5 Tips to Start Making Your Own Products

Making your own products is a great way to make something you have always wanted, and it's also easier than you think. Making things by hand isn't your thing. Making machines do the work is faster and requiring less human labor might do the trick. 

With making your own products, there are five main tips anyone who wants to start making their own goods should know. 

Tip #1: Pick Your Product Carefully      

The most important step in making your own product is deciding what you want to make before all else. You can pick almost anything as long as it doesn't violate any ethical rules or laws. Some options are better than others, depending on how much time and effort you need to use. For example, making small keychains with simple shapes like squares and circles will take less time than making a massive statue of your cat. 

If you want to start making your own products, it's best to pick something simple at first and slowly work up from there as practice makes perfect. To get started making things by hand, making a DIY bath bomb version of a store-bought one is the best way to test the waters before going all-in on making more complex items that require deeper knowledge of manufacturing processes. If you already have some experience making homemade goods, making an improved version of an existing product can be both challenging and rewarding for both you and potential customers who'd buy it from you instead of buying it from another company. 

Tip #2: Research All Possible Materials You Can Use   

After making a list of things you want to make, the next step is making a list of supplies and materials you need. Look up all possible materials that can be used, then narrow it down until you have a small list of items that fit your budget and skill level.  

Here's a general rule: If making something by hand is challenging, making it with machines will be easier as long as the machine doesn't break (or if the part breaks, there's either an easy fix or spare parts). Materials like copper and steel are perfect for making products using smaller machines like 3D printers and CNC mills because those metals don't break easily and can accept almost any type of treatment. If making something by hand works better for you, wood and clay (and other materials that easily break) are the best options since making things from scratch is easier for beginners. 

Tip #3: Think of How You Want Your Product to Look Like    

Once you have a list of supplies and materials, it's time to think about how your product should look like. There's no right or wrong way to make a product, but making something pretty will take more effort than making something simple and ugly. If making by hand isn't your thing, thinking of a way to make a machine do all of the work can save you time and give your product more personality. 

For example, if making a lampshade with traditional hand-sewing is too difficult for you, making one using CNC machines will be much easier and can make your lampshade look similar to an average store-bought one. It's not making the product from scratch, but making a machine do most of the work shows how advanced manufacturing is and makes your final product more impressive to customers even if it doesn't involve very much human labor like making things by hand does. 

Tip #4: Build Your Product How You Want to        

The most important step in making your own product is making sure that what you're making is how you want it to be before letting other people enjoy it. Make sure everything looks fine, and there are no mistakes made with parts or seams before finishing up all of the steps involved in making your own goods. Many beginners fail because they skip this step and let other people enjoy something that they didn't want to do in the first place. 

If making your product by hand, making slight changes can be done easily compared to making bigger ones after making a mistake with parts or seams. If making products with machines, having spare parts on-hand will save you time and let you fix any mistakes until you perfect your craft. With experience making products, making big changes won't take extra effort because you will know how to work around minor mistakes, so they don't become issues later down the road when making more products for customers. 

Tip #5: Find People to Buy Your Products and Enjoy Them Yourself      

The final tip for making unique goods is finding people who would buy it from you instead of someone else — if making products with machines, making a good ad on social media can get customers who are looking for unique goods to buy them. If making by hand, making contact with stores that sell handmade things is the best way to get customers to buy your product instead of someone else's. 

Aiming for high-end retailers like Nordstrom and Macy's might be too much for beginners making their own products, but smaller boutique shops will still be able to help you make enough money to make more products using materials or machines if made by hand. With experience making more unique items, higher-end shops will start contacting you asking if they can sell your product in their store because they like it so much (it might take time before this happens, though, so don't expect it all to happen overnight). 

Making products for yourself instead of making them sell makes something unique that you will enjoy is the best way to do it. Making your product look good using machines will save you time making more products in the long run because making small changes is much easier than making big ones after mistakes are made, so making spare parts on-hand will help you make more products faster if making by hand. Once again, with experience making better-looking goods, you'll be able to perfect your craft, and people buying handmade things from other makers or stores might start contacting you wanting to buy your product because they like it so much. With any luck, selling handmade items can become a profitable side hustle if making high-quality goods and making it your full-time job is something you want to do as a hobby or as a career. And once your business starts to grow, you can adopt automation tools like MRP software to help you take your business even further.