to fully understand every aspect of the operation before deciding what type of help I actually needed. The truth is, I also enjoy working independently and wasn't sure I wanted to invest the time and energy required to train and manage employees.
From the beginning, I knew I never wanted someone else handmaking my products. That simply didn't fit my business model. My customers were purchasing work that I personally designed and created, and I didn't want to spend my time managing production or performing quality control on someone else's work. If I ever hired help, it would be to assist with the physical demands of art shows.
What surprised me was how difficult it was to find the right person. The job involved waking up before sunrise, loading vehicles, setting up booths, working long days outdoors, interacting with customers, managing inventory, and tearing everything down at the end of the event. Not everyone is interested in that type of work, and not everyone is suited for it.
When I eventually hired help, I quickly realized that every staffing decision comes with trade-offs. While support can absolutely be valuable, it also introduces a new set of responsibilities. Training, communication, scheduling, accountability, and problem-solving all become part of your job. In many ways, physical work is replaced with management work.
I also learned that people rarely excel at everything. Someone may be wonderful with customers but struggle with the physical demands of setup and breakdown. Another person may be dependable with logistics but uncomfortable handling sales. Every hiring decision becomes a balancing act between strengths, weaknesses, expectations, and the specific needs of your business.
Today, I still believe hiring can be the right decision when it solves a specific problem. However, I no longer view it as something every handmade business must do in order to be successful. For some business owners, a small, efficient operation is a better fit than managing a large team.
Key Lesson: Hiring should solve a specific problem—not simply become a symbol of growth.
What Employees Actually Cost
One lesson I learned throughout my professional career is that employees cost far more than their hourly wage. Every employee requires training, communication, supervision, scheduling, and ongoing management. There is also a cost that many business owners overlook—your time. Every hour spent managing people is an hour you're not creating products, serving customers, marketing your business, or improving your systems.
As a former program director, I spent years managing staff and volunteers. Those experiences gave me firsthand insight into the realities of staffing. What happens when someone calls in sick? What happens when your backup person is unavailable? What happens when a new employee needs additional training or isn't performing at the level you expected?
Sometimes you realize the position is no longer the right fit. Maybe your business changes, or maybe you simply need someone with a different skill set. These situations can be difficult to navigate and often involve conversations many business owners would rather avoid.
For some entrepreneurs, managing people is energizing. For others, it creates significant stress. As a neurodivergent person, I value structure, routine, predictability, and long periods of uninterrupted focus. Those are things that naturally become more difficult when you're responsible for managing employees.
Before hiring help, consider both the financial costs and the management responsibilities that come with it. Payroll is only one part of the equation. Your time, energy, attention, and mental bandwidth also have value.
Key Lesson: Many business owners calculate payroll costs. Far fewer calculate the cost of managing people.
Revenue, Profit, and the Illusion of Growth
As businesses grow, expenses often grow right alongside them. More shows usually require more inventory. More inventory requires additional materials, equipment, and time. More travel leads to hotel stays, meals, fuel, parking fees, and increased logistical planning. Every opportunity has a cost, and those costs aren't always obvious at first.
One mistake many business owners make is focusing primarily on revenue without fully analyzing how much additional profit those efforts actually generate. Revenue is exciting because it's easy to measure. Profit tells a much more complete story.
For example, if attending another event generates $1,500 in sales but costs $700 in expenses, has your business truly grown? What if that event also required days of preparation, a weekend away from home, long hours on your feet, and several nights of poor sleep? Those costs rarely appear on a profit-and-loss statement, but they still affect your business and your quality of life.
Of course, not every event should be judged solely by immediate profit. Sometimes you're investing in long-term growth by introducing your work to a new audience, building brand awareness, collecting email subscribers, or testing a new market. Those opportunities can absolutely be worthwhile. The important thing is understanding the difference between making a strategic investment and simply staying busy.
One lesson I've learned over the years is that no amount of money gives you back time. Early in my business, I was willing to travel extensively and work an exhausting schedule because I was focused on building a customer base and gaining experience. Today, I evaluate opportunities differently. Revenue still matters, but so do my health, energy, personal time, and overall quality of life. Bigger numbers don't automatically translate into better results. Sometimes a smaller, more profitable, and more sustainable business is the smarter choice.
Key Lesson: Revenue and profit are not the same thing—and neither tells the full story without considering the value of your time.
The Hotel Problem Nobody Talks About
One of the biggest lessons I learned involved overnight art shows. At one point, I believed staying in hotels would make traveling to events easier. For my business, the opposite was true. Hotels often created more work, more stress, and more physical labor. I found myself dollying six large bins through parking lots, up elevators, around tight corners, and down long hallways.
As a jewelry artist, I also couldn't comfortably leave my inventory unattended overnight. Every evening involved packing up my jewelry, transporting it to the hotel, securing it in my room, and then repeating the entire process the next morning. There was always the lingering concern of what could happen if something was lost, damaged, or stolen.
The hotel room itself was only one expense. There were also meals, fuel, disrupted routines, additional packing, and often poor sleep. I'm admittedly particular and prefer familiar surroundings. More than once, I found myself bringing my own blankets and personal items just to make the room feel comfortable.
One experience still stands out. After a long show day, I had finally settled into bed when the guests in the suite next door decided to host a late-night party. Management eventually moved me to another room, which meant packing up my belongings and relocating in the middle of the night when all I wanted was a good night's sleep before another full day of selling.
After years of traveling, I realized something surprising. For many events, driving home, eating a warm meal, sleeping in my own bed, and returning the next morning was actually easier than staying overnight. That solution may not work for everyone, but it worked for me. It was another reminder that the best business decisions aren't always the ones that look most efficient on paper. Sometimes they're the ones that fit your personality, routines, and quality of life.
Key Lesson: The hidden costs of travel often include your energy, time, stress, and recovery—not just your hotel bill.
Revenue, Profit, and the Hidden Cost of Growth
As business owners, it's easy to focus on numbers. Sales, revenue, and growth are all measurable, which is why they receive so much attention. Over time, however, I realized there was another metric that deserved just as much consideration: quality of life.
Working more hours doesn't always lead to greater profit. Traveling to more shows doesn't automatically create a better business. Taking on additional responsibilities may increase revenue while also increasing stress, reducing free time, and leaving you physically and mentally exhausted.
As I've gotten older, I've also started looking at time differently. When you're younger, it's easy to believe there will always be another year, another season, or another opportunity. What I've come to realize is that no amount of money gives you back time. You can always earn more money. You cannot earn more weekends, more holidays, or more years with the people you love.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't work hard. Building a handmade business requires tremendous effort and sacrifice. But it's worth asking yourself whether the additional revenue is truly improving your life or simply consuming more of your time and energy.
For years, I measured success by how much I could accomplish. Today, I ask a different question: Am I building a business that supports the life I want to live? For me, that answer isn't about doing more. It's about building a business that's profitable, sustainable, and enjoyable for the long term.
Key Lesson: The best business isn't always the one that generates the most revenue. It's the one that gives you the life you want to live.
What Changed for Me
Today, I approach my business very differently than I did in the beginning. Rather than trying to do more shows, I focus on doing better shows. Instead of constantly expanding, I look for ways to become more efficient, reduce unnecessary work, and build a business I can realistically sustain for years to come.
One of the biggest changes has been having support from my husband at art shows. He now helps with much of the loading, setup, and breakdown, which has significantly reduced the physical demands that once consumed so much of my energy. That support has allowed me to continue participating in events while protecting my health.
I also continue to work alone. There are no payroll expenses, employee schedules, or management responsibilities competing for my attention. Instead, I can spend my time designing new collections, serving customers, improving my website, and focusing on the creative work that inspired me to start this business in the first place.
Another important change has been choosing events close enough that I can usually return home each evening. Sleeping in my own bed, maintaining my routines, and reducing travel-related stress have improved both my quality of life and my enjoyment of running a handmade business.
Looking back, I don't measure success by how busy I am anymore. I measure it by whether my business supports the life I want to live. The goal is no longer to do more. The goal is to build a business I can continue enjoying for many years.
Key Lesson: Sustainable growth isn't about doing more—it's about building a business that continues to work for you as your life changes.
Before You Hire Help, Ask Yourself These Questions
Hiring help can be the right decision, but it shouldn't happen simply because it feels like the next step. Before bringing on employees, assistants, or event help, take a step back and think through what you're really trying to accomplish.
- Will this person increase my profit or simply increase my revenue?
- What additional expenses will this create beyond payroll?
- How much time will I spend training and managing this person?
- Could a better system solve this problem instead?
- What happens if this person is unavailable?
- Is this solving a short-term problem or supporting a long-term goal?
- Will this improve my quality of life?
- Am I building the business I want—or the business I think I'm supposed to build?
There are no right or wrong answers. Every handmade business is different. The goal is simply to make intentional decisions rather than assuming growth always means hiring more people.
Key Lesson: Every hiring decision should solve a problem, strengthen your business, and support the life you're trying to build.
Build the Business That Works for You
When I first started MONOLISA, I believed success meant doing more shows, traveling farther, working longer hours, and saying yes to every opportunity. Those years were valuable because they helped me build a customer base, gain confidence, and understand what it truly takes to run a handmade business.
Over time, my definition of success changed. I no longer measure my business by how busy I am or how much I can fit into a calendar. I measure it by whether it supports my goals, protects my health, gives me time to create, and allows me to enjoy the life I have worked so hard to build.
Every artist has to decide what kind of business they actually want. For some, that may mean employees, larger studios, and expansion. For others, it may mean staying small, independent, profitable, and closely connected to the work they create.
If there is one thing I hope you take away from my journey, it is this: do not build someone else's version of success. Build a business that works for you.
Final Thought: A successful handmade business is not defined by its size. It is defined by how well it supports the life you want to live.
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