I learned about Jenna Lou Dauer through Rochester’s Post-Bulletin. Jenna was a high school student who started a business out of her home because she was bored and was looking for something to do.
“I was in high school and just bored so I started sewing. I ended up with so much stuff I didn’t know what to do with it.”
The 20 year old has now spent the past two years selling her handmade products online. It’s been so successful that she quit her job and is taking a leave of absence from college to focus on her business.
Most of Jenna’s sales come through Etsy.com, a website that allows people to sell their handmade creations.
“Etsy does a good job of promoting and helping you. I learned a lot of what I need online. Etsy has a lot of resources and forums. I had a million questions, and there are a lot of people who were willing to share and help.”
Jenna says that the key to success in selling your products online is to create a reputation for excellent customer service: “When you’re dealing online there are so many things that can be confused. You have to really communicate well with people, be patient and polite. I communicate with people all over the world. Just meeting different people is fun.”
Jenna now divides her day up with four hours of making products and four to six hours of managing the business. It’s been so successful that she is now expanding her business to sell designed patterns for products instead of the finished products themselves. “Those are selling like crazy. I want to get more into that. I’m really enjoying being a designer more than the manufacturing.”
How does Etsy compare to eBay?: “People go to eBay to get something cheap and quick. And eBay’s listing and selling fees are ridiculous. You can’t compete with cheap imports. With Etsy, people are going there because they want to have a connection with who made what they’re buying. They’re willing to pay a little more for something they know is handmade.”
To avoid having too much inventory and spending time working on making products people might not want, Jenna shows a catalog of the products she can make along with the available fabrics and then only creates them when she gets an order. “I can’t have 150 of everything made all the time. This way I can make it based on what they want.”
Running a business from home can be challenging but Jenna has managed to stay focused: “When we were looking for a house, that was my one requirement, that I had a room for my business. It’s overflowing, but I keep it in one room. You have to keep yourself motivated and on track. It’s too easy to go in the kitchen for a snack and sit down in front of the TV or something.”
