Top 10 Essentials To Start An At Home Successful Vinyl Decal Business
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How To Start A Successful Vinyl Decal At-Home Business
If you finally decided to turn your vinyl decal crafting hobby into a small business, congratulations on the first step in fulfilling your dreams coming true. Whether you’re opening an Etsy shop, or just building an online in-home-based craft business you will need a plan, tools, and commitment in order to succeed. However, crafting for a living is far different from doing it as a hobby, so if you don’t have the basic small business essentials will be quite difficult to get started. This round-up includes the basic essentials, tools, and software, every crafter needs to start an at-home vinyl decal small business. Decide how you will launch and how much you can afford to ditch out to get started, again you start however you can afford to do so.
1.Cricut
Whether your craft business is, personalized vinyl items, stickers, greeting cards, wall art, customized t-shirts, or others you are going to need a cutting machine. Although there are many options on the market and more coming out every year, for a newbie, a CRICUT machine is a way to go. Cricut is great for beginners and the design space is easy to follow and create amazing projects. Cricut Maker, the ultimate smart cutting machine gives you the ability to use more advanced tools to make virtually any DIY project you can imagine, from stickers, 3D art to home decor, jewelry, iron-on, vinyl, greeting cards, paper projects, and so much more. Cricut released their newest edition the Cricut Maker 3 cuts 300+ materials, from the most delicate fabric and paper to matboard and leather. The Cricut Maker 3 is a mat-less cutting machine with new smart materials like Vinyl, Iron-On, and Sticker Cardstock. The new edition of Cricut Maker 3, and Explore 3 can cut 2x as fast as the previous models, which is a huge time saver, allowing you to craft smarter and faster than ever before.
If you want to know more about the Cricut Maker 3, check out the video ” Cricut Maker 3 Machine Review| Everything you need to know“. I’m a huge fan of Sweet Red Poppy, she has TONS of video tutorials on YouTube on using the Cricut machine and many amazing craft projects. Her blog is also packed with useful information, and downloads and you can purchase her new Cricut Guide. Another Cricut genius I also follow is Jennifer Maker her youtube channel and blog are packed with tutorials using the Cricut machines and craft project ideas for you to make.
2. Vinyls
Whether you’re thinking of selling stickers and personalized decals on Etsy you need to know where to the right material for your business. If you are still juggling ideas here are some of what you can do with vinyl decals (personalized) and printable vinyl.
- Personalize cups, water bottles, tumblers, and mugs.
- Tote bags, t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, socks
- labels for containers and jars
- Stickers Planner
- Stickers
- Stickers Decal for car
- Greeting Cards
- Advertisement for your blog or Company, Social Media, and Pinterest
Expressions Vinyl is my #1 materials store to get all the vinyl from everyday iron-on to permanent adhesive vinyl (Oracle 651 to printable)I need for all my projects. They are a popular vinyl & Heat Transfer Vinyl and Printable Viny for all your crafting needs. Expression Vinyl has you covered with their frequent sales, discount codes, and FREE shipping offers + you get your materials fast and that’s a plus.
3. Storage
Crafting space storage depends on how much space you have to start with. You can turn a closet into a craft room or a desk into a craft table. Trust me, you can make a craft room in a small space or designate a craft space in the living room. But if you are just starting off, and have not designated a crafting space don’t worry within the time you will. I have very limited space and I just purchased the mobile cabinet and a rolling storage car organizer.
CRAFTING TOOLS & ACCESSORIES FOR VINYL PROJECT
4. Weeding Tools Set
As a newbie crafter, it can be a bit overwhelming on which brand of weeding tools to purchase. Should you stick with the Cricut brand or an inexpensive weeding set of tools? As a beginner, it makes a difference for having the right tools and accessories especially if you’re on a budget. I like to invest in a kit in which I’m going to save time and aggravation while making the project easier. The 18 piece weeding Tools Kit is perfect for beginners. It contains: (1)LED pad ( Great for weeding vinyl that is hard to see the cut) 3 pcs hook weeder, 2 pcs tweezers, 1 pc stainless steel scissors,1 tracing pen, 1 spatula, 3 pcs scrapers, 1 pcs carving knife with blade, 1 pcs ruler, 1 pcs awl, 1 pcs craft paper trimmer, and 1 black zipper bag to store the weeding tools.
5. Cutting Mat
If you have a Cricut Joy, Cricut Air 2, and Cricut Maker they required a cutting mat to cut your projects. I love Cricut Mats and this is an accessory you can’t have too much of. If you feel overwhelmed with all of the different colors of Cricut Mats and what materials you should use don’t worry there’s plenty of informative information for Cricut mats and everything you need to know.
I also have the Rotary Cutting Mat which protects your work surface while you create your projects. and is compatible with rotary cutters and straight blades, won’t hurt the cutter blade, and keep the blade sharp. This is great for weeding vinyl and it’s ideal for crafters, artists, engravers, hobbyists, and quilters.
6. Heat Gun
If you are personalizing cups or mugs the heat gun is the one vinyl seal tool you just can’t live without. This multi-purpose heat tool is a plethora of craft and embossing projects that require heat.
7. Heat Press
The Cricut Easy Press 2 is great for beginners and it makes it easy to take on any heat transfer or sublimation project. The Cricut Heat Easy Press comes with a heat plate design with a ceramic-coated surface, precise temperature controls up to 400℉ (205°C), and a built-in timer to eliminate the guesswork on all your special projects. The Cricut Heat Press 2 comes in two (2) sizes 9×9 and 12×10. The Cricut Easy Press Mini is a MUST-HAVE, its compact size is ideal for small heat transfer projects like hats, stuffed animals, and much more.
Their newest edition the Cricut Auto Press, perfect for your t-shirt business and projects.
8. Tshirt Ruler Guide for Vinyl
The t-shirt ruler is a lifesaver, especially for beginners. Using t-shirt rulers to center vinyl can reduce the difficulty of work, and improve efficiency. You can enjoy the fun of homemade personalized clothes for your business.
9. Printer
If your small business will be of stickers, planner stickers, or greeting cards then you will need a good quality color inkjet printer. Choosing a printer is just as important as choosing the right vinyl that will work for your business.
Do your research on the type of printer that will meet your needs so you can invest in the right equipment for your small business.
10. Ring Light With Stand and Phone Holder
One thing I learned in order for people to find your website and business you have to PROMOTE yourself. The Ring Light with Stand and Phone holder is an adjustable desktop stand and the light of the ring light can be more applicable to various scenes: Photography, Makeup, YouTube Video, Live Streaming, video conference, and TikTok, to meet your needs.
This is just a basic list, of the basic equipment to start your vinyl decal business, and hope you find it useful. Starting a small business is not easy and it requires a lot of work and patience. Make a name for yourself with your own website and most important Branding. Be unique and stand out from your competitors in your niche, don’t copy others’ work because you won’t get far. Use all the Social Media platforms (Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, etc) to advertise your small business. Pinterest is an amazing search tool, use it to search for your products and see how you can beat the competition. No matter what you put your mind to you will be very successful.
Free Fonts, Graphics Designs, and Procreate Brushes
Once you start making crafts designs for your business you are going to need a few resources many offer FREE designs and some you will have to PAY. If you get the FREE designs make sure you read the fine prints when it comes to Commercial Licence. my #1 is Etsy. Etsy has everything from SVG designs to Clipart for your craft & business needs.
Canva is an amazing tool to create beautiful engaging images, graphics, text overlays, and even editing photos. No need for expensive software Canva it’s very user-friendly.
Creative Market is another favorite for graphic designs, SVG’s and Procreate Brushes. Every Monday they offer six (6) Free Designs Goodies and they have all kinds of designs for your business needs.
Creative Fabrica is another great resource for handmade craft designs and fonts. They also offer FREEBIES designs with commercial licenses to use for your projects.
