Etsy Seller Interview with Heather of thebossvaultdesigns

How thebossvaultdesigns got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

I’m Heather Kenny, the founder of The Boss Vault Designs. We create DIY templates for small business owners. I first started another business in 2020, when I was 18, and realized that there weren't a lot of resources and templates available for business owners, and the ones that were available only fit a select few types of businesses. I really wanted to focus on the beauty industry and create templates that were more on the feminine side and more eye-catching than what was available.

At 19 years old, after practicing and honing my creative skills for a few months, I decided just to dive in and get started. I really wanted to encompass all parts of brand design, from logo creation to marketing materials, and most importantly, I didn’t want it to look like it was DIY. I wanted to create professional designs that stood out.

I took inspiration from the young entrepreneurs all around me and what I thought they would need and use in their businesses. I followed tons of lash technicians, makeup artists, small boutiques, and hair stylists on social media and saw what made their businesses look spectacular and professional, and other places where their branding was skimping, and made templates geared towards them. Not every business has the budget for 100% custom design when first getting started, and nobody expects a new business owner to have a degree in design, but even DIY design can be beautiful.

At the same time, when creating these designs, it was incredibly hard to find glamorous and feminine design elements, so I also wanted to create digital papers and clipart for those who are creating designs from scratch.

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

It’s so hard to choose. I love all the designs for different reasons. I would have to say either our DIY logo templates or our design elements. We are also releasing a 2023 digital planner for business owners in a few weeks, and I am so excited because I know it will be a valuable tool for business owners.

Our most popular DIY logos

Our Most Popular Design Elements

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

I remember listing 3 different color versions of the same flier as my first products, and I was super lucky and got my first sale within 3 hours of opening my shop. At the time, I remember feeling super nervous and scared that nobody was going to notice, so getting that first sale really helped me to keep going and keep creating.

To attract customers to my Etsy shop, I think it’s super important to look at where business owners might be having trouble finding templates for a specific use. For instance, Acuity Booking (a booking site) is now being used a lot in the service industry, but there weren’t any templates available for it a year ago. I found that hole in the market and created templates for those service-based businesses to use.

I also really love the power of social media and sharing content that I think will help anyone who is branding their business themselves. On our Instagram, @thebossvaultdesigns, I share content ideas, design tricks, and marketing tips for business owners.

Managing thebossvaultdesigns

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

Currently I am the only one managing the shop; however, as we grow, I plan to add people to the team. The beauty of digital products is that fulfillment is done instantly. The main work I do is advise customers on templates that would fit their business needs and help them get set up to edit. The tools I use the most in my business are Canva (to host templates), Corjl (to host templates), and Affinity Designer to create the "guts" of our templates and design elements.

The future of thebossvaultdesigns

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

I really want to grow our product base and make it even more expansive. I am always growing and learning more about design and the industries that I cater to. I also want to put more love into our standalone site and drive more traffic outside of Etsy to our website.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

Research, research, research It should be your goal to know your target audience like the back of your hand.You don’t have to sell what everyone else is selling (it’s even better if you’re not), but you do have to know what problems your customer is facing and how you can solve them.

You can market anything, but it’s even better when the product you're marketing is an amazing one that is innovative and unique. So look for inspiration in the strangest places, listen to the problems that others have, and always think about how to stand out.

On getting started, don’t let the fear of failure hold you back. I have a rule, and it’s that if I know that I put all the work I could into something and made a 100% effort to learn through the process, and it still doesn’t go right, it was never a failure, and I can’t look at it that way because I learned something valuable and I gained it through experience.

Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: $4,000

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: About 90%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer:4%