How To Avoid Overwhelm And Burnout When Your Etsy Shop Is Busy
I sell mostly wedding decals so summer is my busiest time of year, and I know lots of people have specific busy periods like Christmas, so I thought it might be useful to share some of the things I’ve learnt about preparing my business ahead of time before it gets busy, so that it is easier to cope.
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Scheduling
So... the first thing I try to do is make a schedule for the week every Sunday night so that I know if I have to work around any other appointments, and how many days I have available to do my orders. This means I don’t get to Friday and get completely overwhelmed because I’ve left everything last minute.
It also means that I can prioritise what needs to be done that week, and make a note of anything that I could potentially do if I end up with any spare time.
Give yourself a break
Then the next thing I try to do is to take plenty of breaks… you could time block and schedule these in too, although this doesn’t really work for me, I just try to take them as and when I need them because if I don’t, this will lead to burnout and then I can’t do anyone’s orders, so it’s really important.
Image by Will Eames from Pixabay
I try to get outside for at least one of my breaks too so I get the benefit of a bit of fresh air, and I also try and schedule in a coffee with friends or a little day date with my husband so that I’m not just non-stop working all week.
I would also advise that you set yourself strict start and finish times which I’m sure if you have kids or other responsibilities then you probably have to anyway, but for me who could work all night if I let myself, I do have to remind myself to only really work between like 8 am and 6 pm at the most and have evenings off.
I’ve gone into a bit more detail about my scheduling in this video, which offers tips on how to stay organised and save time. I also have a course on how to run your business more efficiently, which you can access via the link below. All new Skillshare members can access any of my courses for 1 month free.
Manage Customer Expectations
The first thing I do to keep on top of my Etsy shop is to make sure that the turnaround time on my Etsy shop and my website is really clear which is set to 1-2 weeks at the moment. I don’t usually take the full 2 weeks to make stuff, but it’s always better to under promise and over deliver I think.
I’ve also added an announcement on my shop to say that if customers need anything last minute they should message me first as I may not be able to fit it in. Not everyone notices that or the turnaround time, but I think it does reduce the amount of people I have to message to tell them their order won’t be there in time and that I have to cancel, which takes up more time than I would like.
Knowing when to say No!
Leading on from that, another important one, which I think I have probably mentioned a few times is learning how to say no!
If you’re super busy and you know taking on things last minute, or that are overly complicated, is going to cause you more stress, just say you can’t fit in any custom orders right now. Or that you won’t be able to help them in the time that they need.
I know it sounds easier said than done, especially if it’s a big order, but honestly, I used to say yes to everything and then have to work stupid hours and it made me resent my shop which isn’t good. But now I’ve got a better handle on what I can cope with I say no way more often, and the more you do it the easier it gets.
Image by Tim Mossholder from Pexels
However, if you just have lots of lovely, easy customers and designs and you still get to the point where you’re so overwhelmed that you have too much to do and not enough time to do it, just shut your shop or set all of your items as out of stock.
I know it’s great to have all of that money flooding in, but it’s not worth your mental health. And please don’t listen to people who say you should never shut your Etsy shop… I’ve done it loads of times and my sales have always made it back to the same level as before, even if it has taken a few days. You could just extend your turnaround time, or put a note to say you’re taking a break, but for me personally, unless it’s shut completely and I can put an autoresponder on then I can’t switch it off in my brain either.
Outsource
And then if that still isn’t enough then you probably want to look into outsourcing or hiring someone. I do it for other aspects of my businesses, but I still don’t hire anyone to help me make vinyl decals. That’s a personal choice for various reasons, but it is definitely worth looking into if you are consistently busy and need some help.
If you would like even more tips and tricks on how to run your business more efficiently then do check out my course on Skillshare, which also has a section about outsourcing.
And finally…
The last thing I do is either overstock supplies or make sure I’m keeping a running list of everything I need. I didn’t actually do this very well and ended up without transfer tape for a few days at the beginning of the month, and that put me behind on getting things sent out. It was ridiculous how much of a knock on effect that had, so now I am just ordering a bit more bulk of everything than usual, and at least once a week just trying to do a check in of my stock levels to see if there is anything that is almost out.
Other than just trying to remember that it’s not the end of the world if something goes wrong, or if I can’t message someone back instantly, that’s pretty much all I have been doing lately to try and keep on top of things.
I hope you found that helpful.
I would love any other tips you have or to know what you do when you’re super busy. Please remember to like follow and subscribe for more videos like this in future.