Struggling to find the perfect crochet business work life balance? You are not alone. Keep reading for 8 easy efficiency hacks for your crochet business.
I work with a lot of crochet business owners and a very common concern is trying to find a good work/life balance. While there’s no “one size fits all” magic solution, I do have 8 applicable steps you can take today to make your life and business more efficient.
Spoiler alert, I am an Apple user. A lot of these tips are for fellow Apple users, but there are probably PC/Google alternatives to find if you search for them.
1. Set a “work focus” on your iPhone. This is extremely handy and helps limit distractions when you are working. Here is a full tutorial showing you how to set this up. For Android users this function is called “modes”.
2. Create “saved replies” inside of Etsy. If you get the same question over and over again in your Etsy dm’s you can create “saved replies,” right inside the platform. The beauty about saved replies is you can take the time to curate a wonderful, well thought out response, and you only have to do it once! Then you can use that beautiful reply over and over to better serve your customers and elevate your customer service experience. Better customer service equals more 5 star reviews and more 5 star reviews equals SEO juice on Etsy! Here are simple instructions to walk you through setting this up.
3. Utilizing “text replacement” on your smart phone. I use this feature all day everyday. You can set it up so when you type a specific phrase, it auto corrects to something else. I find this specifically useful for quickly sending links to folks in my DM’s. You can also create shortcuts to common phrases you might use or even answers to FAQ’s you get on a regular basis. Here’s a tutorial if your an Apple user.
4. Setting “work hours” inside of Etsy. Something new Etsy released in 2023 was “work hours.” You can now set them inside your shop settings, under weekly auto replies, and create an auto-response to any dm’s you might get. I have my set for 9-5 Monday-Friday. If a customer messages me any time outside of that window they get the auto response. 90% of the time they’re messaging me because they can’t find their download, my auto-response tells them exactly how to do that. You can find how to set up weekly auto reply here.
5. Finding the right planner. I am a big believer in investing in the right tools to help you run your business. I have designed a line of resources to help you organize and market your business all year long in 2024. Check out the below options on Amazon.
6. Creating “rules” for your inbox. This tip will save you a lot of time. If you get regular emails, like Amazon shipping notifications or Etsy transaction emails, you can create “rules” so your inbox automatically sorts them. I have different folders for the different things I don’t really care about and they never show up in my inbox. This saves time and headache because you don’t get frustrated by looking at all the emails you don’t care about.
Here’s a tutorial to show you how to do this on a Mac.
7. Conditional Formatting in Numbers. This is not legal advice, I am not a tax professional, please speak to a CPA for legal tax info in your area. I use Conditional Formatting when I do my taxes either monthly or at the end of the year. I download my transactions into a spread sheet, have anything with the word “deposit” highlighted green, then have other words that I know are tax write off’s highlighted a different color. Like “google” to highlight my google storage, or “apple” for any devices I might have bought through out the year. Then I add up all the different colors and put totals at the bottom for my CPA. I’ve done this every year for my business and it works for us.
Here’s a tutorial for how to do conditional highlighting in Numbers. If you are a PC person, here’s a tutorial for Excel.
8. Syncing Family Digital Calendars. I know I mentioned paper planners in tip number 5, but for me, I also utilize digital calendars when it comes to keeping my family organized. We use Google Calendars and its really handy. You can create a new calendar for different things in your life. I have one for my work, family events and appointments, my daughter’s softball schedule, my husband’s work schedule, etc. It’s handy to split them up like that because you can toggle certain ones off if they’re distracting, and you can share them with others! I share our softball schedule calendar with the whole team and other family that might want to come to the games.
I like this method because my husband doesnt have to ask me “are we busy on *day*”, he knows he can just check the calendar. Sometimes he’ll tell me somethign like “I have to go get my tires rotated on Monday” and I’ll say “please put it on the calendar.” It helps everyone remember what’s going on so we’re all on the same page.
Here’s a tutorial for how to set up a Google Calendar.
I hope you found this list helpful and feel a little better about your crochet business work life balance!
I’d like to encourage you to take action today! Knowledge without action is a waste of your time, and that’s what were trying to avoid here 😉. Do one or two of the things on this list and that will teach your brain to know that “hey, when we learn info we apply it!” Eventually you will naturally take action after learning something knew without even thinking about it.
I wish you all the success in your crochet business this year, friend! If you have any simple efficiency hacks that help you run your crochet business I’d love to hear about it! Shoot me a message over on Instagram if you’d like to share. Maybe I can put together a part 2 with everyone’s suggestions!