Employer Guest Blog: Suha from Swedish House Crafts
In addition to our employability and careers blogs, we are now featuring Employer Guest Blogs by some of our amazing industry partners at The Manchester College.
In this month’s blog, Suha Hazboun from Swedish House Crafts shares her insights on Entrepreneurship and Running a Successful Business.
Swedish House Crafts is an international online retailer of artistically designed craft supplies and related products. Art is at the core of this business which combines high-quality hand-crafted work with industry expertise.
To succeed in this business, you need to have good organisational and time management skills, as well as being an excellent communicator and competent with IT systems. The ideal combination is having a genuine passion for arts and crafts together with an interest in technology, so that you can align the online side of the business with product design and development.
Turning a hobby and passion into a Business
I wanted to start an online business to experiment with my theories regarding online engagement as I am originally a digital designer, and crafting has been my side-hobby for many years. When I came to England from Sweden I noticed the lack of Swedish products. The English market adored them because they were different, and that is why I chose the slogan, “A Different Crafting Table”.
Whilst moving to England from Sweden wasn’t easy, the challenge was finding a job in my profession. I didn’t have much experience on the English market and had to find a solution. I gathered my thoughts and came up with an online e-commerce project and I already know the crafting market, so it was easy for me to start up with my own niche.
Just go for it!
Secrets of Success
People enjoy buying from Swedish House Crafts because there is always something extra besides the exceptional customer service provided.
Variety is important in almost all businesses but finding a niche that suits your company is worth considering. I always sourced brands from the Swedish market that I can easily communicate with so that I have no language or PR barriers.
That is where I shine. Online engagement is a great way to convert followers into customers. Crafters have so much passion, and being a crafter myself, I know what kind of posts they want to see. I focused on Facebook and Instagram initially before corresponding with bloggers and YouTubers. Another major attraction has been Pinterest which usually receives 22k monthly unique views.
Vision
Moving forward, I would like to create an app for crafters that provides the ultimate source of knowledge based on many different aspects I have been working on, but let’s keep this our little secret for now!
2020 promises to be a challenging year which will involve making some tough decisions about how to manage my time. I have been known to work 18-hour days which have caused me to suffer burn-outs. Despite the fact that I still get new ideas, my brain works faster than my fingers! So as an entrepreneur it’s very important to find some “down-time” for yourself – always a challenge when you are busy and driving your business forward. Combining your business activities with a sense of your own well-being is essential.
The Manchester College would like to thank Suha for this article and her continued support of our students through industry-specific projects and quality work-related activities.