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How to Make Your Home Business
Stand Out in a Saturated Market
Three tips to help make your business appeal to an audience with many options.
By Ruth Loo
A quick search on Instagram with the hashtag #sgcrafters shows that there are many home business owners who focus on the same craft. In the picture shown above, these are six posts from different earring makers. Photo: Ruth Loo
While fundraising for charity back in her secondary school days, Ms Dorcas Tang was pleasantly surprised that people who popped by her booth at several art markets treated her like a real business owner.
Visitors began asking for her business card and enquiring whether they could purchase a bulk order of her watercolour cards or attend art classes conducted by her.
“As someone who had always treated art as a hobby, I was shocked that people were perceiving this small service as a real business!” says Ms Tang, who kickstarted her illustration business in 2017.
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While setting up a home business is something easily achievable, being unique and prominent in a saturated market is challenging and requires the right skills set.
“It was quite a steep learning curve to know how to market on social media, and while I think I successfully managed to make my work known to a wider audience, people weren't necessarily buying from me,” says Ms Tang.
DBS Group Research stated that the unemployment rate in Singapore could increase from 2.3 per cent from 2019 to 3.6 per cent in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
While there are no official statistics on the number of people turning to make a living out of their artistic hobbies, for those who are keen, here are three useful tips on how to make your business stand out in a crowded field of entrepreneurs.
Tip #1: Carve Out Your Niche
“The market is very saturated and there are a lot of people who are better at my craft than I am. Trying to stand out depending on art skills alone was difficult,” says Ms Alicia Choo, a calligrapher, designer and entrepreneur who amassed close to 6,000 followers on Instagram.
Ms Alicia Choo, a full-time calligrapher and designer, started a “Creative Incubator Programme” to impart her knowledge and experience of starting creative business to aspiring entrepreneurs. Photo: Ruth Loo
Ms Choo, who mentors aspiring business owners, says, “To stand out from the crowd you need to know your niche and who you're serving. Having clarity on this helps you to create content that resonates and matters to this specific group of people.”
According to her, a niche is a unique art style that differentiates your work from another artist’s even though you both are doing similar art forms. For Ms Choo who runs her calligraphy business full-time, her niche is brush calligraphy.
Tip #2: Authenticity is Key
“When you bring your own voice, ‘humanness’, and vulnerability into the business, I think that's when people can start to relate to it because they can feel that you're being honest in your business, and it'll make it stand out more,” says Ms Tang, who advocates for social issues through illustrations and merchandise to her 2,374 followers on Instagram.
Ms Dorcas Tang’s illustration mainly revolves around social and environmental issues, targeting Instagram users who are curious and interested in such topics. Photo: Ruth Loo
Ms Joyce Lim, an artisan who crafts clay earrings and homeware emphasised the importance of “being authentic and open about my process and sharing my challenges in creating and overcoming them” with her Instagram followers.
Having conducted workshops at Naiise Iconic at Jewel Changi Airport, she says, “It’s important to interact with the community as many of the consumers nowadays would like to know the artist behind [the brand].”
Ms Joyce Lim, founder of VINREH, is an artisan who crafts clay jewellery and homeware. She frequently holds workshops for people who are interested in picking up a new skill and hobby. Photo: Ruth Loo
Tip #3: Invest in Your Business
Ms Ng Jiaxuan, 18, recently turned her hobby into a business with the encouragement of her parents. She prints her illustrations on cards and stickers and sells them on Instagram.
Being a newbie to the Instagram art marketplace, Jiaxuan struggled with showcasing her work on her Instagram page as she had no experience and did not know how to start.
While you may have had a rocky start to your business, it is totally fine. What is important is to keep trying.
“Most people starting out, start out assuming they will be successful immediately. However, succeeding in what you do really requires hard work and smart work. Invest wisely in yourself and work hard, that's the best recipe for success,” says Ms Choo.
“Constantly sharpening your sword is also key to keeping your audience engaged and will make your business and impact much stronger,” says Ms Tang.
While money and fame are desirable, it is always more important to love what you do as it drives you to keep going.
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“If you keep standing up for what you believe in, you will not waiver even if the glitz and glam doesn't come in as fast,” says Ms Tang.
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“Knowing the work I do means something & adds value to the lives of others. There is deep satisfaction when you have the privilege to make a living from something you genuinely love doing,” says Ms Choo.
If you keep standing up for what you believe in, you will not waiver even if the glitz and glam doesn't come in as fast
- Ms Tang
1 June 2020
About the Author
Ruth Loo
Ruth is a friendly person who is a self-proclaimed extroverted-introvert. She loves reading a good old English classic while drinking a cup of artisanal tea and eating wholesome baked goods.
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